Seemingly, it has turn out to be an on a regular basis occurrence to open your favourite Christian news outlet and learn of yet one more pastor or ministry leader who has had one other sexual indiscretion exposed. For some it occurred last week and for others it was 35 years ago.
If you might be like me, it will probably make your head spin with more questions than there appear to be answers to. These types of situations drive us, hopefully, back to God’s Word, to get direction and insight into such problematic matters. And yet, after we open the Old Testament, we learn that a person who committed adultery, had the lady’s husband killed, and covered it up was known as a person after God’s own heart. And not only that, but he was also considered a righteous King of Israel while having multiple wives. His name, King David. How will we wrestle with the stress and answer the query, “If King David is a person after Gods’ own heart, why so many wives?”
I need to first return to the start of David’s life. The genesis of his conception.
David says in Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I used to be brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
David made this statement upon reflecting on his affair/adultery with Bathsheba. I believe he was potentially tying his actions to how he himself got here into existence in his own life.
The Bible doesn’t mention King David’s mother by name. A Jewish legend has named her Nitzevet, but there isn’t a biblical confirmation of that name. David’s father lived in Bethlehem and was from the tribe of Judah. David was the youngest of eight brothers. He also had no less than two sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail. The only thing we all know from the Bible about David’s mother is what he said about her in Psalm 86:16, when he referred to her as a girl who served God as he did.
Some scholars consider David’s sisters, Abigail and Zeruiah, could have been his half-sisters and that their father was not Jesse but Nahash.
Nahash was an Ammonite king. Speculation suggests that David’s mother had been married to Nahash when she bore the half-sisters after which later became the second wife or mistress of Jesse. Further speculation implies that David’s mother was not yet married to Jesse when she became pregnant—that perhaps she was still married to Nahash when she conceived David.
This theory could explain why David was not accepted by his family. The theory may additionally shed some light on Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I used to be brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”
Let’s assume the extrabiblical info tells us that David sadly repeated the sin of his mother. He had an affair with Bathsheba. Now we should not yet answering the query, “Is polygamy okay for a follower of Jesus who’s termed an individual after God’s own heart?” But here’s what we do know from Psalm 51:5 and the extra-biblical literature. Adultery is a sin in God’s eyes, David’s eyes, and it could seem David’s mother’s eyes.
So, how could David be termed, “A person after God’s own heart” with the variety of wives he had?
As best as we will tell, he had eight wives, although only three of them are discussed intimately within the Bible.
Bathsheba was the ultimate wife we’re aware of within the Bible that David marries. But he, unlike with the opposite seven, committed adultery along with her.
I need you to note something. David stops taking wives so far as we will tell after this. The Bible says King David’s actions displeased the Lord.
God was not okay with David committing adultery with Bathsheba after which orchestrating it so David could take her as his eighth wife.
When God established the nation of Israel, He wanted them to be a nation that was set apart, different. He gave instructions to Moses for a way a King of Israel was to live in a different way in Deuteronomy 17:17: “He shall not acquire multiple wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away from God” (Amplified Bible).
This is vital to see because God wanted His King to be a husband to 1 wife. So why was David a person after God’s own heart with so many wives? Here is why I feel so:
1. When he sinned with Bathsheba, he knew it was incorrect and repented (Psalm 51:5)
People after God’s own heart should not perfect people but individuals who repent and take ownership of their story and the part they play in its destruction.
2. David stopped amassing wives after Bathsheba.
I feel this showed his repentance of his actions to amass multiple wives. He realized he was modelling the world’s behaviour as a substitute of God’s plan. He couldn’t give the wives back, but he could stop sinning as such and now not amass more.Â
3. David continued to fulfil His purpose and calling for God after his sin with Bathsheba.
Why is that this being an individual after God’s own heart? Because sin doesn’t negate God’s use of us. However, the person doesn’t make this selection, God does through proper authority channels. Nathan told David, “God could kill you for this, but He won’t.” But repentance doesn’t then work to “cover it up for the nice of the church.”
Repentance requires humility and a willingness to simply accept consequence within the face of failure. David did that. He confessed, submitted, and accepted the results. I pray ministry leaders today will follow His example. If you might be an individual after God’s own heart, you’ll come clean, submit, accept the results, and work toward healing and restoration for the nice of all involved even, on the expense of yourself. Sadly, we should not seeing much of this spirit in our fallen leaders today. May God restore this spirit today. Oh, how we’d like it – now!
