2 Samuel 11:26-12:10 (NRSV)
Read 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 26When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. Verse 27When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,
Chapter 12and 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. Verse 2The rich man had very many flocks and herds; Verse 3but 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. Verse 4Now 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." Verse 5Then 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; Verse 6he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." Verse 7Nathan 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; Verse 8I 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. Verse 9Why 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. Verse 10Now 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.
Devotion
You are the man! With those words Nathan's accusation and condemnation of David is complete. He is exposed in his wrong doing by his own outrage at the masterful storytelling of Nathan.
Our experiences of exposure of our sin are rarely as simple and clear cut as Nathan's encounter with David. Our lives are not Matlock episodes in which the culprit is neatly exposed and brought to justice in a one hour episode. However, we do know our guilt and culpability. We pass a stranger on the street without even acknowledging his or her request for help. We prejudge a person because of his or her appearance, skin tone, age or gender. These moments expose us for our inability to see others as God sees us.
Thankfully there is the one of whom Pilate would say "Behold the man!" This is the one who takes that sin for us, who owns what we should own, so that we might have life. Thanks be to God for that man.
Prayer
Holy God, we are too often caught in our own sin and inability to see our brokenness. Help us to witness to you by the way we treat others, to recognize our need always for your grace. Amen.