I’ve never really liked King David. The king that united Israel. The king that defeated Goliath as a young boy with a slingshot and faith. The king, chosen by God, that waited patiently as Saul wanted to kill him. The king who wrote most of the psalms.
I have a very difficult time meshing this King David with the King David that sent Uriah to his death to excuse his own sin. I get stuck right there and everything good he did is lost for me in Uriah’s death. I hurt with Abigail as King David seeks out Bathsheba. I wonder how Michal feels as a pawn in her father’s attempts to hurt her husband, the husband that then hurts her.
I have been reading the Old Testament. I find some of the stories problematic and others confusing. The reading program I’m following pairs a daily reading from the psalms through some of the long chapters of the Pentateuch. I have loved that daily uplift as I have read through details of the Mosaic law or the accounting of the tribes of Israel.
I was reading the story of King David, side by side with the Psalms. I can’t negate Bathsheba and Uriah. But I did notice something new about David as I studied his prayers.
I learned long ago that I can’t lie when I pray. Before we were married, my then boyfriend (now husband), learned this too. He would encourage me to pray and learn all sorts of things in the process. It woud soften my heart. For me it was and is the quickest, and at first the most annoying, way to stop arguments.
I don’t publish my prayers for the world. King David doesn’t publish all of his private prayers, but he is very raw in the Psalms.
What amazed me about King David as I read through the scriptures was his willingness to turn to the Lord after everything. When he is happy and joyful, he turns to the Lord. People offend him and he turns to the Lord in prayer. The king, his father in law and best friend’s father, tries to kill him and he turns to the Lord in prayer. He has to wait years and years, traveling through the wilderness and even living safer among the enemies of Israel than with his own people…he turns to the Lord.
Then it gets harder for David. He takes Bathsheba and sends Uriah to the front…and takes his sorry self to the Lord. Then he humbly writes it for the world to see. He does not justify himself, grant himself a king’s pardon before The King of Kings. He doesn’t excuse himself in any way. He praises the Lord. He praises his justice even acknowledging what that could mean for him. Then David’s son dies and he praises the Lord. He acknowledges his sorrow and grief, but recognizes the power and grace of God.
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Time after time king David found joy, not in his circumstances, but in Christ. He found hope in Christ. When he was happy he praised the Lord’s mercy. When he was sad he praised the Lord’s mercy. I have never hoped to defeat a giant. I have never hoped to be King or wanted David’s fame or success in battle. I have never wanted David’s life. I have hoped and prayed I never fall like David. I have discovered that I do want something King David has…the determined, fixed, anchor of faith to turn to the Lord in every situation. David was brave to face Goliath, but far braver to face the Lord after sending Uriah to his death. I want to recognize His power and grace and justice and glory…to see that in every situation the mercy of the Lord endureth forever-that is courage. The greatest acts of king David were not on the battlefield, or the throne room, but in his repentant, faithful heart.
Britt grew up in a family of six brothers and one sister and gained a bonus sister later. She camped in the High Sierras, canoed down the Colorado, and played volleyball at Brigham Young University. She then served a mission to South Africa.
With all of her time in the gym and the mountains and South Africa, she was totally prepared to become the mother of 2 sons and soon to be 9 daughters. By totally prepared she means willing to love them and muddle through everything else in a partially sleepless state. She is mostly successful at figuring out how to keep the baby clothed, or at least diapered, though her current toddler is challenging this skill.
She feels children naturally love to learn and didn’t want to disrupt childhood curiosity with worksheets and school bells. She loves to play in the dirt, read books, go on adventures, watch her children discover new things, and mentor her children. Her oldest child is currently at a community college and her oldest son is going to high school at a public school. She loves to follow her children in their unique paths and interests.
She loves to write because, unlike the laundry and the dishes, writing stays done. Whenever someone asks her how she does it all she wonders what in the world they think she’s doing.
