Thus says the LORD: ‘I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives while you live to see it, and will give them to your neighbor. He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. You have done this deed in secret, but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel, and with the sun looking down.’”
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Arriving in 2014 I decided to study one of the great mysteries of our time -- World War I. Historians have pored through tens of thousands of documents from England to Russia to Turkey, asking why did this happen. There is no agreement. The most cogent answer I've heard is, "These things happen periodically." That is anything but reassuring.
In today's first reading we hear the good news that God forgives his anointed King David for murder, adultery and hypocrisy, but the consequences must follow inevitably. What goes around comes around. The chickens come home to roost.
David will die in his own bed, a fate enjoyed by few kings of any nation, but his descendants will suffer continual strife. The kingdom will be split into Israel and Judea; they will be allies and adversaries in the coming centuries.
History -- whether we're speaking of families, nations or churches -- is rarely edifying. It seems to be a narrative of sin and its consequences. The protagonist of James Joyce's Ulysses declares, "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."
Romantics prefer to escape from history or to rewrite it. Irish like W.B. Yeats and Serbians of pre-World War I and post World War II preferred their own fanciful legends to the hard facts.
Ideologues reinterpret history to fit their theories but, like skinny pants on a fat man, their readings fail, often catastrophically.
The amazing contribution of the Jewish people to the world is their willingness to tell the ugly truth about their history. David was a good king despite his criminal abuse of power. He was a devoted husband and seriously unfaithful. He neglected his own children but loved them tenderly. It broke his heart when Absalom revolted against him. Solomon, too, was a wise ruler but his heavy taxation and profligate spending caused the break up of the kingdom.
The outstanding beauty of Jewish and Christian history resides in God's fidelity. Despite our persistent, often unfathomable sins, God remains faithful. His mercy holds us together and his promises enthrall us. Without an understanding of God's constant blessings -- they are renewed each day -- we could not study history. Even the memory of one's own life might be too much to bear.
"What is the good of living?" said Despair. "The longer you live the more sins you commit. All those great battles that you are so proud of winning, all this strife and bloodshed and revenge, which are praised now, hereafter you will be sorry for. Has not your evil life lasted long enough? He that hath once missed the right way, the farther he goes, the farther he goes wrong. Go no farther, then--stray no farther. Lie down here and take your rest. What has life to make men love it so? Fear, sickness, age, loss, labor, sorrow, strife, pain, hunger, cold, and fickle fortune, all these, and a thousand more ills make life to be hated rather than loved. Wretched man! you indeed have the greatest need of death if you will truly judge your own conduct.... Think of all your sins," he said. "God is very angry with you. You are not worthy to live. It is only just that you should die. Better kill yourself at once."
Fortunately, the Red Knight's girlfriend Una raced into the cave, grabbed the knife out of his hand, and hauled him out of the cave.
God is good. With that confidence we remember our history and our hope of salvation.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.