2 Samuel 12:1-6
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
2 “The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 “But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie in his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a visitor came to the wealthy man,
And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly deserves to die!
6 So he must make restitution for the lamb four times over, since he did this thing and had no compassion.”
David’s Judgement
Appeal of Nathan the prophet
(1) The prophet Nathan is sent to David. He was a prophet attached to the royal court. Prophets could give advice or warnings to the king, who was the ruler, as representatives of God. (2) Let’s pay attention to the fact that it was the Lord who sent Nathan. It was the Lord who took the initiative and acted. The Lord utterly hates sin and demands that it be dealt with. (3) Nathan begins to tell a parable, taking the form of an appeal as if he were seeking David’s judgment regarding a certain incident. A rich man had many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. However, when a traveler came to him, he was unwilling to take one of his own animals to prepare for the guest. Instead, he took the poor man’s female lamb and prepared it. The poor man had nothing but that one lamb, and he had raised it like a daughter. Now then, how should this rich man be judged?
David’s judgment
Upon hearing this, David became furious and immediately ordered Nathan to pronounce the death penalty on that man and to require fourfold restitution. (1) David was filled with righteous indignation against evil. However, he did not realize that the evil was within himself. This is the true nature of us human beings. (2) The requirement of fourfold restitution is a correct judgment, as it is written in the Law of Moses (Ex. 22:1). (3) However, in the case of theft, restitution with goods is sufficient, and the Law of Moses does not prescribe the death penalty. The death sentence came from David’s personal emotion. He judged that the sin committed by the rich man against the poor man was extremely grave and declared the death penalty. When a person is living in sin, they tend to take a very harsh stance toward the sins of others. David was able to take a harsh stance toward the sins of others. However, he neglected to apply the same standard to himself. What kind of lesson can you learn from this? When judged by God’s standard, do you think you alone can escape that judgment? The deeper our awareness of sin becomes, the more we come to understand the depth of God’s grace.
Today's prayer
Father God of Jesus Christ, please have mercy on me, a sinner, and deal with me according to Your grace. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.