Is King David Redeemed or Does He Remain in Hell?

After Sunday School meeting last Sunday (July 6, 2014), several members around me were commenting on how David must have been inspired and humbled to write such beautiful verse.  During the previous week, I had studied the Psalms that were referred to in the Sunday School Teacher's Manual and I posted them on my blog.  I agree that the Psalms give great comfort and wisdom to those who read them, but I commented to the sister next to me that because David had "fallen" that he was still in hell [spirit prison] and had not been resurrected at the time of Christ because of his sins.  She said to me that the Church has told us not to teach that any more.

I hadn't heard that before and decided to do a little research.  Consequently, on Monday morning, I went to LDS.org and looked up Church references for King David. I found lots of talks and Ensign articles mentioning King David, usually that he was Israel's greatest king.  Of course, the story of David and Goliath is the most often quoted, but I also found many of his accomplishments while he was king referred to.  However, not all the references were positive.   

The following quotes can all be found when "King David" is entered in the search line on LDS.org.

►In a Conference Report published in the Ensign, Milton R. Hunter of the First Council of the Seventy wrote, "David, whom the Lord loved and who is regarded by many people as Israel’s greatest king, spent the latter part of his life in brokenhearted sorrow over his sin against Uriah and his adultery with Bathsheba. His deep feelings were expressed in one of the most pitiful prayers in the holy scriptures:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: …

“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

“For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” (Ps. 51:1–3.)

"More than two thousand years after King David’s death and only 127 years ago, Jesus Christ spoke from heaven and informed us that because of David’s sin against him in the case of Uriah and his wife, David 'hath fallen from his exaltation'  and his wives have been given to another. (D&C 132:39.)  ("Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery;" CR, April 1971.)

►Then I looked up D&C 132:39 relating to the "new and everlasting covenant of marriage" given to Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded July 12, 1843 as follows:

 "David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord."

►Continuing, Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual (2002), 327-334; Section 132

Marriage: An Eternal Covenant:

"David’s story is one of tragedy and a lesson to all of God’s children, because he went from the height of favor with God to the depth of wickedness. He had all that this life could offer, but through sin he lost exaltation and the right to be eternally with his Father in Heaven.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained:

“As to the fact that the sealing power cannot seal a man up unto eternal life if he thereafter commits murder and thereby sheds innocent blood (not in this case the blood of Christ, but the blood of any person slain unlawfully and with malice) the Prophet says: ‘A murderer, for instance, one that sheds innocent blood, cannot have forgiveness. David sought repentance at the hand of God carefully with tears, for the murder of Uriah; but he could only get it through hell; he got a promise that his soul should not be left in hell.

“‘Although David was a king, he never did obtain the spirit and power of Elijah and the fullness of the priesthood; and the priesthood that he received, and the throne and kingdom of David is to be taken from him and given to another by the name of David in the last days, raised up out of his lineage.’ (Teachings, p. 339.) Thus, even though a man’s calling and election has been made sure, if he then commits murder, all of the promises are of no effect, and he goes to a telestial kingdom (Rev. 21:8;D. & C. 76:103), because when he was sealed up unto eternal life, it was with a reservation. The sealing was not to apply in the case of murder.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:347.)

►President Spencer W. Kimball "indicated that there is no restitution possible for murder."

"Consider that David was destined for exaltation, destined to rule in heaven forever and ever as a Creator and a God to his future children. As the Lord said, there is no greater gift that He could offer a man than eternal life (see D&C 6:13). David had it within his grasp, and then, in a foolish attempt to hide his sin, sent a man to his death. Had he even come to himself after his transgression with Bath-sheba and sought repentance as sincerely and earnestly as he did after Nathan’s parable, there is every indication that he could have come back and received forgiveness. It would have been difficult, but not impossible. But he did the very thing of which so many are guilty—he compounded his sin by trying to cover it up.

“As to crimes for which no adequate restoration is possible, I have suggested … that perhaps the reason murder is an unforgivable sin is that, once having taken a life—whether that life be innocent or reprobate—the life-taker cannot restore it.…Murder is so treacherous and so far-reaching!…Even the loss of chastity leaves the soul in mortality with opportunity to recover and repent and to make amends to some degree. But to take a life, whether someone else’s or one’s own, cuts off the victim’s experiences of mortality and thus his opportunity to repent, to keep God’s commandments in this earth life. It interferes with his potential of having ‘glory added upon [his head] for ever and ever.’ (Abraham 3:26.)” (Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 195–96.)

►Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained the limits of David’s eternal inheritance:

“Murderers are forgiven eventually but only in the sense that all sins are forgiven except the sin against the Holy Ghost; they are not forgiven in the sense that celestial salvation is made available to them. (Matt. 12:31–32; Joseph Smith's Teachings, pp. 356–357.) After they have paid the full penalty for their crime, they shall go on to a telestial inheritance." (Rev. 22:15.) (Mormon Doctrine, p. 520.)

►Old Testament Student Manual, Genesis-2 Samuel - Samuel 1–12: The Fall of King David, (1980), 286–92:

" From celestial to telestial—that is tragedy. Although David was brave and had great intellect, administrative ability, and faithfulness early in life, he failed in one important thing—to endure to the end.  David was a great example in his fulfillment of his calling as king, and a tragic example in his falling from glory. We can learn from both aspects of his life."

►"David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba was followed by a series of misfortunes that marred the last twenty years of his life. The nation as a whole was prosperous during his reign, but David himself suffered from the consequences of his sins. There were constant family feuds, which, in the case of Absalom and Adonijah, ended in open rebellion. These incidents are a fulfillment of the pronouncement of Nathan the prophet upon David because of his sin (2 Sam. 12:7–13).

"David’s life illustrates the need for all persons to endure in righteousness to the end. As a youth, he was said to be a man after the Lord’s “own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14); as a man, he spoke by the Spirit and had many revelations. But he paid a heavy price for his disobedience to the commandments of God" (LDS.org; The Guide to the Scriptures, DAVID).

►"I Have a Question" - Ensign, April 1986, by H. Donl Peterson, professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University:

"Elder McConkie wrote that even most murderers will come out of hell, or the spirit prison, in the last resurrection to live in telestial glory:

“When the Lord paraphrases the language of Rev. 21:8 in latter-day revelation (D&C 63:17–18 and D&C 76:103–106) he omits murderers from the list of evil persons. Their inclusion here by John, however, coupled with the fact that only those who deny the truth after receiving a perfect knowledge of it shall become sons of perdition, is a clear indication that murderers shall eventually go to the telestial kingdom, unless of course there are some among those destined to be sons of perdition who are also murderers.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965–73, 3:584.)

►"It Can’t Happen to Me," James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, CR, April 2002:

"History is full of examples of men who were gifted and able but who, in a moment of weakness, threw away their promising lives. King David is a tragic example. As a youth he was handsome, brave, and full of faith. He slew the frightening giant, Goliath. He became king. He had everything a man could desire. Yet when he saw Bathsheba, he wanted her even though she was another man’s wife. He had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, sent to the front of the hottest battle so that he would be killed. Uriah died in battle, and David married Bathsheba. As a consequence of this evil deed, David lost his spiritual inheritance.   For all the good David accomplished, much of it was negated because he allowed himself to succumb to a serious personal flaw."

►"Lucifer, that clever pied piper, plays his lilting melody and attracts the unsuspecting away from the safety of their chosen pathway, away from the counsel of loving parents, away from the security of God’s teachings. He seeks not just the so-called refuse of humanity; he seeks all of us, including the very elect of God. King David listened, wavered, and then followed and fell" ("The Three Rs of Choice," President Thomas S. Monson, October, 2010).

Conclusion: I don't begin to know the official teachings outlined by the Church other than what they publish in their teaching manuals, in conference reports and Church magazines.  I agree that to cast King David as an adulterer and murderer can be offensive to some as his writings are so magnificent.  However, the scripture in D&C 132:39 revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith and the other quoted talks and writings are very clear.  David has not been redeemed because of his sins and has "fallen from glory;" but he will be resurrected and receive his proper judgment at the end of the Millennium.  As I understand the scriptures and the prophets, in the meantime, he will remain in hell [also known as spirit prison].