Bathsheba may
have had a different opinion about King David’s Psalm 51 “against you only have
I sinned” since David raped her, murdered her husband and at some level condemned
her first born to an untimely death. But then sins against God are always
suffered by the humans who bear the brunt of the wickedness of self-centered
ways. The only way this psalm is redemptive is if David spoke it first to
Bathsheba for if God was "done evil" by the “man after God’s own heart” it was
Bathsheba who was “sinned against” by the King of Israel. The nature of God’s redeeming
love is that those forgiven turn from their wicked ways and live different
lives. David paid double for his sins as the sword never left his house and he
suffered the loss of a son he loved. “Absalom. Absalom. My son. My son.” (2 Samuel 18:33) One hopes his sin was always before him as he learned to love Bathsheba
beyond the first blush of his lust. We also suffer the consequences of our sin even
if we are fully forgiven. But consequences are redemptive even as they are
painful for they tune our ears to the sounds of joy and gladness where pure
hearts created within us live and love in ways that are Spirit willing.
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