2 Samuel 11:14-22 – A Fallen King
God has been so kind to David. He’s put all things under his feet. David was ruling as his representative. He’s given him so much. Yet David takes the one thing he’s not allowed. Does that remind you of anything? It should remind you of the garden of Eden. God had been so kind to Adam and Eve. He’d put all things under their feet. Adam and Eve were ruling as God’s representative. He’d given them so much. Yet they take the one thing they’re not allowed to.
At what precise moment did David fall? In a very real sense, he fell the moment Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit. The catechism says that all mankind descended from Adam by ordinary generation – that is by men and women conceiving children – sinned in Adam and fell with him. That includes King David.
We get the Bible completely wrong if we think that it’s telling us how we should live if we want to go to heaven. For a start, think of some of its heroes. The two who’re mentioned most in the New Testament are Abraham and David. What did they do? Abraham repeatedly lied. He as good as prostituted his wife to save his own skin. David, as we see here, committed adultery and murder. Then in the New Testament you have Jesus’ 3 closest disciples: Peter, James and John. James and John want to call down fire on people who won’t listen to them. And Peter denies 3 times that he even knows Jesus. Of course, by God’s grace all these men were capable of tremendous acts of faith as well. But if those are the depths to which some of the best people in the Bible fell, it’s not exactly promising.
The point of the Bible isn’t ‘here’s how to live your life so that God will bless you and take you to heaven’. Rather, as someone has put it, ‘the point of the Bible is that God continually and persistently gives his grace to people who don’t deserve it, don’t even seek it, and don’t appreciate it once they get it’. ‘The point of the Bible is that the best people who have ever lived cannot [fully] overcome their own sin and self-centredness, but if they cling to the grace of God to the end of their lives, they’ll triumph’. David is a fallen king – not just because he commits adultery and murder. But because long before he was a king, he was a fallen human being.
Question
- Why was David already a fallen king?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for God’s grace in your life.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.