King David

Mid-life Mayhem…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

No! Not me. King David…you know? King David of Israel. It had to be mid-life mayhem. Some call it a mid-life crisis. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about David’s tryst with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 & 12), and his subsequent cover-up. Here’s how the encounter begins:

11 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

According to the biblical chronology, David was somewhere between ages 49 – 56 when this event occurred (see here).

So, all week long I’ve been asking myself, “How could David do such an obviously wrong thing?” I mean, seriously, he is God’s anointed one, a “man after God’s own heart,” the poet of Israel, the one who was/is the foreshadow of Messiah. How does he fall, and so obviously and precipitously? It just doesn’t make sense. What could it be?

I thought, perhaps, it was boredom. Here’s David lounging around in the spring of the year, sleeping until afternoon, hanging around an empty palace (all his warriors are off at war). The proverb “idle minds are the devil’s playground” is true. Perhaps if David had been productively occupied, say out with his warriors, this might not have happened.

Maybe David had a sense of entitlement at work. You know? He was thinking, “I’m the King. No one says ‘No,’ to the King. I can do what I want.”

While it is true that Israel was governed by the Mosaic Law, and the Mosaic Law was very specific concerning the act of adultery, I wonder if David saw all the surrounding kings who WERE the law in their kingdoms, and thought, “I can make my own law,” or thought he wasn’t subject to the law. Yeah, it’s a stretch, but I’m trying to make sense of it all.

Some have suggested that it wasn’t a sin for David to be with Bathsheba. Under this line of reasoning, David instituted the practice of issuing a “conditional divorce” to soldiers going off to war in case they were lost in action so that their widows would be free to re-marry legally. Uriah was conditionally divorced from Bathsheba because he was at war. According to this reasoning, David’s sin wasn’t adultery, it was the murder of Uriah and its cover-up. I’m not sure I buy it, but it is an interesting perspective.

I’m not justifying David’s actions with these excuses. Just trying to understand his actions. Nothing justifies David’s actions. Nothing justifies our sin. Suffice it to say that this episode in the history of Israel and the life of David stands as a cautionary tale for all of us. May I share some of the cautions I’ve noticed as I’ve reflected on David’s actions?

Caution #1: Everyone is subject to the power of sin.

No one (not even David) is perfect. David had a human heart (even if it was one after God’s own) just like the rest of us. As the Apostle James reminds us:

14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1: 14 – 15 NIV).

Yes, David (up to this moment) has been the foreshadow of Jesus Christ, but this moment is the pivot of David’s life. Before this moment, the biblical writers portray only the triumphs of his life. He is anointed as king. He wins mighty victories over his enemies. The nation writes songs about him and celebrate his victories. He becomes king, and a good one, too. He shows mercy to his enemies. He reunited the Kingdom of Judah and the nation of Israel. He is riding high in Israel.

Events after this encounter are recorded as pure tragedy. He loses a child (the child born of this tryst), he has a son rape one of his daughters. Another son kills that son. Children revolt. David flees. He gets old and dies. Literally, the triumphs of David’s life turn to the tragedies of David’s life, and this is the pivot point.

Before this moment, David is (appropriately) compared to Jesus Christ. From this moment, David is contrasted to Jesus Christ, and we discover that even David needs Jesus, for even he is subject to the power of sin.

Even the chronicler of 1 & 2 Kings saw this as the pivotal event of David’s life:

5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15: 5 NIV).

Caution #2: Sin destroys everything.

David’s family fell apart. Uriah lost his life. Bathsheba lost her family and a child. Sin, this sin, destroyed it all.

Yes, David repented of his sin (see 2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51), but repentance doesn’t negate the consequences of our sin. We are left with pain and grief caused by the brokenness of sin.

Yes, salvation in Jesus Christ saves us from the penalty of sin (Romans 6: 23), and he (along with John Wesley) says we are saved from sin’s power (Romans 6: 14), but nowhere does the bible indicate that salvation in Jesus saves us from the consequences of sin.

Caution #3: Everything is not enough.

David had it all. He was famous. Fame didn’t satisfy him.

David had success. He had won great victories on the battlefield and reunified the nation. He had brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. Success didn’t satisfy him.

David had great wealth. Kings from surrounding kingdoms were paying him. tribute money and he was adding his wealth to the treasury to build the glory of Israel–the Temple. His great wealth didn’t satisfy him.

He had everything, yet he wanted more.

The blessings of the economic realities of the United States of America has created a very comfortable environment for all of us. Our success has left us wanting more, more, more. In all our pursuit of more, we are moving further and further away from the Lord. We’re busy chasing anything to fill the emptiness only God can fill.

Caution #4: Anything might be legal, but not everything is moral.

David may, in fact, have seen himself as the law of the land, and by a simple edict established anything as legal. But, just because something is legal doesn’t make it moral. When man’s law and God’s law come up against each other, God’s law will win every time. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But, ultimately, God’s law will prevail.

Perhaps David had already experienced this reality. We know that Genesis 2 is explicit in God’s plan for marriage–a man and woman become one flesh. Yet, David had 8 wives (at least 8!). Yes, it was legal, but legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, gay marriage may be legal. Legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, abortion may be legal. Legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, gambling may be legal. Legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, it may be legal for the United Methodist Church to seize all the property of the local congregation. Legal doesn’t mean moral (Yes! I went there!)

Finding Jesus.

As I always do, I need to find Jesus in these Old Testament accounts. Where can I see Jesus in this unfortunate episode in David’s and Bathsheba’s lives?

Well, Jesus is certainly present in their genealogy. Matthew’s Gospel mentions Bathsheba in Jesus’ family tree, so there’s the literal sense in which Jesus is present.

Beyond that, though, I see God’s sovereignty at work in all the brokenness of their lives. God’s will is accomplished (salvation comes through Jesus) even though David is disobedient and sinful. There is hope for me yet. All my broken, sinful attitudes and actions will not thwart God’s plan. For that I am grateful.

What a testament to God’s grace! It’s all grace, and Jesus came so that we might know the grace of God up close and personal. Repentance is grace. Forgiveness is grace.

What a great lesson to learn in mid-life (or at any other point in life). It’s a lesson I’m learning a little past mid-life, but I pray that I AM learning it.

Coming to understand the depths of God’s grace opens us to a new (or renewed) gratitude for Him. No, it won’t necessarily change my circumstances, but it will change my perspective and attitude. It can, literally, give me new life–God’s life in Jesus Christ.

Oh, that I should be so blessed.

Until next time, keep looking up…

A Man After God’s Heart…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Israel’s King David is (perhaps) the most well-known religious figure in the world besides Jesus Christ. He certainly is to the Jewish people and to most Christians. Honestly, to most Christians (and not a few Jews) he’s almost superhuman.

I bring David up because I’ve been meditating on his life, and particularly his calling (anointing as king) all week long. I’ve preached the passage before, and I’m preaching it again this week, but as I’ve studied and meditated this week, I just can’t seem to get to the “heart” of one particular passage of Scripture:

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16: 7 NIV)

I have been stuck on the phrase, “the Lord looks at the heart” all week. I’ve asked myself three questions all week long:

  1. What does the Lord see when He looks at the human heart?
  2. What did the Lord see when He looked at David’s heart?
  3. What does the Lord see when He looks at my heart?

The Context

I suppose I should set the context for the passage. It was the period of the Judges in Israel’s history when the people began clamoring for a King (1 Samuel 8). Samuel’s time as prophet/judge was drawing to a close and the people rejected his sons, who had been tapped to take his place. Samuel’s sons were corrupt and the people knew it. They wanted different leadership.

The lesson in that is be careful what you ask for. You might just get it. What the people got was their first king named Saul. Saul, who was “the most handsome man in all Israel–head and shoulders above everyone else in the land” (1 Samuel 9:2). Unfortunately this tall handsome guy turned out to be half-crazy and disobedient, and was ultimately rejected by God as King of Israel (1 Samuel 15).

Enter God’s call to Samuel to anoint another King in Saul’s place, and this takes us to the sleepy little town outside Jerusalem called Bethlehem where Jesse and his family keep flocks for a living. Jesse is the grandson of Ruth and Boaz (find their story here), and the Lord tells Samuel to go and anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new King He has chosen for His people Israel.

Samuel is hesitant to do so (What if Saul finds out?), so the Lord tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice and invite Jesse’s family to the sacrifice, and while you’re at it, take the horn of oil–kinda’ keep it out of sight until the time is right–and when I tell you, anoint a new King.

I could chase a rabbit here and explore the idea that God uses deception to accomplish His will, but that’s for another day. I’m just going to leave that thought right there because I really want to understand what God sees when He looks at David’s (and my) heart.

Samuel makes the trek to Bethlehem, invites Jesse’s family and begins to parade Jesse’s sons before the gathered body. Eliab, the oldest, is brought forward first. “Surely,” Samuel thinks, “this is the one.” He’s the oldest, so it’s got to be him, right? Wrong!

It’s then that the Lord announces to Samuel verse 7. See, Samuel just can’t get past appearances. Eliab is the oldest, perhaps the tallest, too. Samuel uses the same standard for David that was used for the previous King, Saul. Even the prophet/judge Samuel misses the mark. He does what we all are prone to doing–we like judging a book by its cover. The Lord says, “Not so fast!”

In order from oldest to youngest, seven of Jesse’s sons are brought to Samuel. All seven are rejected. Finally, Samuel asks Jesse if there are any more sons. “Yes,” he replies, “but he’s the youngest and he’s busy tending the flocks since you’ve got the rest of us here.”

“Send for him,” Saul says. “We’re not having supper until he gets here.”

David arrives. He is the chosen one. Saul anoints him as Israel’s next King. The Lord looked past his appearance and saw his heart.

This is where it gets really sticky for me. I (along with countless pastors in the past) have preached that there was something special about David’s heart. If we could just figure out what that was, we could learn how to be “people after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22).

Godly Character

Yeah, I came up with lots of good sermon material. I can easily come up with 10 characteristics that reflect David’s heart. All one has to do is read the Psalms:

Humility – Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. Psalm 62:9

Reverence – I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:3

Respectfulness – Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. Psalm 31:9

Trust – The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

Loving – I love you, O Lord, my strength. Psalm 18:1

Devotion – You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. Psalm 4:7

Recognition – I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. Psalm 9:1

Faithfulness – Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23:6

Obedience – Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Psalm 119:34

Repentance – For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Psalm 25:11

Yeah, that would make a great (and long) sermon. Hey, if I could just exhibit those characteristics, I’d be a great Christian. The Lord would see my heart and He’d just smile.

A Dose of Reality

But, there are two passages of Scripture that have given me “heart-burn” as I’ve prayed over this passage. The first is found in Jeremiah 17: 9-10:

The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

The second is in Romans:

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3: 22b-24 NIV)

In light of Jeremiah 17 and Romans 3, I’m not so sure David had a great heart. I’m not so sure I do, either!

Yes, David could be all the things we talked about. He could have great faith and be wonderfully obedient. He could show proper reverence, respect and humility. He could be a great leader of people. He could be all those things, but he could also be an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11). Let’s not forget that he was a less than stellar parent, too (2 Samuel 13-14).

I, too, want to say I have a heart after God’s heart, but then I look at my own heart and think, “Do I really?” No! I’m much like Rev. Alexander Whyte, who upon receiving great praise from one of his happy congregants, replied, “Madam, if you could see my heart, you’d spit in my face.”

Yes, being able to develop godly characteristics will always make me a better person, but being a better person will not save me. Only Jesus Christ can save me! How do I get from my sad, sinful heart to God’s heart? Only through Jesus Christ. He is the key. That must be what God sees when He looks at David’s heart. I pray it is what He sees when He looks at mine.

How so?

I take my clue from John Woodhouse, who translates the passage thusly: “For the Lord sees not as man sees, for man sees according to the eyes, but the Lord sees according to the heart.” It is a subtle, but major difference in this and the translation of most interpreters. In this rendering, it is God’s heart that He sees…meaning that David was chosen according to God’s purpose, just as Israel was “chosen” by God.

God views everything according to His own intentions and purposes. what I mean is that God’s choice is not on account of any peculiar fondness that he has for David—not because he has a particular liking to David, a liking that he doesn’t share for the other brothers, or that David has a peculiar and special quality which makes him attractive to God.

What it means is the fact that God, because he is God and because he is sovereign, is able to divinely select the one who is to be the king. And what it has to deal with is the fact of God’s electing (we Wesleyans hate that word) love rather than some notion of the suitability of a particular person.

Our Only Hope

It’s not that David’s heart was full of God, but rather that God’s heart was full of David. It was God looking through David’s heart to see Jesus Christ. It’s all about the place the man has in God’s heart rather than the place God has in the man’s heart.

I can only trust that when God looks at my heart, he sees Jesus Christ. If He doesn’t, I am lost, indeed, for only in Jesus Christ can I find redemption, reconciliation and salvation. He alone is my source of hope. I will put my trust in Him alone.

I’ve probably muddied the waters for everyone except myself, but I have, at least for myself, gotten to the “heart” of the matter. After all, every event in the Old Testament is leading us to Jesus. My own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). I can’t depend on my own heart. I can only depend on the loving heart of God.

I want to be a man who has a place in God’s heart.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Oh! How the Mighty Have Fallen…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

Bad news breaks hard, and unfortunately, bad news has been breaking hard for the Church for a few weeks now.

A Run of Bad News

First, return to late April. News broke of the suicide of a pastor’s wife in South Carolina (click here for a deeper dive into the story). Pastor John Paul Miller’s wife, Mica, allegedly took her own life after filing for divorce from her husband. The story reveals a tumultuous and allegedly abusive relationship between the pastor and his former wife. Newsnation has a series of reports on the entire ordeal (it can be found here). No matter the issues involved, it is a sad, sad story.

Second, on June 13th, it was announced that Dallas area megachurch pastor Tony Evans was stepping down from the church he helped found nearly 50 years ago over an “unnamed” sin. Dr. Evans had also built a flourishing media ministry through his Urban Alternative ministries. Dr. Evans was/is quite the celebrity among evangelical Christians, and the loss of his pulpit and ministry influence is a sad, sad story.

Third, news broke on June 18th, that Rev. Robert Morris, founding/senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, TX, had resigned his position as a result of accusations of sexual abuse and assault reaching back over 30 years ago. Rev. Morris had, in his own right, established a growing media ministry and exercised a strong influence among evangelicals just as Dr. Evans. Again, for his congregation and for the Church, his is a sad, sad story.

Finally, on a note not related to the Church/church, but closer to me personally (and reflective of the destructive nature of sin), I saw reports that a former co-worker had been arrested for crimes of a sexual nature. The accused and I worked together at the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office in another lifetime. I haven’t seen or talked to him in years, but the breaking news brought an overwhelming sadness to my heart because it, too, is a sad, sad story.

Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty! Although, both Evans and Morris resigned as a result of the allegations, so there is that. Rev. Miller (who I think has been relieved of his duties as pastor) hasn’t yet been charged with any crime, and my friend is yet to be tried for his alleged crime.

King David’s Lament

In each of these instances, I am reminded of David’s song in 2 Samuel 1:

19 “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel.
    How the mighty have fallen! (2 Samuel 1: 19 NIV)

David, ever the song writer, expressed his deep emotion regarding the death of his adversary (King Saul) and his friend (Jonathon). Though many have since uttered the phrase in celebration over the fall of the famous or influential, David sang it as a deep lament.

I won’t rehash David’s relationship with King Saul or Saul’s son, Jonathon, here. You can read 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel:1 for the full story. Let’s just say David’s relationship with King Saul was challenging. King Saul sought numerous times to have David killed and David had numerous occasions to kill Saul and assume the throne he knew to be rightly his. Yet, David chose to wait for God’s timing and he never failed to view Saul as the Lord’s anointed.

Upon hearing the news of both Saul and Jonathon’s demise, David’s heart broke because to him, it was not a time to celebrate, but it was, in fact, a sad, sad story.

Unfortunately, there are many outside the church who are celebrating the fall of the mighty. It gives them an opportunity to point to Christians and say, “Look, just a bunch of hypocrites!” Unfortunately again, they would be correct. We are, for the most part, a bunch of hypocrites. That’s why we need grace. That’s why we need Jesus. That’s central to the message of our faith. Too many outside the faith don’t understand that fact, and that, too, is a sad, sad story.

There are also some within the church who celebrate fall of the mighty. The celebration comes from those mostly outside the evangelical community who have an opportunity to say, “See, I told you so! Just a bunch of hypocrites.” And, they would be correct. It affords them a chance to say, “At least I’m not like that publican, over there” (Luke 18:9-14). Nothing like attacking our own. Why do we do that?

Lessons to Learn

I’m going to choose to learn some lessons from David in these particular situations.

Reserve Judgment

First, I’m going to reserve judgment. I’m not going to judge either the person or circumstance. David consistently withheld his own personal judgment in regard to his relationship with King Saul. He knew that God would judge Saul and his circumstances in His own time. David trusted God enough to wait. If David can do that, so can I.

I wait to offer any judgment because I remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7: 1-5 NIV)

There’s just something about that whole log and speck thing that slows me down when it comes to rendering judgment in any way. I’ve come to believe that we all have logs in our eyes…everyone of us have LOGS in our eyes. The log in your eye only looks like a speck to me because of the log in my eye, and the speck you see in my eye only looks like a speck because you can’t see around the log in your own eye.

The truth is I don’t want to be too hard on others because it means others will be too hard on me. We Christians believe in this little thing called forgiveness, and we work toward reconciliation and restoration, or at least we’re supposed to. Forgiveness is hard (especially in some of the circumstances above), but it is nonetheless demanded by those of us who follow Jesus.

Yes, accountability is necessary, and accountability will work itself out through the legal process (as it should). There are always consequences to sin. I suspect that each person whose name is in the news recently is experiencing that accountability first-hand. I’m willing to let that process play out without rendering judgment against the persons. I trust God enough to do that.

Respect the Person

Second, I’m going to respect the person. Honestly, I don’t know Pastor Miller. Never heard of him before the news of his wife’s suicide made national headlines. I feel reasonably certain there are folks who are standing with him during this tragic time, and that he has had a positive impact on lives under his care as a pastor (maybe not…I really don’t know). As far as I know, he hasn’t been implicated in any way in his wife’s death, but the “gossip” is rampant that it was his abuse that drove her to it.

I’ll choose to believe that no matter what, he has had a positive impact on someone, and I’ll celebrate that in the midst of my own sadness over the circumstance.

The same is true with Evans and Morris. Both have had a profound impact of the evangelical church over the past 20 years. They have positively impacted many lives through the ministry the Lord entrusted to them. I will choose to look at that impact and celebrate the goodness of God in those circumstances, even as I lament the sadness of their current circumstances.

And, I don’t know what my former co-worker’s life has been like over these past 35 years. But, I remember him as dedicated public servant who was funny and hard-working, and didn’t have an evil bone in his body. I’m going to celebrate those memories even as I lament the sad, sad nature of the tragic circumstances surrounding his arrest.

Our Work to be Done

The sad news of the past few weeks also serves to remind me that the Church/church has work to do.

Accountability

First, we in the church must practice accountability better, and we must submit ourselves to be accountable to one another. I’ll confess this has been a challenge for me in recent years (since I left vocational ministry). Previously, there were built in relationships that helped shape accountability in my life. As vocational ministry has grown smaller in my rearview, those relationships have likewise faded.

We must be intentional in accountability. That’s one reason I’m a Wesleyan. Wesley’s model of accountability (bands, classes, societies) is an effective model of discipleship when executed properly (and when submitted to properly). The practice of accountability is part and parcel to our pursuit of holiness, and we Wesleyans, if we’re not pursuing holiness, should be doing nothing else.

Prayer

Second, we must pray for those in circumstances like these. I think it was Oswald Chambers who said praying for others is the surest way to discover one’s own salvation. Not only to discover it, but also to live out the holy life to which one is called.

We must pray for every person involved in the situations…for the accused, for the victim/accuser, for their families, for the church. Praying for them helps us not lose sight of the hurt that affects everyone, and it reminds us that both victim and accused are people of sacred worth who are made in God’s image.

Naming Sin

Finally, we must name sin for what it is. Excuse me for saying it this way, but we can’t “poo-poo” sin. We can’t make light of it. We can’t sweep it under the rug. We can’t call it by any other name. Sin is destructive. It destroys lives and there are four very recent examples that leave very little doubt.

Sexual sin appears to be the Devil’s chosen means of destroying Jesus’s Church (and people in general). Folks, we’ve got to put guardrails in place to protect ourselves and the Church from sexual sin (well, all sin, but particularly sexual sin). The Devil has control of the culture and he is using that control to bring down the Church. We have to open our eyes to that reality.

For the Church to call out sin is not to render judgment. The Bible is relatively clear on the matter of sin and for the Church to call it out as such is to be faithful to Scripture. Judgment is the Lord’s, but the Lord has given His Church His Word. It is His Word that renders the judgment, not us as individuals.

I know this post may elicit some negative feedback. That’ll be okay. I won’t judge those who do. I’ll take it all in stride and include it as part of my continuing lament for the current climate of culture and news.

I’ll also remember that someone could someday be saying about me, “Oh! How the mighty have fallen.” Except I’m afraid they’ll be celebrating when they say it.

Until next time, keep looking up…