Day 1: David

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

--Psalm 51:10

The original Boy Wonder. A humble shepherd boy-turned-King. David was the man who fought Goliath with only a handful of stones and a sling - too small to even don the impressive armour worn by Israel’s mightiest warriors. He was admirable as he was honourable, with a strong sense of justice and what it means to have respect for God. David was different from the other mighty men of the Bible: Saul, his predecessor stood literally a head above everyone else, and his beauty and stature made him unique among his peers (1 Samuel 9:2). Likewise, Samson, another mighty man, was strong and outwardly impressive.

When God called Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king, Samuel assumed it would be another massive, imposing man. He was all about to pour the horn of oil on the first son, Eliab, until God pointed him towards David’s direction (1 Samuel 16:5-12). Yes, David was a catch, but he was humble and fair. He never boasted in anything, and acquired a band of valiant men along his travels due to his charisma and kindness. But he fell.

Years passed, and David was king. Uriah was one of his best friends; and he had a stunning wife, Bathsheba. Idle David, instead of going to war with the rest of his men, wandered to his roof and from the height, saw Bathsheba bathing naked. He didn’t care that she was married, or that her husband was his best friend. Instead he used his kingly status to bring her to his house, got her pregnant, and then plotted to get Uriah killed on the field of battle. Even after the death of Uriah, David did not mourn or think twice about his actions, instead, he felt relieved to be able to live openly with Bathsheba in his house. God had to send Nathan the prophet to admonish his behaviour, and out of this shame, David wrote Psalm 51, the prayer of repentance (2 Samuel 11-13). Many disasters befell David in the wake of this transgression, because actions have consequences, even after repentance.

There are many things we can point to as a cause for David’s fall. Self-importance, idleness, complacency, lust. He no longer had self-control, and like Saul before him, his title granted him too much power and too much indulgence. We are all prone to fall, some harder than others, and at times we might look back on our lives and think “how did I get here? Why am I so far away from God now?” That’s how David felt. But what did he do? He ran back to God, repented, and lived a better life than before, in spite of the tragedies that permeated his house afterwards. Family dysfunction rose up: rape and murder, are just some of the behaviours his children displayed, and his heir, Solomon, inherited the same problem with lust as his father. Solomon infamously adopted hundreds of women as wives and concubines. It’s not easy, but David could overcome his struggles because he returned to God.

God restored his former honour, and documented his life, so that the humanness of his story, and his repentance, can give us some hope as well.