“Yes he was human, but no, that does not mean we need to feel we are able to relate to him.
Different humans are on different levels, sometimes worlds apart. The people from tanach
(including David) were on a completely different level than we are on today.
“Anybody that says David sinned is mistaken” is a quote from chazal. It means that what we think were David’s sins are not really what they were at all.
Do I understand that?
No. But that’s the point.
I realize this doesn’t answer you’re question, but I am questioning your need to be able to “relate” to the people in Tanach.”
And so, functionally, it’s the same thing as saying they were Malachim. The whole point of emphasizing their humanity is to show that they were human (like us) and had the same sort of choices and internal trials as you could imagine any human having. that the tests given to them were actual TESTS, things that required not just physical, but mental and emotional exertion as well.
As for David, yes he sinned. He wasn’t some God-King, or some Malach of Hashem that could do no wrong. He was a human, prone to the same weaknesses and needs that drive all humans today.
(thats not to say that he had the exact same inner-trial as say I do, the same way you don’t have the exact same ones I do. But we do have relatable ones, that others can understand).
But he acknowledged that sin. And repented for it. And moved on. Just like we can.
The Torah doesn’t tell us stories about their lives for the sake of knowledge. The Torah is not a history book. It’s a text meant to teach us lessons about how to live our lives.
Avraham Avinu is their to show us how to be kindhearted people, yet to also show that Hashem comes before our own perceived notions of kindness. He passed a test that few would ever pass. He was the most loving, kind person around, yet he put that aside to follow Hashem’s will.
And he is something to look up to, to try and emulate. But even if we can’t perfectly match him, that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. the point is the journey, not so much the destination.
As for David, he was the king. A prophet of Hashem. There was every reason to believe he would not be capable of such a sin, relating to such a base human desire. Yet he was.
The tanach wasn’t interested in telling us gossip. it wasn’t just telling us a fun story. It’s meant to teach us something.
Even David was vulnerable to such a thing. All the more sop to us.
Yet even David was repented and was forgiven. yet it wasn’t because of his previous status. It was because he sincerely felt bad about what he did, and did teshuva.
Or at least that’s the way I see things.