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David is the
key character in 2 Samuel, since the narrative covers events that happen after
the death of the prophet Samuel. The book begins with news of King Saul’s
death, after which the people of the southern kingdom of Judah named David as king.
“Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me,” said God to
David (2 Sam 7:16). This dynasty would remain in the hearts of God’s people through
the time of Jesus, the one whose father Joseph was “from the house and family
of David” (Luke 2:4). But in spite of this promise, King David soon got himself
in trouble.
“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam 11:1). David’s problems began in the spring, the time each year when “kings” — that is, serious kings — “go out to battle.” But instead of doing his job and leading his soldiers, David remained in the comfort and safety of Jerusalem, shirking his duties. “It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful” (2 Sam 11:2). After getting up from a nap, David saw a naked woman, liked what he saw, and found out that she was “Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite” (2 Sam 11:3). She was the daughter of Eliam, one of David’s “mighty men” (2 Sam 23:34), and was also the wife of Uriah, a foreign Hittite who was nonetheless a soldier of Israel.
What is clear from this description is that Bathsheba was off limits. But David sent messengers to fetch her and he went to bed with her. In this terrible abuse of royal power, David shifted his attitude toward the people around him. Instead of seeing them as human beings, he looked at them as objects. Bathsheba soon sent David the message, “I am pregnant” (2 Sam 11:5). Although she had been treated like an object of desire, she was clearly a vital human being, able to play a part in the miracle of conception and birth.
But King David failed to open his eyes to this truth. Instead, he continued to treat people like objects. “Send me Uriah the Hittite,” he said to his captain Joab (2 Sam 11:6). David told Uriah to go to his house and sleep with his wife Bathsheba, so that Uriah would cover David’s tracks and obscure the paternity of the child. But Uriah was a human being, not an object. He was determined to follow his conscience instead of the commands of the king, so he slept at the entrance of the king’s house, not wanting to disrespect his colleagues in the field by enjoying a night with his wife. Uriah the Hittite turned out to be a righteous foreigner, similar to Ruth the Moabite. Then David, with a heart as cold as ice, wrote a letter to Joab and forced honorable Uriah to carry it to the battlefield. “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting,” David said, “and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die” (2 Sam 11:15). Joab followed these orders and Uriah was killed — tossed away like an inconvenient object.
King David’s treatment of Bathsheba and Uriah is a chilling warning to us. It illustrates the deadly danger of seeing people as objects. Instead of respecting Bathsheba as a woman and a wife, David sees her as a thing designed to give him pleasure. Instead of honoring Uriah as a soldier and a husband, David disposes of him as though he were a throwaway object. This story packs an emotional punch as it shows the great harm that can be done when we treat people as objects instead of as human beings.
Fortunately, a simple formula exists to keep us on the right track: Love people, not things; use things, not people. How differently the story of King David would have turned out if he had loved Bathsheba and Uriah as people, instead of treating them like objects designed to satisfy his desires and advance his agenda. Love people, not things. This means to see everyone as a precious child of God, made in the image of God, and to respect them as daughters, wives, sons, husbands, mothers, fathers, loyal workers, faithful fellow Christians. Love them as Christ loves them, remembering the commandment of Jesus to love one another (John 13:34). Also: Use things, not people. Yes, use your smartphone to communicate with friends and post pictures about your life. Use your computer to write documents and shop online. But don’t ever love these things so much that they draw your attention away from the flesh-and-blood human beings around you.
“This is a classic story of the arrogant misuse of power for personal whim,” writes professor of Old Testament Bruce C. Birch. “It reminds us that even those most admired and most accomplished are not immune to the temptation of power.” It is one of the Bible’s greatest hits because it teaches us to love people instead of things, and to use things instead of people. Such guidance can be a huge help to us, as we face our own objects of desire.
Questions:
1. Where are people treated like objects today, and what can we do about it?
2. What does it mean to you to love people, not things?
3. How can you properly use things, not people?
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