In the first reading for mass, King David seems to be unaware of the gravity of his sins. He had sunk deeply into mortal sin without realizing just how badly things had gotten. In the gospel reading today, Jesus was sound asleep in the stern of the ship without realizing how bad the storm had become. It was on the verge of sinking when his disciples finally came and woke him up. That’s the way it was with King David too. God sent Nathan to talk to David, to help him “wake up” and realize the seriousness of the sins he had committed.
The difference between the two stories is that Jesus was sleeping peacefully, confident that the storm would not sink the ship. His disciples were not in danger of drowning even though the strong storm was terrifying. King David on the other hand, had already sunk as far as he could go without realizing the depths of the deceit, lies and betrayals that he had descended to. His salvation was in grave jeopardy.
Can’t you just feel God’s anger in the first reading from the book of Samuel? God threatens to pay back King David’s sins of the flesh multiple times and not in secret either, but in broad daylight right before his very eyes, and with all of Israel witnessing it. Boy was He mad and He had every right to be.
God loved King David deeply though, ever since he was a little shepherd boy. That is probably why He had Nathan confront him with a story about the sweet little lamb, because God still loved David in spite of it all. As a shepherd boy, David probably took extra good care of the baby lambs and protected them from harm, and he could relate to this story. It would touch his heart. God was right to have approached David with such a tender story. It caused King David’s conversion of the heart. At least David had the decency to admit his sin before the Lord, when he fully realized what he had done.
It is especially important to notice how God handled this situation. He approached David’s sinful acts from a third party point of view, in the form of an impartial story, and then asked David for his judgement. David passed judgement on himself and this approach wasn’t like a personal assault on him, even though God would have been justified in doing so. David echoed this sentiment when he said, “As the lord lives, the man who has done this merits death!” Can you imagine his shock when Nathan confronted him and told David that he was the man who did this?
There were serious consequences imposed on David for his sins, including the death of the child that he had conceived with Bathsheba in their adulterous affair. It must have felt like his whole world was falling apart, because David lay on the ground all night in sackcloth and fasting, as a form of penance. At least he had the moral fortitude to turn to God even in the depths of his grave sin, to ask God for forgiveness and to spare the life of his child. God’s will is not always swayed by our prayers though. He still took the life of King David’s illegitimate child.
The first part of today’s psalm (psalm 51) reflects King David’s guilt:
“A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not our from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me…
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;”
This is the thing about both of the readings for mass today. King David turned to God when he realized the seriousness of his sins and that he was in trouble, during the time of his child’s impending death. In today’s gospel, the disciples also turned to Jesus when the storm got out of hand and they were afraid they were on the verge of dying as well. Where else would they turn? Who else could help them in such dire circumstances? Sometimes, there just isn’t anyone else that is there for you when things get really out of hand and you can’t fix it on your own.
Grief, suffering, despair and fear. These are very powerful feelings that most of us experience at some point in our lives. We can turn these feelings inward and make our suffering even worse, or we can take them to the Lord and allow the Lord to help us, to heal us, to forgive us, and to make things right again. God eventually brought healing and peace to King David, and Jesus calmed the storm and brought peace to his disciples as well. There is no other way to peace, except through our prayers to God, and Christ’s healing forgiveness in the sacrament of penance. Restored to a state of grace, our communion at mass brings us a deeper sense of peace, in a way that nothing else in the world can give us.
Today would be a good day to consider going to confession. For some of us, it may have been long overdue.
Daily Mass Readings:
2 Sm 12: 1-7a, 10-17; Ps 51: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17; Mk 4: 35-41
