David and the Devil
Sermon
ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY GOD
Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
We can be thankful that the Bible is brutally honest about the people whose stories it tells. Because of this, we are able to see the power of God at work in the lives of very human people. What's more, if this were not the case and instead the Bible whitewashed its personalities, we would begin to wonder whether it seriously addressed the very real brokenness and moral failures that can mark all our lives.
No question about it, the story of David and Bathsheba is an exceedingly human story. It easily qualifies as biblical soap opera. Alter it but slightly, and what it describes goes on all the time. When these circumstances are replayed in the life of a public official, we are apt to hear all the lurid details for days in the press. And when they are replayed in the life of a public religious figure, like Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart, we are apt to hear about them for months on end.
A Common Scenario
The opening scenes of our biblical drama are certainly not uncommon. "One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap (I wonder what he might have been dreaming about?) and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful." (2 Samuel 11:2) Nothing oblique yet. Every day, women and men encounter people of the opposite sex whose physical countenance leads them to give pause. To themselves, at least, they acknowledge an attraction. But that's all there is to it. They don't bid goodbye to spouse and children and go off in pursuit of this source of attraction. At least not most of the time, although many of us are painfully aware of the exceptions.
A Deadly Turn
But David is one of those exceptions. "So he sent a messenger to find out who she was ..." (2 Samuel 11:3) And then, "David sent messengers to get her ..." (2 Samuel 11:4)
If we could crawl inside the mind and heart of David on that rooftop, what do you suppose we would find? What buttons got pushed that led to his obliquity? What happened on the inside that led David from chance beholding to planned inappropriateness? After all, he didn't have to act on what he saw. Most people, even though they could steal a Rolex without ever being discovered, wouldn't do it; but a few would. Where is the difference? Why do you suppose that's so?
There are probably many reasons, but let me reach into the tradition of the church and talk about David capitulating to the Devil. I do that with some trepidation, because it is tragically easy to fall into the Flip Wilson mode and say, "The Devil made me do it," and thus avoid any sense of personal responsibility. But I take the figure of the Devil to be a very animated way of talking about the presence of evil within human personality, and on that basis, I propose that we bring the Devil into our considerations. Clearly, David capitulated to that evil, to the Devil, when he moved from chance beholding to the acting out of his feelings. And the point is this: he didn't have to do that. He could have argued and struggled and fought with the Devil, even as Jesus later in the Bible struggles with the Devil.
This was a deadly turn because it spelled trouble for all affected by it.
It meant trouble for David because it really didn't get him what he wanted. The Devil convinced David that Bathsheba would in some way complete him, but that was not so.
There is a story about a prince who searched near and far for a beautiful woman to be his princess and fulfill his life. By chance (isn't that just how it happened to David?) he noticed a young woman whose beauty drew forth intense romantic and joyful feelings from his heart. He thought of her day and night. He said to himself, "I cannot live without her." He wrote poems, composed songs, brought her treasures, kissed her hand, fought off other princes, but could not convince her to marry him.
His counsel of wisemen met and said, "Oh prince, you have become so sad with love you cannot do your daily duties. You must win her love or give her up. For it is worse to have a lovesick prince who has no wife, than an able prince who has no wife." The prince replied, "She is everything to me, I cannot live without her. I must win her or die."
The prince's persistence paid off and the beautiful woman consented to become his princess. The prince was ecstatic. His mind began to create all kinds of beautiful images and stories; scenes of everlasting romantic bliss, happiness surrounded by children, triumphs applauded by his kingdom. The prince, the wisemen, and the whole kingdom celebrated a week-long festival and wedding.
Once married, the wisemen noticed the prince seemed troubled, disorganized, unable to eat or sleep. They asked him what was wrong. He replied, "Three things torture me. First, whereas before I could not keep from thinking I must have her love or I cannot live, now I cannot stop thinking that if I lose her love, I cannot live. Second, the more I pursue her the more she wants to get away; she has created a separate territory in the castle for herself. Third, she has grown cold; the flame of my love cannot warm the dungeon of her heart."
Just so with David. The Devil duped David into thinking that Bathsheba was the answer to all his problems. Wrong, David!
But David's acting out also meant problems for Bathsheba. We don't know whether she was a willing participant or not. One cannot dismiss out of hand the special pressure she must have felt, given the source of the demand upon her. Then there is the resultant pregnancy, and it is plausible that it was an unwelcome pregnancy for her. We have no way of knowing. But we do know that David's capitulation to the Devil certainly involved a major fallout for Bathsheba.
Then there is Uriah. The cost to him was death. At first David tried to engineer matters so that it would look like the child was Uriah's. But when that failed, he engineered Uriah's death. It was an exceedingly dark chapter in David's life.
So the dark turn meant big trouble for David and even greater trouble for others. Which is what happens when people take advantage of their positions, whether it is a minister in his parish, a teacher in her classroom, or a Wall Street stockbroker who becomes an inside trader. When we become the Devil's person, others get hurt, too.
The Lesson
The lessons in all this?
First, the Devil is close at hand. For all of us. That's true whether it is a young child who grows comfortable with lying or an adult who emotionally and/or sexually abuses a child. James Hillman has written a word that must reach our ears: "The Devil's power seems to grow not in our shadow but from our light. He gains when we lose touch with our own darkness, when we lose sight of our own destructiveness and self-deceptions." (Insearch: Psychology and Religion, p. 91)
Second, the Devil is a strange bird. Speak up to him, say "no," and you'll be surprised how recessive he becomes. This happens when we help our children develop a healthy sense of conscience and when we impart positive values.
Recent research indicates that concern for others begins much earlier than we once thought. Studies show that almost at birth babies respond empathetically to the cries of another infant. Therefore it would seem that there is almost a kind of predisposition on the part of very young children that can be enhanced and encouraged or allowed to fade and die off.
A recent report sums it up like this: "Researchers have found that an active sense of social responsibility -- behaving helpfully and cooperatively, for example -- is unlikely to take root under parents who are either loosely permissive or strongly dictatorial. Parents who can integrate the best of both styles, combining firm authority with warmth and clear communication, seem most successful in planting the seeds of concern and thoughtfulness toward others." (US. News & World Report, November 21, 1988, p. 68)
Hope for David
We tend, it would seem, to see people in black and white terms. They are good or bad. But David reminds us that the matter is infinitely more complex.
His lack of struggle with the Devil meant that others got hurt, and hurt seriously. But David was not without his laudable side. His early life was filled with honor; he was a courageous warrior; he was politically shrewd and astute; he was a gifted musician; and he was a fine organizer. But he had his Achilles' heel and knew how to sew dragon's teeth.
Here, however, was David's hope: God wasn't finished with him yet! But that's a story for another day.
No question about it, the story of David and Bathsheba is an exceedingly human story. It easily qualifies as biblical soap opera. Alter it but slightly, and what it describes goes on all the time. When these circumstances are replayed in the life of a public official, we are apt to hear all the lurid details for days in the press. And when they are replayed in the life of a public religious figure, like Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart, we are apt to hear about them for months on end.
A Common Scenario
The opening scenes of our biblical drama are certainly not uncommon. "One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap (I wonder what he might have been dreaming about?) and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful." (2 Samuel 11:2) Nothing oblique yet. Every day, women and men encounter people of the opposite sex whose physical countenance leads them to give pause. To themselves, at least, they acknowledge an attraction. But that's all there is to it. They don't bid goodbye to spouse and children and go off in pursuit of this source of attraction. At least not most of the time, although many of us are painfully aware of the exceptions.
A Deadly Turn
But David is one of those exceptions. "So he sent a messenger to find out who she was ..." (2 Samuel 11:3) And then, "David sent messengers to get her ..." (2 Samuel 11:4)
If we could crawl inside the mind and heart of David on that rooftop, what do you suppose we would find? What buttons got pushed that led to his obliquity? What happened on the inside that led David from chance beholding to planned inappropriateness? After all, he didn't have to act on what he saw. Most people, even though they could steal a Rolex without ever being discovered, wouldn't do it; but a few would. Where is the difference? Why do you suppose that's so?
There are probably many reasons, but let me reach into the tradition of the church and talk about David capitulating to the Devil. I do that with some trepidation, because it is tragically easy to fall into the Flip Wilson mode and say, "The Devil made me do it," and thus avoid any sense of personal responsibility. But I take the figure of the Devil to be a very animated way of talking about the presence of evil within human personality, and on that basis, I propose that we bring the Devil into our considerations. Clearly, David capitulated to that evil, to the Devil, when he moved from chance beholding to the acting out of his feelings. And the point is this: he didn't have to do that. He could have argued and struggled and fought with the Devil, even as Jesus later in the Bible struggles with the Devil.
This was a deadly turn because it spelled trouble for all affected by it.
It meant trouble for David because it really didn't get him what he wanted. The Devil convinced David that Bathsheba would in some way complete him, but that was not so.
There is a story about a prince who searched near and far for a beautiful woman to be his princess and fulfill his life. By chance (isn't that just how it happened to David?) he noticed a young woman whose beauty drew forth intense romantic and joyful feelings from his heart. He thought of her day and night. He said to himself, "I cannot live without her." He wrote poems, composed songs, brought her treasures, kissed her hand, fought off other princes, but could not convince her to marry him.
His counsel of wisemen met and said, "Oh prince, you have become so sad with love you cannot do your daily duties. You must win her love or give her up. For it is worse to have a lovesick prince who has no wife, than an able prince who has no wife." The prince replied, "She is everything to me, I cannot live without her. I must win her or die."
The prince's persistence paid off and the beautiful woman consented to become his princess. The prince was ecstatic. His mind began to create all kinds of beautiful images and stories; scenes of everlasting romantic bliss, happiness surrounded by children, triumphs applauded by his kingdom. The prince, the wisemen, and the whole kingdom celebrated a week-long festival and wedding.
Once married, the wisemen noticed the prince seemed troubled, disorganized, unable to eat or sleep. They asked him what was wrong. He replied, "Three things torture me. First, whereas before I could not keep from thinking I must have her love or I cannot live, now I cannot stop thinking that if I lose her love, I cannot live. Second, the more I pursue her the more she wants to get away; she has created a separate territory in the castle for herself. Third, she has grown cold; the flame of my love cannot warm the dungeon of her heart."
Just so with David. The Devil duped David into thinking that Bathsheba was the answer to all his problems. Wrong, David!
But David's acting out also meant problems for Bathsheba. We don't know whether she was a willing participant or not. One cannot dismiss out of hand the special pressure she must have felt, given the source of the demand upon her. Then there is the resultant pregnancy, and it is plausible that it was an unwelcome pregnancy for her. We have no way of knowing. But we do know that David's capitulation to the Devil certainly involved a major fallout for Bathsheba.
Then there is Uriah. The cost to him was death. At first David tried to engineer matters so that it would look like the child was Uriah's. But when that failed, he engineered Uriah's death. It was an exceedingly dark chapter in David's life.
So the dark turn meant big trouble for David and even greater trouble for others. Which is what happens when people take advantage of their positions, whether it is a minister in his parish, a teacher in her classroom, or a Wall Street stockbroker who becomes an inside trader. When we become the Devil's person, others get hurt, too.
The Lesson
The lessons in all this?
First, the Devil is close at hand. For all of us. That's true whether it is a young child who grows comfortable with lying or an adult who emotionally and/or sexually abuses a child. James Hillman has written a word that must reach our ears: "The Devil's power seems to grow not in our shadow but from our light. He gains when we lose touch with our own darkness, when we lose sight of our own destructiveness and self-deceptions." (Insearch: Psychology and Religion, p. 91)
Second, the Devil is a strange bird. Speak up to him, say "no," and you'll be surprised how recessive he becomes. This happens when we help our children develop a healthy sense of conscience and when we impart positive values.
Recent research indicates that concern for others begins much earlier than we once thought. Studies show that almost at birth babies respond empathetically to the cries of another infant. Therefore it would seem that there is almost a kind of predisposition on the part of very young children that can be enhanced and encouraged or allowed to fade and die off.
A recent report sums it up like this: "Researchers have found that an active sense of social responsibility -- behaving helpfully and cooperatively, for example -- is unlikely to take root under parents who are either loosely permissive or strongly dictatorial. Parents who can integrate the best of both styles, combining firm authority with warmth and clear communication, seem most successful in planting the seeds of concern and thoughtfulness toward others." (US. News & World Report, November 21, 1988, p. 68)
Hope for David
We tend, it would seem, to see people in black and white terms. They are good or bad. But David reminds us that the matter is infinitely more complex.
His lack of struggle with the Devil meant that others got hurt, and hurt seriously. But David was not without his laudable side. His early life was filled with honor; he was a courageous warrior; he was politically shrewd and astute; he was a gifted musician; and he was a fine organizer. But he had his Achilles' heel and knew how to sew dragon's teeth.
Here, however, was David's hope: God wasn't finished with him yet! But that's a story for another day.
