Have you ever felt life was just going from bad to worse? David in 2 Samuel 15 is in this position. His half-hearted reconciliation with his son Absalom cannot hope to placate that arrogant young man for long, and in this chapter, we see Absalom using his charm and good looks to deflect people’s loyalty away from the king so that he can usurp his father’s position. Such betrayal was hard to take, especially since it was followed by the defection of one of David’s closest spiritual advisers, Ahithophel (whose advice was treated as being directly from God.) Psalm 55 reflects the pain of betrayal by a friend which David felt at this time. In Michael Card’s words, ‘only a friend comes close enough/ to ever cause so much pain.’ (‘Why?’)

David could easily have given up at this point, well aware as he was that much of this unrest and betrayal stemmed from his own behaviour and was in part God’s judgment on him for his callous treatment of Uriah the Hittite and his wife, Bathsheba. But he shows us that when judgment comes, our repentance and sorrow matter to God. He responds by weeping, putting on sackcloth and covering his head and going barefoot, leaving Jerusalem with the ark, fleeing for his life. The country joins with him in lament and sorrow, with Ittai the Gittite and Zadok the priest showing loyalty which must have blessed David enormously at a time when so many others were abandoning him and he felt so alone.

David decides to let God be the one to decide his fate, and sends the ark back to Jerusalem, hoping he will one day be able to return, but well aware the outcome of this latest coup against him is far from certain. (2 Sam 15:25-26) He urges Zadok and Abiathar to send word to him of what is happening and urges Hushai the Arkite to return too so that Ahithophel’s advice may be neutralised (‘frustrated’). David has by no means lost his strategic awareness, but he has reached the place of surrender to God’s will. He recognises God as being in ultimate control and that man’s plots and schemes cannot thwart God’s plans (see Ps 2). He accepts responsibility for his own sins and waits for God to work things out. In this, his is a model response to adversity.

This morning we looked at our identity as the Bride of Christ (see Rev 21:1-4, Isaiah 62:3-5, Ephesians 5:21-33). It’s important to realise that human marriage acts as an analogy for our relationship with Christ, where Jesus is described as the Bridegroom and the church as the Bride. Marriage, given by God to humanity in Genesis 2, is a relationship of intimacy and love, the ideal place for children to be brought up, and God’s original plan is that this is a relationship for life, reflecting His own lifelong commitment to us. Often in the Old Testament, the prophets described this relationship in this way, with Israel being described as a prostitute (Jer 3:1-3) or an adulterous wife (Ezek 16) because of her inability to remain faithful to God. The book of Hosea takes this even further, with Hosea commanded to marry Gomer, a prostitute, so that in his commitment and love, people could see something of God’s tenderness and love (see Hosea 2:16-20).

The language of marriage in the Bible often refers not simply to husband and wife but to bridegroom and bride, and many of the references to this in the New Testament reflect the cultural expectations of the time, when there was a betrothal period during which the bride and groom were separated until the wedding itself. At this point, the couple were pledged to each other and faithfulness is expected; for example, Paul longs to present the Corinthian church to Christ as a ‘pure virgin.’ (2 Cor 11:2) In the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, we see how the ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom, but not all were ready for his arrival. (Matt 25:3-5) We are to live prepared, to be ready for the return of the Bridegroom, for Christ’s return at the Second Coming: ‘keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.’ (Matt 25:13)

When that wedding ceremony finally takes place, the church will be seen as radiant, without any stain or wrinkle or any other blemish. (Eph 5:25-27) God’s unfailing, unchanging love will transform us. There is so much more to love than the romantic love recently celebrated on Valentine’s Day. God loved us when we were unlovely (Rom 5:8) and continues to love us with a fervour and passion many of us can only dare to imagine. Our identity as the Bride of Christ reminds us we are loved; we are not useless or nobodies, but are precious in God’s sight. This spiritual analogy is not sexual, nor does it mean Christ has many brides. Collectively, we, as God’s people, are one bride. The church is a plural unity: we’re described as a body made up of many parts; we are described as the household of God, and even in this description of us as the Bride of Christ, there is the knowledge that this is what we are together.

Our hearts cry out, ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’ (Rev 22:20) as we wait for the return of the Bridegroom. Come, Lord Jesus, that we may experience our identity as your Bride in all its fulness.

C. S. Lewis wrote that, ‘God’s presence is not the same as the feeling of God’s presence. He may be doing the most for us when we think He is doing the least.’