Pentecost +9, thoughts going in, Sunday July 26th 2015

2Samuel 11:1-17 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite." 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." 6 So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house. 10 David was told, "Uriah did not go home." So he asked Uriah, "Haven't you just come from a military campaign? Why didn't you go home?" 11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" 12 Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." 16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

            There are several well-known, almost iconic, episodes in the life and times of King David. The encounter with the giant Goliath is one of them. This week, in the David Saga Pt 8 we encounter another one:  the episode of David and Bathsheba. This week’s lesson could be subtitled: Anatomy of a sin. In fact, I’ve even taken the liberty of replacing the lectionary’s second reading of the day with the following from the book of James: When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each of you is tempted when you are dragged away by your own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters (James 1:13-16).

            With the lens of James 1 in mind, it’s interesting to dissect this week’s story from 2Samuel 11. Verse 1 sets the stage: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army...but David remained in Jerusalem. David wasn’t where he was supposed to be. David should have been with the troops. Indeed, even a casual reading of the life of David up to this point reveals that David’s customary place is with his troops when there’s a battle to be fought. The old saying comes to mind idle hands are the devil’s workshop. The horrible spiral of 2Samuel 11 and James 1 begins because David has neglected his duty; he finds himself at home with time on his hands.

            Up until vs 4 the story doesn’t specifically indicate that David has committed a sin. David sees Bathsheba bathing, but she is doing nothing wrong; she is in the confines of her own house; David views her from the vantage point of the elevation of his roof. It could well have been one of those chance things; unplanned; unable to prevent. Was STEP 1 of David’s sin LUST or romantic attraction? Given the degree of cover-up that occurs in the story, it seems safe to say that it was lust.

However, even David’s inquiry about her (v3) could be innocent enough. David seemed attracted to her; he had multiple wives; if she were available, why not marry her too? But vs 3b should have put an end to the question: She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. The text doesn’t tell us much about Uriah, but evidently he was a convert to belief in Yahweh. One wonders if this episode would’ve played out the same way had Bathsheba been the wife of a fellow Judahite tribesman. Perhaps STEP 2 in David’s sin was PREJUDICE; or DISRESPECT; a diminished attitude regarding Uriah based on the fact that he was an outsider; not a real person; or not a full member of society. Regardless, in the words of James 1 David is tempted when he is dragged away by his own evil desire (“lust” in the KJV) and enticed. The word “enticed” means to be baited into doing something; to be trapped by guile or deceit; only in this sense, the guile/deceit is one’s own lust. The picture James paints is of the proverbial mouse who has been caught in a trap containing his own cheese. David has a split second to decide what to do with the information she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

STEP 3 of David’s sin: the act itself. In vs 4 David sent messengers to get her. In the words of James 1:15, desire (“lust”) has now conceived. The word translated “conceived” actually has much stronger connotations: to take hold of; to seize, or capture. David has allowed his desire to capture him; to seize him; to take hold of him, and he commits adultery. This is the James 15 part: it gives birth to sin. Had the sin not produced a child, it’s difficult to say how this story would have gone, but there’s a clear domino effect. James 1:15 is like the old Lays potato chip commercial: you can’t stop at just one. Had the situation remained under cover, David may have had repeated liaisons with Bathsheba. In that sense, once conceived, his desires/lusts would’ve given birth to multiple sins. As it is, that’s exactly what happened.

STEP 4:  the attempted cover-up by more sins. As the story unfolds, David sends for Uriah the Hittite under false pretenses. David attempts to cover up his sin by given Uriah leave to go home and wash his feet (vs 8, a euphemism for ‘have a conjugal visit’). When James 1:15b says: and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death, “death” will be tragically literal in this story, but let’s also not lose sight of all of the little deaths that occur along the way: the death of David’s honor as commander and king; the death of Uriah’s innocence, devotion, and valor; the death of proper relationships between David and the others in this story; the death of Joab’s innocence and integrity (Joab may not have known why the king was having Uriah killed in battle, but he surely knew that he is being used as a pawn in a royal plot, v15).

STEP 5 others getting hurt: And then finally we get to the real deaths… of Uriah, and even of other brave soldiers needlessly sacrificed in order to fulfil the larger plot of getting Uriah killed (v17). Perhaps the final death--something that will become more obvious in next week’s reading--is the death of David’s fellowship with God.

The James reading ends with this warning: don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters (v16). In other words, James is saying THIS IS THE WAY IT ALWAYS WORKS. There is no happy ending to sin. And even though today’s story in 2Samuel ends with David seemingly getting away with it, it’s not over yet. The ‘lessons’ of the David Saga Pt 8 are all about pride; and self-awareness. In terms of “spirituality,” we’re hard-pressed to find an Old Testament figure in a closer relationship to God than David. And yet, David proves himself to be human; capable of the same weaknesses, and more, as the rest of us. He deceived himself. He told himself the same lie we’ve told ourselves countless times…. I can do this thing, and it will be ok. No, you can’t. And it won’t. Something will die… maybe not a person… but sin always kills fellowship with God.

Cheers,

T.M.