Content warning: Sexual violence
Psalm 51:1-4,10-12,15-17
In seminary, a professor made a simple comment that complicated my relationship with Psalm 51. At the time, I was interning as a college chaplain and preparing an Ash Wednesday service. There had been a string of menacing behavior against women on campus, and I was wrestling with how to name those actions and the fear they elicited as a part of the gathering. The professor noted that my choice of Psalm 51 for the liturgy was a complicated one as it was authored by a perpetrator of sexual assault, King David.
What happened between David and Bathsheba is not explicitly named (See: 2 Samuel 11). What we do hear is largely from David’s perspective. But we can imagine what it must have been like for Bathsheba to be a married women and summoned by the king to fulfill his desire. She did not have a voice. She did not have a choice.
Many of us know what that’s like. According to The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, and about 1 in 33 American men fall into the same category.
If I am honest, I am mad at David for what he did, just as I am mad at the men who have abused important people in my life. I don’t care what he has to say. I don’t care that he feels bad. I don’t want to hear it. I want nothing to do with him.
Those are the loud emotions that fill my head when I read Psalm 51. Afterward, they are followed by a very quiet tap tap tap on my heart. A small voice reminds me that no one is beyond saving, that I am also in need of grace for all the ways I fall short. Psalm 51 is a psalm written by a desperate author, and anyone with a morsel of self-awareness knows what it means to be desperate.
In Psalm 51, David calls on God’s chesed or “loving-kindness” (v. 1). Chesed is repeated with such frequency throughout the Old Testament that it must surely rank as highest among God’s attributes. Over the centuries of Christian faith, many a biblical scholar has been drawn to mine the depths of its full meaning. Though volumes have been written, no words sufficiently capture all that is embedded in God’s chesed. It conveys a love so relentless that God’s propensity to forgive our offenses measures on a scale a thousand times greater than God’s inclination to punish (Deuteronomy 5:9-10). It is this extravagantly merciful God, whom David poignantly encounters and praises in Psalm 51.
Psalm 51 reminds us that we are never separated from God, no matter how egregiously we rebel against our Creator or harm others. We are all deserving of love and forgiveness. What a hard and comforting truth.
That being said, God loves us just as he loves our neighbor. Whatever wrong we perpetrate, we perpetrate against God, just as David names in verse 4. We cannot be aligned with God or be in relationship with the Almighty without acknowledging the impact we have on the lives of others. To know God is to work toward harmony and flourishing for all.
God ultimately forgives David for his remorse is true. We don’t get any insight into God’s relationship with Bathsheba, though we can trust that God was present with her for we know that our Creator particular cares for the dispossessed and abused (See Matthew 25:34-40). We also don’t get any insight into the relationship between David and Bathsheba or how it might have developed with David’s lament.
Moving forward after harm is very personal. Sometimes, a relationship can grow and change. Other times, the harm was too grievous, and the healthiest thing is to end the relationship completely. It is not our place to dictate how healing for someone else should look.
When we read Psalm 51 in direct connection with David’s actions against Bathsheba, it presents a difficult truth: God loves sinners, even those who have sinned against us.
Questions for discussion
- Should repentance be a prerequisite for forgiveness? Why or why not?
- Share a story where you experienced asking for or giving forgiveness.
- Is any act unforgivable?
- How do you reconcile God loving those who have harmed you?
- When you have wronged someone, how do you make amends for your actions and words?
Want to receive lectionary content in your inbox on Mondays? Sign up here.
