Hi friends! Welcome to another day of study. This is the big downfall day for David with the story of Bathsheba. This helps explain why so many of David's psalms are lament psalms. This story also is the reason I struggle with David so much in general. I do not think he is an enviable messiah character. I wish I understood the obsession with him. What about David do you like? Help me see what I'm missing here, haha!
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about humanity? (this is a good one today)
What part about this do you struggle with? What do you find encouraging?
- My Thoughts -
Oh man, this story. David you naughty boi. I wonder why David was able to do this. Did power go to his head like Saul? Was he just lustful that night? Was he so numb to life and death after killing tens of thousands of people that Uriah was just another man? Why was God so offended by David coveting another man's wife but God seemed to care little about the whole "do not murder" thing? I have so many questions. However, it was upon reading it this time that I finally noticed something that has been staring right back at me this entire time. Uriah. Uriah the Hittite. Uriah is a foreigner living among them. What have we seen for the last 6 books? God commands that hospitality be extended to foreigners and that foreigners may not be equal, but must always be treated fairly. David's coveting of Uriah's wife wasn't the crime, David's murder's weren't the crime, it was David's exploitation of a foreign man's right to hospitality that was the crime. Maybe because David was stuck in his ivory tower and not alongside the soldiers the distance between he and the foreigner made him no longer see him as equal. Who knows.
How do we see this in action today? We see this when white flight happens as minority families move into neighborhoods. We see this when city schools are underfunded. We see this when our elected officials are all white and all men. It's when the board of directors at largest companies are all men, and all white. Within the church, we see this when white, straight, male pastors are the highest paid while anyone else takes a substancial pay cut. If we want to be biblically minded we should be voting for more diverse representation, we should be demanding our work places be more diverse, we should consider our next home to be in a more diverse neighborhood. I hope the next pastor that replaces me here at Chagrin is a black pastor, I think their gifts would not only be embraced by our community but would be an asset greater than we could even imagine.
Prayer:
God, while I am eternally grateful that you forgive my many sins, help lead me each day on the path of righteousness and grace. Help me to avoid the temptations that will surely come my way. I do not want to break your heart, for by breaking your heart I only break my own. In your most holy name I pray, Amen.