King David

         
            In the wake of the success of faith-based movies like God's Not Dead and Heaven is for Real, and, specifically, a resurgence in the popularity of Bible-based films such as Noah, Son of God and Exodus: Gods and Kings, Hollywood has announced the development of a movie based on the life of David. The Warner Brothers film is to be an adaptation of David: The Divided Heart, a book by David Wolpe, rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California.

Wolpe's book, in the words of the summary on Amazon.com, "is a fascinating portrait of an exceptional human being who, despite his many flaws, was truly beloved by God." It is easy to see moviegoers flocking to theaters to see him brought to life on the big screen. David's story contains elements that are Hollywood gold.

 Part of the story is a rags-to-riches tale of the youngest, almost forgotten, son who is plucked from the obscurity of tending his father's sheep to be the next king of Israel.

 It contains the Rocky-like underdog story of a boy defeating a giant with a single stone.

There are battle scenes to be staged with swords and shields. There are elements of strategy, intrigue and even a betrayal or two.

More than a warrior, David is also a poet, musician and songwriter, who, while waiting for his coronation, soothes then-King Saul with his music between battles.

There are also elements of a buddy-movie in David's relationship with Saul's son, Jonathan.

Casting for this movie tentatively titled King David should also be fun. The Bible tells us David was "ruddy and handsome," more Hollywood gold. The hot part, though, included in today's Scripture lesson, will no doubt be one of the scenes in the trailer, because nothing sells quite like sex. Many who know little of the Bible are familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba. While this scene in the story contains the steamy parts that sell movie tickets, it is not a story of forbidden love, but a cautionary tale about the abuse of power.

 The author of II Samuel sets the scene for II Samuel 11:1-15 with a glimpse into David's mindset at this period in his life. He does not tell us about David's home life, his family or even his reputation as a remarkable public servant. Instead, the story opens, "In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem" (v. 1).

As we might say summer is baseball season or beach season, David and his people have come to view spring as "war season." Battles have become so common, it seems that every spring David is sending "all of Israel" out to fight someone somewhere. This time, however, David does not join his commanders in battle. Has he become slothful? Has he become prideful?

This fulfills the warning God gave to the Israelites back in I Samuel when they begged Samuel for a king other than God so they could be just like every other nation. Samuel shared with them the words of the Lord about what a king would do, which included "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots" (I Samuel 8:11).

Once again, the people are noticing that God and Samuel were right. Having a king is not all it was cracked up to be. David, it seems, has fully transformed from shepherd and servant to a king like all the others.

To illustrate the point, we now read of his "relationship" with Bathsheba.

Make no mistake about it; this is not a Nicholas Sparks romance novel. This is not about sparks flying or instant chemistry. No, this is about a man of privilege taking advantage -- because he can.

Thus, the story of David holds an ambiguous and puzzling place in the massive history of Israel that we read in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, a story that connects the time of the Patriarchs and Moses on the one hand with the exile on the other hand. That history shows the disobedience of Israel, and especially its kings, as they broke their covenant with God. The height of that covenant was the Ten Commandments. The kings broke the commandments. The power of the story of David is that the most successful king militarily and politically, the king who sought direction from God, also dramatically broke covenant with God and with Israel.

David sees Bathsheba on the roof of her house. Filled with lust and drunk with power, David sends for her so that he can have sex with her.

Some readers of this story suggest that Bathsheba was complicit in this. They suggest she went up on the roof that day knowing David was watching, and therefore engaged in some kind of seduction. The text does not suggest this. Quite the opposite is true. David takes Bathsheba against her will. David sends his servant "to get" her. The Hebrew word is actually better translated "to take" her. Bathsheba, a woman married to a foreigner, certainly did not have the power in that ancient culture to refuse the advances of the king. Thus, David breaks the commandment against committing adultery and that you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor.

When David is done with her, she returns to her home, and that appears to be that. Until, that is, Bathsheba utters the only three words she says in the entire story, "I am pregnant." Now, David has a problem.

His solution is a cover-up that quickly spirals out of control. Abusing his power again, David calls Bathsheba's husband home from battle. He hopes they will spend a night together, alleviating suspicion when Bathsheba has a child eight or nine months later.

What David does not count on, though, is that Uriah the Hittite, a foreigner fighting in David's army, is far more loyal and moral than the warrior king of Israel. Uriah refuses to enjoy the comforts of home while his platoon is out on the battlefield. He has a sense of unity with his fellow soldiers that he refuses to betray.

David abuses his power one more time, giving orders that are certain to have Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, killed in battle. If we were to continue reading a few verses beyond where the lesson stops, we would learn that the Ammonites killed Uriah just as David planned. David has broken the command not to kill.

David does not do this because he is in love; he does it because he is in trouble. This murder is a cover-up. David goes through all of these machinations so that he may hide his sin and maintain his reputation and power.

David, the former shepherd, is now King David. He could have used his power to influence people toward liberation and healing. Instead, he sends his people into a battle he does not deem important to attend himself. He uses Bathsheba for his pleasure and sends her away when he is through. Eventually, he uses his commanders to put Uriah in a vulnerable position that not only gets Uriah killed, but other soldiers as well (11:24).

Hollywood may romanticize the affair of David and Bathsheba, but it is actually the story of one who has allowed his status to affect his judgment. David has lost sight of the value of other people. He sees other people as means to his ends. He has come to view people as objects, and disposable ones at that.

His behavior is deplorable on so many levels.

Fifty shades of David, you might say.

 

            You may think reading the story of David, because you are not king. Yet, if we reflect upon it, the story of David reads our culture – and it may well read us. You have influence upon others. You can also abuse the influence or power you have. To use another Old Testament image, we are moving toward the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.

This blog has its basis in Homiletics, a preaching magazine.