Unspoken

A few weeks ago a friend (literally) dropped a book on my doorstep. Untouched, unopened it sat on my coffee table until a few days ago. Unspoken is a historical fiction story of Bathsheba and King David. While I loved learning more of Bathsheba, turning down pages where quotes spoke to me on deeper levels, and even learning from her story in ways, it was David who led me to write this blog tonight.

David was a faithful man. A son of a shepherd, he defeated the mighty Goliath. God delivered him from his enemies and chose him to be King. These are the stories you hear growing up about David. Reading this book, however, opened my eyes to a David I had not previously known. David lusted over Bathsheba, had her brought to him, had an affair with her. When she became pregnant he had her husband killed to cover up his sin. His first born son raped his half-sister Tamar and David did nothing. His second son killed that son, fled the country, and still David did nothing. When that same son brought an army up against him to defeat David and take his crown, God delivered David and his people. Yet David's first reaction was of mourning his son's death rather than being grateful to the men that fought for his life.

From the outside looking in, David did not look so good. The great, honorable man whom God stood by and chose to be King made some serious mistakes. AT TIMES, his father skills were lacking, his kingly duties were overlooked, his views on love were clouded, and even arrogance got the best of him. If that was all we got to see of David....how would our opinion of him be any different than those of the people that saw him even in that time period?

But thats when it hit me. I started thinking about Psalms.....the many, many Psalms where we not only can read, but feel David's cries for peace, forgiveness, strength, mercy, joy, sorrow, etc. How often do we go to those same Psalms to find relation and understanding in our own circumstances. We GET to see David's heart. We all make mistakes. We are all flawed beyond reason. We all hide behind a smile. We're all judged by our actions. How rare it is to GET to look past that hard outer shell and see the person that truly lies beneath? To see the motive behind the actions or the brokenness after the fall?

(Bathsheba) "God loves you because you repented every time you realized you'd sinned. You grieved. You tried to do right. God knows you are only a man."

(David) "A man who has hurt everyone he loves and cost the lives of countless thousands." He shook his head, his eyes filling with tears. "Why did God do it? Of all the men in Israel, why did God choose me to be king?"

(Bathsheba) She knelt in front of him and rested her head in his lap. She smiled and closed her eyes as he combed his fingers through her hair. "Because you're the only man who would ask that question."

~Unspoken