2 Samuel 11-12; Psalm 51
David was the greatest king that Israel ever had, for several reasons: "1) he united the tribes into one nation, 2) he secured undisputed possession of the country, and 3) the whole government rested upon a religious basis, and the will of God was the law of Israel" (Bible Dictionary, p. 654). The experiences he had in his earlier life prepared him well to be a great king. "As shepherd he acquired the habit of deep reflections; as courtier he was trained in self-control and chivalrous generosity; as outlaw he acquired knowledge of men and power of government; while each successive phase of experience developed that conscious dependence upon God which was the secret of his strength throughout his life" (ibid., p. 653).
Despite all of the valor, testimony, loyalty, intelligence, kindness, and generosity of spirit he demonstrated throughout his life, he abandoned all of these qualities in an instant when he saw Bathsheba. What led to this cataclysmic error?
David, who could look the mighty Goliath in the eye, claim victory in the name of the Lord, and slay him with a dramatically inferior weapon, allowed himself to become blind to the dangers of the little things.
Neglecting duty
"And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab [the general of his army], and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and beseiged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem" (2 Sam. 11:1). At the time when he, the king, should have gone forth to battle, David sent. He neglected his duty, left it to the care of others. He tarried still at Jerusalem, the comfortable place, the safe place, the wrong place for a king at time of battle.
Looking
"And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon" (2 Sam. 11:2). The sun was setting, it was fairly dark, yet David took the effort to look closer at the bathing figure. He lingered.
Wanting
"And David sent and enquired after the woman" (2 Sam. 11:3). David started thinking about what he had seen. Of course, polygamy was practiced then, so he might have sought her as another wife. But he wasn't just interested in dating, in finding out her virtues, in getting to know her personality. It was only her body that he had seen, and it was only her body that he therefore could have had an interest in. On top of that, when he was told she was already the wife of Uriah, he should have closed the book. David, however, allowed himself to continue to want.
Acting upon lusts
"And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her...and she returned unto her house" (2 Sam. 11:4). David had no possibility of being honorably married to Bathsheba, and perhaps he didn't care to be. He used her to satisfy his lusts in a "one-night stand," and then returned her to her home. Why is Bathsheba never condemned by the Bible authors? David was the king. She was helpless to do anything but what he commanded, likely at peril of her life.
Attempting to cover sin
"And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child" (1 Sam. 11:5). The little parenthetical statement in the previous verse, "for she was purified from her uncleanness," tells us that the bathing David had watched was the monthly ritual to cleanse herself after menses. Therefore, it also tells us that, with Uriah off to war, the time of the conception of the child was absolutely clear, and there was only one possibility for paternal claim: David.
David tried all kinds of tactics to get Uriah to come in to be with his wife and give the appearance of being the child's father, but Uriah was such a faithful servant, always in the right place at the right time, he would not relent and neglect his duty as did David. Ironically, in desperation, David did to Uriah exactly what his father-in-law Saul had tried to do to him. Saul had promised David his daughter to wife if David would kill 100 Philistines, expecting that the Philistines would kill David (1 Sam. 18:17-21; 25-27). David, then, took Uriah's life by arranging for his death in battle. Other soldiers were killed with Uriah in the wreckless maneuver (2 Sam. 11:17). After the death of Uriah, he married Bathsheba, which act would have appeared to the Israelites to have been noble on David's part: the benevolent king taking his noble servant's widow under his sheltering care, a great cover-up.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF COVER-UPS
A new family bought a house on our street several years ago. It was a 25-year-old home with pretty rooms, a lovely open kitchen, and nice landscaping. It had been freshly painted inside, and everything looked like new. Our new friends were pleased with their home, but after several months, they noticed mildew growing on a bathroom wall in the basement. The problem got worse as time went on, and the wall fairly oozed of mold. Finally, they called a repairman who cut a hole in the wall and found a broken pipe, wrapped in layers of damp, mildewed rags, and mold spreading all around it! Before selling the home, the previous owner had hastily wrapped up the pipe, covered the wall with new sheetrock, and given it a fresh coat of paint, rather than pay a plumber! In the end, the cost of repairing the pipe was minimal compared to the cost of removing the mold and mildew, rebuilding the wall, and repainting.
Who would do something this crazy? But, of course, this is just what David did after his affair with Bathsheba, covering up adultery with lies, trickery, and finally premeditated murder. Covering one problem led to another greater problem, and evil began to ooze from the festering wound of the original sin.
The prophet Nathan let David know, through a parable, that the Lord saw his crimes and condemned them, and that they had caused others to sin (2 Sam. 12:1-14). To his credit, David admitted his sin baldly, but there is no mention of repentance at that time. The JST footnote for 2 Samuel 12:13 changes Nathan's reply to say that David was not forgiven. Nathan prophesied grave consequences to David: first, that evil would arise in a person in his own family (2 Sam. 12:11) who would commit adultery with David's wives, not in secret, but in plain sight of all of Israel. This was fulfilled by his son Absalom (2 Sam. 16:22). The second consequence was that the child of the illegitimate union would die (2 Sam. 12:14), which it did, a sign in their culture of God's condemnation of its parents.
Elder Richard G. Scott said to those who cover up their sins, "Do not take comfort in the fact that your transgressions are not known by others...Excusing transgression with a cover-up may appear to fix the problem, but it does not. The tempter is intent on making public your most embarrassing acts at the most harmful time. Lies weave a pattern that is ever more confining and becomes a trap that Satan will spring to your detriment" (April 1995 General Conference).
"David committed a dreadful crime [to cover up his sin of adultery], and all his life afterwards sought for forgiveness. Some of the Psalms portray the anguish of his soul; yet David is still paying for his sin. He did not receive the resurrection at the time of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter declared that his body was still in the tomb, and the Prophet Joseph Smith has said, 'David sought repentance at the hand of God carefully with tears, for the murder of Uriah; but he could only get it through hell: he got a promise that his soul should not be left in hell.' Again we ask: Who wishes to spend a term in hell with the devil before being cleansed from sin?" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:74)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, "Murderers are forgiven eventually but only in the sense that all sins are forgiven except the sin against the Holy Ghost; they are not forgiven in the sense that celestial salvation is made available to them (Matt. 12:31-34). After they have paid the full penalty for their crime, they shall go on to a telestial inheritance" (Rev. 22:15). (Mormon Doctrine, p. 520)
Had David repented of the first sin, the consequences would not have been nearly as severe, and he could have eventually been restored to a state of happiness. "Repentance always means that there is greater happiness ahead" (Neil L. Anderson, October 2009 General Conference). Instead, sorrow fell upon sorrow as David attempted to cover up his sin with yet greater sins, until the Lord stated "he hath fallen from his exaltation" and lost the privilege to have his wives and family in the next life (D&C 132:39).
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For more discussion on David see "Points to Ponder" in the chapter on "The Fall of King David" in the Old Testament Institute Manual.
Showing posts with label David. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Old Testament Lesson #23 "The Lord Be Between Thee and Me For Ever"
1 Samuel 18-20; 23-24 (and 25)
HOLY AND UNHOLY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS
This reading assignment focuses on the opposite relationships between Saul and David, and between Saul's son Jonathon and David. Saul was an example of a persistent enemy and Jonathon was an example of an enduring friend. Although Saul's relationship with David was unholy, David's relationship with Saul was always holy. David never returned evil to Saul, but was ever forgiving (while still wisely protecting his own safety), leaving judgment of his old friend Saul completely in the hands of the Lord. Very likely, Saul was seriously mentally ill with some form of paranoia and David, as well as many of Saul's servants, realized he was not himself, but a victim of our fallen existence. (See 1 Sam. 16:17 JST, and 22:17.)
This saga teaches many important lessons about how we treat and view others. Unfortunately, the reading assignment does not include Chapter 25 which tells the marvelous story of Abigail and David. This is one of the greatest relationships in the Old Testament, because it is a type of our possible relationship with our Redeemer, a beautiful explanation of how Christ can heal us from the damage that others have done to us, if we will but forgive. It would be very worthwhile to supplement this lesson with an explanation of the Atonement as found in the story of Abigail and David.
ABIGAIL AND DAVID
As the story begins, David and his men had been pursued relentlessly by Saul and his army. David found himself in the remarkable situation where he could easily kill his would-be murderer, but he left justice to the Lord and let Saul live. After revealing himself to Saul, he said, "The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee...Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked," and David chose not to be wicked (1 Sam 24:12-13).
Saul repented (verse 17), acknowledged David's greatness, and begged David not to kill Saul's descendants when David became king, as some kings would have done to prevent uprisings. David promised and forgave, but he was smart enough to return to his hiding place in the wilderness. (We are required to forgive everyone, but we are not required to trust those who have not proven trustworthy.)
THE OFFENSE AGAINST DAVID
So at the time that David was hiding out with his men in the wilderness, in fairly dire straits and wanting for provisions, "There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the [man's possessions were] very great...Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings" (1 Sam. 25:2-3).
The Hebrews attached great importance to names. They didn't pick a name, as we sometimes do, just because they liked the sound of it, or the look of it; they didn't make up names just to be different, or conversely, to go with fashion. They chose a name for its meaning, and often a person's name was actually changed at some point to reflect his state in life. Naomi, for example, said to her kinsfolk, "Call me not Naomi [which means "pleasant"], call me Mara [which means "very sad"] for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me" (Ruth 1:20, with footnotes).
Similarly, the names of the subjects of this story are significant. Nabal's name means "fool" and David's name means "beloved." Abigail's name, although it is a female name, means "Father of rejoicing" (Bible Dictionary). Perhaps the word "Father" refers to "origin" or "Creator," so that her name might mean something like "reasons to rejoice originate with or are created by this person." Knowing that Abigail is a type of Christ makes this name significant.
So the characters in this story are:
Nabal sent a message back, denying David any help, justifying himself by saying that very likely David was just a runaway slave; this despite the fact that David was leading an army of six hundred men (25:10-11) and seemed to have been very well-known as King Saul's worthy adversary and potential successor. (See 25:30-31.) Truly Nabal was a fool.
DAVID'S RESPONSE
David's reaction to this affront was immediate and natural: "Gird ye on every man his sword." He left 200 men guarding the hold, and rode to annihilate the clan of the selfish Nabal and take his provisions, since he wouldn't share them with those who had voluntarily acted as his allies (25:13). David's intention was to kill every last one of Nabal's men (25:22), since Nabal had returned evil for David's good. (This attitude provides further evidence that David may have felt Saul was mentally ill, since he never expressed this type of vengeance toward Saul.)
Fortunately, one of the shepherd-messengers told the situation to Nabal's wise wife, Abigail, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to [greet] our master; and [Nabal swooped upon them as a bird attacking]" (25:14 with footnotes). Further, he reported that David did nothing to deserve this kind of reception, but that, to the contrary, he had been a great blessing to the shepherds of Nabal. "We were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall [or protection] unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial [wicked or stupid man], that a man cannot speak to him [reason with him]" (25:15-17).
ABIGAIL'S ATONEMENT
Abigail was a quick-thinking woman who immediately perceived what to do. She could see that David had been greatly wronged, and that he and his men really did deserve the provisions that Nabal had denied them. She quickly assembled a huge compensatory gift: 200 loaves, 2 bottles of wine, 5 sheep already butchered, 5 measures of grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs. She loaded the gifts upon donkeys and sent them ahead of her with her servants (25:18-19). This was all done without the help or knowledge of her husband, the idiot (25:20).
When Abigail met up with David, "she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send" (25:24-25). Abigail fully agreed that her husband had sinned against David, and she also explained the reason: Nabal was unintelligent, a fool, he lacked understanding. So Abigail compensated David for the actions of Nabal, and she begged him to spare Nabal for her sake, since she had been completely innocent of any wrongdoing (she "saw not the young men," the messengers).
But she claimed the sin upon herself ("Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be...I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid") after which she asked for many blessings to be upon David in repayment for his forgiveness (25:24,28-30). Then she gave these very insightful reasons for him to forgive, addressing David as "my lord:" "That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself." In other words, she reminded David that vengeance would bring injury to himself. It would bring sorrow to him. It would offend his heart. And he would be shedding blood for no cause, since she had provided everything that David needed.
David recognized her words to be true. In fact, she had included the very reason that he had decided previously not to kill Saul, even though he had both the power to do it, and the justification--he didn't want to suffer the consequences of the wickedness of vengeance.
David thanked Abigail for preventing him from committing the greater sin of violence against Nabal. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand" (25:32-33).
THE CONSEQUENCES FOR EACH
When Abigail returned home, her foolish husband was partying, drunken, reveling in his perceived cleverness at besting the mighty warrior David (25:36). She let him sleep it off. In the morning, when she told him David's reaction to his refusal to help, and how she had saved the entire household herself, he suffered a massive heart attack, fell into a coma, and died 10 days later (25:37-38).
When David heard of the natural death of Nabal, he credited the Lord for meting out justice, and returned to marry Abigail himself (25:39). (David's first wife, Michal, who was the daughter of Saul, had been taken from him by Saul and given to another man [25:44].)
THE POWER OF THE ATONEMENT TO REPLACE SUFFERING WITH JOY
If we retell this story, placing ourselves in it, we can understand a little more about the Atonement, forgiveness, and their combined power to replace our pain with joy. We can consider ourselves to be the Beloved, who has not deserved the wrong done to him by the Fool, and who has been abused, neglected, disrespected, unappreciated, slandered. The Fool may not consider himself in the wrong, and may not ask for our forgiveness, yet the Creator of Joy (Christ) meets us on our way to angry retaliation, fully acknowledges the wrong of the Fool, and then, incredibly, takes responsibility for it! He asks us to forgive Him for the Fool's actions, and offers us perfectly compensatory gifts to remove our suffering. The Creator is always aware that a lack of knowledge and understanding is the reason for the Fool's sin, and will help us to see that as well, if we will listen to Him.
If we accept His offer and forgive the offense, we are freed from the desire to mete out vengeance and the ill consequences that such a sin would effect upon us. All of our needs will be met by the gifts He brings, including those that were taken from us by the offense. The anger will be removed from our hearts, and we will be able to feel the love of the Creator, and truly be the Beloved. We can then be united in purpose and perspective with the Creator, as if by a marriage, and enjoy the ensuing love, never needing to concern ourselves again with the wrong that was done. All of the negative consequences will go to the Fool, if he never seeks repentance, and none of them will descend upon us. We will be truly free.
(The basic idea for this scriptural interpretation comes from James Ferrell, The Peacegiver.)
FORGIVING CHRIST
James Ferrell writes, "Although the Lord doesn't actually ask us to forgive him, the effect of the atonement is such that it's as if that is what he is asking. 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these,' the Savior taught, 'ye have done it unto me.' When we withhold forgiveness from others, we are in effect saying that the atonement alone was insufficient to pay for this sin. We are holding out for more. We are finding fault with the Lord's offering. We are, in essence, demanding that the Lord repent of an insufficient atonement. So if we fail to forgive another, it is as if we are failing to forgive the Lord, who...needs no forgiveness" (Ferrell, chapter 4).
Christ has already taken our offenders' sins upon Him, through the Atonement. Our forgiveness can add nothing to the infinite Atonement, which they will receive if they repent. If they do not repent, vengeance is the Lord's. Their repentance is irrelevant to our forgiveness of them. Our forgiveness of our enemies benefits us! It frees us and brings us peace.
"Remember that if we grant this forgiveness in full, [Christ] atones in full for [our] pains and burdens that have come at others' hands. He blesses us with his own love, his own appreciation, his own companionship, his own strength to endure. And if we have these, what do we lack?" (Ferrell, chapter 7)
When our relationships with others are holy, as were David's, we are able to also have a holy relationship with our Redeemer, receive the blessings of the Atonement in our daily lives regardless of what others do to us, and experience repeatedly a return to joy and love after pain. "The Lord be between thee and me for ever" (1 Sam. 20:23,42).
HOLY AND UNHOLY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS
This reading assignment focuses on the opposite relationships between Saul and David, and between Saul's son Jonathon and David. Saul was an example of a persistent enemy and Jonathon was an example of an enduring friend. Although Saul's relationship with David was unholy, David's relationship with Saul was always holy. David never returned evil to Saul, but was ever forgiving (while still wisely protecting his own safety), leaving judgment of his old friend Saul completely in the hands of the Lord. Very likely, Saul was seriously mentally ill with some form of paranoia and David, as well as many of Saul's servants, realized he was not himself, but a victim of our fallen existence. (See 1 Sam. 16:17 JST, and 22:17.)
This saga teaches many important lessons about how we treat and view others. Unfortunately, the reading assignment does not include Chapter 25 which tells the marvelous story of Abigail and David. This is one of the greatest relationships in the Old Testament, because it is a type of our possible relationship with our Redeemer, a beautiful explanation of how Christ can heal us from the damage that others have done to us, if we will but forgive. It would be very worthwhile to supplement this lesson with an explanation of the Atonement as found in the story of Abigail and David.
ABIGAIL AND DAVID
As the story begins, David and his men had been pursued relentlessly by Saul and his army. David found himself in the remarkable situation where he could easily kill his would-be murderer, but he left justice to the Lord and let Saul live. After revealing himself to Saul, he said, "The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee...Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked," and David chose not to be wicked (1 Sam 24:12-13).
Saul repented (verse 17), acknowledged David's greatness, and begged David not to kill Saul's descendants when David became king, as some kings would have done to prevent uprisings. David promised and forgave, but he was smart enough to return to his hiding place in the wilderness. (We are required to forgive everyone, but we are not required to trust those who have not proven trustworthy.)
THE OFFENSE AGAINST DAVID
So at the time that David was hiding out with his men in the wilderness, in fairly dire straits and wanting for provisions, "There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the [man's possessions were] very great...Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings" (1 Sam. 25:2-3).
The Hebrews attached great importance to names. They didn't pick a name, as we sometimes do, just because they liked the sound of it, or the look of it; they didn't make up names just to be different, or conversely, to go with fashion. They chose a name for its meaning, and often a person's name was actually changed at some point to reflect his state in life. Naomi, for example, said to her kinsfolk, "Call me not Naomi [which means "pleasant"], call me Mara [which means "very sad"] for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me" (Ruth 1:20, with footnotes).
Similarly, the names of the subjects of this story are significant. Nabal's name means "fool" and David's name means "beloved." Abigail's name, although it is a female name, means "Father of rejoicing" (Bible Dictionary). Perhaps the word "Father" refers to "origin" or "Creator," so that her name might mean something like "reasons to rejoice originate with or are created by this person." Knowing that Abigail is a type of Christ makes this name significant.
So the characters in this story are:
- one person who is foolish,
- one person who is able to feel love, and
- one person who has the power to create joy.
Nabal sent a message back, denying David any help, justifying himself by saying that very likely David was just a runaway slave; this despite the fact that David was leading an army of six hundred men (25:10-11) and seemed to have been very well-known as King Saul's worthy adversary and potential successor. (See 25:30-31.) Truly Nabal was a fool.
DAVID'S RESPONSE
David's reaction to this affront was immediate and natural: "Gird ye on every man his sword." He left 200 men guarding the hold, and rode to annihilate the clan of the selfish Nabal and take his provisions, since he wouldn't share them with those who had voluntarily acted as his allies (25:13). David's intention was to kill every last one of Nabal's men (25:22), since Nabal had returned evil for David's good. (This attitude provides further evidence that David may have felt Saul was mentally ill, since he never expressed this type of vengeance toward Saul.)
Fortunately, one of the shepherd-messengers told the situation to Nabal's wise wife, Abigail, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to [greet] our master; and [Nabal swooped upon them as a bird attacking]" (25:14 with footnotes). Further, he reported that David did nothing to deserve this kind of reception, but that, to the contrary, he had been a great blessing to the shepherds of Nabal. "We were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall [or protection] unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial [wicked or stupid man], that a man cannot speak to him [reason with him]" (25:15-17).
ABIGAIL'S ATONEMENT
Abigail was a quick-thinking woman who immediately perceived what to do. She could see that David had been greatly wronged, and that he and his men really did deserve the provisions that Nabal had denied them. She quickly assembled a huge compensatory gift: 200 loaves, 2 bottles of wine, 5 sheep already butchered, 5 measures of grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs. She loaded the gifts upon donkeys and sent them ahead of her with her servants (25:18-19). This was all done without the help or knowledge of her husband, the idiot (25:20).
When Abigail met up with David, "she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send" (25:24-25). Abigail fully agreed that her husband had sinned against David, and she also explained the reason: Nabal was unintelligent, a fool, he lacked understanding. So Abigail compensated David for the actions of Nabal, and she begged him to spare Nabal for her sake, since she had been completely innocent of any wrongdoing (she "saw not the young men," the messengers).
But she claimed the sin upon herself ("Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be...I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid") after which she asked for many blessings to be upon David in repayment for his forgiveness (25:24,28-30). Then she gave these very insightful reasons for him to forgive, addressing David as "my lord:" "That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself." In other words, she reminded David that vengeance would bring injury to himself. It would bring sorrow to him. It would offend his heart. And he would be shedding blood for no cause, since she had provided everything that David needed.
David recognized her words to be true. In fact, she had included the very reason that he had decided previously not to kill Saul, even though he had both the power to do it, and the justification--he didn't want to suffer the consequences of the wickedness of vengeance.
David thanked Abigail for preventing him from committing the greater sin of violence against Nabal. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand" (25:32-33).
THE CONSEQUENCES FOR EACH
When Abigail returned home, her foolish husband was partying, drunken, reveling in his perceived cleverness at besting the mighty warrior David (25:36). She let him sleep it off. In the morning, when she told him David's reaction to his refusal to help, and how she had saved the entire household herself, he suffered a massive heart attack, fell into a coma, and died 10 days later (25:37-38).
When David heard of the natural death of Nabal, he credited the Lord for meting out justice, and returned to marry Abigail himself (25:39). (David's first wife, Michal, who was the daughter of Saul, had been taken from him by Saul and given to another man [25:44].)
THE POWER OF THE ATONEMENT TO REPLACE SUFFERING WITH JOY
If we retell this story, placing ourselves in it, we can understand a little more about the Atonement, forgiveness, and their combined power to replace our pain with joy. We can consider ourselves to be the Beloved, who has not deserved the wrong done to him by the Fool, and who has been abused, neglected, disrespected, unappreciated, slandered. The Fool may not consider himself in the wrong, and may not ask for our forgiveness, yet the Creator of Joy (Christ) meets us on our way to angry retaliation, fully acknowledges the wrong of the Fool, and then, incredibly, takes responsibility for it! He asks us to forgive Him for the Fool's actions, and offers us perfectly compensatory gifts to remove our suffering. The Creator is always aware that a lack of knowledge and understanding is the reason for the Fool's sin, and will help us to see that as well, if we will listen to Him.
If we accept His offer and forgive the offense, we are freed from the desire to mete out vengeance and the ill consequences that such a sin would effect upon us. All of our needs will be met by the gifts He brings, including those that were taken from us by the offense. The anger will be removed from our hearts, and we will be able to feel the love of the Creator, and truly be the Beloved. We can then be united in purpose and perspective with the Creator, as if by a marriage, and enjoy the ensuing love, never needing to concern ourselves again with the wrong that was done. All of the negative consequences will go to the Fool, if he never seeks repentance, and none of them will descend upon us. We will be truly free.
(The basic idea for this scriptural interpretation comes from James Ferrell, The Peacegiver.)
FORGIVING CHRIST
James Ferrell writes, "Although the Lord doesn't actually ask us to forgive him, the effect of the atonement is such that it's as if that is what he is asking. 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these,' the Savior taught, 'ye have done it unto me.' When we withhold forgiveness from others, we are in effect saying that the atonement alone was insufficient to pay for this sin. We are holding out for more. We are finding fault with the Lord's offering. We are, in essence, demanding that the Lord repent of an insufficient atonement. So if we fail to forgive another, it is as if we are failing to forgive the Lord, who...needs no forgiveness" (Ferrell, chapter 4).
Christ has already taken our offenders' sins upon Him, through the Atonement. Our forgiveness can add nothing to the infinite Atonement, which they will receive if they repent. If they do not repent, vengeance is the Lord's. Their repentance is irrelevant to our forgiveness of them. Our forgiveness of our enemies benefits us! It frees us and brings us peace.
"Remember that if we grant this forgiveness in full, [Christ] atones in full for [our] pains and burdens that have come at others' hands. He blesses us with his own love, his own appreciation, his own companionship, his own strength to endure. And if we have these, what do we lack?" (Ferrell, chapter 7)
When our relationships with others are holy, as were David's, we are able to also have a holy relationship with our Redeemer, receive the blessings of the Atonement in our daily lives regardless of what others do to us, and experience repeatedly a return to joy and love after pain. "The Lord be between thee and me for ever" (1 Sam. 20:23,42).
Friday, May 28, 2010
Old Testament Lesson #22 "The Lord Looketh on the Heart"
1 Samuel 9-11; 13; 15-17
In each of our lives, there comes a situation in which God our Father expects us to conquer a problem that is clearly far beyond our ability. But if we make the attempt, we find that He will step in at the crucial moment and bring us off conquerors through His grace. The classic example of this principle is the story of David and Goliath.
DAVID
It's helpful when reading the story of David and Goliath, to know that it is a composite of two different accounts, and is therefore not told in a perfectly chronological order (Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 443). For example, 1 Sam. 17:1-11 comes from one account, and verse 12 to the end of the chapter comes from the other.
THE BATTLE
The location of the battle in chapter 17 was between a small town (Shochoh) in the hills 14 miles west of Bethlehem, and a fortress (Azekah) a few miles northwest of that town (Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 443). The Philistines were challenging the Israelites, but not in the way the Israelites were used to. The Philistines used champion fighting frequently and employed that tactic here. Rather than a classic battle wherein all the soldiers on both sides fought each other, the greatest soldier, or champion, from one side would fight the champion from the other side to the death, and the outcome of that single fight would determine the outcome of the war. It was therefore quite a gamble, but if one side had a particularly amazing soldier, it was a pretty good bet for them. Such was the case with "the champion of Gath," Goliath. Champion fighting not being the tradition of the Israelites, they did not have a ready contender, and were looking, unsuccessfully, for a volunteer when David arrived on the scene.
GOLIATH
The Bible tells us that Goliath's height was six cubits and a span. This translates to be nine feet nine inches tall (Institute Manual, p. 278). The Septuagint (or original Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and the Dead Sea Scrolls both report that Goliath was four cubits and a span, which would make him a more reasonable size of six feet nine inches tall. Either way, he was a pretty big guy.
Goliath's coat of armour weighed the equivalent of 5,000 shekels of brass, estimated to be 150 pounds (Institute Manual, p. 278). He had a helmet of brass, brass shinguards, and a brass neckguard (footnotes to 1 Sam. 17:6). By all of this information, we then can see that Goliath's only vital exposed spot would have been his face.
Goliath's weaponry was state-of-the-art. The spearhead alone of his javelin weighed either 12 or 26 pounds, depending on which Bible scholar you read. "The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam" (1 Sam. 17:7), which "probably means that the spear had a thong attached to a ring, similar to the rod and ring of a weaver's heddle rod, by which the spear could be slung in battle. The spearhead is iron, a metal harder than bronze that was available because of new metalworking techniques being introduced in the region at the time; according to biblical tradition, the Philistines carefully controlled the new technology" (Harper-Collins, p. 444). In addition to his armour and his weapon, he had a shield-bearer in front of him.
Goliath was a truly formidable foe.
DAVID
David, as we all know, was an accidental soldier. He was actually a shepherd and a musician, a younger brother of three of the soldiers, and was at the battle only as an errand boy, although it is mentioned in the scriptures that he was a shield-bearer for Saul. (This is another good time to remember that the story might be slightly chronologically confused.)
"All the men of Israel, when they saw [Goliath], fled from him and were sore afraid" (1 Sam. 17:24). David, disgusted with the lack of faith in Saul's army, volunteered to be the Israelite champion, saying, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? (1 Sam. 17:26). He tried wearing King Saul's armour, but was unaccustomed to it (1 Sam. 17:38-39). So he worked with what he had. He used the skills he had gained as a shepherd and the weapons he used against wild animals who attacked his sheep (1 Sam. 17:34-36). He used the faith he had gained when the Lord spared him from the bear and the lion in those incidents to assure himself that the Lord would save him again (1 Sam. 17:37). Like Hannah, in the previous lesson, David had an eye of faith.
His weapon was a shepherd's sling which consisted of a small piece of leather to house a stone, with long strings on either side, which the person would grasp, one string between his fingers, and the other between his index finger and thumb, whirl around his head, and then release his thumb, thus flinging the stone. "A greater distance from the axis of rotation creates more velocity, enabling the slinger to hurl a projectile with violently destructive force. However before this can become a weapon the slinger must achieve a proper marriage of power and accuracy. This requires an abundance of practice and patience, unlike most point & shoot weapons of today." (Quote from hubpages.com. This link also has instructions for making your own shepherd's sling--cool!)
David used his own specific talents and resources, but most of all, he relied on God. "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands" (1 Sam., 17:45-47).
Following this courageous and faith-filled statement, David ran toward Goliath, slung his stone, and downed the gigantic Philistine with his first shot, accurately striking his one vulnerable spot: the forehead between his eyes. David, who didn't have a sword of his own, cut off Goliath's head with his own sword.
THE ROCK
There is a beautiful symbolism in the defeating of Goliath with a rock. Jehovah was the rock in whom David trusted. As Hannah sang, "There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God" (1 Sam. 2:2). Christ said of himself, "Wherefore I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall" (D&C 50:44).
TODAY'S BATTLES
In our society, in our families, and in our personal lives, what are the battles we face against overwhelming odds? Do we have specific Goliaths, problems that seem impossible to conquer? As we do our best to trust in the Lord, and as we call upon the resources that are available to us, and use the unique skills we have acquired in our lives, the odds will be irrelevant. "Victory will be yours...You have His power within you to sustain you. You have the right to ministering angels about you to protect you. Do not let Goliath frighten you. Stand your ground and hold your place, and you will be triumphant" (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1983)
President Ezra Taft Benson kept this verse in his wallet: "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 54: 17; 3 Ne. 22:17; see also D&C 71:19).
---------------------------------------------------
The Old Testament Video Presentations has a good 4-minute segment on David and Goliath.
For another blog on David and Goliath, with great illustrations and interesting research into the weaponry and armour of Goliath, check out The Bible Illustration Blog.
Just for fun, here is a video of the delightful Christian a capella group, Take 6, performing "David and Goliath". See the lyrics here. (Notice they bring out the fact that David, the musician, trusted in the "Rock of Ages.")
In each of our lives, there comes a situation in which God our Father expects us to conquer a problem that is clearly far beyond our ability. But if we make the attempt, we find that He will step in at the crucial moment and bring us off conquerors through His grace. The classic example of this principle is the story of David and Goliath.
DAVID
It's helpful when reading the story of David and Goliath, to know that it is a composite of two different accounts, and is therefore not told in a perfectly chronological order (Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 443). For example, 1 Sam. 17:1-11 comes from one account, and verse 12 to the end of the chapter comes from the other.
THE BATTLE
The location of the battle in chapter 17 was between a small town (Shochoh) in the hills 14 miles west of Bethlehem, and a fortress (Azekah) a few miles northwest of that town (Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 443). The Philistines were challenging the Israelites, but not in the way the Israelites were used to. The Philistines used champion fighting frequently and employed that tactic here. Rather than a classic battle wherein all the soldiers on both sides fought each other, the greatest soldier, or champion, from one side would fight the champion from the other side to the death, and the outcome of that single fight would determine the outcome of the war. It was therefore quite a gamble, but if one side had a particularly amazing soldier, it was a pretty good bet for them. Such was the case with "the champion of Gath," Goliath. Champion fighting not being the tradition of the Israelites, they did not have a ready contender, and were looking, unsuccessfully, for a volunteer when David arrived on the scene.
GOLIATH
The Bible tells us that Goliath's height was six cubits and a span. This translates to be nine feet nine inches tall (Institute Manual, p. 278). The Septuagint (or original Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and the Dead Sea Scrolls both report that Goliath was four cubits and a span, which would make him a more reasonable size of six feet nine inches tall. Either way, he was a pretty big guy.
Goliath's coat of armour weighed the equivalent of 5,000 shekels of brass, estimated to be 150 pounds (Institute Manual, p. 278). He had a helmet of brass, brass shinguards, and a brass neckguard (footnotes to 1 Sam. 17:6). By all of this information, we then can see that Goliath's only vital exposed spot would have been his face.
Goliath's weaponry was state-of-the-art. The spearhead alone of his javelin weighed either 12 or 26 pounds, depending on which Bible scholar you read. "The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam" (1 Sam. 17:7), which "probably means that the spear had a thong attached to a ring, similar to the rod and ring of a weaver's heddle rod, by which the spear could be slung in battle. The spearhead is iron, a metal harder than bronze that was available because of new metalworking techniques being introduced in the region at the time; according to biblical tradition, the Philistines carefully controlled the new technology" (Harper-Collins, p. 444). In addition to his armour and his weapon, he had a shield-bearer in front of him.
Goliath was a truly formidable foe.
DAVID
David, as we all know, was an accidental soldier. He was actually a shepherd and a musician, a younger brother of three of the soldiers, and was at the battle only as an errand boy, although it is mentioned in the scriptures that he was a shield-bearer for Saul. (This is another good time to remember that the story might be slightly chronologically confused.)
"All the men of Israel, when they saw [Goliath], fled from him and were sore afraid" (1 Sam. 17:24). David, disgusted with the lack of faith in Saul's army, volunteered to be the Israelite champion, saying, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? (1 Sam. 17:26). He tried wearing King Saul's armour, but was unaccustomed to it (1 Sam. 17:38-39). So he worked with what he had. He used the skills he had gained as a shepherd and the weapons he used against wild animals who attacked his sheep (1 Sam. 17:34-36). He used the faith he had gained when the Lord spared him from the bear and the lion in those incidents to assure himself that the Lord would save him again (1 Sam. 17:37). Like Hannah, in the previous lesson, David had an eye of faith.
His weapon was a shepherd's sling which consisted of a small piece of leather to house a stone, with long strings on either side, which the person would grasp, one string between his fingers, and the other between his index finger and thumb, whirl around his head, and then release his thumb, thus flinging the stone. "A greater distance from the axis of rotation creates more velocity, enabling the slinger to hurl a projectile with violently destructive force. However before this can become a weapon the slinger must achieve a proper marriage of power and accuracy. This requires an abundance of practice and patience, unlike most point & shoot weapons of today." (Quote from hubpages.com. This link also has instructions for making your own shepherd's sling--cool!)
David used his own specific talents and resources, but most of all, he relied on God. "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands" (1 Sam., 17:45-47).
Following this courageous and faith-filled statement, David ran toward Goliath, slung his stone, and downed the gigantic Philistine with his first shot, accurately striking his one vulnerable spot: the forehead between his eyes. David, who didn't have a sword of his own, cut off Goliath's head with his own sword.
THE ROCK
There is a beautiful symbolism in the defeating of Goliath with a rock. Jehovah was the rock in whom David trusted. As Hannah sang, "There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God" (1 Sam. 2:2). Christ said of himself, "Wherefore I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall" (D&C 50:44).
TODAY'S BATTLES
In our society, in our families, and in our personal lives, what are the battles we face against overwhelming odds? Do we have specific Goliaths, problems that seem impossible to conquer? As we do our best to trust in the Lord, and as we call upon the resources that are available to us, and use the unique skills we have acquired in our lives, the odds will be irrelevant. "Victory will be yours...You have His power within you to sustain you. You have the right to ministering angels about you to protect you. Do not let Goliath frighten you. Stand your ground and hold your place, and you will be triumphant" (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1983)
President Ezra Taft Benson kept this verse in his wallet: "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 54: 17; 3 Ne. 22:17; see also D&C 71:19).
---------------------------------------------------
The Old Testament Video Presentations has a good 4-minute segment on David and Goliath.
For another blog on David and Goliath, with great illustrations and interesting research into the weaponry and armour of Goliath, check out The Bible Illustration Blog.
Just for fun, here is a video of the delightful Christian a capella group, Take 6, performing "David and Goliath". See the lyrics here. (Notice they bring out the fact that David, the musician, trusted in the "Rock of Ages.")
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