The Gospel According to Nathan (2)

Today’s text brings us to a favourite character from the Old Testament. King David

Now, our story also features some other people, too. Bathsheba most famously, perhaps. And her husband, Uriah. And then the prophet Nathan. Who does a bold thing in the face of wrongdoing by someone in a position of power.

2 Samuel 11:1–7 NIV

1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.

2 Samuel 11:14–17 NIV

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” 16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

2 Samuel 11:26–27 NIV

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

2 Samuel 12:1–13a (NIV)

1 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. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 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.

4 “Now a traveler 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 traveler 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.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 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. 8 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. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is 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. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

I wonder what you heard as Cindy & Dean read for us just now?

As you piece together this familiar story, what surprised you or unsettled you? What connections did you make?

This text has had me thinking a lot about repentance. Which in turn, has led me to consider what the connections and similarities are between repentance, restitution and reconciliation.

[explore repentance, restitution & reconciliation?]

When you hear the story, are you taken with a particular character? Drawn in by one of the experiences?

Perhaps it’s David you identify with. Someone who wants to do right, but is blind to his own brokenness and makes massive mistakes.

Perhaps it Bathsheba or Uriah - you’ve been wronged. And your story always seems to be on the margins of the stories that get told.

Or maybe you’re taken with Nathan. How does one speak truth in moments like this? What do we do when we are called to address wrong-doing?

And all this thinking about repentance, restitution and reconciliation also has me wondering about what leads us into repentance? In our text today, I think it’s clear that without Nathan, David would not have seen his wrongdoing. And 2 Samuel 12:1 tells us clearly that “The Lord sent Nathan to David.”

The Lord sent Nathan to David.

Does this mean that God sends people to confront wrongdoing even when that wrongdoing originates from a place of power?

I wish the Bible included an account of Nathan’s call to go and confront the King. Can you even imagine? How did Nathan know what had happened? (Who told? Who saw what? Who pieced things together?)

We know from earlier in the David story that Nathan has the fortitude to tell David things he knows David doesn’t want to hear. In 2 Samuel 7, David has this great idea that he’s going to build a house for God. And at first glance, Nathan thinks this is a good idea. But God raises objections, and Nathan has the job of sharing God’s objections with the eager king. And he does. And David listens.

I think this matters. The shared history matters. Both for Nathan. And for David.

However it all came about, Nathan confronts David with creativity and winsomeness. (Nathan knows his audience and has earned a hearing…) He tells a story that draws David (and US!) in…

David responds correctly and yet, possibly, incompletely.

Let’s look at what David gets right...

In vs 5 it says David burned with anger - the correct response to the wrongdoing “he did such a thing and had no pity" - what kind of person would do such a thing?! YOU WOULD, YOUR HIGHNESS!

This is the proper response to the story. The story is meant to help David see what he had become blind to. We’re not given all the backstory, but we do know that it’s springtime and David isn’t where kings ought to be in the spring (on the battlefield). And we know that David has seen something, desired it, even though it belongs to someone else (Uriah). Taken it. And then killed Uriah when it becomes clear that he’s going to get found out.

A few weeks ago, when I preached on the 10 Commandments, we looked at the two directions to the commands - the first 4 or 5, depending on how you read them, are focused on humans relating to God. But then the last five are humans relating to one another. I mentioned how the problem with the 10th commandment is that it leads to breaking the others.

David covets Uriah’s wife. (We’re going to pass over the uncomfortable reality that Bathsheba is not addressed in this story as a person, but as a possession and object. If that bugs you as much as it bugs me, good. But also, just note, that when we get to Matthew 1 and the genealogy of Jesus, not only is Rahab going to be in there, but so is Bathsheba. Still referred to as Uriah’s wife. But I think that is as much about keeping Uriah’s name despite his untimely end, and also honouring his widow who would give birth to Solomon - the son of David’s who would build the temple. And whose line would ultimate

In vs 11 David says to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And that is correct, but not complete. He also sinned against Uriah and against Bathsheba.

Numbers 5:6 CEB

6 Tell the Israelites: When a man or a woman commits any sin against anyone else, thus breaking faith with the Lord, that person becomes guilty.

Notice here that wronging another or sinning against someone else leads to “breaking faith” with God. But the two are entwined. Breaking faith with God may be the end result, but that came about because of sin against another human being. In David’s case, against Bathsheba and against Uriah.

Psalm 51 fills in some gaps for us as to what else David’s response included. We read parts of it as our call to worship today…

Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary 51:18–19. Prosper Zion

The psalm was written for worshippers as a model prayer of penitence and gives hope that God will indeed forgive sins. This psalm remains relevant to Christians as they too approach God to ask for his forgiveness and restoration. The prayer serves as a reminder that such restoration depends on God’s grace and that he responds not to the mere motions of ritual (sacrifice), but to authentic repentance (a broken and contrite heart).

And so, I wonder again…

With whom do you identify in this text?

With Uriah? Wronged and unable to receive restitution? You are seen.

With Bathsheba? Wronged and mostly overlooked, bearing the consequences of someone else’s sin and living with the one who wronged you… here’s someone I’d love to sit down with and hear the story and that which followed from her perspective. You are included.

With Nathan? Maybe you see something from your vantage point that you can not only discern is wrong, but also that you have access and opportunity to engage and to confront. That is not an easy thing.

With David? Perhaps you have done something wrong. And someone has or is about to come and say to you, “This isn’t okay.” Will you respond like David? And how deep will your repentance go? God receives your repentance.

The good news of this story is that

God sees you. (Uriah)

You are included. (Bathsheba)

You make a difference. (Nathan)

And repentance matters. God receives our repentance. God forgives. And so we seek to repent as thoroughly as possible, but we acknowledge that (mercifully) God seems to work with whatever repentance we can muster.

May we be people after God’s own heart.

People who see those who are wronged and who never do receive the restitution they very much deserve.

People who include those who have been overlooked, taken advantage of, used.

People who are willing to speak truth in creative and winsome ways - as God calls us and as we have earned the kinds of relationships that can hear us.

People who hear of wrongdoing and repent! Turn around. Seek to make things right. And to reconcile with those we have sinned against.

Because this is how God treats us. And this is how God is transforming the world.