|
|
|
December 2008 A word
After the Philistines killed Saul and Jonathan, David’s opponents did not have strong leadership. The southern tribes had already proclaimed him as king in Hebron, and he ruled from there for seven-and-a-half years Finally, all the elders of Israel came to David at Hebron; he made a covenant with them before Yahweh; and they anointed him king over Israel (5:3). Scripture describes David as a handsome man, an accomplished musician, a great warrior, and a decisive and ruthless leader. David believed he was doing only what God wanted him to do. For David, serving God, building a kingdom, and satisfying personal ambition were all one and the same. Second Samuel tells the story of David’s monarchy in terms of both his achievements and his troubles. The Israelites had abandoned the Ark of the Covenant in a field, and they were all afraid to touch it. Where they saw a dilemma, David saw an opportunity. He brought the Ark to Jerusalem and installed it there amidst ecstatic singing and dancing (ch. 6). By this act, he had brought together three powerful symbols of Yahweh: the Ark, himself as the anointed king, and the City of God. It had been more than 100 years since the Israelites had lived in tents in the desert. So, David came up with the idea of building a permanent house for God (a temple) in which the Ark could be placed. He consulted with Nathan, the prophet, about this and initially received a positive answer, but after much prayer, Nathan asked David on God’s behalf, “Are you to build me a house to dwell in?” (7:5). Nathan continued to explain that God had never asked anyone to build him a house. Instead, He would build David’s household into an everlasting kingdom. “Your family and your kingdom will be established forever in my sight; your throne will endure for all time” (7:16). God’s largesse, not David’s, would prevail. This promise was unilateral. There was no, “if you keep my commandments,” as there was in the Covenant at Mt. Sinai. Also, this promise assumed that, if a person claimed to be a faithful Israelite, he or she must submit to the king’s authority. This was the foundation of a “royal theology.” The answer to the question, “Who are we?” would be answered increasingly by, “We are the people whose God made an everlasting covenant with David,” in place of, “We are the people God brought up out of slavery in Egypt.” Anointed kings of David’s line came and went, and an attitude began to develop that, some day, God would provide a messiah who would establish God’s true kingdom of justice and peace. Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified and risen Christ, is the fulfillment of that promise in a way no one expected. David’s response to Nathan’s words was a prayer of heartfelt gratitude. “Lord God, you are great. There is none like you; there is no God but you. … Now, Yahweh God, perform for all time what you have promised for your servant and his house; make good what you have promised” The other great things David accomplished were military in nature. He decisively conquered the Philistines and expanded Israel’s kingdom beyond the Euphrates River to include most of Syria. He also subjugated most of Jordan and made a very profitable alliance with Hiram, the king of Tyre and Sidon, in Lebanon. “Yahweh gave David victory wherever he went” (8:14). Today, Zionists believe this large area still belongs to Israel. David’s “troubles” began in lust, continued in rebellion by one of his sons, and concluded only with his death as a feeble old man. While basking on the roof of his palace one evening, David saw a beautiful woman named Bathsheba bathing on her roof. He summoned her and bedded her, knowing she was the wife of Uriah, a loyal officer in his army. Uriah was not home because he was engaged in a battle on the frontier. Later, Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant. David’s first thought was to get Uriah home so that the baby would seem to be his. He brought Uriah back to Jerusalem, gave him a present, and told him, “Go down to your house and wash your feet (a euphemism for genitals)” (11:8). But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept at the palace gate, since he was on duty and his men were encamped in tents. David was frustrated and gave a banquet where the food, wine, and courtiers overflowed. Still Uriah would not go home. Consequently, David felt driven to an extreme act he would have preferred to avoid. He sent Uriah back to the battle with a sealed note saying that his commander should put him in a vulnerable place, withdraw the other troops from around him, and leave him to his fate. Sure enough, Uriah died in battle and David was relieved. Bathsheba became part of his harem. Yahweh sent Nathan, the prophet, to David (ch. 12). He told David a story about a rich man who wanted to entertain some guests, but instead of providing a lamb from his own great herd, he took the only lamb from a poor man who thought of the lamb as his daughter. The rich man slaughtered the lamb for the feast. David was outraged and said the rich man ought to die. Nathan pointed to David and said, “You are the man!” (12:7). He pointed out that David had a large harem, and Uriah had only one wife whom he loved. After this, the boy whom David and Bathsheba had conceived died at God’s command. David humbly repented and, according to tradition, wrote Psalm 51, which we use in the Penitential Order on Ash Wednesday. Even the great David was a sinner like us. David’s other big trouble was his large family. He seemed to be a permissive parent who could not bring himself to confront his children. One of his sons, Amnon, raped his own half-sister, and when her brother, Absalom, found out about it, he killed Amnon for it. Absalom avoided David’s anger by staying away from his father for three months. Eventually David longed to see Absalom, and Absalom agreed to come home. For two years, they lived near each other, but David would not allow Absalom into his presence. So, Absalom bought the loyalty of many people and attacked his father in his palace. Fear of his own son caused David and some loyal followers to flee to a place beyond the Jordan River. Absalom pursued David and died in the pitched battle that ensued. David had given specific instructions that his solders were not to kill Absalom. When he heard of Absalom’s death, he went into deep mourning, would not speak to anyone, and kept crying out, “O, my son! Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son” (18:33). Joab, the king’s violent general, approached David and exclaimed that it was a wonder David had any friends left because he had ignored all those who had protected his life and could think only about his enemy who gladly would have killed him. After David recovered from his grief, he decided that he should take a census of the people for tax and military purposes. Some of his subjects thought the census was intrusive and rebelled. God agreed with them and confronted the king’s presumption. Walter Brueggemann writes, “The census is the long, ruthless arm of the military state intruding into tribal and village life. … It is not a benign act of counting but an act of bureaucratic terrorism.” David repented, and God stayed his punishment. The author of 1 Kings describes the final days of King David. He was old, weak, and cold. His caregivers placed a beautiful young virgin in bed with him to keep him warm. They didn’t have sex, but even she could not keep him warm. David weakened and died like everyone else.
|
|
econd Samuel describes David’s rise to power and reign in a manner that is quite plausible without reference to divine intervention. We can grasp the human motives and causality that are familiar to us. It is a human story. At the same time, we are to understand it as a story of God’s work behind the scenes to bring about His purpose (ch. 2). Israel knew that David was thoroughly human, and his kingship was not intrinsically sacred.