31 January 2014 - broken hallelujah

31 January 2014 - broken hallelujah

David, however, remained in Jerusalem.

This is where we first notice something is amiss.  Before David looks on a woman in lust and before he has her husband killed in envy there are already warning signs that something is wrong in the heart of this king.  This is after all the time of year "when kings go out on campaign". 

As king, David is supposed to be a blessing to his people.  In this sense he is supposed to serve more than to be served.  He is supposed to be a figure around whom Israel can unite and rally.  Why does he initially hang back?  Is it sloth?  Lack of fortitude?  Fear?  Yet any of these failings would indicate that David forgets who he is.  He forgets that he is the LORD's anointed.  He forgets the Holy Spirit who rushes upon him.  He tries to twist the kingship to make it about himself rather than about the nation. 

If David embraced the mission God had for him he would have avoided the temptations of idleness.  Without God's power to give him purpose there is nothing to prevent sin from pulling David in all directions.  God's power is meant to give David unity within himself so that he can manifest that sense of direction for Israel.  They in turn can rally around it.

Trusting in God's purpose for us is what it means to have faith.  And by the disasters that spring up in its absence we get some sense of just how important it is.

It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

To stay behind from his army may seem like a small omission but it is not.  David should be shade for his people but in this instance he fails.  He exposes his people to the harsh noonday sun.  Uriah and Bathsheba both pay a price for this as do "some officers of David's army".  It is no small thing after all.  It is what happens when the mustard seed is missing.
But David's failure can give us encouragement.  David is a man after God's own heart and God does not abandon him.  God is rich in mercy. All that he requires of David to wipe away this sin is acknowledgement of guilt, which David does in today's psalm.  He writes it "when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba."

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.

Ultimately God does let David "hear the sounds of joy and gladness" and the bones he crushed do rejoice again when God turns his face from the sins of David and blots out all his guilt.

The power of the kingdom seems small.  It is in many ways the sprouting and growing of seeds that happens beyond the world we can see.  But the absence of it can be profoundly felt as we can see.  We should imagine, then, how great a difference its presence can make.  If we have shunned the offer of this grace let us learn from David and repent sincerely that our bones too may rejoice.