David: The Shepherd / King of Israel

Part 9: David and Bathsheba

This week we saw a very different side of David. We looked at the story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11, where David walked away from God’s call on his life, acted lustfully, committed adultery, manipulated people and situations, abused his power, and orchestrated murder. All of which raises profound questions about David’s integrity and challenges our understanding of his character. Was David inherently good or bad? Worthy of praise or ridicule? The world uses these types of questions to define and categorize individuals. However, the Bible teaches us that humanity can’t be defined by one or the other. Rather, we are all created in the image of God, possessing the potential to reflect his goodness while simultaneously also being corrupted by sin and capable of acting in very dark ways. So rather than asking what kind of man David was, a better question to ask is how did David posture himself before God and what difference did it make? David’s life is not unlike our own. We must decide daily who will be at the center of our lives: God or ourselves.