Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 2 Sam 12:1-2 and following. Indeed, “Thou shalt not covet the wife of thy neighbor”, the Law said. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Thou shalt not commit murder” (Ex 20:1-17). In a time of prosperity and joy, entirely in the service of Jehovah, David had only one thought: to build a house for his God. For the first time, the Lord had sent nathan to tell him that the time had not come, but also to open the treasures of his grace to him, for his purpose was to rejoice David’s soul. Today the scene has changed. The prophet is sent to him to place him in the light of a holy and just God, whose eyes are too pure to see evil and who must judge it.
Nathan speaks in parable, and blinded David does not see that this account concerns him. There were, said the prophet, two men in a city, one rich, the other poor; one possessing big and small cattle, the other, a single little sheep that he cherished. A traveler entered the home of the rich man who, in order to spare his own cattle, took the poor man’s sheep and prepared it for the man who had come to his house. Let us keep an eye on such a traveler, because we are all exposed to receiving his visit in our homes. Certainly, when he shows up, it is better to close the door on him. This traveler is covetousness, a passing lust, not those that we usually lodge and feed at home. And this traveler had entered the king’s house, knowing that he would find food there. Our hearts, too, always contain the elements necessary to succumb to Satan’s temptations. David, forgetting God’s dependence, had believed he could rest, instead of serving and fighting. These elements were enough for the traveler to open the door, and marked his passage with disorder and ruins.
“David’s wrath flared strongly against the man; and he said to Nathan: The Lord is alive, that the man who has done this is worthy of death; and he will return the sheep to the quadruple, because he did that thing and had no mercy. David’s heart, his conscience is in bad shape and yet his judgment remains just. Although he himself was under the yoke of sin, he judged it harshly in others. For when it is not about ourselves, we often have a clear and complete discernment of evil in others, without our own hearts being judged (Matt. 21:41).
“And Nathan said to David, ‘You are that man!'” What a sudden collapse! David handed down his own sentence; he is worthy of death! This blow necessarily reaches his heart, but it descends to the deep layers of his consciousness. Suddenly placed in the light, a sinner who does not know God can be convinced, have his mouth closed, without this conviction penetrating further, but for the child of God, such a state can only be momentary.
Jehovah now reminds David of all that he has done for him: “I have anointed you as king over Israel, and I have delivered you from the hand of Saul, and I have given you the house of your lord, and the wives of your lord in your womb, and I have given you the house of Israel and Judah; and if it were little, I would have added you such and such.” The treasures of my grace were yours, and you sinned in the presence of my love! “Why have you despised the word of Jehovah, doing what is wrong in His eyes?” In what way, then, had he despised him? God had blessed him, and He had preferred the satisfaction of His lusts.
The same judgment is pronounced against Eli (1 Sam 2. 30), because he had honored his sons more than God. He feared Jehovah, but had despised Him by letting His sons trample on His sacrifice and offering, which He had commanded to make in His abode. So the Lord said to him, “Those who despise me will be in small esteem.” We find the same truth in Luke 16. 13: “No servant may serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will cling to one and despise the other: you cannot serve God and Mamon.” To have as objects of lust the things that this world can offer is to despise God. The soul usually has very little idea of it, but God values it that way. “Because you despised me,” he repeats.
David had preferred sin to God. What an awful thing! Don’t our consciences tell us anything? Every natural heart has lusts that attract it. By “lusts” we must not only mean the defilements of the world, but “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life”, vanity, pleasures, ambition. These things find easy access in the heart of the Christian, and how many days and years often go by without us closing the door on them? Every time we open it to this host, we despise the Lord Himself. Hence God’s judgment on His servant.
The graces granted to David were earthly; ours are “spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.” Do these things have such a price for our hearts, that they no longer have any asylum to offer “to the traveler”? The Lord’s discipline and judgment will fall upon us, to the extent that we welcome or reject that host. The prophet announced three things to David: “The sword will not be removed from your house, forever.” God did not revoke this word of blood. You have sown for the flesh, you will reap its corruption. These two things that, from the beginning, have characterized the world subject to sin (Gen 6. 11), would become the usual guests of the house of the poor guilty king.
The king can now console Bath-Sheba. Grace flows back to him. He has a son whom he names Solomon (the peaceful) and whom God has Nathan call by the name “Jedidia” (the beloved of Jehovah). Grace introduced Bath-Sheba, whom his filth prevented from sharing in the blessings, in the lineage of the Messiah (Mt 1. 6). She becomes the mother of the king of peace and glory. Grace likes to show itself to fallen beings whom it associates with Christ, to manifest in the centuries to come that they are its “immense riches”. First state of the heart, described by these words: “Behold, you want the truth in the inner man, and you will make me understand wisdom in the secret of my heart.” “The truth in the heart,” God wants to produce first of all, by bringing us before Him when we have sinned. Often the soul judges an act and does not go further, but it is not yet the whole truth in the heart. David judges his act: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is continually before me”; but he still judges his condition: “Behold, I was born in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” It is not enough for him to judge his sin; he judges sin in him, which he has been since birth. He doesn’t just say, “I have outraged God,” but he goes back to the source of this outrage and understands that the reason for all this evil was in his heart. Wisdom is about discerning these things.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Nathan denounces David’s fault:
- Sent from God
Mt 21:37 Finally, he sent his son to them, saying: They will have respect for my son. John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for it is from God that I have come out and come; I have not come by myself, but it is He who has sent me. Jn 9:4 I must do, while it is day, the works of the one who sent me; night comes, when no one can work. John 10:36 the one whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you say to him: You blasphemy! And this is because I said: I am the Son of God.
- Doing evil
Jg 2:11 The children of Israel then did what displeased jehovah, and they served the Baals. 1 Kings 14:22 Judah did what is wrong in the eyes of Jehovah; and by the sins they committed, they aroused his jealousy more than their fathers had ever done. 2 Kings 8:27 He walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and he did what is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, for he was allied by marriage to the house of Ahab. 2 Kings 14:24 He did what is wrong in the eyes of Jehovah; He did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebath, who had made Israel sin.
- Return ordered
Ex 22.2 If the thief is caught stealing with a break-in, and is beaten and dies, no person shall be guilty of murder against him; Lev 5:23 when he sins in this way and becomes guilty, he will return the thing he stole or subtracted by fraud, the thing that had been entrusted to him in deposit, the lost thing he found, Pr 6:31 If he is found, he will make a restitution to the sevenfold, He will give everything he has in his house. Ez 33:15 if he returns the pledge, if he restores what he has delighted, if he follows the precepts that give life, without committing iniquity, he will live, he will not die.
- Examples of Selfishness
Gen 4:9 The Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He replied: I don’t know; Am I my brother’s keeper? 2 Kings 7:8 The lepers, having arrived at the entrance of the camp, entered a tent, ate and drank, and took away silver, gold, and clothing, which they went to hide. They returned, entered another tent, and took away objects that they went to hide. Is 6.6 Haman entered, and the king said to him: What should be done for a man whom the king wants to honor? Haman said to himself: What other than me would the king want to honor? Mk 10:37 Grant us, they told him, to sit one to your right and the other to your left when you are in your glory. Lk 10:31, 32 A priest, who by chance was descending by the same path, having seen this man, passed by. 32 A Levite, who also arrived in this place, having seen him, passed by.
From all of the above, we note that “God’s sacrifices are a broken spirit. O God! thou shalt not despise a broken and humiliated heart.” What breaks him is to think that he has shed the blood of the righteous Uriah, a prophetic image of the blood of Christ shed by Israel, and which remains on this people and their descendants until the moment when the residue returns to Him, heartbroken and humiliated. Let us not forget that God disciplines us to bring us, by degrees, from the true heart and the pure heart, to the broken heart, the only condition that suits us in the presence of the cross, the only sacrifice that God accepts with that of praise, the only state of the heart that does not expose us to new falls. David, who in Ps 19:8-9 states, “The law of the Lord is perfect,” has successively transgressed at least three of his commandments. Yet his conscience still does not take him back. Jehovah must send Nathan to him. And the touching parable of the stolen sheep, apt to reach the heart of the one who was a shepherd, will help him to measure the horror of his fault. But David doesn’t recognize himself right away. He is merciless to the rich man. So we are: The straw in our brother’s eye does not escape us, while we do not even notice the beam that is in ours. Then the finger of God speaks to him solemnly: “You are this man.” Then the whole sad affair, hidden so carefully is, unceremoniously, exposed: You did this, that! Finally, to confuse David’s heart, God reminds him of all that His grace had done for him. Was it not much? Because the more we have received, the less our lusts are excusable. And we received a lot. Our prayers accompany you all in seeking forgiveness and receiving God’s grace.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the parable of the escaped prisoner. »
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.