People of God's Own Heart: Psalm 51 - Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions. 
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin. 

³ For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me. 
⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
   and blameless when you pass judgement. 
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty,
   a sinner when my mother conceived me. 

⁶ You desire truth in the inward being;
   therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities. (NRSV)

See also 2 Samuel 11:1-5, 26-27; 12:1-9

Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash

Who in the Bible had the youthful good looks of Tom Cruise, the physical strength and precision of Serena Williams, the popularity of Queen Elizabeth, the geopolitical savvy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the religious authority of the pope, the musical influence of the Beatles, and the wealth of Elon Musk?

The answer is King David of Israel. He was the bible’s biggest celebrity. He came from humble origins; a shepherd boy who was the youngest and smallest of seven brothers. Yet, he could kill lions and bears with his bare hands. David became an overnight sensation when he took down the nine-foot-tall Philistine warrior Goliath with a slingshot. King Saul put him on the battlefield, where he won so many victories the people at home sang songs about him. 

He was a talented musician and poet; composing much of the ancient hymnal we know as the Book of Psalms. He was selfless; loyal; a man of good character. God declares him to be a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).

But there was a monstrous side to David which we witness in today’s sermon text. 

He was at the peak of his power and success when two neighboring nations went to war against Israel. David, instead of commanding his soldiers on the battlefield, he decides to stay home and enjoy the comforts of his palace. He looks down from his rooftop and spies a beautiful woman completing a washing ritual required of her in the Law of Moses. Her name was Bathsheba. David sends his men to collect and deliver her to his quarters, like you and I order pizza. Sadly, Bathsheba is in no position to deny the king what he wants, and soon she discovers that she is pregnant with his child.

But Bathsheba was already married—and her husband Uriah was one of David’s most loyal soldiers, out fighting the very war David decided to skip out on. David tries to offer Uriah a few days’ leave to spend with his wife, so that people would assume that Uriah was the father of the child his wife was expecting. But unlike David, Uriah was a man of unimpeachable character, who could not bear to indulge in such a privilege while his fellow soldiers are dying on the battlefield. 

At this point, it occurs to David that Uriah cannot deny being the father of the child if he was dead. So, he summons his top general, and orders him to have Uriah put on the front lines of battle, where he will most certainly be struck down and killed. Sure enough, the plan succeeds. 

David’s secret is safe. But a loyal soldier is dead, and Bathsheba is now a widow, pregnant against her will.

It’s very frustrating to me that David could be this awful and still be a man after God’s own heart. What’s even more frustrating the awfulness we see in powerful people. Putin has been allowed to commit genocide against the Ukrainian people. People lie, cheat, steal and become rich and famous. Are you as disgusted as I am with the awfulness of some of the people running for office this November? More and more, it feels like you must act like David if you are going to get anywhere in this world; and that it shouldn’t matter how many people you trample on as long as you feel good and get what you want. 

One of the biggest reasons why our society is in the state that it’s in is that we are summoning our own awfulness to fight the awfulness we see in other people—be that awfulness real or imagined… But the pitfall of focusing on other people’s awfulness is that we become blind to our own. David likely believed he could do no wrong… until he did. Coveting, adultery, false witness, and murder. 

For what he’d done, David deserved to be struck down by God and sent to hell. Indeed, God’s judgment brings David to his knees for what he’d done. But that judgment opened the way for David to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.

God didn’t forgive David because he was sorry or because he wrote Psalm 51. God forgives because that is who God is. 

If you haven’t sinned as horribly as David, be glad; but even if you have; take heart—if there’s forgiveness for David, then there’s forgiveness for every sinner, including you. There are few persons in Scripture who needed God’s forgiveness as much as David and who deserved it as little as David. Nevertheless, God’s judgment and mercy brought David to repentance, so that he could still be a man after God’s own heart for the sake of God’s people, Israel. 

But what about David’s victims? Well, there is more good news for them, too… Jesus Christ, the heir to the throne of David, suffers and dies in solidarity with the victims of the awfulness of man. With all that David took from Bathsheba and Uriah, and the child David sires who, sadly, will die at birth—Jesus will make them whole. Their vindication will be resurrection.

Thanks be to God that this story of human awfulness ends with God’s mercifulness. You are washed in the waters of baptism and cleansed with the blood of Christ so that you may be a person after God’s own heart. No one can be a person of God’s own heart without Christ’s mercy and forgiveness. To be people after God’s own heart is to refuse to allow the awfulness you see to discourage you from doing good. You live your life believing that godliness is more powerful than greed; that love means fighting for our neighbors rather than against them; that justice is never a lost cause; and that mercy and forgiveness are God’s instruments of victory over human awfulness.

To be people after God’s own heart has nothing to with personal achievement or entitlement. It’s who we’re called to be. And like the human heart circulates blood and oxygen through the body, it is your mission and mine to fill this world with God’s goodness. 

People can be really awful, but God is always amazing. You can be amazing, too.