| ADULTERY AND MURDER |
| The king could do as he pleased - or so he thought. |
| David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!" . . . Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" 12:5, 7 |
| An ancient and enduring tradition teaches that the people on the top make the rules - they don't have to live by them. Lots of leaders in history have followed this course, taking the women they wanted, the money they wanted, the privileges they wanted. Nobody, therefore, challenged David's right to sleep with another man's wife. David saw Bathsheba, lusted for her, and sent for her: as far as we know neither his servants nor Bathsheba lodged a protest. Only when she got pregnant did a problem arise. Then David, who had had no thought of marrying Bathsheba, found himself in a jam. He called her husband, Uriah, home on leave from the army, hoping that Uriah would sleep with his wife and laer be unable to prove the child belonged to another father. Uriah's single-minded devotion to duty spoiled David's plan. David rewarded Uriah with murder. Again, not a word of protest was filed: what the king wanted the king got, no questions asked. The murder of Uriah took other good men with him, but David showed no regrets. He was at his worst: cold as iron, arrogant in his power. After a mourning period, Bathsheba came into his house and he married her. A good many people must have known what had happened - the servants knew, at any rate - but the Bible doesn't report that any of them were displeased. It only says, "The thing David had done displeased he Lord" (11:27). Who Will Challenge the King? Who would have the courage - or the authority - to challenge the king? In most nations, no one. But Israel had this distinctive: its ultimate king was not David, but God. And |
 |