II Samuel 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.
We just finished a 1,600 mile trip from our home on the Ranch to Arizona, and as a family we had very close communion for a very long time. If you have ever had a road trip with your family, you probably have been irritated at behaviors in your children. Maybe your irritation has been amplified when you discover that what you see in your kids is exactly what they have been seeing in you. Now why do we see problems in our children that we do not see in ourselves? Well, the truth is, we are not objective about ourselves and we are not objective about sin.
II Samuel 12:1 says, “And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.” Nathan proceeded to tell him a story about two fictitious men, or so it would seem. The rich man had flocks and herds, but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb which he loved dearly. When the rich man had a guest come to his home, he spared his own herds and took the one lamb from the poor man to feed his guest.
The Bible tells us that David’s anger was greatly kindled against “the man,” and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” David was infuriated at “the man.” He makes a statement invoking God, “as the LORD liveth.” He felt very strongly about this. He said that the offender would die and then, and this is almost humorous, he would restore the lamb fourfold. He is going to die; then he is going to give back what he stole from this poor man.
Well, was this a story about lambs or was this a story about people? Was this a story about two nameless men or a story about David himself? Nathan said to David, “Thou art the man.”
Why did Nathan tell the story? And why was David so clear on “the man” and so careless with himself? Well, one question answers the other. You see, we are not objective about sin. We think we hate sin, but sometimes we are just irritated with people. If we really hated sin, then we would see it and extinguish it by the grace of God in our own lives.
We are rarely objective about sin, and we are never objective about ourselves. It is amazing how we can find moral outrage about others even as we are morally blind about ourselves. We need an authoritative voice. We need God and the messengers that God sends to tell us the truth.
David had gone blind. He had forgotten where he came from. Nathan told David that God said, “I anointed you king of Israel. I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house. Remember where you were, David? Remember where I brought you from?” David had forgotten where he came from and he had forgotten God.
The whole emphasis of David’s sin was that it was an affront against God. He sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba, but over and again, the emphasis here is the sin against God. God said, “Thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight.”
When David was confronted, he said, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Then Nathan said, “You have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.
This was more than a sin against others. This was a sin against God, and the sin against God came because of blindness to self. We are not objective about sin. So, while we see the sins in others today, we need to ask God’s help to honestly seek the truth and honestly hear it as God gives it to us.