Bruce Willis is Dead

...at the end of The Sixth Sense.  Calm down. I don't think John McClane could ever really die.

However, that moment, when you realize the plot twist, has captivated millions and millions of people.  Some viewers figured it out early on in the movie and decreed it rubbish, while others were so stunned that they don't remember the actual end of the movie.  Count me upon the latter group.

Now imagine the scene between David and Nathan after the king's little tryst with Bathsheba going much the same way.  Nathan is telling the story about the rich man who has much taking from the poor man with one little ewe lamb, and David gets more and more indignant, until finally Davey makes a ridiculous proclamation:

"David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, 'As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.'"  2 Samuel 12:5-6

I can't even begin to fathom the faces of his court at that point.  Everyone else had to know Nathan was setting David up...they mostly knew what he had done.  Bathsheba is initially described to David as "the wife of Uriah the Hittite," (2 Sam. 11:3) so people knew who she was when she spent the evening with David while Uriah was away.  They're like the ones who figured out The Sixth Sense early; as the plot twists happen, they start looking around like "who hasn't figured this out yet?! This is ludicrous!" 

Then Nathan drops the hammer on David, announcing for all to hear "You are the man!" (2 Sam. 12:7)  David then falls into the second group of viewers: those stunned by the revelation, immediately lost and trying to figure out how things got so twisted so fast.

However, David's recovery is really the story here.  He immediately admits sin (11:13) and accepts the punishment God gives him for the transgression.  The end result of all this calamity is Solomon, whom God gives the name Jedidiah, which means loved by the Lord.

The result of the twist in The Sixth Sense is that Bruce Willis is able to move on and rectify the mistakes he left behind when he died.  What we should all realize is that God does this for us daily; the mistakes we make, the "David moments" where our horrible transgressions are brought to light, do not have to lead to chaos.  They can lead to growth, peace, and, as Jedidiah proves, love, if only we return to Him.

When you look at it that way, its not a plot twist so much as a divinely happy ending, no?

"Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do no cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."   Psalm 51:1-2, 10-12. 

A psalm of David, written when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.