Faulty to Forgiven

David’s life was a series of ups and downs. His story in the Bible begins in 1 Sam 16, when he was anointed by the prophet Samuel to replace Saul as the king of God’s people (1 Sam 16:1-13; Ps 78). This did not mean that he was immediately crowned as king. He was probably 10-12 years old when he was anointed. Two years later, he served as the king’s musician (1 Sam 16:14-23). Five years after he was anointed, he defeated Goliath (1 Sam 17:1-54). Ten years later, he was appointed by Saul as a commander of his army and was very successful in battles, earning Saul’s daughter Michal in marriage and also Saul’s jealousy (1 Sam 18:6-30; 19:9-17; 2 Sam 6:20-23). He was almost killed by Saul so he fled, hiding and pretending to be a crazy man in order to stay alive (1 Sam 21).

He became king, finally, thirty-two years after his anointing. He was named king of Judah (2 Sam 2:1-7), then of Israel (2 Sam 5:1-5; 1 Chron 11:1-3). Then he re-conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-16). As king, he accomplished many great things. After defeating the Philistines, David brought the ark back to Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:1-19; 1 Chron 13:1-14; 15:1-16:43), which earned him God’s wonderful promises (2 Sam 7:1-29). Second Samuel 8:1-18 lists his victories and officials. He is portrayed as a just and merciful king, pardoning and befriending Saul’s son Mephibosheth (2 Sam 9:1-13). Then he defeats the Ammonites (2 Sam 10:1-19). For 13 years, from the time he was made king (from ca 993-980 BC), his life was filled with victories. However, this rose-colored history changed in 2 Samuel 11. The story is tragic:

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. ² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died (2 Sam 11:1-5, 14-17, NIV).

The unthinkable happened. The man of victory over armies was defeated by his own self. It seems unfathomable that he would fall in such a dramatic way. But the honesty of the Scriptures is unmistakable. Good and godly men and women are not temptation-proofed. Even the most faithful lover of God can sin. David, full of wisdom as a military strategist, was also stupid, thinking with his penis. David’s lips that were full of praises were also full of deceit.

In fact, David’s story is so shocking because he is not only portrayed as having one fault. The story reveals that David had many faults. First, he was not where he should be (11:1). It was the season of war and he was in his palace, getting up from bed in the evening! Secondly, when he saw naked Bathsheba he stared too long. Like a hot-blooded male member of human species, he was deeply attracted to beauty and wanted to possess her. Thirdly, he abused his power as king to summon Bathsheba to his palace (11:4). She did not really have a choice but to comply to the summons. It was either obedience or death for her. Fourthly, David slept with her and sent her away after purifying herself (11:4). He did not realize that their one-night affair led to her being pregnant (11:5). So, fifthly, David schemed against Urriah twice. He wanted to cover up his sin and shift the responsibility of impregnating Bathsheba to Urriah. When his plots to make Urriah sleep with Bathsheba failed, David ordered his general—Joab—to send Urriah to his death. David committed both adultery and murder.

Also, the story is full of irony because David is portrayed in the Bible as one possessing a godly heart. When Samuel went to the house of Jesse to choose the king, David was chosen by God because of his heart: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam 16:7). God Himself testified concerning David: he “a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22). Unfortunately, it was also David’s own heart that was attacked by the tempter. No matter how good his heart was, it was still vulnerable to temptations.

David also thought that he had covered his tracks very well. However, God knows everything. God is smarter than we are. He sent His prophet Nathan to confront David:

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites (2 Sam 12:1-9, NIV)

           

Nathan’s direct confrontation forced David to make a decision. He could have birthed another sin—the sin of denial—but he chose to utter the most gallant statement of his entire life: “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam 12:13). In Hebrew, David only said two words: hatati Yahweh. These two simple words would have the biggest impact in his life. Here lies his difference from king Saul, who sought to rationalize with God and defend what he did (1 Sam 15:20-21). Unlike Adam, David offered no excuses, no alibis, no blaming of Bathsheba. He dealt with his own self and sin—with boldness—and faced the reality that he was at fault. His heart is portrayed vividly in Psalm 51 (NIV), a psalm he wrote after Nathan confronted him:

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge…
⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me…
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

The immediate response of Nathan to David’s confession was surprising: “Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin’” (2 Sam 12:13). After all of Nathan’s passionate speech and God’s denunciation of David’s sins, Nathan’s response was quite unexpected. I would not have been surprised if Nathan said that it was already too late and that God had already abandoned him like his predecessor Saul. David would have readily accepted if this were God’s punishment for him. After all, he knew that he had sinned against God big time.

David did not even ask for forgiveness. He only confessed what is truth and what both God and Nathan already knew. Then he was forgiven just like that. The immediacy and unexpected forgiveness that happened to David was precisely what happened to Jacob and Isaiah as well. Jacob asked the man of God to bless him, but the man asked him, “What is your name?” (Gen 32:27). This sounds like a simple question, but it was actually a question that deals with the core of Jacob’s identity. Jacob means “deceiver,” and the man of God wanted him to admit who he is, a deceiver who victimized his own family: his brother Esau, his father Isaac and his brother-in-law Laban. When Jacob said his name and therefore admitted his faults, the man responded: “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel (Gen 32:28). The story of Isaiah in the presence of the holy Lord narrates the same confession-forgiveness sequence.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:5-7, NIV)

In relation to what we are required to do, does God’s forgiveness sound cheap? I am grateful that it is. Otherwise, no one can afford it. I am grateful that God’s forgiveness is just a prayer away, that a contrite heart is all that God wants, that confession of what He already knows is enough, and that God is willing to restore me in His loving embrace. This was what the apostle John wrote about much later: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The whole point of Nathan’s fiery charge against David was not to punish him, but to bring him to his senses. God confronted David not for him to be left feeling extremely guilty and ashamed.

We can find parallels between our lives and that of David. We all have faults (plural). David may have struggled with lust, but others might be struggling with food, desire for attention, and other things. Everyone has weaknesses and vulnerabilities. We may be strong against naked men or women, but we may be weak regarding gossiping, judgmentalism, slander, apathy and other attitudes that destroy other people. The good news is that people who have faults can receive forgiveness. God’s healing, restoring grace is available for those who are willing to face God with the same painful honesty about ourselves. This is the greatest step towards a rebuilt life.


(This is the third manuscript in the New Beginning sermon series. The first and second are also available in this blog.)