Are You The Man?
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. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 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.
Now a traveller 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 traveller 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.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
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. 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.
Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what was 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.”
Now a traveller 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 traveller 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.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
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. 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.
Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what was 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.”
2 Samuel 12:1-9
David had been engaged in rapid-fire sins. It was almost as if he could not wait to catch his breath as he committed one sin after the other. From pornographically lusting after Bathsheba while she bathed, he had inquiries made after her, had her brought to the palace and had intimacy with her. Bathsheba got pregnant and, to cover things up, he brought her husband over from the battlefront hoping he could have intimacy with his wife and assume the pregnancy. Things didn't work out as planned; so David ended up having Uriah killed in battle per a letter he wrote which was hand-carried by Uriah to the army commander, Joab. To make matters worse, David took Bathsheba to be his wife after her husband’s funeral.
The descent from the mountain of godliness to the depths of the valley of sin by David is rather mind-boggling. Obviously, tongues must have been waging in the city of Jerusalem. But possibly, the cause of Uriah’s death must have been known only to David and the army commander. I really wonder if Bathsheba was even privy to the schemings and elaborate cover-up of David. But there was one person who knew it all: The Almighty God. The Bible declares in Hebrews 4:13 that everything is an open book before the One to whom we must give an account. God saw it all and revealed it to His prophet, Nathan.
Nathan was tasked with the unpleasant assignment of confronting David. With divine wisdom, he approached the king with a very interesting story of injustice. Suddenly, David's godliness and righteous ire rose to the forefront. He declared that the perpetrator must die because he was merciless! To this, Nathan responded: “You are the man!”
It is rather interesting that David forgot so quickly about his own sins and rose up in merciless judgment against someone else’s sin! Nathan reminded David that he had despised the word of the LORD by his behavior. Sin takes away every moral power we have!
As we deal with others who fall into sin, it is important to remember that our moral standing to judge others is severely undercut when we are living in sin ourselves.
So, question: As you point out the sins of others, could God be possibly saying to you: “You are the Man”? Are you the man? Could you be judging and slandering others whilst you harbor sin in your own life? Think deeply about this.
The descent from the mountain of godliness to the depths of the valley of sin by David is rather mind-boggling. Obviously, tongues must have been waging in the city of Jerusalem. But possibly, the cause of Uriah’s death must have been known only to David and the army commander. I really wonder if Bathsheba was even privy to the schemings and elaborate cover-up of David. But there was one person who knew it all: The Almighty God. The Bible declares in Hebrews 4:13 that everything is an open book before the One to whom we must give an account. God saw it all and revealed it to His prophet, Nathan.
Nathan was tasked with the unpleasant assignment of confronting David. With divine wisdom, he approached the king with a very interesting story of injustice. Suddenly, David's godliness and righteous ire rose to the forefront. He declared that the perpetrator must die because he was merciless! To this, Nathan responded: “You are the man!”
It is rather interesting that David forgot so quickly about his own sins and rose up in merciless judgment against someone else’s sin! Nathan reminded David that he had despised the word of the LORD by his behavior. Sin takes away every moral power we have!
As we deal with others who fall into sin, it is important to remember that our moral standing to judge others is severely undercut when we are living in sin ourselves.
So, question: As you point out the sins of others, could God be possibly saying to you: “You are the Man”? Are you the man? Could you be judging and slandering others whilst you harbor sin in your own life? Think deeply about this.