I really didn't want to read the story of David and Bathsheba this morning. Of all the stories in the Bible, I think that's the one that's most troubling to me. It's partly the heinous nature of the sin path that David goes down: lust, adultery, deceiving, murder. How could a man after God's own heart do this? It's partly the closeness with which I can associate with David's actions: I know all to well about being up when I shouldn't, looking where I shouldn't, acting in ways I shouldn't act, and doing everything in my power to keep it a secret. Who knows what else I would've been capable of doing had not God kept opportunity for other sins outside my reach. The story sends chills down my spine...or maybe up my spine, whichever is worse...
So as I approached the dreaded story this morning on my path through the life of David, I prayed for God to show me something unique--a different take on the all-too-familiar storyline. As I read, it began to strike me how awful all of this must have been for Bathsheeba. First she gets ogled by a "peeping Dave", then she is summoned to be "had" by the king. I can't help but think that in this culture, she basically had no choice but to do the king's bidding--if so, this is not just adultery, but rape. To make the bad memory last a lifetime, she ends up pregnant as a result of David's "conquest." After this, her husband comes back to the area, but she doesn't get to spend any time with him because his focus is doing his job as a commander in the army. Right or wrong on Uriah's part, it had to be tough on her to have her husband so close yet so far at a time when she really needed him. Soon after this, she learns of her husband's death. To add the final insult to injury, David--the man who caused all of this pain for her--takes her as another one of his many wives. What do I know...maybe this was actually a good thing for her to be taken in by the king. However, I can't help but think it would only cause her more pain to not be able to escape from the man who mistreated her and had her husband killed to cover it up--to now be his legal property.
For once, when I read this passage in II Samuel 11, my mind was not on David and his sin...but on Bathsheba and her suffering. Every sin has it's victims. They may not be as obvious as the victims in this Bible story, but sin always has it's victims. This is definitely something for me to keep in mind when desire comes knocking at the door of my flesh. Am I willing to victimize someone for the sake of my pleasures? For God's glory and for the sake of all the Bathsheba's out there, I hope not.
2 comments:
For a chilling yet accurate view of the victims of "harmless pleasure", check out the video at this website: www.iamconstance.com. Pay close attention to how the storylines of two lives a world apart are interconnected. The lyrics powerfully convey the message that every sin has it's victims. God has used this song powerfully in my life: it increases my disdain for the lust that I used to be a slave to, and it increases my prayers for the Constances of the world.
That's very interesting, and my opinion is mixed. I'll never know for sure about Bathsheba, but I'm pretty sure she should have been able to know that her pool was exposed to the castle, and if she was really innocent, she wouldn't have done that in plain view. But, I do see your point, and I know she must have felt a lot of pain associated with the events,not to mention the loss of her first child.
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