David’s Faces

The impression I get of the people in the Bible, from Samuel and all the other Books, is that they have no sense of self. They just follow what their leader says, without doubting or giving their opinion on it, whether it means to give up your wife, to give yourself up, or to go on a task that will surely end up bringing your death. What spurred this train of thought is when Michal, David's I think ex-wife, Saul's daughter, and now Phaltiel the son of Laish's wife, is summoned for Abner. Her husband of the time goes after her, weeping, but when he gets there Abner says to him: 'Go, return.' 'And he [stupidly] returned.'

After an episode where two of David's men killed one of Saul's sons, as a kind of revenge on Saul for being David's enemy, we see how good David really is, how holy he acts. I don't know why he does this, maybe to be good in the eyes of the Lord, but when he hears about what happens he reprimands the two men and, going too far, sends them to be killed. I think his acts balance out, because he says he has no respect for death yet he is the one that causes two of them.

One thing that caught my eye was this: 'David was thirty years old when he began to reign' This surprises me because all throughout the Book of Genesis we saw that the people lived up to nine hundred years, just started their lives around the one hundreds', but here is David at a mere thirty years and at the top of his life.

I can now doubt what I said about David being good and holy, because David himself says something about 'the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul,' and I am very confused because in everything that I previously knew about God, he was supposed to have even more love and compassion for the lame and the blind, he cures them and keeps them safe. However, David represents just the opposite of that, banishing them from his city- which he took from them.

In the part where David and all the cities go out and celebrate for the ark of the Lord, I see God reinforcing his power and putting everybody in their place through fear. He kills Uzzah just because he touched the ark, and makes an example of him, as if saying, 'I am The Man, nobody deserves anything except me, and you lousy humans exist only to worship and respect me.' This kind of attitude from God, the self-centered, pompous, arrogance is something very recurrent throughout the Bible, especially in this Book. It is unlike any image I've ever seen of God, as the traditional image we are given is that he is caring and loving and only cares about our wellbeing. I am beginning to really have a different perspective on this religion, and feeling a little tricked into a false image of God. From what I have read of the Old Testament I get the feeling that God is a morally ambiguous character.

'And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.' This is when David brings the Lord's ark into his house from Obed-edom the Gittite's house just because the ark's keeper is blessed by the Lord. We see how David only worships God because he fears Him, how he only prays and sacrifices in His honor when it will bring something good for him. I think David is a total suck-up, only doing good things when God tells him to and seeking His approval and advice in anything he does.

I noticed that even after the whole struggle with Saul David is willing to forgive, He asks: 'Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?' He does good for Jonathan's son just for being Jonathan' son. He does that again with another kingdom, he says: 'I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me.' And he sends servants to give his blessings. However, that is what I don't like, that he sends servants to do everything for him, as if he couldn't be deigned to go himself. This is also probably why his actions are taken the wrong way by 'the children of Ammon' and reciprocated that way.

Later on, after battling with half of the continent and conquering and killing it all (much like a tyrant, I must point out) we see David commit one of the basic sins: adultery. He sees a beautiful and even after being told she is married he goes and lays with her. Then he goes further on to arranging this man's death, by telling Joab, 'Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.' I am opposed to this in two ways. First of all, and most importantly, David is supposed to be God's favorite, that person who always does what is right and who lives by God's rules forever. Then not only does he commit adultery, but he even participates in an evil-fated murder. I'm not sure if the Ten Commandments had been written yet, but he must have had some kind of idea that it is wrong, although all his war's fought and men killed proves otherwise. Secondly, we see again another case of how women aren't respected. They have no say- or don't enforce it- in what happens with them.

David was punished for these sins, which is surprising, by having his child die. He then stops praying to and worshiping God, a great example of his conditional faith. Still after all this God still has his back and helps him.

We presence a kind of change in David after this: he becomes a victim, he becomes better and more forgiving, as we can see when he forgives his son and lets him back into the city: 'And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.' (Samuel 14:21) I t was done in good spirit, even if it all turns out wrong for him.

We see hismtrue love of his sons in the end when Absalom is killed and David weeps and says, 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!'