RSS

Tag Archives: Bathsheba

Matthew 1:1-17

17 Dec

1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
12 After the Babylonian exile:
Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

17 All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

Matthew 1:1-17

Dear God, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Mary. The five women Matthew calls out as being part of Jesus’s lineage:

Tamar: Judah’s daughter-in-law who had to pretend to be a prostitute to get him to sleep with her and conceive a child because her husband had died and Judah wouldn’t follow through on his responsibility to have one of his sons marry her.

Rahab: I’m assuming this is the prostitute who hid the spies before Joshua led the Israelites against Jericho (although the lineage doesn’t quite fit with Boaz because of the gap in years, but there seem to be a lot of gaps in years here).

Ruth: The Moabite widow who followed her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem and ended up marrying Boaz. Frankly, the most obviously noble of the women so far, although that’s probably an unfair judgment of Tamar and Rahab.

Bathsheba: Should never have been part of this lineage if David hadn’t sinned so greatly, slept with her, killed her husband, and then married her. It’s interesting that the baby she got pregnant with died and so it was another baby (Solomon) who became part of the lineage when it was the baby Tamar had by tricking Judah who is part of the lineage.

Mary: Probably the youngest of the four. The most innocent. The virgin given an incredible assignment.

So what does this tell me this morning. The first thing I see is that none of these women had things turn out the way they dreamed. Tamar widowed and desperate. Rahab afraid of being killed by the Israelites and betraying her people. Ruth, widowed and having to leave her home. Mary, a dream of a normal life with Joseph. But look what you did with all of these lives. You redeemed mistakes. You loved. You provided. Most of it is so ugly, but that’s what you do. You take the ugly and turn it into something beautiful.

I heard about a young man yesterday morning who is walking a difficult path. He’s 18, still finishing his senior year in high school, but he’s been kicked out of the house by an alcoholic father. My wife and I reached out to the couple helping him to give them some support, but what he needs is so much more. Father, move in his story and redeem it. Redeem it and make the pain count for everyone he touches. For him. For his parents. For the family helping him. For those I cannot see.

Father, there are all kinds of stories that need redeemed. I have a story and pain that needs redeemed. Be with me and help me with this pain. Comfort me and everyone involved. Love others through me. Use this pain and make it count. Help me to lean into this pain and grow from it. Don’t let any of it be wasted. Use the scars from this pain and use them to make us all stronger.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on December 17, 2025 in Matthew

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Samuel 11 – Uriah the Hittite

19 Sep

11 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. 5 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

6 Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. 8 Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax.” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. 9 But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?”

11 Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.”

12 “Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

David Arranges for Uriah’s Death

14 So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. 15 The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” 16 So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. 17 And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.

18 Then Joab sent a battle report to David. 19 He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. 20 But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls? 21 Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’”

22 So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. 23 “The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, 24 the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.”

25 “Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!”

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done.

2 Samuel 11

Dear God, I want to spend some time with Uriah the Hittite this morning. I normally think of him as just Uriah, but I think 2 Samuel 11 is careful to point out to us that he isn’t Jewish. He’s a Hittite. An outsider who grafted into Israel and served in the king’s army.

The narrative also goes out of its way to tell us what a good, noble, and honorable man Uriah was. I can also make assumptions. Since he and Bathsheba did not yet have any children, I assume he as on the younger side. He had a beautiful wife and a full life ahead of him. Then it was gone. Taken because another man was trying to hide his sin. It’s true that it’s almost always the coverup that is worse than the actual crime. In fact, if Uriah had been less conscientious he would have gone home to Bathsheba that night, slept with her, and been allowed to live with the idea that he had fathered David’s child, although the timing of the child’s birth would have been off by a number of weeks. Seemingly, it was that last level of conscientiousness that cost him everything.

But here’s the thing that none of them could see at the time. The thing Uriah couldn’t see as he was recklessly attacking the city, as he had been ordered to do by Joab. That David couldn’t see as he tried to hide his sin. That Bathsheba couldn’t see as she mourned her young husband and carried the king’s baby in shame. You would redeem this path in life. Uriah’s name would be remembered forever with nothing but high honor. Bathsheba would have a son who would become King of Israel. And this woman who was a pawn in all of this would become part of the lineage for Jesus.

I wonder what it looked like from heaven as Uriah watched all of this unfold (assuming for a moment that in the timelessness of your existence, he was with you). Did anger give way to elation as he realized the sacrifice of his earthly life gave the path to Jesus? The butterfly effect of his death cleared the way for you to do what you wanted to do all along, including redeem him from Satan’s grasp?

I don’t often look at my Facebook feed, but I took a peek this morning, and I saw a number of people still mourning Charlie Kirk’s assassination by a murderer who committed an act of treachery. That person created a widow and orphans that day, along with leaving chaotic pain and mourning among a large part of our population and a fear of political violence for everyone. I thought about Charlie and his desire to live out his faith. I didn’t know who he was nine days ago and I don’t think I would have agreed with everything he did, but I do believe he loved you and was doing his best to live out that faith in the world. So his death made me think of Uriah. I know Uriah had flaws we aren’t privy to, but he was a good man. I know Charlie had flaws, but I believe he was a good man. What will you do to redeem his death and not let this pain be wasted? How will you take this pain and make it count for your good? How will you teach us to love in the face of our anger?

Father, all of us have a duty to respond to the stimulus around us. How will we honor you in it? And are we willing to sacrifice our small lives for you? Jesus told us to be grateful when people persecute us for our faith. At some level, Charlie was persecuted for his faith. Help us to find the redemption in that. But let us also not forget to offer mercy and grace. To forgive others as you forgave David. As we forgive David. I don’t know of anyone who walks around holding Uriah’s death against David. Help us to love. Help us to love. Help us to love. Help us to offer mercy. Help us to be peacemakers. Help your people to show the world what it looks like to be a Jesus follower in the midst of pain, anger, and mourning. It’s times like this that Jesus taught us a way that is foreign to the world. Help us to live up to that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 19, 2025 in 2 Samuel

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Psalm 119:133

26 Mar

133 Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalm 119:133

Dear God, the last part of this one verse is so powerful. My iniquities and their influence over my life is a concept that overwhelms and humbles me. How many of the frustrations I’m experiencing now are a result of my iniquities? My sins?

It doesn’t say that David wrote this psalm, but my first thought goes to David and how his dalliance with Bathsheba (rape?) and then murder of Uriah seems to be the touchstone for his family problems later. That iniquity, though repented of in Psalm 51, seemed to have dominion over the rest of his life and even flowed into history. Amnon was the rightful heir to the throne, but Absalom killed him, led a revolt that ultimately led to his death. And Solomon would never have existed if not for David’s relationship with Bathsheba.

So, what can I pray for this morning? Well, somehow, Solomon was the pathway to Jesus through lineage. There was redemption for this somewhere down the line. Can you somehow use the ripples of the sins I’ve committed to do something positive in this world? Can you protect me from my iniquities and keep them from having dominion over me?

Father, I want to be at peace with the sorrows in my life. I can see where I made mistakes that played a role in my current sorrows, but I still don’t know how I ended up in them to the level I’m at. And it hurts. I hurt. So please be in these situations. Don’t let my mistakes and sins (sometimes mistakes aren’t sins) have dominion over me, the ones I love, or the plans you have for us. Help me to know the path forward, which starts with my very next step.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 26, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 51

13 Mar

Psalm 51

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
    and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
    if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then you will delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Dear God, as I think of David’s state of mine while he wrote this poem, this psalm after Nathan’s confrontation, I think of the devastation he felt. How unique it is to get this kind of a view of the heart of a man when he is confronted with his grievous sin: murder, adultery, rape?, lies, secrets, manipulation, corrupting others (Joab, messengers, etc.). And not only did David write this down before you, but he shared it. The part of the poem that says, “13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you,” really touches me because this is him saying that he and his pride are at your mercy. If it takes humiliating himself to achieve your forgiveness, he’ll do it. He didn’t want this pain to be wasted. He knew it was too late to rectify what he had done to Uriah, Bathsheba, Joab, the messengers, and even Nathan. They were forever damaged. He could apologize privately, but to do this publicly and show his remorse publicly like this was a huge step.

The downside is that there was no stopping him losing the moral high ground with his children. When his eldest son Amnon rapes his daughter, Tamar, David has nothing to say. When Absalom kills Amnon in revenge, David has nothing to do but exile Absalom. Then Solomon grew up knowing how David treated his mother and her first husband before he was born, and that likely impacted his view of women. The repentance was good, but there was still unfixable damage.

Sister Miriam in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on verses 10 and 12 today. It’s interesting because she takes those and then focuses on how your covenant with us is unbreakable by you. And that’s all good and well. And I’m grateful that you love me through Jesus life, death, blood, and resurrection. Without that, I’m not sure what my life would even be about. Why I would even be here. Without my relationship with you, I would have no reason to do anything for anyone else. Why love my neighbor when that is a waste of the years I have here on earth. Without you, then my life should be all about me and my happiness.

Father, oh how grateful I am that I do have you! Being part of you and having you in me makes it okay that I’m so small. It makes it good to give others around me as much love as I can. “I love you, Lord. And I lift my voice to worship you. Oh, my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King in what you hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.” (Shout out Laurie Klein for her song.)

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 13, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ahithophel

13 Jun

2 Samuel 15-17

Dear God, Fred Smith taught me something I didn’t know this week in his blog post “A Friend’s Revenge.” He taught me that Ahithoophel was likely Bathsheba’s grandfather, and the fact that Ahithophel aligned himself with Absalom in the attempted overthrow of David was possibly motivated by revenge for what David had done to Bathsheba and Uriah. What?!? How have I read that story so many times and not figured that out? I did a little research in Wikipedia (so it must be true) and it indicated that 2 Samuel 23:34 says Ahithophel was Eliam’s father, and 2 Samuel 11:3 tells us that Bathsheba’s father was named Eliam. This could have been a coincidence, but it would be an interesting vagueness for the author to leave us if the connection isn’t there.

That being said, and working from the assumption that this is true, I have a couple of thoughts.

  1. How did Ahithophel think this would end for Bathsheba and his great grandson Solomon? Absalom would certainly have killed Solomon, and Bathsheba would either have been killed or become Absalom’s wife/concubine. Given her age by that point, I doubt she would have been first choice for wife/concubine. So he was putting her in even more danger.
  2. Did he really think a kingdom run by Absalom would be better than a kingdom run by David. At that point, maybe he did. David seems to be  abdicating a lot of responsibility and lying down on the job. In fact, he was in a downward spiral ever since he decided not to go go and join the troops back when he hooked up with Bathsheba. I would imagine that succession planning was so unofficial back then that he might have been just trying to figure out which way the wind was blowing and go with it.
  3. Again, if this is true, then it was obviously an open secret what David had done to both Bathsheba and Uriah. That means that everyone knew including Solomon, which would help to explain why he treated women the way he did as an adult. Isn’t that what kings do?

But let me spend some time on this aspect of revenge as motivation. The most remarkable people in the world are those who do not seek revenge. Dr. Martin Luther King is regarded with more reverence by most people because he was forceful in his demands for justice and equality without being vengeful. The same is true for Nelson Mandela. In fact, in the midst of all of the racial tensions right now in this country, I wonder how much we have to learn from South Africa. I literally don’t know enough to know the answer to that question, but it is certainly remarkable that when Nelson Mandela came to power, as I understand it, he did not seek revenge on those who persecuted him.

I’ve wondered a lot this week about how Jesus would be responding right now if he were here in the flesh. Would he be attending protests? Would he be posting on social media? Would he be giving interviews or making public speeches? Would he just be talking to those in his sphere of influence and loving on them? Would he be seeking out regional and national leaders to give them counsel? Would he be participating on racial equality panels? Would he be vandalizing statues and destroying businesses and burning churches? Would he be taking photos of himself with a Bible? Some of these are obvious “yes’s” and some are obvious “no’s,” but many are vague and I don’t know what he would do. But I do know that revenge would not be part of the motivating factor. After all, even as he died, he asked that you would forgive those that were killing him.

Father, help me to be an instrument of your peace. Help me to know how to forcefully join a peaceful call for action that is not laden with revenge. And please raise up leaders who will lead in this spirit. The spirit of revenge that is flowing through our country right now is painful to watch. Let mercy lead.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 13, 2020 in 2 Samuel, Matthew

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Mothers of the Bible — Bathsheba

05 Mar

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.” Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax. ” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?” Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.” “Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. Then Joab sent a battle report to David. He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls? Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’” So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. “The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” “Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!” When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done. After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.
2 Samuel 11:1-27, 12:15, 18, 24-25

Dear God, as I think about Bathsheba as she experiences this course of events, I can’t help but think of the illustration I’ve used a few times over the last three or so weeks about the blind men who experience an elephant for the first time. Each one has a different description of the elephant because they are touching a different part. Here’s what I perceive to be a point-by-point experience for Bathsheba:

  • Her husband Uriah is gone to war and she is home alone. Living all alone? With any family? I don’t know, but we’ll presume she is alone.
  • She gets summoned to see king David and doesn’t know why. Did David have a reputation for doing this? Had he done this before with other women? Did she know what to expect when she got there?
  • She slept with David. Did she want to sleep with him? Did he force her? Did she have a choice? She had just finished her period. Was there a part of her that was lonely with Uriah gone and wanted to sleep with the King? In any event, she slept with him and I’m sure felt shameful as she went home.
  • She finds out she’s pregnant several weeks later. Let’s say it’s about 6-8 weeks. I don’t know how long it took to figure it out back then. I can’t imagine the horror she must have felt. Her husband is away at war and she is pregnant by the King. Well, she won’t be able to handle this problem alone so she involves David.
    • At this point I’d like to point out that apparently at least one other person knows about this whole situation. Someone had to summon her for David and someone had to deliver the pregnancy message to him. It might have been the same person, but the total number of people who know about that is at least three. I would venture to say more.

    • We aren’t told that David responded directly to her, but all of a sudden Uriah is back! What? How did she feel when she saw him? Did he know? Do the king tell him? Would someone else tell him? Why is he here? But he wouldn’t sleep with her. David had finally met his ethical match. Uriah followed his own code of honor.

    Uriah is gone again.
    She gets word that Uriah is dead. She is pregnant with, presumably, her first child and now her husband is dead. She mourned appropriately for him.
    David publicly moved her to the palace and married her, pregnant and all. Was it the worst kept secret in Jerusalem that the baby was his? Was the company line that it was Uriah’s from when he visited home and David was being a great guy by marrying her. How much shame and confusion did she feel during this time? What a whirlwind! What a tragedy.
    But something worse is coming, and she doesn’t deserve it. David does. The child is going to die. I have to tell you, Father, this seems so mean to me.
    After the son dies she is now left with a dead husband (I assume she loved him–he was apparently an honorable man) and a dead son. She has nothing.
    She has another child with David. This one turns out to be Solomon. She gets word from Nathan that he is “beloved of the Lord.” Who will this boy be?
    We saw yesterday how she orchestrated Solomon’s attaining of the throne. He wasn’t the obvious choice from a line-of-succession standpoint. Adonijah was. And I don’t know when David made his promise to her about Solomon getting the throne (1 Kings 1:17), but did he do it as part of his comforting of her back when she was pregnant with him or when he was born? Either way, it seems that she was ready to do what it took to see that Solomon became king.

Father, this seems like such a terrible deal for her. It seems so unfair. She got caught up in circumstances that were so much bigger than her. She made the best of them, but I can’t help but not like this story even more when I think about how she must have experienced it. But I guess life can be like that. We can get caught up in circumstances that are beyond us. It’s not fair. But as you ultimately did with Solomon, you can come along and redeem it. You can redeem the divorce. You can redeem the criminal. You can redeem anything. You can make us stronger through driving us to depend upon you. Thank you for ultimately providing for Bathsheba. In the end, she got to see her second-born son become king of Israel. I hope that at the end of her life she was able to be at peace.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 5, 2020 in 2 Samuel, Mothers of the Bible

 

Tags: , ,

Fathers of the Bible — David (Part 2)

29 Feb

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done. So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.” David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.” After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate. His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.” David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.
2 Samuel 11:26-12:25

Dear God, what must it have been like to be Bathsheba? She was forced into adultery. Her husband was killed. Her baby (presumably her first child) died. Then, ultimately, her next son ends up being the king of Israel. She would never had guessed the life you had for her, but I can’t help but feel sorry for her and wish for her the normal life she foresaw for herself.

But in terms of David as a father, he seems very detached in this story. I think I mentioned this in my last prayer journal about this. He didn’t seem to care that he wouldn’t get to know this child. His approach to comforting Bathsheba was to sleep with her. What? As if the opportunity to have sex with him made it all better? I don’t know. Maybe it did.

I’ve also mentioned this before, but I wonder how much of David’s attitude towards women got passed down to his children. Amnon raped his sister. Solomon slept with, at minimum, hundreds of women. One of the other sons, I can’t remember which one, slept with one of David’s concubines. And I’m sure that it was a poorly kept secret what David had done with Bathsheba and Uriah. I’m sure Solomon and all of the other children grew up hearing the stories. How did that impact David’s relationships with them? Did he lose the high ground forever? When one reads 2 Samuel, this is certainly the beginning of the decline of David’s success. The apex of his joy and victory is certainly behind him at this point.

Yes, the losing of the moral high ground is probably really significant when it comes to his relationships with his children. They probably did not respect him after that. Absolom didn’t.

Father, I don’t want or need my children to see me as perfect, but I certainly want to set an example for them. A perfect example doesn’t help because it gives them an unrealistic, condemning view of what a man should be. At the same time, a life of debauchery is no good either. Help me to just be a man that follows you, is humble about his mistakes, and gives his children the love and direction that. you need them to have through me. Do it all, ultimately, for your glory so that you might live through them and enter the world through them.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on February 29, 2020 in 2 Samuel, Fathers of the Bible

 

Tags: , ,

Solomon — 1 Kings 1:38-40

07 Jul

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the king’s bodyguard took Solomon down to Gihon Spring, with Solomon riding on King David’s own mule. There Zadok the priest took the flask of olive oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon with the oil. Then they sounded the ram’s horn and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound.
1 Kings 1:38-40

Dear God, I wish we had more about Solomon’s relationships with Bathsheba, David, and all of the people involved with his ascent to the throne. One thing I’ve noticed in the telling of this story is that Adonijah was a self promoter while the author here had yet to tell us anything that Solomon has said on his own behalf. We won’t get a quote from him until he has to deal with Adonijah at the end of this chapter.

The other interesting thing is the the writer goes out of his way to tell us that Adonijah was spoiled and undisciplined. What kind of a mother was Bathsheba? I’m betting she disciplined her children. At least Solomon was thought enough of by Nathan, et. al., to be promoted and desired as the next king.

But back to the subtext of the fact that the author is careful to contrast Adonijah and Solomon by who they did and didn’t promote themselves. My dad told me one time when I was young that if I ever got a promotion at work, on my first day in the new job I would likely not see much difference in my future because I had already been doing those things. The message that I received in that was, “Work hard and let the reward come from the hard work.” In words my wife, the writer would use, “Show, don’t tell.”

Father, we are still a few chapters and executions away from Solomon asking you for wisdom, but I want to continue to seek that from you. Help me to simply serve you and then let your plan unfold around me. My biggest danger is allowing inaction and lethargy to keep me from what you’ve called me to do. So please make your call clear to me. I repent for the things I’ve done and the things I’ve failed to do.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 7, 2019 in 1 Kings, Solomon

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Solomon – 1 Kings 1:1-14

05 Jul

King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm. So his advisers told him, “Let us find a young virgin to wait on you and look after you, my lord. She will lie in your arms and keep you warm.” So they searched throughout the land of Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her. About that time David’s son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, began boasting, “I will make myself king.” So he provided himself with chariots and charioteers and recruited fifty men to run in front of him. Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, “Why are you doing that?” Adonijah had been born next after Absalom, and he was very handsome. Adonijah took Joab son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest into his confidence, and they agreed to help him become king. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s personal bodyguard refused to support Adonijah. Adonijah went to the Stone of Zoheleth near the spring of En-rogel, where he sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened calves. He invited all his brothers—the other sons of King David—and all the royal officials of Judah. But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the king’s bodyguard or his brother Solomon. Then Nathan went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, and asked her, “Haven’t you heard that Haggith’s son, Adonijah, has made himself king, and our lord David doesn’t even know about it? If you want to save your own life and the life of your son Solomon, follow my advice. Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, didn’t you make a vow and say to me, “Your son Solomon will surely be the next king and will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ And while you are still talking with him, I will come and confirm everything you have said.”
1 Kings 1:1-14

Dear God, I think it is important to note that the story of Solomon cannot be told without including Nathan. Nathan is woven throughout Solomon’s (and Bathsheba’s) story. He is the prophet whom David consults about building the temple (2 Samuel 7). He is the prophet who rebukes David about what he did with Bathsheba and Uriah, and through you gave Solomon a new name–Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12). And now he is the prophet who orchestrates Solomon’s rise to the throne (1 Kings 1). Interestingly, these are the only three stories we get about Nathan.

I normally do these journals to you first thing in the morning, but as I opened the scriptures today I found myself with a lot of questions and researching a lot of things. First, I went to 1 Chronicles to see how it recorded the transition from David’s rule to Solomon’s. I was surprised to see a completely different portrait painted. The accounting of it in Chronicles was much tidier and more honorable. It really focused on David’s passing the torch to Solomon to build the temple. But I’ll talk about the temple another time. Today, I want to talk about Nathan.

I had a new thought today that I don’t think I’ve had before. Nathan apparently had a soft spot in his heart for Bathsheba and Solomon. I won’t say that he knew about David’s sin with Bathsheba before anyone else did. I’ll bet is was actually a pretty poorly kept secret. But he was the one willing to confront David. He was the one who spoke out on your behalf and on behalf of the woman. He watched her go through the loss of her child. He watched her give birth to Solomon. He got the word from you that Solomon was special and to be renamed Jedidiah (I wonder why that name didn’t stick–I searched the entire Bible, and 2 Samuel 12:25 is the only time it is ever mentioned).

Fast forward many years. David is at the end of his life and his fourth-born son, Adonijah (the first three are seemingly dead) starts to position himself for the throne. 1 Kings 1:6 seems to go out of its way to tell us that he wasn’t a good guy, but was spoiled and undisciplined. This apparently got Nathan’s attention and he decided it was time to act on behalf of the boy whom you had told him to rename and his mother.

Nathan probably doesn’t get enough love from history. Yes, the writer of Samuel and Kings gives us what we need to know about his role in things, but it’s almost too brief. I almost missed it. He was apparently a man who cared about your righteousness enough to speak truth to power and then risk his life to do what he perceived to be your will.

Father, make me a man of this kind of courage. Help me to know when to speak and when not to speak. Help me to know when to act and when not to act. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. But do it in reverse order of that prayer. Give me the wisdom to know when you are calling me to act, when you are calling me to not act but pray, and when you are calling me to accept a situation. Give me the courage to follow your call. And when it is time to accept your judgment and a situation about which I am to do nothing, fill me with your peace.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 5, 2019 in 1 Kings, 2 Samuel, Solomon

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Solomon – 2 Samuel 12:13-25

04 Jul

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.” After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate. His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.” David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord ”), as the Lord had commanded.
2 Samuel 12:13-25

Dear God, after yesterday’s prayer journal to you, I want to spend some time with Solomon. When I said his name to my wife this morning, she quoted the musical Hamilton and said, “Have it all lose it all.” But he never really lost everything. He just let evil take him over and became awful. I want to see if I can trace it and what I can learn from his life.

And so I am starting with his conception and birth. Born from the sin of David taking Bathsheba and killing her husband Uriah, if David had done things the right way then Solomon should never have been here. After I read this story this morning the thought occurred to me that I can see where people start to build a case for predestination. None of this should have happened, but it did and history took a turn.

I like the little detail in this story that David was comforting Bathsheba. We don’t often think about what this woman went through. She was, at best, taken by the king, or, at worst, raped by him. Then she got pregnant. Then her husband was killed. And then she lost the child. What a horrifying and overwhelming 12 months this must have been for her. Did she even want this new life? We just never spend any time thinking about her in this. We just think about David’s sin and his repentance (see Psalm 51).

So Solomon was born from a union that should never have been and an act of comfort for a distraught woman who had lost so much. Do you predestine things, or do you redeem them? I choose to think you redeem them. Knowing Solomon’s origin story also gives me the peace to know that you have made your plans beyond what my own sin affects, both the things I do and the things I fail to do.

I guess one thing I should add is that I am here today by your will. On paper, my parents should not have married. My mother was divorced. Should she have stayed with her first husband (I don’t think so). My dad chose her against his parents’ wishes. And yet here I am. I’m no Solomon, but I certainly owe my life to you. And my own son is here only because of a miscarriage before him. If that pregnancy hadn’t ended early he wouldn’t be here.

Father, help me to honor you today. You knew me before I was born. I am grateful for my knowledge of you and the opportunity to worship you, even as a Gentile. Please forgive me for the things I do and the things I fail to do. Redeem every action I take and bring glory to yourself through me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 4, 2019 in 1 Kings, Solomon

 

Tags: , , , ,