Tag: David

Posted on

Kings and Prophets – The Sin of David

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to David: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul… I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?” 2 Samuel 12:7-9

Even though King David was a great king, he was still a human king. He ruled over Israel for forty years, and eventually he messed up, and messed up bad. While his army was away defending the country, he decided to take the wife of one of his soldiers. Her name was Bathsheba. When she became pregnant, David arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed in battle.            

David had become greedy and prideful. He was the most powerful and privileged person in the entire country, and he decided to abuse that power and privilege to satisfy his own desires. What is crazy about this story is not just David’s greed and evil actions, but the way God responds. God says, “if everything you had was too little, I would have given you even more.” God is disgusted by the evil he has committed against Uriah and Bathsheba, but God is also offended that David was not satisfied with everything already given to him.

David’s lack of gratitude is underscored in the story by the name of the prophet sent to correct his actions. When David took Bathsheba from Uriah, God sent the Prophet Nathan to set him straight. Nathan’s name literally means “he has given.” So David is reminded of God’s generosity whenever he says the name “Nathan.”

David committed theft and murder against the people of his kingdom, and David also spurned God’s generosity and abused God’s goodness. What we learn from this story is that every sin committed against other people is also committed against God. Our Heavenly Father takes our sin personally. To be faithful disciples, we must spend time reflecting on our own sin and confessing it to our God who is eager to forgive us.

Posted on

Conquest and Judges – Ruth and Naomi

But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried…” Ruth 2:16-17

Some of the most popular jokes in movies and on tv are about in-laws. Frustrations about in-laws in general are a common theme from shows like Modern Family and Everybody Loves Raymond, and movies like Monster-in-Law and Meet the Parents. Relatives are always a challenge, but even more so when they are not blood related. 

For this reason, it’s interesting that this passage is actually most often used in wedding ceremonies, the process through which families are united and in-laws created.

In the story, Naomi, a Hebrew, is the mother-in-law to both Ruth and Orpah who are Moabites. After the death of all three women’s husbands, Naomi begs her daughters-in-law to leave her and find new husbands. They were not born into the Hebrew clan, and they are young enough to start their lives over somewhere else rather easily. Orpah departs, but Ruth decides to stay. She selflessly vows to live with Naomi, travel with her, worship with her, and remain faithful to her God and people for the rest of her life. 

Ruth goes on to marry one of Naomi’s relatives in order to restore her claim on the family land. She even has a child with her new husband, Boaz, whom they named Obed. The baby grows up to become grandfather to King David. The book of Ruth is a story of conversion. It’s unique because it shows how foreigners joined the family of Abraham, and even contributed to the bloodline of kings.

Ruth and Naomi understood the selfless love of God. They worked for one-another and not their own personal interests, and together they triumphed. It is a selfless love which we are all called to model as people redeemed by God through Christ. Naomi and Ruth’s generous actions became the seed from which the Tree of Jesse flourished to bear the fruit of King David, ancestor of Jesus Christ. May all of our selfless actions give birth to something beautiful as we see the family of God grow.