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     One can only imagine what the press and social media would have done with the story of David and Bathsheba!  You can get the whole story by going back to Friday's first scripture, but to put it briefly, David had an affair with Bathsheba who was the wife of one of his military commanders, Uriah the Hittite.  She became pregnant, and David decided to eliminate Uriah from the picture by having him conveniently put in danger on the battlefield.  Uriah was killed and David married Bathsheba!  Of course, such palace intrigue came to the attention of Nathan the Prophet who confronts David with a wonderful hypothetical story in which David winds up incriminating himself!  That is where today's passage begins!  The first child dies as punishment for David and Bathsheba's sin, but the second son would be none other than Solomon!  As the saying goes, "God writes straight with crooked lines!"

 

     Nowadays, we almost expect prominent political and military leaders to be unfaithful to their spouses or engage in otherwise sordid relationships.  It's a sad commentary not only on the conduct of these "public servants," but also on the state of moral rectitude in public life!  What is it about power and prestige that leads humans to think that a different moral law excuses them from immoral conduct.  What does it say about the public that we respond by saying, "Their private life is no concern of mine."  The prophet Nathan is more than a investigative journalist!  He is the representative of God confronting a powerful leader.  To make matters more interesting, would we be resentful that God forgives David, when we might be willing to "impeach" him?  What do we make of Jesus' title, "Son of David?"  AMEN