Sex and the City of David
By: Dr. Gregory S. Neal
"It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”" (2 Samuel 11:2-5)
This is one of those strange Biblical stories that makes you go “hmmmm.” It sounds modern, like something that you might expect to see in the news or in the tabloid media. It’s a story of the failure of a very powerful man, a man who did something he shouldn’t have done, who got caught doing it, and when he tried to cover it up, each step he took kept making things worse. This powerful man was King David.
David is one of greatest the heroes of the Hebrew people. Indeed, considered alongside Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Joshua, David is often viewed as being one of the most influential personalities in the Biblical world. Being among those great heroes, you really don’t expect to see bad news about him; and yet, as with all the others, the Bible contains accounts of not only his heroic successes, but also of his human failings.
Even though he was a poor shepherd boy, David was chosen by God to be King over Israel; he killed Goliath, brought victory over the Philistines, played the lyre for King Saul, and eventually succeeded Saul as King over Israel. All of this, and more, can be read about in the Bible; his greatest personal failure is also written in the Bible for us to read and experience in all its embarrassing detail. To summarize the story, King David’s next-door neighbor, Uriah, was away from Jerusalem, serving with his armies at war; while Uriah was gone, David spied on, invited over, and had sex with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, making her pregnant in the process. To hide the consequence of his dalliance, David first recalled Uriah to Jerusalem, ostensibly to report on the progress of the battle but really so that Uriah would have an opportunity to spend time with his wife; the result would have been that Bathsheba’s baby would have been considered Uriah’s child, and nobody would have been the wiser. Unfortunately, Uriah refused to sleep with his wife and thereby provide the cover David needed. So, David sent Uriah back to war with orders for the commanding general to place Uriah at the forefront of the battle, and then abandon him to die at the hands of their enemies. As a result, Uriah was killed and David was free to have Bathsheba for himself. If it hadn’t been for the prophet Nathan, David may have gotten away with his scheme; Nathan, however, confronted him about it and called on him to repent, which David did.
This failure on David’s part followed him for the rest of his life; he couldn’t escape its consequences, no matter how hard he tried. But he did repent; he confessed his failure, accepted God’s judgement, and vowed to change. In my opinion, herein lies the reason why this story is in the Bible: it illustrates the amazing depths of God’s grace in not only forgiving David, but also in continuing to strive with and work through him. God didn't just dump David; God didn’t push him aside; God didn’t toss David into the outer darkness, where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. No, God didn't do any of that. Instead, God continued to work with and through David! Even despite David’s failings, God struggled with him, repeatedly forgave him, and through his descendants would eventually establish the messianic line that led to Jesus.
The good news, my siblings, is that God sees past our flaws and failings, our weaknesses and sins, our messes and mistakes to the potential best that we have within us. God sees past all our negatives, believes in us more than we believe in ourselves, forgives our messes, and works in and through us to nurture and grow the Family of God.
Yes, in God’s response to David’s greatest failure we find amazing hope for ourselves.David messed up in a big way – David’s sin has been publicly exposed in the pages of the Bible for more than 3000 years – and yet God still worked through and with him to build the Kingdom of Israel. Most of us will never fail so tragically, nor will our sins be exposed so publicly that it continues to echo across thousands of years; we fail, we take missteps, we make our own messes, and we will try to cover them up if we can, but just as God forgave David, God will also forgive us. God still has grace for, and still works with, us; God sees past our failings to the hope of our faith. That's good news!
That's the Good News which the church proclaims in Jesus: because of the love of God, as demonstrated through the life-giving presence of Jesus, God still works with us, forgiving us, transforming us, enabling us to be children of the Holy Creator of this incredible universe. Hear this story of David’s failure and find in it a hint of God’s grace. Through this story, be reminded that, even though this great hero of the Scriptures messed up so tragically, God still loved him. If that was true for David, then certainly that can be true for us. No matter how much we fail, God still loves us and is willing to work with and through us.
© 2022, Dr. Gregory S. Neal
All Rights Reserved
The Reverend Dr. Gregory S. Neal is the Senior Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa, and an ordained Elder of the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Duke University, and Trinity College, Dr. Neal is a scholar of Systematic Theology, New Testament origins, and Biblical Languages. His areas of specialization include the theology of the sacraments, in which he did his doctoral dissertation, and the formation and early transmission of the New Testament. Trained as a Christian educator, he has taught classes in these and related fields while also serving for more than 30 years as the pastor of United Methodist churches in North Texas.
As a popular teacher, preacher, and retreat leader, Dr. Neal is known for his ability to translate complex theological concepts into common, everyday terms. HIs preaching and teaching ministry is in demand around the world, and much of his work can be found on this website. He is the author of several books, including Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life, which is in its second edition, and Seeking the Shepherd's Arms: Reflections from the Pastoral Side of Life, a work of devotional literature. Both of these books are currently available from Amazon.com.
As a popular teacher, preacher, and retreat leader, Dr. Neal is known for his ability to translate complex theological concepts into common, everyday terms. HIs preaching and teaching ministry is in demand around the world, and much of his work can be found on this website. He is the author of several books, including Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life, which is in its second edition, and Seeking the Shepherd's Arms: Reflections from the Pastoral Side of Life, a work of devotional literature. Both of these books are currently available from Amazon.com.