I was struck by an attribute of God that we often overlook, and inspired by an action of a King to a God who is worthy.
First, the attribute. In Chapter 11, we read of the rooftop bath, and David's sin of adultery, and of him sending Uriah to the front lines and directing Joab to pull back his fellow soldiers so he would be killed. Picking up in verse 26:
2 Samuel 11:26-27
" When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." http://olivetree.com/b1/2Sa.11.26-27.ESV
I was stopped by the last verse in Chapter 11....But the thing that David had done displeased The Lord. David committed this elaborate rebellion against God's instruction and law, starting with his errant gaze, continuing through his contacting Bathsheeba, sleeping with her, then getting worse by attempting to get Uriah to sleep with her twice, and finally instructing a head general to have Uriah 'accidentally' killed. When word got back, David must have felt so successful at covering his lies and sin. How often do I think the same? When I escape being caught and shamed in my sin by the slightest of margins, and I 'breathe a sigh of relief'.
Yet, God knows. He is omniscient and omnipresent. It doesn't matter how successful I am in the world in hiding my sin, in making it acceptable, excusable, or understandable. It doesn't matter how much I manipulate people around me into pitying my circumstances, and seeing me as the victim and not the perpetrator. God knows. And he is displeased, even when everything looks like I've pulled it off.
Second, the action. In Chapter 12, Nathan rebukes David by telling him a story of injustice and lazy greed that was so heinous, David responded "As The Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die...because he had no pity." And Nathan responds, "You are the man!" Part of God's judgement on David was incomprehendable to me, as a father. "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned The Lord, the child who is born to you shall die....
And David's son became sick. How the horror must have spread through his every bone! He fasted and lay all night on the ground, he did not get up or eat for 7 days, and on the seventh day, the child died.
2 Samuel 12:19-20a
" But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped."
http://olivetree.com/b1/2Sa.12.19-20.ESV
" But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped."
http://olivetree.com/b1/2Sa.12.19-20.ESV
David's grief must have been overwhelming, yet look at the first action he took after hearing of his son's death. He went into the house of The Lord and worshiped. I am inspired by the nature of the man who knew the God who beckons us to worship Him, to be in relationship with Him.
May I know The Lord so well that after I sin, while I'm facing the natural consequences, let me follow David's lead and make it my priority to worship.
Psalms 27:7-8
" Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”"
