WEAKNESS OF A MAN

En our walk, helped by the people we found in the Bible and who have lived
situations analogous to ours, we find DAVID, central character in the history of the
people of Israel. David's life is wide and deep. Today we are going to focus on just
one aspect of this king's rich personality: his weakness. We read 2 Samuel 11,1-
12,14.

A YOUNG MAN WITH LUCK

David made a brilliant career in a short time. From being a young pastor to
the care of the family's flock, he is chosen as the future king and, shortly after, to
be consecrated as such. He is courageous, he is fair, he is cheerful and luck smiles
at him. In front of him he has a great responsibility. He is considered the one cho-
sen by God to lead Israel along the path of the Covenant. Of him, of his way of do-
ing things, of relating to others, will depend, to a large extent, on the people walk-
ing in the right direction.
David lives a time of great splendor. Everything smiles at him and he feels
chosen by God. He thinks that if God is with him, nothing can fail him. He is young,
intelligent, full of strength and vitality, feels that nothing and no one can oppose
his projects.

HUMAN WEAKNESS
David is human. The fact of being chosen by God does not give him any ad-
vantage over others, nor exempts him from anything. He is a person, like any of
us, with his virtues and weaknesses.
David is presented every day as a new opportunity. In front of him he
has the possibility of carrying out God's plan. A beautiful task that asks you to float
the best you have in your heart. But, just because of the enormous possibilities it
has, the temptation to consider itself self-sufficient and to believe itself safe is on
the lookout for David. It is the temptation in which so many fall.
The path of the believer, of the chosen one by God, is not something already
done, but something that is being done. It is necessary to walk, not stop, live
awake and be vigilant. And, above all, we must learn that the road can not be
done alone.
We are told that David was sleeping. Sleeping is the opposite of being
awake. One can live asleep in life, although each day he gets up, walks, eats,
works and has fun. You live asleep when you do not stay true to the values you
believe in and the mission for which you have committed your life. David fell asleep
on the conquered laurels.

LIVING DISORGANIZED
The disorganization, in the life of any person, is something that is originat-
ing little by little, does not come at once. It starts when the surveillance attitude is
not maintained. David gives in to a desire as simple as that of comfort. He prefers
to stay in Jerusalem before assuming the risk and responsibility of marching where
he has to go: leading his troops. He believes that he dominates the situation, that
nothing will happen; begins to give way, loses vigilance over itself.
Comfort leads to laziness. It moves away from others and becomes the
center. Little by little, the horizon, which used to be broad and enormous, is re-
duced to narcissistic desires. His people are fighting. David sleeps. He gets up at
sunset wrapped in his solitude. The result is known, he sleeps with Bathsheba, the
wife of Uriah, a soldier who was fighting on the front.
David arrives at the culmination of a sin process that started with something
very simple to which he was not given the importance he had: he believed himself
to be safe, he had isolated himself from others and he had lost his vigilance.
Who remembers the happy David, sure of himself, confident, respectful with
the most defenseless, in solidarity with his own people? Now he is arrogant,
locked in his palace, in his solitude.

MAKE ACCOMPLICES TO OTHERS

 WEAKNESS OF A MAN
Evil is irreparable. But David lives still locked inside his small circle of
feelings and is unable to understand the true extent of his disorder. His self-
sufficiency has blinded him. When one has lost the horizon, one is not capable of
owning oneself. When it is selfishness that governs behavior, insecurity and fear
begin to dominate the person. That happens to David.
The safe man is now insecure, the one who was strong is now weak. Da-
vid needs to introduce Uriah in his own circle, to calm his conscience and downplay
what he has done. He needs others to live like him to self-justify.

URIAS 'LOYALTY
But Uriah is not David. He has a mission to perform and he prefers to die
rather than being incoherent with what he has committed to. David insists, but
Uriah does not give in to the easy and immediate, remains faithful to those
who are suffering and struggling. This is the big difference between the two.
While David puts his desires first, without thinking about others, Uriah puts his
companions at the center of his life and unites his lot with theirs.
David, who is not able to look beyond his own nose, can not stand that a sim-
ple subordinate does not give in to his pressures and blackmail, and does not enter
his own circle. The solution is no other than ending Uriah's life because it bothers
him. That man is you.
The prophet Nathan serves as a mirror for David to see himself as he is, in
his weakness and in his sin. "That man, who has done evil, is you." The one who
has destroyed a life and ruined a family is David. "I have sinned against the
Lord," is David's response. He has noticed. Nathan has helped him open his eyes
and see the reality he is living.
Despite his sin, God awaits him again. David accepts his weakness, puts
his trust in God and, together with others, goes back on his way. Only the pres-
ence of someone, from the outside, can help me to realize who I am, how I am liv-
ing and where I am going. For this, humility and openness to others is needed, es-
pecially to those who can help me. Self-sufficiency leads to narcissism.

TRACKS FOR THE ROAD

Look closely at the Second Book of Samuel 11: 1-12, 14 and also Psalm 50.
1. Do you find any
points of similarity be-
tween David's experi-
ence and yours? Stop
in them and analyze
them.
2. Indispensable for
David to find himself,
with others and with
God, is the presence of
Nathan. Do you have
someone to help you to
read what you are liv-
ing?

Deliver us, Lord, from violence and selfishness.

May we shout the wonders of your forgiveness.
Open our eyes, our hands, our hearts to rec-
onciliation with you
and with the brothers. And it will be peace.