David

Do unto others

And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar…Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have I not commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant…And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that hehold, the kings sons came, and lift up their voice and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept very sore. But Absalom fled, and went to Talmar, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. And the soul of David was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. (2 Samuel 13:22, 28, 36-39)

Because Absalom killed his brother Amnon, David had to decide whether or not Absalom should be punished. David, having been forgiven for his sin with Bath-sheba, was in no position to judge Absalom. Under the law, Amnon’s relatives had the right to avenge his blood, but it was not required that anyone do so. David chose not to seek revenge, but neither did he forgive Absalom. “And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face” (2 Samuel 14:24).

After two years, Absalom sought to have his relationship with his father restored and he asked Joab, the commander of David’s army, to intervene on his behalf. “So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom” (2 Samuel 14:33).

Actions & Consequences

If sin were a disease, it would be feared and dreaded more than any other because of the pain and suffering it causes those who contract it. Sin is a killer and like cancer, it often spreads so quickly, that by the time it is detected, it’s too late to do anything about it. Sin is both hereditary and contagious. You have to be careful to not get too close to someone infected with it and be aware that you may be predisposed toward a certain type of sin because of the sins of your parents.

“And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister” (2 Samuel 13:4). Amnon’s confession of love to his friend Jonadab was understood to mean that he wanted to have sexual relations with his brother’s sister, Tamar. In response, Jonadab lays out a plan for Amnon to rape her. These two men were not only related to each other, they were both related to king David, the father of the woman Amnon was planning to rape.

David’s sin with Bath-sheba had caused his family to become infected with sin. In the same way that David had given in to his lust for Bath-sheba, Amnon decided he was going to have sex with Tamar. What was different about Amnon’s situation was that Tamar was a virgin and unlikely to agree to have sex with him outside of marriage.

Amnon’s friend Jonadab is described as being very subtil. The Hebrew word for subtil, chakam actually means wise (2450). Jonadab’s plan was not some sinister plot, but a well thought out means of obtaining what Amnon wanted, a private encounter with Tamar. Most likely, the intent was to have sex secretly, so that if anyone found out, Amnon could deny it.

“And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel; do not thou this folly” (2 Samuel 13:12). The word translated folly, “nebalah is most often used as a word for serious sin. It signifies ‘disregarding God’s will'” (5039). In other words, Amnon knew what God’s will for him was regarding Tamar and he decided to do the opposite. Jonadab was an accessory to his crime, and together, the two of them planned to deceive king David and trap his daughter Tamar, so that Amnon could have sex with her.

Rather than keeping it a secret, Tamar displayed her shame openly after Amnon raped her. “And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying” (2 Samuel 13:19). The word used to describe Tamar’s condition afterward, desolate or shamem in Hebrew means ruined (8076), but the root word shâmêm (shaw – mame´) means to stun or intransitively to grow numb (8074). Tamar was traumatized by what happened to her and most likely suffered from what we know today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) the rest of her life.

Saint David

“For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Psalm 86:13). The default destination of every person that dies is hell. The word translated hell in Psalm 86:13, “Sheol is the abode of the dead” (7585). In the time that David lived, “It was not understood to be a place of punishment, but simply the ultimate resting place of all mankind” (7585).

David’s exclamation about his soul being delivered from hell was probably due to his awareness that as a living , breathing creature, his soul longed to be in the presence of the LORD. In hell, David would be separated from God for all eternity.

In order to demonstrate the difference between being in the LORD’s presence and being separated from God, a tabernacle, or house of God was built, and an ark placed in it, so that the Israelites could experience heaven on earth. David said in Psalm 122, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1).

Today, the transition from earth to heaven or hell takes place instantaneously, the moment a person dies. That was not the case for David because the gates of heaven had not yet been opened to man when he died. David said, “thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Psalm 86:13). The word delivered or nâtsal (naw – tsal´) in Hebrew means “to snatch away.” Natsal is also translated as escape, rescue and take out (5337). When David died, he went to hell like everyone else, but when Christ rose from the dead, David ascended into heaven with him.

Although David’s soul didn’t get taken to heaven until hundreds of years later, David’s deliverance was assured the moment he put his trust in God. David prayed, “Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee” (Psalm 86:2).

The word David used to describe himself, holy or chaciyd in Hebrew is typically translated as saint or saints “which must be understood in the sense of sanctification (dependent on grace), not moralistically [of native goodness]” (2623). The term saints is used frequently in the New Testament of the Bible to describe believers in Christ Jesus. In essence a saint is one who patterns his life after God. The word chaciyd is properly translated as kind (2623) and is derived from the word chacad which is “a practical exhibition of lovingkindness toward our fellowman” (2616).

It’s difficult to say if David’s experience with God was any different than Abraham’s or Moses’, but it appears that David clearly understood what it meant to be born again. It is possible that his repentance after killing Uriah did lead to a type of conversion and brought David into a right relationship with God, one that enabled him to behave like a saint.

It was impossible

The birth of Jesus Christ is a testimony to God’s ability to do the impossible. I think it is interesting that the birth of Jesus isn’t recognized as the most impossible thing that has ever been done. Maybe its because we’ve been celebrating Jesus’ birth for so many years that we’ve forgotten the significance of God becoming a man.

When David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10), he was asking God to do something that had never been done before, something that David knew was impossible. The word that David used, create or bârâ’ (baw – raw´) in Hebrew, has profound theological significance. The verb bara’ “expresses creation out of nothing” (1254).

David wanted God to give him a new heart, one that was clean or sinless. In order for God to do what David was asking, he would have had to go back to the drawing board so to speak, and replace the heart that David had been born with. The heart David was referring to was not the organ in his chest that pumped blood throughout his body, but the lêb (labe), the heart that “includes not only the motives, feelings, affections, and desires, but also the will, the aims, the principles, the thoughts, and the intellect of man” (3820).

As far as I know, God did not give David a new heart. What David asked God to do was impossible…until Jesus came and established a new covenant, one that enabled a person to be born again.

God responded to David’s prayer approximately 400 years later. Through the prophet Ezekiel, the LORD spoke about Israel’s restoration and return to the Promised Land after they were scattered among the heathen.

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

It could be that the transfer of God’s spirit from Jesus to his disciples after Christ rose from the dead was the only way that David’s prayer could be answered. The word translated new, châdâsh (khaw – dawsh´) “means ‘new’ both in the sense of recent or fresh and in the sense of something not previously existing” (2319). In order to create a new heart in a person, God does not obliterate the heart that already exists, he adds a heart to it (Jesus), and causes the two to become one, a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

You’re going the wrong way

The Global Positioning System (GPS) that enables electronic car navigation to work properly has a feature that is comparable to forgiveness. Once a destination has been identified and a route planned, GPS recalculates the route if the driver get’s off course.

David used three key words in Psalm 32 related to navigation, imputeth, transgression, and iniquity, that describe how God’s forgiveness works. David said, “Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity” (Psalm 32:2). The word translated imputeth, châshab (khaw – shab´) “signifies a mental process whereby some course is planned or conceived” (2803). When God charts the course of a person’s life, it is similar to entering an address into a navigation system. Once the coordinates are locked in, the system makes adjustments as necessary.

As with reaching a desired destination in traffic, life sometimes causes us to intentionally veer off course. David said, “I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD” (Psalm 32:5). The word translated transgressions, pesha‘ (peh´ – shah) signifies a revolt, “a willful rebellion from a prescribed or agreed upon path” (6588). Sin and transgression are sometimes used interchangeably to describe an offense against God. The important thing to note is that these words do not represent mistakes, like taking a wrong turn, they describe actions that are taken that ignore or circumvent the course that God has charted for us.

Occasionally, due to an accident or road construction, we are forced to take an alternate route. Iniquity is an alternate route that we take because we choose or want to avoid reaching our destination. David said, “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid” (Psalm 32:5). The word translated iniquity, ‘avôwn (aw – vone´) portrays sin as “a perversion of life (a twisting out of the right way)” (5771). When David said that he had not hid his iniquity, he was not talking about it being hidden from God because that would be impossible. David had been deceiving himself, he thought that because he had Uriah killed in battle (2 Samuel 11:15), he was not guilty of murder. David’s navigation system tried to tell him he was going the wrong way, but his iniquity caused him to turn it off, so he didn’t have to listen to its annoying reminders.

After Nathan the prophet confronted him, David said, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1). Nathan did not tell David he had sinned. David knew he had sinned before Nathan came to see him. God sent Nathan to tell David to turn his navigation system back on so God could start giving him directions again and correct his course. That’s what it means to be forgiven.

Peace on earth

Merriam Webster’s definition of a giant is “a legendary creature usually thought of as being an extremely large or powerful person.” The person in the Bible that is most often associated with being a giant is Goliath, the Philistine David slew with a sling and a stone (1 Samuel 17:50). Goliath was actually never described as a giant. It says about him in 1 Samuel 17:4, “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.” A cubit equals 18 inches, so Goliath was over nine and a half feet tall, but that didn’t qualify him to be a giant.

When the Israelites first went in to spy out the Promised Land, it was reported back to Moses, “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which came of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33). The word that is translated giants in the phrase, we saw the giants, n‘phîl (nef – eel´) is derived from the word nâphal (naw – fal´) which means to fall (5307). N‘phil is properly translated as a feller (5303), meaning someone that causes another to fall.

The word translated giants in the phrase, which came from giants, gibbôr (ghib – bore´) means powerful and is usually used to describe a valiant man or warrior (1368). What the Israelite spies saw in the Promised Land were bullies or tyrants that had killed all their enemies, squashing them like grasshoppers under their feet. Joshua and Caleb, two of the men in the group of spies that went out, believed that God was more powerful than the giants, but because all the people were frightened by the report, the Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness.

There is only one giant specifically mentioned in the Bible. He is described as living in Gath and having four sons (2 Samuel 21:22). After David’s army destroyed the children of Ammon, there were a series of wars with the Philistines. During the final conflict, it says in 1 Chronicles 20:6-8:

And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant. But when he defied Israel, Jonathon the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him. These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

The word translated giants in this passage, râphâh (raw – faw´) is derived from a primary root word that is properly translated as “to mend (by stitching)” and is figuratively meant to cure. “Rapah means to heal, a restoring to normal, an act which God typically performs” (7495). At the point in Israel’s history and David’s life, when the sons of the giant in Gath were killed, a healing occurred that could be thought of as a healing of the land. The violence and killing that had been going on for centuries was finally over and peace came to the land.

God’s grace

“And the LORD sent Nathan unto David” (2 Samuel 12:1). As a prophet, it was Nathan’s job to speak on behalf of the LORD. Typically, the prophets received messages of judgement that they had to deliver to God’s people. In David’s case, Nathan was given a parable to share with David in order to get David to judge himself. God wanted David to see the seriousness of his sin without becoming defensive about it.

Nathan told David the story of a rich man who took a poor man’s lamb in order to feed a traveler that came to visit him. (2 Samuel 12:1-4). After hearing the story it says in 2 Samuel 12:5-7, “David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die…And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.”

According to Mosaic Law, the penalty for adultery and murder was death, so David was deserving of the death penalty, but that is not the punishment he got. After David heard what his punishment was going to be (see 2 Samuel 12:10-12), “David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). David knew he deserved death and realized that God was being merciful to him. His confession of being a sinner was an acknowledgement that God was right in judging him. “And Nathan said unto David, the LORD hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).

It says in 1 John 1:8-9, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Although David confessed his sin, he could not be forgiven because Jesus had not yet paid the penalty for it. The term put away or ‘abar (aw – bar´) in Hebrew, “is sometimes used of ‘passing over’ a law, order, or commandment as if it were not binding” (5674). In this instance, God made an exception for David and did not act according to his own law.

What God did for David could be considered a miracle. When God does something miraculous, he goes against the laws of nature; what would normally happen does not. Up until this point in his life, it can be assumed that David had not broken any of God’s commandments. In spite of his perfect track record, David’s sin would have cost him his life if God had not intervened.

God, in his wisdom, chose to make an example of David’s life. The message the LORD brought to David through Nathan was harsh and yet David saw God as merciful and wanted his relationship with him to be restored. In the end, David lost the child that was conceived through his act of adultery. After he was told of his child’s death, David said:

While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Immediately after the child’s death, we see that David’s favor with the LORD is restored. Two events mark another turning point in David’s life. First, his son, and successor to his throne, Solomon is born by Bath-sheba and second, the children of Ammon are destroyed completely.

And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him…And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with precious stones: and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. (2 Samuel 12:24, 29-30)

He didn’t like it

There are two times in our lives when we are most likely to do something really stupid, when we are at the peak of our success, and when we are in the depths of despair. David was at the peak of his success when he decided to tarry at Jerusalem while his army went out to destroy the children of Ammon.

And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of his house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. (2 Samuel 11:2)

There are a few things about David’s story that make it appear as if David planned what he was about to do next. First, “David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel” (2 Samuel 11:1)) out to fight. The last time all Israel had gone out, David was leading them, so it was unusual for him to stay behind. Second, David was in bed at eveningtide, around sunset, when the day is turning to night. Third, David was walking on the roof of his house, a place where he would be vulnerable to attack. Knowing that all his soldiers were out of town, David would have been an easy target for anyone that wanted to do him harm.

“And David sent messengers and took her; and she came unto him, and he lay with her…And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child” (2 Samuel 11:4-5). The woman David took was Bath-sheba, “the wife of Uriah the Hittite” (2 Samuel 11:3). Although it appears that David and Bath-sheba had only one sexual encounter, it is possible that they were together multiple times before and after the incident in which she is noted as becoming pregnant.

After David was told that Bath-sheba was pregnant, he tried to make it look like the child was Uriah’s by bringing him back home and getting him to sleep with his wife, but his plan failed, and so David had Uriah put in a position on the battlefield where he could be killed. This elaborate plot to cover up his sin is probably the most compelling evidence that David planned to have sex with Bath-sheba before he saw her from the roof of his house.

“And when the mourning was past, David sent and fet her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD” (2 Samuel 11:27). The words translated displeased, ‘ayin and ra‘a‘ together have the meaning of seeing something unpleasant or perverted (5869/7489). Because the LORD’s eyes were continually upon David, he saw what David did with Bath-sheba and her husband Uriah and the LORD didn’t like it.

Jesus Understands

King David’s relationship with the LORD and position in God’s kingdom entitled him to constant protection from his enemies. David prayed, “Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: Let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt” (Psalm 70:2). Although  David had many enemies on earth, he also had spiritual enemies because of the work he was doing to establish God’s eternal kingdom and the birth of his Messiah.

The word translated hurt, ra‘ (rah) which means bad or evil (7451) is derived from the word ra‘a‘ (raw – ah´) which also means evil, but is properly translated as to spoil, literally by breaking into pieces and figuratively to make or be good for nothing (7489). Satan did not want David to establish and unify God’s kingdom on earth because it was his territory so to speak. After he enticed Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden, Satan was given temporary reign over the earth until the Messiah came and overpowered him.

The word ra‘ combines together in one the wicked deed and its consequences. It generally indicates the rough exterior of wrongdoing as a breach of harmony, and as breaking up what is good and desirable in man and in society. While the prominent characteristic of the godly is lovingkindness (2617), one of the most marked features of the ungodly man is that his course is an injury to both himself and to everyone around him (7451).

Part of life on earth is the inevitability of being hurt. Because Satan is alive and well on planet earth, there is no way to escape evil. Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

David said in Psalm 69, “Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face” (Psalm 69:7). David may have felt like he had a target on his back because of the frequency of his troubling situations. No doubt he was a marked man and Satan was behind most of David’s trials and tribulations. In spite of the difficulty David experienced, David knew that God loved him and was aware of everything that happened to him.

David said, “Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: Mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none” (Psalm 69:19-20). The word translated reproach, cherpâh (kher – paw´) means disgrace (2761) and is derived from the word châraph (khaw – raf´) which means to pull off and by implication “to expose (as by stripping)” (2778).

I think one of the most disgraceful things that can happen to a person is to be raped. There is something about being stripped of your clothes that makes you feel vulnerable and at the mercy of your attacker. In the gospel of John, it says that “the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments” (John 19:23). The Greek word translated took, lambano is sometimes used to denote the violent act of seizing or removing something. In essence, what this verse is stating is that Jesus was stripped of his clothing after he was nailed to the cross. He experienced the humiliation of being exposed publicly. He was taunted and insulted and made to feel worthless in the eyes of his followers.

When David said, “Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor” (Psalm 69:19), he was probably talking about the LORD seeing what was going on in his life. Today we know that Jesus had a similar experience and could relate to David based on his own reproach, shame, and dishonor. It is possible that David was writing prophetically when he said, “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness” (Psalm 69:20) because in Psalm 69:21 it says, “They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink,” something that Jesus experienced when he was on the cross.

People that have not been raped or experienced any other kind of reproach or type of dishonor may wonder why Jesus died on a cross. For those of us that have experienced rape, we know that he died such a death so that he could understand our pain and suffering in a more intimate and personal way. Because I know that Jesus understands what I went through, being raped doesn’t hurt quite so much.

He knows what he’s doing

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18). The word translated iniquity ’âven (aw – ven´) is derived from a root word meaning ‘to be strong'” (205). The idea behind this word is exercise or to exert oneself. It could be that aven is describing self-sufficiency or action that is independent of God. Ultimately, the action leads to misfortune and is considered to be a wasted effort.

In order to keep them from iniquity or a reliance on themselves, God tries or tests his children. It says in Psalm 66, “For thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidest affliction upon our loins” (Psalm 66:10-11). The purpose of affliction or distress is to bring us to the point where we no longer rely on ourselves. God wants us to depend on him in times of trouble, so he lets the pressure build until we cry out to him for help.

To be tried as silver is tried means that you go through a process of refinement similar to what a gold smith uses to purify his metal. Those who have been purified “call on the name of the LORD” and are “qualified for battle” (6884). The testing God puts us through is intended to expose those that are lacking in faith or are self-reliant and therefore, destined for failure.

David said, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest” (Psalm 65:4). The word translated choosest, bâchar (baw – khar´) is properly translated as to try (977). Therefore, it could be said, blessed is the man that God tries or the person that God puts through the purification process of affliction. In other words, we should be happy that God does not leave us to our own means and allow us to become so strong that we think we can handle things on our own.

The best position to be in is one of contentment. It says in Psalm 66:12, “We went through fire and through water: but thou brought us out into a wealthy place.” The result of purification is satisfaction. The wealthy place is the place where all of our needs are met, we are completely satisfied with our lives.

The goal of the silversmith is to transform his metal into a final product, usually one with a practical purpose. Before he begins work, the silversmith may investigate and test his metal to see what its capabilities are and determine its best use. It is within the silversmith’s power to make the metal into whatever he wants it to be, but his knowledge of and experience working with metal guide him in the decision making process. When God sets out to transform a life, he does so with a knowledge of the individual’s breaking point, how much pressure he or she can withstand, and the experience of listening to her cries since birth.