II Samuel 11: In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. The author tells us what it means to be a king, the responsibility David had to lead Israel out on the battlefield, doing what kings were supposed to do. “But David remained at Jerusalem,” He abdicates his responsibility, he fails to do what leaders are supposed to do. David abuses his authority by objectifying Bathsheba. He abuses his authority by trying to cover it up, sending Uriah to the front lines, having Uriah murdered. This is similar to the sin David commits at the end of II Samuel where he takes a census. He’s obsessed with power, with military strength, and with being king. Those who are obsessed with power will do everything to keep it. “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” The shepherd boy who rejected Saul’s armor, who faced Goliath “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (I Samuel 17), is overtaken by the intoxication of power that demands self-preservation.
Power, Self Preservation, and the Cross
Power, Self Preservation, and the Cross
Power, Self Preservation, and the Cross
II Samuel 11: In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. The author tells us what it means to be a king, the responsibility David had to lead Israel out on the battlefield, doing what kings were supposed to do. “But David remained at Jerusalem,” He abdicates his responsibility, he fails to do what leaders are supposed to do. David abuses his authority by objectifying Bathsheba. He abuses his authority by trying to cover it up, sending Uriah to the front lines, having Uriah murdered. This is similar to the sin David commits at the end of II Samuel where he takes a census. He’s obsessed with power, with military strength, and with being king. Those who are obsessed with power will do everything to keep it. “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” The shepherd boy who rejected Saul’s armor, who faced Goliath “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (I Samuel 17), is overtaken by the intoxication of power that demands self-preservation.