Note: There were a couple of errors that I corrected in yesterday’s devotional. Thanks to Kathy Wilson and Rieko Haggerty for bringing these to my attention. 1) I cited the wrong Tamar. The Tamar referenced is the daughter-in-law of Judah. 2) Ruth was Naomi’s daughter-in-law not step-daughter. These are fixed online.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

In this portion of the genealogy of Jesus, it starts out with King David. David was a seriously flawed man who repented of his sins and was known as a friend of God. His sins are clearly written in this genealogy. He had intercourse with Uriah’s wife and she became pregnant. To try and hide his sin, he first tried to talk Uriah into coming home and laying with his wife to make it seem like the baby in the womb was from Uriah. But Uriah’s honor would not let him leave his men on the battlefield to enjoy the good life at home with his wife.

So, David instructed his commanders to put Uriah, one of his fiercest warriors, up on the front line. And then he told the men around him to pull back when the enemy advanced, so Uriah would be fighting them all alone. What a horrible thing to do to a faithful man! Uriah, as was planned by David, died. And David took Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife he had committed adultery with, as his wife. Nathan the prophet confronted David about his sin and he repented. Psalm 51 is his repentance prayer.

Here are a few of my favorite verses from that Psalm: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬, ‭16‬-‭17‬)

David was a murderer and an adulterer. He deserved death. He did not deserve to remain king. But God had mercy on him. His family life was messy and he still had challenges. But he drew close to God and he prospered.

So in Jesus’ family line is the famous king who was also a murderer and an adulterer. Jesus forgives and redeems his people, even from great sin, if our hearts will turn back to him.

Lord, thank you for your heart of grace and mercy, so evident in the story of David. Your genealogy includes some really broken people who blew it in major ways. This gives me hope that a broken man like me can be counted among the faithful, if I follow and obey.