August 27, 2007
David messed up–big time. He saw a woman bathing. She was out of sight, at least of most people. But David was king, and he was at the top of his palace. He had a total view, and he also had an opportunity.
To turn away.
But he didn’t. He wanted Bathsheba for his own. He was king, and if he wanted something he got it.
He got her pregnant. That’s a big problem when her husband is one of your chief officers, and he’s off fighting a war while you’re hanging with his wife.
David had another opportunity.
Do the right thing. Be honest.
But he didn’t. He kept spinning lies until he was so tangled in them that he lost sight of what was right and wrong, and he had Bathsheba’s husband placed on the front lines of a battle in a way that he would die for sure.
He made Bathsheba his wife, and he had an opportunity.
To tell God that he was wrong.
But he didn’t. A prophet named Nathan came to him and told him a story about a local rich man who had robbed a poor farmer of his sheep. The rich man had ox and cattle and sheep by the thousands, but he took the one sheep from the farmer and made it his own.
“He should be punished,” David roared in anger.
“That man is you,” Nathan said. “You have everything. You have many wives. You are king. You can have anything you want or will ever need. Uriah had only one wife whom he loved very much. You took her. You killed him. You are that man.”
David had an opportunity.
And he took it.
Psalm 51 is David’s conversation with God.
Psalm 51 (The Message)
1Generous in love–God, give grace! Huge in mercy–wipe out my bad record.
2Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.3I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.4You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.5I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.6What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.7Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.8Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.9Don’t look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.10God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.11Don’t throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.12Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!13Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.14Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I’ll sing anthems to your life–giving ways.15Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I’ll let loose with your praise.16Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.17I learned God–worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.18Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.19Then you’ll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!
Debbie says:
This is AWESOME devo, Suzie! I totally LOVED it! As a kid, I didn’t understand why all these screw-ups were in the Bible, now I get it: they are there so we can learn from their mistakes and (hopefully) make better choices as a result.
Debbie