Ruach Breath Of Life

Miserere mei, Deus (‘Have mercy upon me, O God) Disaster! With one fell swoop, the second king of Israel broke three of the commandments God had given to help His people live in the light of His holiness. The enormity of what David had done in his sudden relationship with Bathsheba did not seem to strike his heart immediately, however. He had coveted another man’s wife, committed adultery, planned and plotted the death of one of his most loyal and upright followers – and then carried on as if everything was normal. But God knew, and in his love and holiness He sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. Gulp! It was a task that required courage, given the king’s sometimes domineering and even tyrannical tendency to exert his power in unkind and capricious ways. Nathan, who seems to have served as something akin to a court chaplain, knew that he was risking his life, and wisely approached the matter by telling David a riddle within a parable about a rich man stealing a poor man’s pet lamb, before pointing