“David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, ‘Bring me the ephod.’”(1 Samuel 30:6-7)
At this point in David’s story, he is hiding from Saul amongst the Philistines, deceiving their leaders and engaging in savage and brutal raids. He is as ruthless, as violent, as homicidal as any warrior of his day. Yet he is also a man of profound spirituality. His is a deeply flawed and ambiguous character. But at a moment when everything he has inflicted on others comes upon him, and his whole world collapses, he finds strength in the Lord his God. At a critical moment he does not lash out or panic or give in to despair. He seeks God’s will. And the Lord responds. Given clear guidance from the Lord he obeys promptly and decisively. Given victory by God he shows he is also capable of diplomacy and generosity and restraint.
None of us are perfect. We are as flawed and ambiguous as David. Like him, we are just as capable of oscillating between humanity and inhumanity. We are just as liable to messing up spectacularly as he is. We are as destructive and as self-destructive as David could be. We can also be as stubbornly spiritual as he is.
For all David’s flaws, there is that baseline of spirituality and a bedrock of relationship with the Lord. It is what ultimately redeems him. It is why we remember him for psalms and not for war crimes. His spiritual strength does not excuse his human weakness, but it does show us that the worst in us can be made better. Rooted in faith, our legacy can be one of light rather than dark, of good rather than evil, of order rather than chaos. How shall we be remembered?