If people know two stories about King David, one of them is David and Goliath, and the other is David and Bathsheba. But just as people will often know only the scantiest details regarding the fight with Goliath, so also they will only know “the bare facts” regarding Bathsheba: from the roof of the palace the king saw Bathsheba, sent for her, and committed adultery with her (II Samuel 11:3-5).

It’s hard to know what to think about Bathsheba. Was she a seductress, a surprised but willing participant, or someone coerced against her will by the king’s power? It would be interesting to hear her perspective on the situation: but the narrative does not record that for us. Instead, it simply reports that she became pregnant. David tried to cover up the situation by sending for her husband Uriah, who had been away at the war; but he would not go sleep in his bed with his wife while his troops were sleeping on the ground at the battlefield (11:6-13). When that stratagem failed, David arranged for Uriah to be killed in the battle (11:14-17).

The king took the widow into his harem and imagined he had successfully hidden his crime. Then Nathan the prophet confronted him with the parable of the rich man who took his poor neighbor’s sheep (12:1-4) – a powerful story which moved David to rage against the man who had done this (12:5-6). But “You are the man!” declared Nathan to the king (12:7), and the punishment against David would be severe (12:10-15).

Eventually David found his way to repentance (12:13). yet for me the most moving part of the story is this: after having heard the word of the Lord indicating that the baby would die (12:13-14), David nevertheless prayed for a week for something different from the revealed will of God: he prayed for his infant son to live (12:15-18): “Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live” (12:22). As it turned out, the child did die. Yet David’s theological conviction shows through quite clearly: despite all that has gone before, God could even now decide to show more mercy than what we had previously expected.

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From day to day we pray “Thy will be done,” O Lord: yet we also ask, who knows? You might indeed be more gracious to us than what we have understood so far. You are so full of compassion: grant us the courage to pray for miracles beyond what we have learned of your will!