He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again. (Hamlet, Act I, scene 2)
I don’t suppose King David would make the cut if he had to go through the canonization process today. There are too many scandals in his story. The Devil’s Advocate would have a field day, not to mention the National Inquirer.
But saints are chosen for particular reasons. The Church wants to promote their heroic virtue, their writings, or the communities they founded. David simply founded a kingdom, wrote many of the psalms, and loved God with all his heart and soul. If he isn’t listed among the Saints, he is certainly one of us.
It is easy to take offense at his behavior. Recently some women’s groups have reminded us that the much maligned Bathsheba had little choice when the King summoned her to his palace and his bed. Given the disparity of power, experience and age, she was certainly one of his many victims.
And, although he tried to maneuver the pious Uriah into his own wife’s bed, a ruse that would have covered his crime against her -- a maneuver that failed -- his killing of Uriah was unconscionable. It might be called unforgivable except that God did forgive him – after pronouncing a resounding curse upon David ’s descendents that troubles Jews and Christians to this day. (see 2 Samuel 12)
He is an embarrassment and a hero, a lover/father/king/genius, a politician/general, a human being like you and me in too many ways, but Jesus preferred the title above all others: “Son of David.”
I like the story of King David. You put him in a clear light. He was not perfect, yet he is a great example of a faithful relationship with God. It gives me great comfort to know that God will love us simple humans despite our shortcomings. It gives me hope to carry on and try again.
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