NOT A LEG TO STAND ON
Opening Prayer
Thank you, loving Father, for the grace and mercy that you pour out on me each day. Thank you for the forgiveness that is mine in Christ.
Read 2 SAMUEL 12:1-14
Nathan Rebukes David
12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[a] the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Sin is horrible but not lethal for those in Christ. Come to him, knowing that ‘grace upon grace’ is available to you (John 1:16, RSV).Why is it so much easier to angrily condemn others’ sins than to recognize our own? Did David think he got away with adultery and murder and hoped it would never surface? Or had it simply not dawned on him how gravely he had offended God? Whatever, he had somehow blanked his mind of guilt. But he is quick to boil over when he encounters the self-centered rich man abusing power to crush a poor family.
Most lacked the courage to call David out. Nathan, a true prophet, refuses the ‘yes-man’ role. Speaking truth to power demands huge courage and great wisdom. Nathan’s parable evokes a self-righteous reaction that demands an over-the-top penalty (v 5). Nathan makes the link explicit (v 7) and David gets it. He could have remained in control, silencing Nathan and burying the whole sorry episode. But he is immediately repentant. David is a sinner but one who listens to God’s voice, who in his heart of hearts loves God and wants to please him. There will be sad consequences of his sin; ‘a long destiny of sword-shaped life’;* but God remains true to his promise (see 2 Samuel 7:4-17). All this is the prelude to a series of tragic but not pointless events. They will still lead somewhere in God’s purpose.
Apply
If there are places in your life where you are putting your own desires above the needs of others, what actions should you take?
Closing prayer
Holy God, when see my sin, help me to repent, remembering the great price that was paid for your forgiveness.
*Walter Brueggemann
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