The Mystery of Evil

Though some folks will disagree, evil is something that's inherent in all of us.

For example, King David, who was called a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and is considered by many to be the greatest monarch in human history, also happened to be an adulterer and a murderer.

David, the great monarch, had a fondness for women. So much so that one night while he was walking on the roof of his palace in Jerusalem, he noticed a naked young woman bathing in a nearby house.

Inflamed with lust, David ordered his servants to bring her to him so he could have sex with her. The young woman's name was Bathsheba and she happened to be the wife of a soldier named Uriah who was away at the time, fighting in a war against the Ammonites. (2 Samuel 11:1-5) 

David's one-night stand with Bathsheba produced consequences. Uriah's wife conceived and after she informed David of the pregnancy, the king devised a scheme to bring Uriah back from the battlefront so he could sleep with his wife and believe that he had impregnated her.

Unfortunately for David, the scheme failed when Uriah, out of loyalty to David and Israel, refused to sleep with his wife after he returned home. So David panicked and devised a scheme to return Uriah to the battlefront where he would be killed in action.

David ordered his commanders to bring Uriah into battle and then abandon him. The men did as David ordered and Uriah was killed. Problem solved? Rather, David's problems had just begun.

The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David to tell him a parable about a very wealthy man who owned a large number of sheep. According to the story, the man held a banquet for a traveler who had come into town for a visit. But rather than butcher one of his own sheep for the meal, the rich man forced a poor man and his family to give up the only lamb they owned. (2 Samuel 12:1-4)

When David heard the story, he was furious: "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." (2 Samuel 12:5-6)

Then Nathan dropped the bombshell on David. The parable was about him. The Lord sent the prophet to convey his anger against the king for choosing such evil in violating another man's wife and then having the man killed after the king discovered he had impregnated her.

Though David was full of remorse and repented after the Lord confronted him with his sin, he was punished severely for his transgression. The Lord issued this decree: "Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own. Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel." (2 Samuel 12:10-12)

David went on to marry Bathsheba. What happened to the child that she conceived with David? The Lord struck the child with death as part of David's punishment. 

But the couple had another son who went on to become a great king over Israel. He was Solomon who became one of the wisest men who ever lived. Solomon built the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and he is the main author of the Book of Proverbs.

What's the moral of this story? Even great human beings aren't immune to the power of sin. And when we fall, we can expect punishment, for "the Lord disciplines those he loves." (Hebrews 12:6)

And the Lord disciplines us to make us stronger human beings rather than weaker ones. That's what His grace and mercy are truly all about.