Counseling David

One of the questions posed in our discussion yesterday about the fall of David was this: where were his friends and counselors who could have prevented his terrible deeds?  It’s clear that the actions he took with Bathsheba and Uriah were not done secretly; for example, after he saw her from his roof he “sent and inquired after the woman,” obviously using other people to bring her to him.  Did no one try to talk sense into him to prevent his string of evil deeds?  Perhaps one clue comes from this statement about what David did right before the incident with Bathsheba: “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel….  But David tarried still at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1, 3).  He sent away his closest associates to battle, but he did not go with them like he should have as their king.  Those most likely to have been able to prevent him from his adulterous and murderous deed were not there with him to give him counsel.  He left himself vulnerable by not being where he was supposed to be as the king—with his army and servants on the battlefront.  And yet there were others still present with David who knew what he was doing but, as far as we can tell, did not attempt to counsel him to stop.  One of the lessons then from the story of David then may be that we need be the kind of friend who can counsel in righteousness and be aware and brave enough to warn those close to us against the kind of serious mistakes that David made.     

               Another answer to that question may be that he was not humble enough to receive counsel in the first place.  We get a glimpse of that in his exchange with his wife Michal.  She criticized him for the way that he had danced before the people when the ark of the covenant was brought in to Jerusalem.  She suggested that the way he “uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants” was inappropriate, an accusation that seemed to imply that he was too open with the women of the people.  Whether or not she was justified in the accusation isn’t totally clear, but either way David showed his pride in his response: “I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour” (2 Samuel 6:22).  It’s almost as if he were saying, “I can do whatever I want in the sight of these women.”  He did not take the criticism with an open mind or review it for its merits; he simply lashed back at his wife and showed his vanity and pride.  This kind of pride may have been at the root of his perverted thinking that he could simply take Bathsheba if he wanted her.  Perhaps if he had listened to Michal, if he had considered his prideful attitude towards his people, he may have been able to mend his ways before he let his life spiral out of control.  Thus a second lesson from this story may be that we need to be humble enough to listen openly to criticism and counsel so that we can see the error of our ways before it is too late.