I’m trying to put together a Bible study on David and I am frustrated. The resources only tell half the story, the happy half. David was a man after God’s own heart. David was a mighty warrior, the founder of a dynasty, and the ancestor of God’s Messiah. He was the husband of many beautiful wives (polygamy was not unusual then), killed a lot of Philistines, and wrote a lot of Psalms. Everyone who met David was charmed by him and would do anything for him. That’s a good quality for a king to have.
That’s not all David does. The happy stuff starts in 1 Samuel and stops at 2 Samuel 10, although 2 Samuel goes all the way out to chapter 24. In 2 Samuel 11, David had an affair with another man’s wife, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed. Nathan the prophet called David out. He said that because of David’s sin, the baby from his affair would die. We’ve been led to believe that is some kind of justice, but why should the baby die for something his parents did?
David’s affair with Bathsheba was the beginning of a long unraveling. David’s son, Amnon, ambushed and raped his half-sister Tamar. Did Amnon think it was OK, given what his father did? Absalom, Amnon’s half-brother and Tamar’s full-brother, waited for the right moment and killed Amnon. David and Absalom finally reconciled, but Absalom had bigger plans. He led a rebellion that drove David out of Jerusalem. David’s warriors and Absalom’s warriors fought and David’s side won. Despite being given orders to spare Absalom’s life, Absalom was killed by Joab, David’s military commander. David was devastated by Absalom’s death. The long chain of consequences from David’s affair played out to this end.
I am not saying this narrative should be all we remember about David. I am not saying that these events negate anything good David did. I am saying that these stories never enter the popular understanding of David, but they are right there in scripture with everything else David did.
My friend Katie recently preached a sermon on Jonah. In talking with her as she prepared, she said the popular understanding of Jonah stops after the fish spits Jonah up on shore. But there’s more story. We’re stuck in a elementary school understanding of Jonah. I think we’re stuck in an elementary school understanding of Jonah, David, and many more biblical narratives. How can we claim the Bible when we don’t read what’s there? How can this book shape us when we insist on understanding it as it was presented to us in elementary school? Adults are better served by embracing the complete picture.
David is both example and cautionary tale, a story about how someone can climb so high and fall so far. I want to lead a Bible study that gives both parts their due. I hope we can have a church that wants to learn from both.
That’s what I’m wrestling with at the Jabbok Ford.
The Feral Deacon 