“I Have Sinned
Against The LORD”
But
the thing that David had done displeased the LORD, and the LORD sent Nathan to
David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city,
the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds;
but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He
brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of
his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a
daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to
take one of his
own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took
the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” Then
David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the
LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the
lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
Nathan
said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I
anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave
you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you
the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have
added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is
evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the
Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have
killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never
depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD: I
Will raise up trouble against you from within 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 very sun. For you did
it secretly; but I will do this thing before all
2 Samuel 12:1-14
It
took a brave man to confront a king about the errors of the king. Yet Nathan
was obedient to God and wise in his approach. The apostle Paul urged the early
church to confront sin. We are to confront our own brothers and sisters in
Christ about their sin with the view of restoring them to fellowship with God.
We must also recognize that we are not immune to the same temptations.
We
shouldn’t go looking for sin in the lives of other believers. But neither
should we bury our head in the sand when it needs to be confronted. Slander
seeks to destroy; rebuke seeks to restore.
Our Daily Bread –