Free Republic

David was one of the remarkable men of the Old Testament. He was a capable musician and beloved poet. He excelled as a military leader and king. And as “a man after God’s own heart” he was an exceptional religious leader. Yet, in spite of his illustrious achievements, Israel’s greatest king was not without some grievous faults — not the least of which was his shameful conduct with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:1-27). As the Pharisees of Jesus’ day possessed a diabolical skill at twisting the Scriptures to justify their own evil desires, even so, some today are equally adept at...

Over at the Institute for Family Studies, Nicholas Wolfinger, a sociologist at the University of Utah, has found that Americans who have only ever slept with their spouses are most likely to report being in a “very happy” marriage. Meanwhile, the lowest odds of marital happiness—about 13 percentage points lower than the one-partner women—belong to women who have had six to 10 sexual partners in their lives. For men, there’s still a dip in marital satisfaction after one partner, but it’s never as low as it gets for women,... (Skip) In an earlier analysis, Wolfinger found that women with zero...

This is a story of great men behaving despicably. It’s a fascinating story for several reasons, but one of them is that it's such a modern story. It could be told of men and women today. It’s the story of a hero who achieves fame and power. He finds an attractive woman who just happens to be married to someone else and seduces her. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone...

General David Petraeus is arguably the most consequential and renowned American military leader since World War II. His resignation because of an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, has shocked Americans. L’affaire Petraeus has two parts that must be separated: his sexual relationship with Broadwell itself, and the link between the timing of the announcement of his resignation and the Benghazi attacks on September 11.Here I will focus on the former. What led a successful general at the height of his power and influence to have an affair that undid all he had accomplished?In 1993, Dean Ludwig and...

It is a convention of biblical scholarship that scripture sometimes presents seemingly contradictory information that forces us to evaluate the misdeeds of extraordinary people in the context of their times and circumstances. To warn us against superficially interpreting David’s episode with Bathsheba, the Talmud records the oral tradition that, “Anyone who says that David sinned is in error.”1 Even without the Talmud’s admonition, it is impossible to reconcile the simple reading of the text with Torah law. According to Jewish law, an adulteress is forbidden to marry a man with whom she committed adultery, even after divorce or the death...

Psa 51:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Psa 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. Psa 51:3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Psa 51:4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless...

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 2 Samuel 11:2-3 This is perhaps one of the most well-known stories in the Old Testament. David sinned. It wasn't Bathsheba's fault because refusing the King could have meant death for her. No, David sinned. He should have been at war but he wasn't....