“Absolute Power”
2
One of the messages of the Bible that intrigues me the most is the
message of God’s calling of the least among God’s people and raising them to
prominence. Throughout the Bible we are
treated to story after story of how God chooses the youngest, the poorest, the
least of society, shepherds, fishermen, even nomads and calls to them to be the
leaders of God’s people. This is a
powerful message to all of us, a powerful message summed up in the words of church
sign that I saw this week which said, “God does not call the qualified, God
qualifies the called.”
The people
whom God called, who became the prominent figures in the history of God’s
people, did not come from the social elite and the wealthy, they did not come
from the hierarchy of government or sit on thrones over kingdoms, they did not
come from positions of power and authority, they came from humble beginnings,
without fanfare, without any claim on anything whatsoever. But all of them were called by God and given
power and authority, given what they needed to lead God’s people and to serve
God’s will and purpose for them, and they all became a model for the people of
what it means to be faithful and obedient.
Moses, the
nomad, was given power and authority to confront Pharaoh, bring the ten plaques
upon Egypt, separate the waters of the sea, bring water from a rock, and rain
down bread from heaven, but Moses also knew that none of this was possible
without God’s direct intervention, without God’s absolute power and authority
working through him.
Joseph, the shepherd, the youngest of twelve
brothers, became the second in command over all of Egypt, but he remained
faithful and obedient to God throughout his ordeal and rise to prominence, and
when he, as ruler over the land of Egypt, was confronted face to face with his
brothers who had hated him and sold him into slavery, he did not ask for their
heads or put them in prison even though he had the absolute power and authority
to do it. Instead, he loved them,
forgave them, and was reconciled to them.
And Jesus, the carpenter’s son, born in an animal
trough, to an unwed mother in Bethlehem, the place where nothing good comes
from, at the night of his arrest commanded his disciples to put away their swords
claiming, “Do you not think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at
once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Certainly, Jesus had the power and authority
as the Son of God to do as he wished and wipe out the soldiers sent to arrest him,
but instead Jesus chose to follow the will of his Father even though it meant
his certain death, because he knew that he came to serve his Father’s higher
absolute power and authority and will.
These people understood that even though they were given great powerful
and enormous authority, their power and authority was subservient to the higher
power and authority of God.
And then there is David, the youngest of eight
brothers, a shepherd boy from the fields, with not claim on anything, no fame
and fortune to speak of, no status in society to call his own. And yet he was called and anointed by God to
be king and leader of God’s people.
Everywhere he went and everything he did, the Lord was with him. David was given victory after victory. He was given the admiration of the peoples’
hearts and minds. He was given the
throne and all of
David
is king, king over all that is around him, king over a people and a nation,
king with absolute power and authority to do as he wishes,
to take whatever he wants, without regard for others, as much as his heart
desires. He no longer needs to go and
lead his people in battle, he sends others to do that
now. He no longer needs to worry about
what others think about him, he no longer needs to be concerned about being
pursued throughout the land, wondering where he will hide next and who will
come to kill him. He is king. He is now in control, in control of his own
future, his own destiny. He can have
whatever he wants, with no restraint, no second thoughts, no reservation, and
no justification. He takes simply
because he can, and that is exactly what he does.
The
story in our text for this morning moves at a quick pace. There is no need for feelings or emotions to
get in the way, for David acts without feelings or emotions, except one – the
absolute power of pure desire. He acts
without deliberation or indecisiveness.
He sees, desires, and takes Bathsheba, simply because he can, because it
is his will to do it. Even when David is
confronted with the reality of Bathsheba’s pregnancy, the king does not lose
control, even though in reality he has lost all control. David continues to dig deeper in the bag of
absolute power for one more way to right this wrong, and save face. And so David devises a plan to bring
Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, into the equation. David summons Uriah
and euphemistically tells him to go sleep with his wife. If Uriah does what
the king commands, then David is in the clear.
But
Uriah does not do as the king commands, for Uriah is everything king David is not. Uriah will not take
for himself what others do not have. The
ark and
But David will not be denied. His absolute power and authority will not be
thwarted by a common soldier who seems to care more about his fellow troops and
his adopted people than about following the orders of his king. If Uriah will not
go to his wife now, and take David off the hook, then Uriah
must never again be allowed to set foot in his house, for if he does, he will
know that Bathsheba’s baby is not is own, and everyone will find out what David
had done. And so with Uriah’s insubordination, but in reality is faithfulness and
obedience, the story takes an ominous turn, an ominous turn that would seal Uriah’s fate and with it David’s own legacy as king. From now own David would forever have to live
in the fog of conspiracy, a fog that now all of
David the King tells Uriah
to take a letter back to Joab, the commander of the
army, instructing Joab to place Uriah
at the front of the battle lines, to where there is the heaviest fighting. David wants Uriah
to die, and the scandal to die with him.
Uriah, the faithful and obedient servant, does
not even know that he is carrying his own death
warrant, nor does he know that he will soon become a casualty to the dark and
deadly consequences of absolute power.
The story for this morning ends as abruptly as it began. Uriah is killed as
David desired. David tells Joab not to worry about what happened to Uriah, because people will die in battle. Bathsheba mourns for Uriah. David takes Bathsheba as his wife, and she
gives birth to David’s son.
It is amazing to me that this story about David,
Bathsheba, and Uriah was even allowed entry into the
story of God and God’s people. When
telling stories of great people, historians can sometimes have the uncanny
tendency to leave out the most glaring deficiencies of that person’s life and
character. Certainly that could have
been the case for David as
There
is no doubt that this story is one of the darkest in all of Scripture,
revealing the foolishness and folly and fear that make up the human
psyche. This story cuts deep revealing
what we human beings would rather just soon forget about ourselves. Such is the power of God’s word, so much so
that the writer of Hebrews is left to remark, “Indeed, the word of God is
living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides
soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and
intentions of the heart” (4:12).
This story of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah
is more than just a story about infidelity, it is foremost a story about the
dangers and temptations of human desire and human power – desire with all of
its delight, power will all its potential for death. We may want to distance ourselves from David
and turn a blind eye to the wanton disregard for others that David exhibits,
but the reality is that this story shines the light of truth on humanity’s
insatiable appetite for what we do not have, and humanity’s dissatisfaction
with what we have been given. And there
is no corner of the room dark enough to hide from the light of truth. As the saying goes, “absolute power corrupts
absolutely.” And so it is with David.
David
has become the very thing he hated about Saul.
David has gone from faithful and righteous king to murderous and scandal
ridden tyrant. He even goes as far as
dismissing the whole matter all together and in doing so has skewed the moral
vision of not only Israel, but most importantly of the one who is silent
throughout this episode, but who is most certainly present – Yahweh. The king may betray others for a little
self-indulgence. The king may take what
is not his. The king may even kill because
it’s in his absolute power to do so. But
the king will never be allowed to usurp the true absolute power and authority
of Yahweh, and revise the moral reality simply at his own choosing. The king may believe he is morally autonomous
and subject to now one, but in the end there is Yahweh with another moral
vision.
David
may not see clearly, blinded as he is by fear, lust, and absolute power, but
that does not change the moral reality to which David must answer. And answer he will, for the final words of
our text remind us that David has not acted in a vacuum, but under the watchful
eyes of a very unhappy God, “But the thing that David had done displeased the
Lord….” David is the one
who acted here, but now it is God’s turn to act, and David will never be the
same again. Amen.