Sunday Sermonettes #067
There is a powerful song Hallelujah written by Leonard Cohen which talks of the tragedy of sin that came in the life of King David. He was a shepherd boy who came to kingship by God’s choice. At one point in time when he was supposed to be leading his army he was relaxing on the rooftop of his palace when he saw a woman bathing. She was beautiful. What followed is great tragedy as he indulged in a sinful forbidden relationship. He also conspired to kill his own bodyguard, the husband of that lady Bathsheba. God pronounced judgement on him.
He was a godly king. He was a man after God’s own heart. Yet he failed in one moment of indulgence in what God had forbidden, what God has clearly shown as wrong, as sexual sin. He took another man’s wife, slept with her, and to cover up the pregnancy had her husband killed with the sword of their enemies. The songwriter says that there was a song of praise Hallelujah in the heart and lips of the king before his fall. But this tragedy of sin took away that song of praise from his lips. The powerful imagery of the song says,
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah.
This one moment of coveting led to lust and adultery and that led to murder. The greater tragedy was that it took nearly one year for him to come to his senses that he had sinned against the Lord. Until the Prophet Nathan confronted him he never realized that what he had done had displeased the Lord. He was king. But that did not give him the right to violate God’s commands. God pronounced judgement on him. His family became a battleground with heartaches coming like a train hitting and shattering to pieces and shreds.
The image of “she cut your hair” comes from another hero, the mighty Samson who lost his power when he slept in the lap of Delilah and revealed to her that the secret of his strength was the uncut hair on his head. She shaved his hair off when he was asleep on her lap and his enemies conquered him and blinded his eyes. The common thread with David is that both of them lost their spiritual power by indulging in their sinful appetites. The tragedy is that they did not guard the anointing of the Spirit of God in their lives.
One of my friends once told me that slipping and falling morally like King David does not happen in a moment. It happens over a period of time when you fail to keep a close walk with God on a daily basis.
Bible scholars also point out that he was supposed to go to war. Instead he was neglecting his duty and staying at home. He got up from his bed that evening and was walking on the rooftop. He was at the wrong place; away from duty.
Again, as we look at his rise from a shepherd boy to being king; we find that he was constantly on the run for his life during that period. That made him rely on his God. But the palace with its comforts dethroned the “major lifts” of hallelujah from his lips.
Yet when God confronted him through the prophet, David did not evade responsibility. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Later he composed Psalm 51 the song which begins, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” The songwriter Leonard Cohen speaks of a “broken Hallelujah” that follows.
You might have failed. Do not hide from God. Come out into the open. Tell God honestly what you thought, said, or did. Accept that your thought, word, or deed is sin. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross will cleanse you. And God will forgive you if you repent with a sincere and broken heart. You still can say Hallelujah; broken but still coming from a pardoned sinner; God will accept.
The warning is clear: Neither you or I are above failure. Anyone of us can fail if we do not rely on our God on a daily basis. One moment’s relaxing of standards can lead to tragic consequences. Therefore the Bible warns, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
The song closes with:
“And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.”
Here is Alexandra Burke singing Hallelujah,
Featured image courtesy: Photo by Anastasiya Badun on Pexels
Every Drop of Blood
Would You Be Free from the Burden of Sin
