The Sum of Your Testimony

When we read the account of David’s life in scripture, we find a man who has great highs and great lows. One moment he defeats Goliath, the next he’s on the run from a murderous king. He makes several bad choices throughout his life: serving the Philistines, moving the ark without consulting God’s word, adultery with Bathsheba, murdering Uriah, and conducting the census without taking the required payment for the Lord.

With that kind of a list, it’s surprising to read the following passage:

1 Kings 15:4-5 KJV
[4] Nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: [5] Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

Here God fails to mention many of David’s sins. There are many conjectures as to why this sin is listed without his others. The explanations range from it’s an addition to the manuscript that wasn’t there originally to this comparison only relates to King Abijam who’s reign the chapter is discussing.

I would also assert that this was the only instance where David broke the Lord’s commandments. As the verse does say, “anything that he commanded him.” The other instances of David’s sins regard levitical laws, where as the sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah violated the 6th and 7th commandments. This may be overplaying the semantics of the verse, but I found it interesting.

I also enjoyed Matthew Henry’s explanation of this verse. He states that this verse is a coloring of David’s character. As a whole, David served God. The sum of his testimony was faithfulness to God, but the sin regarding Uriah (and consequently, Bathsheba) was the one blot on his testimony that didn’t go away. David repented and the sin was forgiven by God, but the consequences of the sin: the loss of his child and the reproach of those around him remained.

The verse does not mean David never sinned other than that instance. As I already pointed out, he sinned many other times, as we all do:

Romans 3:23 KJV
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

However, the sum of David’s testimony was faithfulness to God. He spent his life dedicated to serving and worshipping the Lord. His faithfulness was so strong that God continued to bless his descendants even when they didn’t deserve it themselves.

I want the sum of my testimony to be faithfulness to God, like David.