Re-charge: David: the naked poet

The Full Monty :

Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 11:1-26, 2 Samuel 12:1-24 To read if you have time to take-in the whole saga.

The Continental Option:

Psalm 51:1-11 Read this if you only have time for one, key episode.

One Shot Espresso :

2 Samuel 12:13 ‘Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”’

The Florentine artist Michelangelo was just 26 years old when he received a commission to rescue and complete an abandoned marble sculpture provisionally called ‘The Giant’. He worked tirelessly for two years, unveiling in 1504 what is probably the most famous sculpture in history. The six-ton statue of David quickly became recognised as symbolic of the whole renaissance period. It was remarkable in that David had always previously been portrayed as the victor holding the head of Goliath. Here, he is shown before the battle, showing an intriguing contrast established between his intense facial expression and his relaxed posture.

Alongside its unique place in art history, the statue is often remarked upon for two reasons. The first is that facial expression - tense; confused; perhaps afraid, the face seems to be uncertain and yet also hint at strength and resilience. This strange cocktail of emotions carved in marble has intrigued observers for centuries.

The second is the figure’s nakedness. A homage to the Greek ideal of the hero, David’s state of undress also speaks of vulnerability; of transparency. This is a man with, literally, nothing to hide. So much so that a plaster copy installed in the Victoria and Albert Museum featured, out of respect for Queen Victoria, a detachable fig-leaf, strategically hooked in place during royal visits.

The combination of David’s ambiguous expression and naked state is remarkably artful, but it is also theologically insightful. Few biblical characters are portrayed in as much detail as David, and the portrayal strips him bare. We meet David as a teenager and stay with him till his death at nearly 70. We see him in his moments of triumph, but also when his own rebellion against God’s ways leads to multiple tragedies. And we see him in recovery, when repentance brings him back to full communion with God. David’s life is the original prototype of naked spirituality. The book of Psalms, which carries some of David’s own words and deeply reflects his worldview, insists on showing us both the light and the darkness of the human heart. As Bono says of David, and of the Psalms:

‘I was always interested in the character of David in the Bible because he was such a screw-up. It’s a great amusement to me that the people God chose to use in the scriptures were liars, cheaters, adulterers and murderers. In the Psalms, David questions God, “Where are you when I need you?” Blues has this sort of honesty that gospel music doesn’t have. Gospel music is the stuff of faith. It tells you about where you are going. The blues tells you where you are. God is much more interested in the blues because you get that honesty.’

Honesty is the hallmark of David’s journey. His biographers gleefully record his triumphs, but share his failures with equal enthusiasm. His own prayers reflect this  than in Psalm 51, in which David repents of lust, covetousness, adultery and murder. These crimes against God’s law were not committed when he was desperate, when he was a hungry fugitive or when he was cruelly pursued by an unjust regime. They were committed when he was the regime: powerful, successful, with everything he’d ever wanted at his finger-tips. It is not poverty that drove David into sin, but wealth; not weakness but power. So significant is David’s confession that the apostle Paul, centuries later, employs it as a central plank in his unpacking of the gospel:

‘Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”’

Paul hears the great Hebrew hero say to his God ‘Your assessment of me is true’, and knows that such naked candour is a vital part of grace. The journey to the dawn of forgiveness passes through the dark night of confession. How can David’s searing honesty help us to live our faith more deeply?

1. It allows us to see that we are beautiful and broken. The poet who declares in Psalm 139:13-16 that he is God’s ‘marvellous workmanship…knitted together in his mother’s womb’, here tells us he was ‘born a sinner…from the moment my mother conceived me’. Incredibly, David dates both his beauty and his brokenness to his mother’s womb. He recognises that as a human being he carries deep within himself both the image of his maker and the capacity to do incredible harm. David’s life reminds us that no one is so beautiful that nothing in them is broken, and no one is so broken that they bear no beauty. What an astounding foundation for a life-affirming but honest spiritual journey.

2. It tells us that though we grow older, our challenges don’t diminish. David is honest enough as a leader, a father, an established politician and a nationally loved figure, to admit that he has done wrong. His mistakes do not all belong to his youth, and neither does the need to repent. The more we grow in age and perhaps social stature, the harder it is to admit that we are wrong: but we need to be prepared to do it. Sometimes, though not always, we need to be prepared to do it in public. Nothing will encourage honest self-assessment in those you lead as much as their experience of your honest self-assessment. This does not mean deliberately parading your doubts and struggles, or confessing every two weeks to sexual sin. But it does mean being open about the fact that there are struggles in your life, and that you do make mistakes.

3. It tells us that we need grace and forgiveness, as well as God’s transforming power. David not only asks for absolution - he asks for transformation. Create in me, he says, a clean heart (verse 10). He knows he cannot change himself. He cries out to God for renewal. In a poem worthy of a ‘12 Steps’ meeting, David admits his powerlessness (step one) even as he undertakes a ‘searching and fearless moral inventory’ (step four). As millions have discovered while battling addiction, David comes into the freedom of admitting his need of God. His prayer acknowledges two truths - he can’t change himself but God can change him. Without the second, the first is a long road to hopelessness. With the acknowledgment that God can change us, the recognition of our failings becomes good news. True confession is, in this sense, the doorway to unlimited grace.

4. Lastly, it tells us that if we won’t repent for our own sake, we should repent for the sake of others. In verse 18 David’s focus shifts from his own heart to Jerusalem. It is an unexpected change of gear, until you realise what David is saying. He is admitting to the connection between his own inner life and the health of the city. As king he knows that if he harbours secret sins in his heart he is not the only one who will suffer. His family, entourage and nation will be held back by his refusal to confess. Honesty unlocks freedom in those David leads. Sometimes our repentance is triggered by our own sense of need, but there are times when it can and should be triggered by the sufferings of others. If your secret behaviour is having an evident impact on those you lead, the place of prayer is waiting for your honesty.

David’s journey is not about inventing or embellishing false guilt. It is not about confession for its own sake. It is about honestly facing up to our real guilt; dealing with the secrets of our hearts - and knowing that the God we love offers forgiveness joyful enough to sing about (verse 14).

TAKE AWAY Two easily-digestible tweet-sized bites

THOUGHT: The presence of God is the safest place on earth to bring the truth about ourselves. In the face of his grace, no secret we tell can hold power over us. God invites our honesty, and offers his embrace.

PRAYER: No one is so beautiful that no part of them is broken. No one is so broken that they don’t display your beauty. Thank you God - you see us as we are.