I don’t like David.
I mean, yeah, he was a man after God’s own heart. He was courageous. He was virtuous. He was a just king. But those facts make me more confused about his life.
Why does a man after God’s own heart, a heart of love and compassion, a heart that says “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," repeatedly ask for his enemies to be destroyed and their wives and children be wiped from the earth?
Why does a man who was so courageous run like a coward when his own son, Absolam, threatens his God given throne?
Why does a virtuous man look the other way when one of his sons rapes one of his daughters, refusing to do anything about it?
Why does a just king send an innocent warrior to certain death just to cover up his own infidelity?
I know David was human. I know he was a sinful man just like everyone else. I just can’t help but think he got off easy. Bathsheba, the woman he literally killed for, ended up giving him the wisest and wealthiest king the world has ever seen in Solomon. His 51st Psalm of repentance is almost always the first rebuttal when his sins are mentioned. He definitely had his hard times, but he is mostly seen as the righteous and lovable underdog, the good ole boy on whom God bestowed his favor.
I wonder what Uriah’s family would have to say about David. I’m sure Tamar, his daughter whom he failed to protect, would not speak so highly of him.
David was forgiven. Forgiveness is great, but what about those he hurt? What about those who had been wronged? Where is the justice on the other side of forgiveness?
That is what is so crazy about grace. Jesus forgives the sins of others whether we do or not. He doesn’t consult the offended to determine grace. He just gives it.
Think about that for a moment.
It’s like someone walking up to you, punching you as hard as they can in the face, and then some third party coming up and saying to that person who punched you, “You’re forgiven. Go in peace and sin no more.”
That’s one reason why Jesus couldn’t just be a man. Jesus forgave people’s sins that wouldn’t have been his to forgive if he was not God. We read the Bible and see when Jesus did those things and we think nothing of it. However, if you put yourself in that situation, you can see that even people who didn’t like Jesus understood his authority in those circumstances. It's hard to wrap my head around that.
Anyway, let's get back to David. I still don’t like him. I’m learning, though, that in a way I am him.
I am courageous and a coward.
I am virtuous and sinful.
I am a child of God but still living in the flesh.
I think to all the times I've screwed up in life, and all the people I've hurt along the way. I'm sure there are quite a few folks who think about me the same way some folks must have thought about David. "How could God forgive him after what he did to me?"
In the story of David we find a beautiful picture of the new covenant. What makes David’s story so incredible is that it isn’t about his actions, good or bad. It isn’t about anything that he did. It is that He had an intimate relationship with God, and God forgave him.
It’s the same way with us. Our story isn’t about our actions. Our story is about what Christ did for us. He gave us grace and took our punishment. He made a way for a relationship with us. He died so that we could be forgiven.
The justice that my heart longs for when I think of Tamar or Uriah's family is the exact justice from which I'm rescued through God's forgiveness.
Grace can be frustrating when its for others. Grace is awesome when it's for ourselves.
My feelings of dislike toward David have reminded me of the most beautiful thing about Grace.
It isn't fair.
