There is one thing that I hope has become rather clear to you all as we journey through these Old Testament stories, tracing the path of God’s plan of salvation for all the world. That one thing is just how intensely human these great figures of the Bible truly are. They do amazing things, but they don’t walk 3 inches above the ground either. They’re down in the muck and mire like the rest of us. They whine. They turn away. They get afraid. They complain. They screw up.

Noah throws his drunken party after getting off the ark. Abraham prostitutes his wife out to every king he visits. Moses is a murderer who flees the court of Pharaoh to escape prosecution. These are the great men of the Bible and what a messed up lot they are.

In some ways, it’s pretty amazing what God does with these people. His work with people like these highlights a bit of God’s nature, a bit of his virtues.

The first is faith. God has faith in his people. Faith in us. He trusts us to do what he sets before us, and he does not give us tasks that we are incapable of accomplishing. Now the reason he can do this is that he does not judge us based on who we are or what we’ve done when he calls us to his service. He judges us instead on who we could be and what we could do.

But along that road between what we are and what we are meant to be there are going to be stumbles, there are going to be falls. So God is also patient with his people, with us. He knows we will doubt. He knows we will turn back. He knows we will make mistakes, sometimes colossal mistakes. But he puts up with it, because he knows what we are truly capable of and because he loves us.

And part of being patient is being merciful, of being forgiving. When we fall, he picks us up and sets us back on the road. Today’s stories about King David are about these virtues of God first and foremost and how they play out with the King and his greatest and most nefarious mistake.

David is a good example of God’s faith in our potential, not in who we are now. There’s a great story about how the prophet Samuel is sent to David’s father Jesse to anoint the new king. Jesse brings out his sons one by one to the prophet, but leaves David in the field with the sheep. Surely, the prophet isn’t going to want the youngest and most feeble of Jesse’s boys. Wrong. Turns out, that’s exactly who God is looking for.

A long way from that story, a long way from feeble David’s battle with the giant Goliath, is our story today. God has brought David along a remarkable road from shepherd to king. But David is about to take his biggest fall yet.

David is in his palace, looking down from his chambers. Now, likely not coincidentally, his chambers overlook the women’s bathing area. (Mel Brooks, “It’s good to be the king.”) While doing the whole peeping tom thing, King David spies a beautiful woman below, Bath-sheeba, the wife of Uriah. With his head and ego swollen with all the power God has granted him, he summons her to his bedchamber, and the next thing you know, Bath-sheba is telling the king that she is pregnant.

A bit of a problem. But David is the king. He can solve this problem. So he summons Uriah back from the front in order to solve the problem.

Now there’s a big misconception about what happens next. Most people think that David summons Uriah back so that he’ll sleep with his wife, think the child is his, and everyone will live happily ever after. That’s actually not what’s really happening here. What David is scheming is far worse.

David summons his loyal soldier back and makes several attempts to get Uriah to go home to Bath-sheba and enjoy her company. Now, in the ancient Middle East, one’s battle prowess and one’s sexual prowess are considered one and the same. Were Uriah to sleep with his wife while on duty, he would be (in the eyes of his comrades-at-arms) depleting his strength for battle. Now given that the greatest weapon a soldier of the ancient world had was the man at his side, what are those comrades-at-arms going to think of Uriah when they find out what he did while home from the front? They’re not going to be happy, are they? He’s betrayed them. He’s put them at risk. And they might kill him in response.

Which is, of course, exactly what David wants. He doesn’t want Bath-sheba to go back to her husband. He wants her for himself. He’s the king. He deserves her (or so he thinks.) But Uriah doesn’t play along; he refuses to sleep with Bath-sheba. So David can’t use Uriah’s fellow soldiers to do his dirty work. Instead, he sends Uriah back with orders that he be placed at the vanguard of the next assault, the most dangerous position in the battle line. And, as such, in the next battle Uriah is killed in combat.

Ah, David thinks all has worked out to his benefit. But there’s one who knows exactly what he’s been up to: God. So God sends his prophet to the king, who tells him this wonderful little parable about a rich man, a poor man, and their flocks of sheep. David is outraged, thinking that this is a report of an actual injustice in his kingdom. But then Nathan points his finger at the king and says, “This is you.”

David, God’s anointed king, is guilty. He has conspired to murder one of his most loyal and dedicated subjects so he could claim his wife. You don’t get much more vile in terms of evil than what David has done here. So what’s God to do? His anointed has failed miserably at executing justice. He’s abused his power, and a good man is dead as a result. What’s God to do?

Well, it’s the same choice he faced back with Noah. Destruction or redemption. God could destroy David, and by that I don’t just mean kill him. He could depose him, remove him from power. Exile him. God knows there are going to be consequences from this little affair. Others will use it as leverage against him, even his own son, Prince Absolom, will eventually declare David unfit to rule and will rebel to depose him. And given infant mortality rates, the child that Bath-sheba now carries will not survive. God could heap more upon all these consequences, punish David for what he’s done.

But he chooses not to. David has realized his mistake. David has repented of his sin. So God will not heap more upon him than what he’s already going to face in the future. God shows mercy. Who David is, is not who he will be. The journey must continue. God picks up his anointed king, forgives him, and sets him on the path once more.

David’s line must continue. The kingly house will one day give birth to another anointed one, one to save all the world. Jesus is of David’s house and lineage as the Gospel writers remind us. But it’s interesting to see exactly how that played out. Years after his affair with Bath-sheba, David is on his deathbed. And Bath-sheba comes to him, still a part of his life despite the nefarious beginnings of their relationship. The question is asked. Who will be the heir to the throne? David names Solomon, son of the woman he stole from Uriah. Solomon will have the throne. Solomon will continue the line that will lead to Jesus. Out of this nightmarish sin and this horrible crime will eventually be born the savior of the world.

God does not judge us on who we are and what we’ve done. He chooses us instead on who we could be and what we can do. And even a mistake like David’s affair with Bath-sheba can be turned to his purposes. The journey continues. God will see his plan of salvation through, no matter what happens. Amen.