Getting to Know David

David is a near legendary figure of the Old Testament. He looms nearly as large as Moses does as a formative figure for the people of God. The ancient tradition attributed all the psalms to him and, I had thought, the Bible remembered him as the great and best king, besides whom all other kings paled.

With my friends in the Wednesday morning Bible study I am now reading the story of David in the books of first and second Samuel. A more complex and human impression of David is emerging for me. When I had read these stories before, David came across as a flawed but ultimately lovable and admirable figure. It turns out, though that when you read it slowly and with careful attention to context and tone, the Biblical view is even more subtle and complex then first meets the eye.

Part of what we do together is that we read every word of these books aloud. Listening to other voices read the Biblical story, new details pop in my mind, and subtleties of tone emerge in a different way than if I'm just hearing my own voice in my head. There are still some things that seem admirable about David, but as we are reading the chapters in second Samuel about his consolidation of power to become King after Saul has died, we see a shrewd and power hungry politician whose acts of piety may not be what they seem at first. And yet, for all his recognizable and even brutal ambition, we never completely shake the sense that God is in there with or at least around him. Providence is at work, and yet in the text, as in our lives today, it is difficult to confidently identify exactly how.

From all of my reading of the Old Testament these last few months I'm left with the impression of the Bible's profound wisdom about humanity and God. None of the people in the Bible are perfect. All the most significant ones, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and David in particular, are recognizably imperfect. And yet God chooses to work through each of them.

At the Sunday Bible study of Genesis, I was reminded by Jim Ward of one of the important shifts we need to make in order to understand Paul. We read Paul and understand clearly that he believes faith is more important than works in being right with God. And, if we think about it at all, we probably think that this means that what and how we believe is ultimately more important than what we do or fail to do. We might think that Paul is telling us that we must have faith, as though that's something we can will ourselves into. But that's not what Paul means by faith. By faith Paul means the faith of God, not our faith in God. He means that God is faithful, even when we are not!

David is not always faithful- far from it! Yet, in every important way, God fulfills God's promises to David. It takes hundreds of years and many plot twists. It assuredly didn't all come out as David might have hoped, at least in the short to medium term. But ultimately, in Jesus, everything God promised to David was fulfilled. God is faithful.

I wonder what blessing, what promise God is fulfilling in our imperfect lives today? I believe, if we attend to Jesus, in whom all promises are fulfilled we will slowly begin to see, if only though a glass darkly.