Bathsheba

I thought I might start explaining a little bit more about why Bathsheba's Children is such a meaningful phrase to me. I will probably expand on the idea even more in the future.

Here it is: I am Bathsheba. And I have had children in sin and I now have children that are "Jedidiah" (beloved of the LORD). No, no, not literally. But figuratively. I never had an extramarital affair with a powerful leader, I never got pregnant with an illegitimate child, and my husband was never killed in an underhanded plot by my lover. And then I never became the wife of one of history's most revered kings. Those things I do not share with Bathsheba.

But here are some things that we do have in common. I have been blessed to be raised knowing how to behave according to God's law. For part of my life, I took that knowledge and completely ignored it, and instead did what felt right to me at the time. I then spent a lot of effort trying to hide those actions from the rest of the world (that would be my friends and family.) You see, like Bathsheba, I had a need to appear one way to the world, even though my behavior was completely different from the image I presented.

Bathsheba certainly had a more compelling motivation for secrecy than I ever did. If my sins were made public, I would not have been drug out in public, stripped naked and then stoned to death. But I would have felt very ashamed. And I know that I would have disappointed people who loved me very much.

I also produced "children" while I was in sin. These children were things like: shame, confusion, fear, duplicity and stress. Not to mention the fruit of my sins: anger, disappointment with myself, guilt, fear of discovery and feelings of worthlessness. If you have read my post entitled Heart of Stone, you may be beginning to understand why my heart was so cold. I had a lot of emotional baggage that I was trying to deny existed. If I let emotion into my heart, I would have had to feel all of those negative feelings along with whatever else. That's why it was much easier to feel very little at all.

But if you will remember the story of Bathsheba, you will remember that her first son with David died as part of God's judgment on David's disobedience. I don't really want to elaborate on that point right now, because I am still mulling over some of the implications of that event. Suffice it to say that God has also removed the "children of my sin" from my life.

It is what happens to Bathsheba next that still leaves me with tears in my eyes every time I think about it.

2 Samuel 12: 24-25

"Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the LORD loved him, and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD."


Here's the thing. David had lots of other wives. Any one of them could have born David's successor to the throne. But they didn't. It was BATHSHEBA that God chose to bless as the mother of the next king over his people, Israel. And it was Solomon that became the greatest, wisest, most blessed king ever to rule over God's people.

GOD DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!!!!!!

He didn't have to choose to bless Bathsheba that way. But He did. I just cannot get over how amazing that is. She was the least deserving of David's wives. The rest may not have been perfect, but there is not Biblical evidence to suggest that they were as scandalous as Bathsheba. But SHE was the one God chose to bless with Solomon.

God chooses to bless, and greatly use, scandalous sinners like Bathsheba. And he chooses to bless, and greatly use, scandalous sinners like me, and you, too. Do you get how awesome that is?

Why does He do that? Well, one reason is that all of us are scandalous sinners whether we like to admit it or not. Believe me, 5 years ago I would have been highly offended if anyone had suggested that I was Bathsheba (despite all of the evidence that I listed above, I spent a lot of time in serious denial!) And God delights to use the weak, the least, the longest shot. (Gideon, Moses, Esther, Joshua, Matthew and especially Paul are all great examples of this.) When God uses those who are weak, they provide the best reflection of His power and glory.

But I think the biggest reason is just that He loves us so much. Think John 3:16. His love for us is so powerful and effective, that He doesn't just choose to forgive us when we sin. He turns it around and says "Guess what, my little child, watch me show off in the ways I am going to bless you. You haven't even comprehended the amazing blessings that I am waiting to pour out onto you."

Oh yes, He is that good. And oh yes, we are that undeserving.

I am going to save my "Solomon" descriptions for another post. I think that is enough for now. Here's a closing thought:

Philippians 3: 12-14

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

So be it Lord.