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THE VERSE
II Samuel 12:7-8 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I appointed you king of Israel. I saved you from Saul. I gave you his kingdom and his wives. And I made you king of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you even more.'" (ICB Version)
THE STORY
David sinned against the Lord and did evil in His sight. He planned the murder of his loyal soldier, Uriah, and he stole his wife, Bathsheba. Then the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to David. Nathan approached the king with bravery. He knew the king had the power to put him to death for pointing his finger at him.
So Nathan told King David a parable. A parable is a little story with a big message. He said to David, “There were two men in a city. One man was rich, but the other was poor. The rich man had very many sheep and cattle. But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb he had bought. The poor man fed the lamb. It grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup. It slept in his arms. The lamb was like a daughter to him.
“Then a traveler stopped to visit the rich man. The rich man wanted to give food to the traveler. But he didn’t want to take one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler. Instead, he took the lamb from the poor man. The rich man killed the lamb and cooked it for his visitor.”
David became very angry at the rich man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this should die! He must pay for the lamb four times for doing such a thing. He had no mercy!”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!" (II Samuel 12:1-7 ICB Version)
God sees everything. Even if we think we can hide our sin from others, we cannot hide it from God. God sent Nathan to confront David for murdering Uriah and stealing his wife, Bathsheba. David could have become angry at Nathan's accusations and killed him. Or, he could have acknowledged his sin and asked God to forgive him.
David chose to confess his sin to the Lord. In Psalm 51:3-4, David wrote, "I know about my wrongs. I can’t forget my sin. You are the one I have sinned against. I have done what you say is wrong. So you are right when you speak. You are fair when you judge me." (ICB Version)
It's not comfortable having someone point their finger in our direction. But we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. It's important to take responsibility for our actions. And accept the blame when we are wrong. If we confess our sin like David did, God forgives us. He washes us whiter than snow. And He gives us a new beginning.
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