Though it is fall here in Michigan with all it’s brilliant colors, there is always the hope of the new life of spring. What is true of Michigan in 2013 (or next spring 2014) was true of expectations in 1000 B.C. One spring in about King David’s 50th year, he was living a life of luxury as king of all of Israel. He lived in a palace of cedar and the ark of God rested nearby in Jerusalem, his capital. Most of his enemies were subdued, but the previous year one of the neighboring countries had done a marvelous job of humiliating David’s ambassadors. Thus began a long war that only came to a halt due to inclement weather when winter hit.
So the following spring, when it was time to finish what they had started, King David sent his generals and his troops to that country to battle. It was expected that David would join them, as this was a time “when kings went out to war” but David had sent his generals to battle for him before this, so it wasn’t completely unusual.
Some think David had become accustomed to wealth and royalty and ease. Perhaps he’d grown tired of battle. Or perhaps, as I suggested in Bathsheba, there was an entirely different reason. But whatever the cause, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Without his men. With little to do.
That was his first mistake.
(More tomorrow.)
