Verses 1-6, “Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: 'There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.' So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, 'As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.' ”
God sent Nathan, a prophet, to go speak to David. He tells David of this hypothetical story of this rich man and a poor man. The rich man refused to sacrifice one of his many sheep, and instead took the poor man's one and only sheep and killed it. He was a thief. When David heard this story, he pronounced righteous judgement on this man. He believed he should die, and restore to the poor man fourfold, which is written in Scripture. Nathan then shocked him by telling him that the rich man was David! God used Nathan to speak to David and convict him of his sin. David had stolen Bathsheba from Uriah, even though he had been given much from the Lord. He wasn't content with what he had already been blessed with.
Verses 7-12, “Then Nathan said to David, 'You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.” ' ”
This confrontation could have gone two ways. David could have denied his sin, and made excuses, or he could repent. David did repent, and knew he sinned against the Lord. When we are convicted of our sin, we need to repent right away and get right with the Lord. Often times, the Holy Spirit will convict us, but if we refuse to listen, eventually we can become numb to that conviction. God can use other people to get our attention, because He loves us and wants us to repent! David's heart was soft, and he received what Nathan had to say, because it was the truth. We have to be careful that we don't harden our hearts to the truth, even when it's not what our flesh wants to hear. We must have humility, and admit that we have sinned against the Lord. I John 1:6, 8-9- "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When we do this, God can choose to show us mercy and grace, but He will resist those who are unrepentive.
Verses 13-18, “So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.' Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, 'Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!' ”
Although David truly repented, God still allowed consequences to come upon his life. David still had to deal with the consequences of his sin, but God spared his own life. The son that Bathsheba bore, became very ill and died. When we sin, we still have to deal with the consequences of that sin. Our sin also affects other people. We are only deceiving ourselves if we think it only affects us. Not to mention, when we are in sin, it separates us from our heavenly Father.
Verses 19-25, “When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, 'Is the child dead?' And they said, 'He is dead.' So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, 'What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.' And he said, 'While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, “Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?” But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.' Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.”
David chose to fast and pray, and fall on his knees before the Lord regarding his ill son. Now, fasting and prayer are not to be used to try and get our own will accomplished, but rather to change our hearts to submit to God's will. We cannot believe that if we fast and pray, we will get what we want all along, because that is not the case. Fasting and prayer will get our heart right before the Lord to accept His will. Although David fasted and prayed, his son still died, but David had peace about it. He had spent time in the presence of the Lord, and the Lord changed his heart and attitude towards the situation. This is why we should fast and pray!
Verses 26-31, “Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, 'I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply. Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.' So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance. And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.”
David was now right with the Lord, and just because he had sinned with Bathsheba, didn't mean God wasn't going to honor that marriage. Bathsheba conceived and gave birth to Solomon, who would be David's heir to the throne. The Lord blessed this son. Also, Joab sent for David, as they were about to take Rabbah, the city over which they had been fighting with the Ammonites. Joab fought for about a year, and that whole time, David had been in sin. Now that he repented, the Lord would deliver that city into their hands.
Often times, when we are in sin, it affects other areas of our lives. Sometimes, if we are having difficulty, it could be due to a spiritual issue in our lives that God is trying to show us. This may not always be the case, but in David's case it was. There is a blessing in obedience to the Lord. If we obey Him, he will allow other areas of our life to run effectively for His kingdom. This doesn't mean that everything will be easy, but we certainly will not be struggling spiritually, like when we are in sin and trying to hide it.
Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” II Samuel 12:1, 3-4
ReplyDeleteDavid had sinned, but had to taught from a parable that he had. David did not see what he had done was sin. He only realized it when be basically was condemning himself to death.
At times we do not realize that we are doing is sin. It others and us to look from afar to see what we are doing is really. We might be so caught up in it, that we can't even see that we are in sin. when do come to know that we are in sin we to have repentance, not being like Saul who was hard hearted, but rather repent, asking God for forgiveness.
Many times one thing doesn't just cause us to sin. It starts in our heart and builds. We might not even have to deal with it for years, it can lay dormant for years, but then when satan tempts us with something we are likely to fall into that sin because we have been struggling with it for a long time. Are sin only then is coming to the surface and it makes us have to deal with. whether or not we choose to do the right thing and repent is up to us