“I heard there was a secret chord…”

The Montreal poet, Leonard Cohen, has written a haunting secular song, Hallelujah, about King David. Like all good poets, he has full control of his metre and rhyme—beyond that, he creates images that puzzle but eventually satisfy. After the first few hearings, we may hardly know where Cohen is going: “the baffled king composing,” “her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you,” “she broke your throne and she cut your hair…”

We realize, of course, that the song is about David’s sin with Bathsheba. When David had Uriah murdered, (2 Sam.11:15) he ultimately became a “shedder of blood,” guilty beyond anything he had ever done in wartime. And this is why God said, “You are not to build a house for my Name.” (1 Chron.28:3)


To put it bluntly, David was an adulterer and a killer, and under the Mosaic law (e.g., Lev.20:10) both he and Bathsheba deserved to die by stoning. As a murderer, David doubly deserved death. (Lev.24:17) When Nathan the prophet confronted him with his sin (2 Sam.12) David was crushed. He knew there was no sacrifice he could offer for atonement, so he sought the Lord at last in the tabernacle, (2 Sam.12:20) praying: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psa.51:16 ,17)


We know that there really was a “chord that David played and it pleased the Lord,” because we read that somehow, David was “a man after my [God’s] own heart.” Acts13:22 There is even a quotation in Proverbs that sounds like David’s advice to his son: “Lay hold of my words with all your heart, keep my commands and you will live.” Prov.4:3, 4.


On the lowest level, this story proves to me that a believer can do anything an unbeliever can do except perish. On a higher level, it shows me what God can forgive. On another level, it shows me what I should do in David’s situation. Poor David prayed, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” What a difference for the believer today—we have the Holy Spirit Who has come “to abide with us forever”, to help us control our passions, and guide us to what is best. May we never quench Him! Thank the Lord for this Comforter and Guide!