The Crown Season 2, Episode 6 - You are the Man

If you are needing a summer read and want to dive deeper into the life od Dvid here are somebook recommendations:

Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians by Eugene H. Peterson

Facing Your Giants Paperback – December 21, 2010 by Max Lucado

Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny by Charles R. Swindoll

Today we will be in 2 Samuel 12

Let’s review our last episode 2 weeks ago.

In a shocking reversal, David’s virtue turned to vice. His selflessness turned to greed. His passion for God turned to passion for a woman - a married woman, Bathsheba. We are introduced to a David we didn’t expect to ever encounter. He has a one-night stand with Bathsheba and the story takes a dreadful twist. She got pregnant and David’s solution was not to confess or repent but to cover up the lurid affair. He first summoned Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, back from the war he was fighting for David in hopes that he would sleep with his wife leading all to believe the baby is perfectly legitimate. Uriah will have nothing to with enjoying the pleasures of home while his soldiers are on the battlefield. So, David’s plot got even darker as he instructed his general to put Uriah on the front lines where he surely will be killed. The general followed orders. Uriah died. David takes Bathsheba as his wife.

David may think no one knows but 2 Samuel 12 lets us know someone does. Today we will read about the prophet Nathan’s confrontation with David and David’s reaction.

2 Samuel 12:1–4 (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.”

The Lord in his infinite grace had allowed David’s attempt at cover-up to fail, and was about to confront him.

Baldwin, J. G. (1988). 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 8, p. 251). InterVarsity Press.

Note: It was not as if David wasn’t weighed down. He may have escaped the public but inside he was dying

Psalm 32:3–4 (ESV) — 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Nathan confronts David expertly.

Charles Swindoll in his book David shares four things required for effective confrontation

1. Absolute truth

The church has not only lost its voice on issues related to sin and its consequences, but the church itself is guilty of raising a new voice in order to justify sin in different garb. Not only has sin taken up residence in our hearts; we have redefined it and given expression to it as a justifiable good!

Arnold, B. T. (2003). 1 & 2 Samuel (p. 547). Zondervan.

2. Right timing– Nathan waited for may have been months later. And he confronts privately.

3. Wise wording– Not, you sinned, or, I am ashamed of you. This confrontation was obviously planned carefully.

Proverbs 25:11–12 (ESV) — 11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. 12 Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

4. Fearless Courage– Don’t fear the loss of friendship. Truth is what sets people free from the tyranny of sin. Always confront out of love.

Davids’ response

2 Samuel 12:5 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.”

The point of Nathan’s parable (12:1–6) is something akin to Jesus’ warning not to look for a speck in our neighbor’s eye at the same time we miss the log in our own (Matt. 7:3–5).

Arnold, B. T. (2003). 1 & 2 Samuel (p. 549). Zondervan.

That’s what David is doing in this story, listening to his pastor preach a sermon about somebody else and getting all worked up about this someone else’s sin, this someone else’s plight. This kind of religious response is worthless. It’s the religion of moral judgmentalism, self-righteous finger-pointing, the religion of accusation and blame.

Eugene Peterson, Leap Over a Wall

Then comes Nathan’s declaration

2 Samuel 12:7 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.’ ”

How will David respond? We have the example of Saul when he was reproved. He blamed. He felt bad because he got caught. Will David respond differently?

2 Samuel 12:13 (NIV) — 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Furthermore, David’s immediate and genuine penitence stands in stark contrast with that of Saul, who serves as the stubborn and recalcitrant counterpoint to repentance (1 Sam. 15:24, 30). The historian seems to be inviting us to make these contrasts ourselves. Saul’s confession (1 Sam. 15:24, 30) and David’s (2 Sam. 12:13) appear to be facing each other, stretching across the pages of the books of Samuel to present contrasting lessons on repentance. In David, we have an example of the correct attitude of repentance; in Saul, we have an example of equivocal and self-serving repentance (see comments on 12:13–25, above).

Arnold, B. T. (2003). 1 & 2 Samuel (p. 542). Zondervan.

This is about confession and repentance.

But there’s only one true remedy for sin, and that is to repent. The question is not, Do you sin? The question is, What do you do after you sin? The answer to that question is a matter of life and death.

Greear, J. D., & Thomas, H. A. (2016). Exalting jesus in 1 & 2 samuel (p. 218). Holman Reference.

Charles Swindoll in his book David shares 4 signs of true repentance.

1. Open, unguarded admission.

2. A desire to make a complete break from sin.

Proverbs 28:13 (ESV) — 13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

3. The spirit is humble and broken.

Psalm 51:17 (ESV) — 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

4. Claiming God’s forgiveness and reinstatement

2 Samuel 12:13 (NIV) — 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”

1 John 1:9 (ESV) — 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Two dramatic statements are held closely together in our text (12:13): “I have sinned,” and “The LORD has taken away your sin.” They are separated only by the barest minimum narration (“Nathan replied”). Their very proximity begs us to understand this forgiving nature of God. Yet we, like the prophet Jonah, sometimes cannot quite get over the fact that God forgives, and sometimes we, again like Jonah, do not like it when he does! But this text is a powerful example of God’s forgiving nature.

Arnold, B. T. (2003). 1 & 2 Samuel (pp. 543–544). Zondervan.

David’s sin, enormous as it was, was wildly outdone by God’s grace. David’s sin cannot, must not, be minimized, but it’s miniscule compared to God’s salvation from it. It always a mistake to concentrate on our sins; it’s God’s work on our sins that’s the main event.

Eugene Peterson, Leap Over a Wall

Despite his confession and repentance there are dire consequences.

2 Samuel 12:14–23 (NIV) — 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.” 15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.” 19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” 20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. 21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!” 22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Beginning with the death of Bathsheba’s newborn, David’s life is plagued by manifold problems. The contrast with the historian’s account of David prior to the Bathsheba episode is striking. Though he previously had problems of a different nature (Saul’s attempts to kill him, etc.), David has lived an almost enchanted life. He has always seemed to come out on top. But chapters 12–20 portray a different picture in which David is plagued with problems stemming mostly from his own family.

Arnold, B. T. (2003). 1 & 2 Samuel (p. 532). Zondervan.

It is my observation over the years that the devil never tips his hand in temptation. He shows you only the beauty, the ecstasy, the fun, the excitement, and the stimulating adventure of stolen desires. But he never tells the heavy drinker, “Tomorrow morning there’ll be a hangover. Ultimately, you’ll ruin your family.” He never tells the drug user early on, “This is the beginning of a long, sorrowful, dead-end road.” He never tells the thief, “You’re going to get caught, friend. You do this, and you’ll wind up behind bars.” He certainly doesn’t warn the adulterer, “You know, pregnancy is a real possibility.” Or, “You could get a life-threatening disease.” Are you kidding? Face it, when the sin is done and all the penalties of that sin come due, the devil is nowhere to be found. He smiles as you fall … but he leaves you with no encouragement when the consequences kick in.

David, Charles Swindoll

What are we to make of this:

Sin needs to be confronted

Repentance needs to take place

Consequences are to be expected

Forgiveness needs to be received

Read Nathan’s parable to yourself until you say, I am the man.

Alexander Whyte, Bible Characters

I said I wish this never happened or at least was not told. But maybe it is in the Bible to let all of us know that even when we have done the most horrific things, we can confess, repent, find forgiveness, and like David still be a man or woman after God’s own heart.

Is there something you need to confess?

Is there something you need to repent of?

Is there something you have done that you have not accepted God’s forgiveness?

Are you the man?