[Note: This is the prepared text for a Bible study given to the Portland congregation of the United Church of God on February 28, 2024.]

When we last discussed the Bible and the problem of historical reputation, we began with a discussion of this time of year as being full of days that honored people, all of whom had bad things that could be said about them that would reduce our respect towards them. After that, we discussed some of the biblical principles relating to the respect that was due to authorities–the sort of authorities that tend to have holidays in their honor. Finally, we discussed the example of Abraham and Paul, two figures that the Bible views as being very much worthy of respect but about whom the Bible reveals details of their lives and behavior that might lead modern people (and might have led people even in the past) to view them negatively. I stopped a bit early before getting into the example of David, and I want to start my study today by explaining a bit why I did so, and why David is such an important example when it comes to historical reputation in the Bible. To put it most briefly, I did not want to begin discussing the problem that David presents in looking at the Bible and historical reputation without being able to explain more fully his story and what it means, because David’s behavior, especially as a king, strikes at the heart of God’s own forgiving nature as well as the costly aspect of repentance in the Bible and also the reasons why our generation struggles to forgive others so much for particular sins relating to abuses of power and authority.

I do not want to dwell at length upon David’s most notable sin, for at least a few reasons, but as David is perhaps the most notable example of someone who sinned mightily but who was also forgiven graciously, it is important for us to consider what aspects of David’s life make him viewed as an example for others to point to when it comes to God’s graciousness to themselves as well as what aspects make David’s sins particularly difficult for some people to forgive. In order to set up this explanation, it will be worthwhile to begin our discussion with a verse that is not in the story of David itself, but which is included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-6. Matthew 1:1-6 reads: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.”

Let us note that there are four women mentioned in these six verses, and all of them have something in common, in that they are all women connected with Gentile backgrounds who professed a faith in God and became a part of the Israel of God, and all of whom had somewhat questionable reputations, yet all were ultimately vindicated by God as being women of good character despite their reputations. Although in many portrayals of David’s sin Bathsheba is blamed as an equal partner of the sin, but others are equally insistent that the position of David as being king made it impossible for there to be any meaningful consent to a king’s request because of the difference of power between them. This is something we all have to be very careful about. One of the reasons why people seek power within institutions–at work, or within other institutions–is in order to get people to be more cooperative because of the coercive power that one has when one is in authority over others, but to the extent that having power makes it more difficult for others to resist one’s coercive power, one may behave unjustly because one’s power makes it harder for other people to say no. While this may be what we want, it may also prevent us from seeing the way that the power we have leads other people to feel taken advantage of, and can often be a cause of a great deal of resentment by those who have been abused by others who were in a position of power and authority. The experience of such abuse, which is very common in our time, makes it harder for people to forgive authorities who abuse their power in this fashion because it strikes so deeply and so personally with our own trauma and suffering in life. Given that David’s sin with Bathsheba was precisely due to the abuse of power and his failure to uphold his responsibilities as king, those who have experienced the abuse of authority in their own lives may be extremely sensitive to David as being a textbook example of someone whom God forgave for their sins, while those in power and may have abused their power see David’s forgiveness as giving them the confidence that they too will be forgiven for their sins just as David was.

For the record, I am not saying that I agree with the idea that the abuse of power is beyond forgiveness, as is the case of some people, but it is a sin that people are especially sensitive to. We have seen, as a matter of fact, that Abraham, Paul, and David all sinned in a way that could be considered to be an abuse of power, and yet God was very gracious and forgiving towards them all. Sarah’s power over her servant Hagar allowed her to claim Hagar’s fertile womb as a surrogate for her own, and then to discipline her harshly when Hagar sought to rise above her place as a mere servant. Similarly, Paul abused the power that had been given to him by the Sanhedrin when he sought to compel Christians to blaspheme against Jesus Christ and subjected them to imprisonment and even lynch mobs such as the one which killed the Stephen the deacon. Some people never forgive Paul for his early sins against the Church of God, long after god had forgiven him. And like Paul suffered for his sins, despite having been forgiven, so too David suffered a great deal as a result of his sin, despite knowing that he had been forgiven. I would like to spend a great deal of time on this point, as it addresses both the tendency that people have to use David as an example of divine grace and the hostility that some people show to God’s forgiveness of David as being too cheap and too easy.

If we want to see what David’s repentance involved, and how it serves as an appropriate example for people who seek to be forgiven for extremely serious sins as David was. Let us begin with David’s reaction to the judgment of God upon his sin. We find this reaction in 2 Samuel 12:1-23. Let us discuss this passage in some detail, as it helps us to understand how it was that David responded to the awareness of his sin and also God’s judgment. First, we find out about how David showed a sensitivity to sin despite what he had done in verses one through six: “Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.  The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.  But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.  And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!  And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Here we see that despite the enormity of David’s sin, he still had a firmly developed moral conscience that burned against those who had committed injustice. Our age likes to pride itself on its elevated view of justice, but as we see here, having a strong degree or moral fervor against those who behave unjustly is no immunity against being a hypocrite or a sinner who has behaved with monstrous injustice, as David did. Those who crusade against injustice may themselves behave incredibly unjustly. Our generation looks down on the founding fathers of the United States because their fight for liberty for themselves and fellow Americans did not lead them to immediately act on injustices against slaves or women, for example, or just treatment to indigenous peoples. Yet the people who consider themselves to be just do not see hatred of white people as racism or hatred of men as sexism, while even the founding fathers of our country saw holding others in slavery as unjust, but did not see how to behave just while remaining in possession of their own liberty and property. Just like the founding fathers, then, and unlike the unjust and blind hypocrites of our own age, David retained a fine moral sense despite his own sin, and thus he was able to provide accurate judgment to himself as a sinner in a way that our own generation does not because of its greater blindness.

What was the response of Nathan the prophet to this? We find out in verses seven through twelve: “Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!  Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.  Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’  Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”

Not many rulers or leaders would appreciate some loud-mouthed prophet rebuking them in this fashion. Indeed, Nathan the prophet’s reply to David is very blunt and direct, and not the way that most leaders and rulers expect to be treated. Yet, even at his lowest moment, David was responsive to rebuke and corrective language and was ready and eager to repent. To the extent that we find people in our contemporary age so eager to repent, we should be as eager to forgive, even if it cuts against the spirit of our present evil age. Rather than punish the prophet Nathan, as a wicked ruler would have done, how is it that David responded to Nathan’s rebuke? we find this out in verses thirteen through the first part of verse fifteen: “So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.  However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”  Then Nathan departed to his house.” Here we see that David repented and did not in any way punish Nathan for having delivered the truth in a less than polite manner. Nor was this a one-time thing.

Let us finish verse fifteen and continue on to verse twenty-three to see how David’s repentance was demonstrated even as the judgment that David pronounced on himself began to come to pass: “And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.  David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.  So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.  Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!” When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.  Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’  But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

We will more to discuss regarding this passage in a future message concerning David’s view of the fate of people after death, but it is important to note that even after David had heard the judgment that his newborn son with Bathsheba was going to die, David still hoped that he would be able, by prayer and fasting, to turn God’s judgment away from his newborn son. Alas, he was not able to do so, but his hope in doing so is enough to demonstrate that David viewed his relationship with God as being strong enough to ask this favor. And when this favor was denied and God continued in his judgment of the child conceived as a result of David’s sin, David accepted the judgment and washed and ate and praised God publicly anyway, despite his sorrow over the loss of his newborn son. David’s response is not at all what we would expect.

We can better understand his response, though, if we look at two psalms that relate to David’s own experience of repenting of sin and of having his sins covered, respectively. David’s heartfelt plea of repentance can be found in Psalm 51:1-19. Psalm 51:1-19 reads: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise. Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.”

It is not without reason that this psalm remains one of the most eloquent examples of the attitude of wholehearted repentance. David did not only go through the motions of making an apology for his sins–he felt the brokenness that resulted from coming to grips with what he had done. He agonized in his soul and saw how his actions endangered his personal relationship with God and his salvation. He sought for God to restore him, to rebuild him in God’s own image. He saw the generational patterns of sin, the larger context of his actions, and did not at all blame God for judgment or seek to justify what he had done. We might disagree that David sinned only against God–he clearly sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah as well–but those sins were also sins against God. Still, David well understood that the exterior mechanics of religion–in his case, that of the sacrificial system–was meaningless unless his heart was made right with God, and after that was the place, he understood accurately that his worship would be pleasing to God, but not until then. We would consider this view of worship to be a New Testament view, recognizing that the heart has to be right with God before the external rituals of worship are acceptable. Given David’s heartfelt repentance, we can understand that David really felt what he had done and understood how it was wrong. How can we deny forgiveness in such a case, when our own forgiveness seldom reaches such levels of insight and recognition?

We see a similar, but less dramatic statement of David’s understanding of God’s graciousness when we look at Psalm 32, a far less often quoted psalm than Psalm 51. Psalm 32:1-11 reads: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”

For the purposes of our discussion today, it is the first part of this psalm that is the most relevant to our discussion today. David understands that none of us are perfect and none of us are righteous, and that the only way we can be righteous in the eyes of God is to have our transgressions forgiven and our iniquities covered. This has a great deal of relevance to the way that we view the iniquities of historical figures. It is very easy for us to condemn those in the past for committing sins that we would not think to commit. It is harder for us to understand that we too are sinners in the eyes of God, and that our self-righteousness does not count for anything. If we looked at the Bible as the source of morality, we would easily see how we fell short of God’s standard in our thinking as well as in our behavior. Since our generation views itself as just and righteous, though, we are disinclined to view others we see as sinners with mercy, not recognizing our own need for mercy. David reminds us that the righteous, those who trust in God (and not themselves) shall be surrounded by mercy, and that we all need that. Similarly, David reminds us as well that we suffer a great deal when we refuse to confess our sins, but that when we confess our sins, we may then be forgiven. If we were in more of a habit of recognizing and then confessing our sins, we would better be able to be merciful to those of others. It is also worthy of comment that David considers someone to be able to be a moral guide and teacher after they have confessed and asked for forgiveness.

In that light, let us examine something that is not sufficiently well-understood with regards to David’s behavior with his children, and that is his response to the actions of the three other sons which were appointed as being worthy of the death penalty. We know that David’s unnamed first son was the first of the four sons to die as a result of the fourfold judgment that came as a result of David’s own self-pronounced judgment. What is often insufficiently recognized, though, is that all of David’s sons, other than the infant born in adultery, brought their own judgment on themselves through their own sins. David had pronounced a four-fold punishment for his own wickedness, but those eventually who died as a result of the judgment happened to deserve it. Though this is a somewhat unpleasant matter to deal with, I would now like to look at aspects of the stories of the three sons whose deaths served to complete David’s judgment on his own family, and see how three different aspects of the judgment held firm in all cases: first, the culpability of the son who died; second, the strange passivity of David with regards to the judgment on the son, in that others perform the judgment on the son and not David himself, and third, the result of increasing division within David’s own household.

First, we find the example of Amnon’s sin in 2 Samuel 13. Let us begin in 2 Samuel 13:1-8. 2 Samuel 13:1-8 reads: “After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.  Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her.  But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Now Jonadab was a very crafty man.  And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’ ”  Then Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come and make a couple of cakes for me in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” And David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Now go to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.”  So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was lying down. Then she took flour and kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.”

We are going to stop here for the moment and skip over the deeply unpleasant and abominable action of Amnon with regards to Tamar. Let us note, though, that Amnon’s action implicates other people besides himself. The idea to bring Tamar, innocent and naive and unaware of the plot that is putting her in harm’s way, is not even Amnon’s idea, but that of his crafty cousin Jonadab, who happens to be a close friend of his royal relative. Even David himself is implicated in that he tells Tamar to go over to Amnon’s house and prepare food for him, unaware of the horrors that Amnon has in store for his half-sister. When Amnon tells his cousin–who seems to have a rather tactical mindset that completely ignores God’s law–that it is unlawful to do anything to Tamar, it would be unlawful for anyone to do what he did in the same situation, regardless of the royal status involved. Leviticus 18 spells out a long list of prohibited relationships in the Bible, and that between siblings or half-siblings or even step-siblings is included on that list as being defiling of the family relationships of blood and marriage.

Skipping over Amnon’s assault of Tamar, we find the following response of Absalom given in 2 Samuel 13:19-33. 2 Samuel 13:19-33 reads: “Then Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her robe of many colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly.  And Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this thing to heart.” So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house. But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.  And Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon neither good nor bad. For Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar. And it came to pass, after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim; so Absalom invited all the king’s sons.  Then Absalom came to the king and said, “Kindly note, your servant has sheepshearers; please, let the king and his servants go with your servant.” But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we be a burden to you.” Then he urged him, but he would not go; and he blessed him. Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”  But Absalom urged him; so he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him. Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, “Watch now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon!’ then kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant.”  So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each one got on his mule and fled. And it came to pass, while they were on the way, that news came to David, saying, “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left!”  So the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.  Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, answered and said, “Let not my lord suppose they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for only Amnon is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.  Now therefore, let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king’s sons are dead. For only Amnon is dead.””

There is a lot going on in this passage that is worth reflecting on that we can discuss here only in passing. First, let us notice that Tamar’s desolation, what we would likely consider to be PTSD, is briefly described, with Absalom telling his sister not to take it to heart, as if someone would not take to heart the horrors that Tamar suffered at Amnon’s hand. It is interesting to note here as well that David is told–by his nephew, the same Jonadab the sin of Shimeah who suggested to Amnon how to lure Tamar into his grasp, that it was Amnon’s act that set Absalom on the path of avenging the stolen virtue of his sister. Absalom’s behavior, and his view as an avenging angel of justice that is sent to right the wrongs of the earth, is something that our generation should take heed at. The Bible views Absalom, in general, in a negative light, and David in a positive light, and the fact that our own behavior and approach mirrors that of Absalom is something that ought to make us reflect on the warped nature of our own choices and how they fail to reflect the perfect justice of God. Absalom’s speaking neither good nor evil to Amnon because of his hate, the way that he takes it upon himself to kill Amnon because his father will not provide justice by putting his son to death, and the way that he plotted to terrorize all of his half-brothers who were rivals to inheriting the throne all indicate that he was not above the use of traumatizing others for his political benefit, indicating a high degree of hypocrisy in his view of trauma, that it was something that one could not bear suffering, but that one could and should use it as a weapon against others, even those who had not done anything wrong.

Absalom’s warped priorities when it comes to justice are indicated later on in 2 Samuel 15:1-12. Here we see that Absalom’s view of himself as a just person led him to engage in treasonous political behavior and attempt to overthrow the legitimate authority of his father David. 2 Samuel 15:1-12 reads: “After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.  Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.”  Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.”  Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.”  And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him.  In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord.  For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’ ” And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’ ”  And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.  Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city—from Giloh—while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number.”

The connection between a skewed view of justice that leads people to think of themselves as just, while holding the courts in authority in contempt, can very easily serve as a justification of treasonous behavior. To the extent that people view themselves as being just, rather than potentially subject to the justice system, they seek to judge judges rather than accept judgment themselves. By any reasonable standard of judgment, Absalom’s behavior towards David was treasonous. Absalom subverted justice by creating a parallel justice system in opposition to David’s, where Absalom (falsely) claimed that no justice could be found and equally falsely claimed that he would provide justice as a ruler himself. He behaved dishonestly by providing himself a base in Hebron that David was not closely observing until it was nearly too late, and David had to flee. Absalom stole the hearts of Israel, and we should be careful not to let our own dissatisfaction in matters of politics allow our hearts to be stolen by those who are hostile to God’s laws and ways because of their misguided belief in their own justice apart from biblical standards.

Given the misguided assurance of Absalom in his own justice, it is worthwhile to contrast David’s attitude, as well as give an example of what appears to be David’s passivity in the face of the turmoil going on in his family as a result of the judgment for the consequences of his sin. We see this in 2 Samuel 16:5-14. 2 Samuel 16:5-14 reads: “Now when King David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came.  And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.  Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you rogue!  The Lord has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a bloodthirsty man!” Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head!” But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ” And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the Lord has ordered him. It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day.”  And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust. Now the king and all the people who were with him became weary; so they refreshed themselves there.”

Here we see how David responded to the criticism that was given to him by Shimei, of the family of Saul. We can see that it was off-limits and undeserved. If David was a man of war, he was not a bloodthirsty man, unlike the sons of Zeruah, Abishai and Joab, about whom more will be said shortly. David’s refusal to lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed, even when that was a rejected king like Saul, reflects highly on his character. The fact that he had been anointed as king and viewed that anointing as being a sign of divine favor and blessing also made him unwilling to harm, much less to kill, anyone else who had received that same anointing. Those who had, like Absalom, appointed themselves to positions of authority, do not tend to have nearly the same degree of respect for others who are in authority. Similarly, while Absalom, as we have seen, spoke confidently about his own sense of justice and presumably the justice of his political cause, David was willing to accept that God may have prompted someone to rebuke him, even when that rebuke turned out to be invalid or inapplicable. Who was the more just king?

That Absalom’s behavior as king would have been unjust can be seen from his behavior when he took power in Jerusalem. Let us begin in 2 Samuel 16:15. 2 Samuel 16:15 reads: “ Meanwhile Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem; and Ahithophel was with him.” Dropping down to verses twenty through twenty-two, we read: Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give advice as to what we should do.” And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.”  So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.” It is interesting to note that Absalom’s abuse of the concubines was what ultimately sealed his fate. If David did not want him dead, and he did not, Absalom’s behavior put him under the same judgment that David had himself come under when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. And while David repented of his sin and ultimately did not die, Absalom viewed his sin as a political act and never once repented of it, and his fate was indeed to die.

We find Absalom’s death written in 2 Samuel 18:1-18. 2 Samuel 18:1-18 contains numerous details that help us to better understand David’s passivity and the judgment of God on the right sons of David through his own family, and it reads: “And David numbered the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.  Then David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I also will surely go out with you myself.” But the people answered, “You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city.” Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.  Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom. So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the woods of Ephraim.  The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day.  For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on.  Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!” So Joab said to the man who told him, “You just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.” But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’  Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.” Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree.  And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him. So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people.  And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent. Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.”

We find a few interesting elements in this story. For one, Joab, who was a relative of David’s and his chief general, was the one to put to death Absalom, the third of the four of David’s sons to die in judgment for David’s sin. We can note that it was the long hair of Absalom that got caught in a tree that allowed him to be killed at Joab’s leisure, which we can see as a reminder to avoid Absalom’s vanity about his hair. Similarly, we can note that David wanted Absalom’s life to be spared, but it was not to be. It is quite possible that it was Absalom’s lack of respect for Joab’s property was what sealed his own fate, but it is hard to know exactly what Joab was thinking, though usually he woke up and chose violence, which made him an effective general but which is not ideal for a servant of God. Let us also note one more thing, and that was that even though Absalom was a rebel and a traitor against the rule of David, God’s anointed, they left his monument up, which shows that the ancient world at least sometimes had a better appreciation for the complexity of historical monuments, even of rebels and traitors, than is the case today.

Let us now turn and briefly discuss the last son of David’s sons to die in fulfillment of the judgment that David placed on himself, and comment on the overall patterns that we see, before discussing some lessons that we can learn about how to deal with historical figures whose past behavior was less than ideal as we close. We see Adonijah’s attempt to take the throne of Israel in 1 Kings 1:1-10. 1 Kings 1:1-10 reads: “Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm.  Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.”  So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.  The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.  (And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.)  Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.  But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.  But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his brother.”

Here again we see some parallels with what we have seen before. Adonijah seeks to make himself king without God’s anointing, and deliberately snubs Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, and Solomon. This was a mistake. Let us also note that David at this point is feeble and near death, unable to keep warm and losing his grasp of what is going on in the kingdom. Of course, David had never rebuked Adonijah for his vanity or presumption and as a result it took the efforts of Nathan and Bathsheba to keep the throne for Solomon. We see in verses 52 and 53 of 1 Kings 1 happened when Solomon took the throne. 1 Kings 1:52-53 reads: “Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”” This was good advice, and Adonijah should have taken it. Unfortunately, he could not just content himself with a quiet life at home, and he had to bring trouble upon himself. We see this trouble in 2 Kings 2:22-25. 2 Kings 2:22-25 reads: “And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my older brother—for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”  Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life!  Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!” So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.”

It is interesting to note that with the death of Adonijah by the command of his half-brother Solomon that David’s judgement was complete. We can see that David himself did not execute judgment on any of his sons, but that the judgment was executed through other members of David’s family. David’s passivity perhaps indicates that he was concerned that he had not served as a suitable moral example for his children and did not want to be labeled as a hypocrite. When we look at the example of David’s suffering, we see that the consequences for David of his sin were immense. He lost four of his sons, one of whom was the fruit of his adultery and the other three who committed or, in the case of Adonijah, wished to commit the same sort of sin themselves. David repented of his sin and did not die from it, but the consequences were terrible. If a leader wants to be forgiven like David was, and to accept the consequences of evil behavior as David did, they are welcome to it as far as I am concerned.

Interestingly enough, we see the same sort of consequences visited upon Paul for his own sins against the early church as a persecutor of God’s brethren before becoming one of them himself. Paul discusses his suffering–and it is an incomplete list–in 2 Corinthians 11:22-29. Let us turn now to our last scripture for this study, 2 Corinthians 11:22-29. It reads: “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.  Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.  From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?“

We have seen in the Bible that when it comes to forgiving leaders for this sins, God is gracious to forgive them, but that the grace and forgiveness that God shows are not cheap. They are indeed deeply expensive. We know from the Bible the sort of consequences that Paul and David faced for their sins against God, and that although they were forgiven, there were awful consequences that both of them experienced in their lives that accompanied this forgiveness. If we have sinned to the level of a David or a Paul, it is good that we would repent and wish for God to forgive us, but we cannot expect to be free of negative consequences from our actions. Perhaps if we remain cognizant of those negative consequences for sin, whether or not the sin is forgiven by God, we may be better equipped to be merciful and forgiving to those whom God has forgiven, understanding that forgiveness does not mean that some price is not paid for one’s evil deeds, even those which God has mercifully covered over with the blood of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.

When we look at historical figures, we have to put ourselves in the position of David rather than in the position of Absalom. In seeking to avenge the wrong that we have suffered or that our relatives or ancestors have suffered, we can inflict upon others the traumas that we agonize over ourselves. When we condemn others for the injustices we view them to have committed, we can fail to recognize the injustice that is in our own hearts towards others. No matter how just we consider ourselves to be, it is far better for us to seek God’s mercy for those sins that we do not recognize or know within ourselves and to be merciful to others rather than for us to condemn others without mercy and to find ourselves treated by God, by others, and by history without mercy ourselves. There may be cases where certain sins, because of how deeply we have suffered from others committing those sins against us, that we find it difficult to forgive. We may find it difficult to forgive brethren who have wronged us or others, to forgive those in the Bible that committed sins that strike us closely, or to forgive historical figures who have sinned in ways that we are especially sensitive to. If that is indeed the case with you, I urge you to find a skilled counselor, an ordained person or wise and discerning member whom you trust to retain your confidences, who can help and encourage you to overcome whatever bitterness or sensitivity remains from lives lived in this evil world full of suffering and abuse. If, instead, we find ourselves being prompted to reflect on and repent of our own sins, I urge the same, so that we can experience the same mercy that David and that Paul received from God, and the same gracious acceptance of whatever consequences will result from acknowledging our deeds with those who are God’s anointed. None of us has been appointed to be a harsh and pitiless judge of those around us or those who came before us. We are all appointed to stand at the judgment of God and Jesus Christ, and we hope we will be treated with kindness and mercy. Let us therefore treat others with the same kindness and mercy that we seek for ourselves.