Is this King David’s legacy? |
…There were two men in one city, one rich and one poor. The rich man had very many flocks and cattle. And the poor man had nothing, only one little lamb that he had bought, and he kept her alive and she grew up with him and his children together…And a guest came to the rich man…and he took the poor man’s lamb and served it to the man who had come to him. (II Samuel 12:1–4)
The small, frightened lamb, the tears of her owner and of the children she grew up with, are imaginary. The story is a parable told to King David by the prophet Natan, to open the king’s eyes to his cruelty in taking Uriah’s beloved wife, Batsheva, and arranging for her husband’s death in war. David listened, understood, and sincerely repented.
The Bible reminds us multiple times of a king’s power to take whatever he wants, especially when it comes to........