Is Trump Like King David?
You may have seen this meme shared across the internet in response to Trump’s election:
This meme is taken entirely out of biblical context to justify bad behavior.
God did not ordain David because he was “a filthy minded, adulterous, wealthy man with evil in his heart to preside over a nation.”
God ordained David because, at the time, David was a man after God’s own heart.
It was only after David became king that his power corrupted him, and he became “a filthy minded, adulterous, wealthy man with evil in his heart.”
The Ordination of David
When God called the prophet Samuel to ordain David, David was still very young. In fact, David was the youngest of his seven brothers. He was also the shepherd of his family’s sheep.
God told Samuel that the next king of Israel would be a son of a man named Jesse from Bethlehem. When Samuel met Jesse, Samuel invited Jesse and his sons to a religious ceremony where they sacrificed a heifer to God.
When Jesse’s sons came to the sacrifice, Samuel checked out his oldest son, Eliab. Samuel thought, “Surely, the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” Why did he think that? Because you would assume that God’s chosen person would be the oldest and strongest of the brothers.
But God said to Samuel, “Do not look upon his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Samuel inspects Jesse’s next 5 sons, all of whom God rejects as the next king.
But there is one son left, who didn’t seem worthy enough to even be at this ceremony. How could David be chosen as the next king of Israel? He is the youngest, the weakest, and the most vulnerable.
David came and when he went before Samuel, God said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.”
In fact, I Samuel 13:14 states that David was a man after God’s own heart. self-giving love.
The Mistake in the Meme
So if the meme is true and there was evil in David’s heart, and if David was a man after God’s own heart, then God’s heart must be evil.
I reject that claim. And I would hope that the person who made the meme would reject it, too.
The fact is that God ordained David because he was the youngest of his brothers. As the youngest of three brothers, I know the vulnerability that comes with being the youngest brother!
And God chose David because he was a shepherd. A shepherd cares for sheep, who are also vulnerable.
That’s the point. The Kings of Israel are referred to as Shepherds because they are supposed to care for their sheep – the people of Israel. The kings have a divine mandate to care for the poor, the weak, the orphan, the immigrant, and the widow.
David’s Corruption and Repentance
God chose David because he had a good and pure heart that cared for the marginalized. It was only years after David became a king that he saw Bathsheba and demanded to have sex with her. (To be clear, that’s called rape.) And then David killed Bathsheba’s husband to cover up the fact that Bathsheba was pregnant with David’s son.
Another prophet named Nathan confronted David about his evil act. Nathan told him a story about a rich man who threw a party. The rich man had many animals, including sheep. But he had a neighbor who was poor and only had one little lamb. The rich man decided he didn’t want to feed his friends with one of his own animals, so he stole his neighbor’s lamb and cooked it up for his friends.
David became incensed at the injustice. He said the rich man deserved to die and should repay the poor man fourfold.
That’s when Nathan said to David, “You are that man!” God said that the consequences of his actions for this evil act were that his unborn child would die and there would be civil war in his family for generations. David wept and repented of his evil deeds.
God Does Not Endorse Bad Behavior
That’s why this meme doesn’t work. It reveals a deep lack of biblical knowledge. God did not ordain David because David had evil in his heart. God ordained David because David had a good and Godlike heart. It was only later, when David abused his power, that Nathan confronted him. God did not endorse David’s bad behavior, as this meme does. Rather, God chastises David for abusing his political power.
Donald Trump is not like King David. When David realized his evil deeds, he repented. He wrote many of the psalms, which lament his actions and ask for forgiveness.
Trump famously said he never asks God for forgiveness.
There’s a huge difference between these two men. More importantly, the meme suggests that God is perfectly fine with violent and abusive behavior from men in power.
That’s a false theology based on biblical ignorance or manipulation.
The whole story of David is that God cares for the poor, weak, and marginalized.
And political leaders should, too.
