God said that King David was a person “whose heart
beats to My heart, a man who will do what I tell him” (Acts 13:22 Message). Yet
if we take into account David’s failures this may seem an odd thing to say
about him. For example he,[1]
- Committed
adultery, told lies and murdered: 1 Sam 11-12
- Took a tally of
the people of Israel in defiance to God and it cost the lives of 70,000: 1 Sam
24
- Was not
permitted to build the temple since he was a “man who shed blood”: 1 Chron
28:1-3
- His own family
was dysfunctional: 2 Sam 13-18
It is the first
area mentioned above that I would like to examine here. In Psalm 51 we read
about David struggling with and repenting of sin. The context of this Psalm is
found in 2 Samuel 11-12. Here David was involved in the sins of adultery (2 Sam
11:2-4), deceit (2 Sam 11:6-13) and murder (2 Sam 11:14-17). However, David’s
problems went back further than this incident. Notice (in 2 Sam 11:1,2) that
“...at the time when kings go out to war, that David sent Joab... Then it happened one
evening”. So, David sent Joab to do the king’s work instead of going himself.
In not fulfilling his responsibility as king, he left the door open for sin to
enter, and enter it did. He tried to sweep it under the carpet. So, God sent His
Word through the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 12:1-14). Through this confrontation
David repented and was restored in his relationship with God. Hence David wrote
Psalm 51.
There are some important lessons that we can learn
from this incident, but I will only deal with two here. Firstly, Bathsheba,
Uriah, the baby, Israel, and David himself were hurt. However, there was
another who was hurt first. Read the following:
· “Why have you
despised the Commandment of the Lord”: 2 Sam 12:9
· “Because you
have despised Me (God)”: 2 Sam 12:10
“I have sinned
against the Lord”: 2 Sam 12:13
“Against you,
You only have I sinned”: Psalm 51:4
He did sin
against others as pointed out earlier, but primarily he sinned against
God.
Secondly, David
set things right with the Lord first. He repented to the Lord first and
foremost (2 Sam 12:13; Psalm 51). It was after this that David attempted to set
things right with others. On a side note, the split of Israel can be traced to
this very event. It was due to the marriage to Bathsheba that Solomon was born
(2 Sam 12:24). Then Solomon had a son Rehoboam who reigned as king after him (1
Kings 11:43). But Jeroboam revolted against him and Israel was split between
the two of them (1 Kings 12).
In light of
what we have seen here we need to realise that when we sin we primarily sin
against the Lord. Although others and we can get hurt, it is the Lord that we
hurt first. Therefore, start by getting things right with Him.
We are people whose hearts beat to His heart;
people who will do what He tells us.
[1] “David - A Man After God’s Own Heart.” http://michaelross-watson.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/david-man-after-gods-own-heart.html
(19th May 2016).
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