Warmth

King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.So his servants said to him, "Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king, and be his attendant; let her lie in your bosom, so that my lord the king may be warm."So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.The girl was very beautiful. She became the king's attendant and served him, but the king did not know her sexually.

1 Kings 1:1-4


I told Kirt the other day that if pastoring didn't work out, I could be a bed warmer like Abishag. He did not recall the story and I didn't actually recall her name so we looked it up and laughed. He pointed out that I failed in at least one of the qualifications needed, possibly two but he wasn't going to push his luck. He also pointed out that I didn't want to be a bed warmer, I wanted one.

That's pretty true. This night shift makes for a cold bed. It takes about five blankets to make up for the furnace I'm married to, but that's probably enough details about our life together.

The story has been rolling around in my head for a couple of days now. Whenever a woman gets named in the Bible, you want to pay attention. It doesn't occur that often and something memorable and profound must have happened for her to be recalled by name.

Initially the story struck me as sweet and funny. An old man finding comfort in the arms of a young woman to keep him warm at night has a tenderness to it. I've been in nursing homes enough to know the desire for companionship in bed does not necessarily fade with years.

Then there is the horror of this story. A young, beautiful girl forced from her family to spend the night with an old man nestled in her bosom. The story gets even more horrifying because after David gives his list of revenge killings to Solomon and dies, his other son Adonijah, who should get the throne but loses to Solomon, asks Bathsheba for Abishag as a wife.

One's mind can wander all kinds of places about Abishag and Adonijah. Did they make eyes at each other? Was it part of his grab for his father's throne? Did they know and love each other? Could her scandal of sharing an old man's bed be redeemed as wife to David's son? 

It doesn't really matter because Solomon goes into a rage and has Adonijah killed. We never hear about Abishag again. Her name simply means, "the father wanders." 

Comfort and horror. There is something lovely about David finding some warmth in his old age and there is horror as the consequences of his wandering sets his sons at each other's throats. There is the horror of this young girl caught in the midst.

Like most Bible stories, I don't think there's a tidy moral. It's messy. There's comfort and there's consequences. But this week, I'm thinking of Abishag and all the young women who get caught in the midst of power games.

I also think I'll settle for an electric blanket.