by Rev. Jason Radmacher
Text: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Stories of kings and war heroes fill the Old Testament. David is both, but that’s doesn’t explain his relevance for people of faith today. No, what’s so compelling about David is that he embodies the truths on which our faith stands.
It’s the truth that God’s love, and not our circumstances, define us and tell us who we are.
It’s the truth that mercy and grace aren’t just reserved for the perfectly pious and piously perfect.
It’s the truth that, through it all, God never let go of David, and God will never let go of you.
David is a lot of things.
He’s a poet, he’s a picker,
He’s a prophet, he’s a pusher,
He’s a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he’s stoned.
He’s a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,
Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.
David is a lot of things—and many of them are not admirable—but he shows us that a heart that is broken is a heart that is open—a heart ready to receive and share mercy.