King David. A man after God’s own heart. From shepherd boy to king. A man used by God to represent King Jesus. Even though David was spiritually sensitive and had a heart of integrity, he still had moments of unfaithfulness to God and man. One of those moments is a well-known story found in 2 Samuel 11. I always saw this story as a king failing his people, but I began to see it more as a child of God battling with sin. First and foremost, I wondered if David had always struggled with lust. When David saw Bathsheba naked, he immediately decided to have sex with her. There was absolutely nothing wrong with David acknowledging the beauty of Bathsheba, but to inquire about her and make the choice to sleep with her was when David stepped into sin (2 Samuel 11:4).

My first thought, especially for a king, would be to go back inside the palace. I wonder if this crossed his mind or if his immediate thought was to have sex with her. Part of me feels like this was more than a moment of weakness for David, but an inner battle that he dealt with. As someone who struggles with lust, I understand how easy it can be to slip into sexual and inappropriate thoughts about someone. But to act on it is to walk in sin, and before we have the choice to walk in sin, the Holy Spirit immediately convicts us. We have the choice to obey the conviction of the Holy Spirit or ignore it. Did David ignore this conviction?

Another thing that stood out to me was how David misused his power and authority. David was king, and he could do whatever he wanted. He had the authority to summon Bathsheba, he had the authority to have Uriah killed, and he had the authority to cover it up. I don’t believe David publicly abused his power or struggled with sexual temptation. However, I, personally, believe they were internal struggles in his heart.

This is obviously not how David began his journey into kingship. After all, God chose him because he was humble and had a heart of integrity. Yet sexual temptation and pride led to David’s downfall. Despite David’s flaws, I believe he still exhibited a healthy relationship with God.

In the story of David and Bathsheba (and many other circumstances in David’s life), we read about how David poured out his heart to God. He did this through songs and hymns, which are recorded in the book of Psalms. There are so many verses in the book of Psalms where we witness David crying out to God. Through the hard times in his life, David used his gifts to sing to God. I believe this was David’s way of praying. David gives us an example of how to talk out our feelings, emotions, thoughts, and burdens to God. (I personally believe this is just one of the principles that the life of David and the book of Psalms reveals to us).

Psalms 3 – David fled during his son’s Absalom’s rebellion

Psalm 18- David asks God to deliver him from his enemies

Psalms 34- David’s encounter with his son Abimelech

Psalm 51- David repents of his sin with Bathsheba

Psalms 70- David’s song of deliverance

Psalms 145- David’s hymn of exaltation

These are just some of the songs and hymns that David wrote. I believe they can be used to show us how we can be in relationship with God. Again, this is not the only way, but this is one of the ways that we can grow in intimacy with God. One of the characteristics of God is that He is personal. Even though He is all-knowing and omnipotent, God still wants us to talk to Him through prayer. To have a relationship with someone, especially God, you must be open, vulnerable, and honest. David cried out to God in his weak moments and repented of his mistake with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, even if it took Nathan to help him realize it (2 Sam. 12:1-13). Thank God for the “Nathan’s” in our lives!

Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not condoning David’s sin. But I want to present the argument that maybe David had some inner battles that he secretly dealt with. Did David face consequences for his actions? Of course, and he did reap what we sowed (spiritually and physically). Was David unfaithful to God? Yes, but I don’t think it should disregard his relationship with God. We have all been and will be unfaithful to God, yet that does not discredit our relationship with Him. I say all this to make this one statement: We may be more like king David than we think. If we realize how offensive and unfaithful we are to God, it will change the way we see the story of David, ourselves, and people.

The life of David reveals to us that it is a devotional (not perfect) relationship with God that gets us through those temptations, tests, and trials.