Lent 2025 Day 14: Thu 20 Mar
2 Samuel 12:1-10
12 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 that 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 traveller 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 traveller 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 shall 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.”’
There was the line at the end of yesterday’s Bible extract that I didn’t mention. Can you remember what it was?
But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
All of David’s cover-ups to hide his shame have come to nothing. God was watching all the time. What on earth was King David, the writer of psalms that continue today to inspire our hearts, thinking? You may wonder, too, why God did not act sooner and stop Joab from putting Uriah in the firing line. But God didn’t do that. It is a mystery that only God knows the answer to. We look to earthly and temporal justice and righteousness but God is Lord of the cosmos and eternity.
I imagine, however, that Uriah will have his reward before God, and it will not be some consolation prize.
God is slow to anger, which is good for those who realise their sin, and perhaps not so good for those who think they have got away with it and can push their luck even further.
Nathan has the unenviable task of confronting David with God’s view. Nathan does not mince his words. Imagine him in his room, and God calls him. God only ever gives his prophets the absolute minimum information to do the task he calls them to lest they embroider it. “Nathan, go to King David’s palace and tell him this story of treachery and betrayal.” When he becomes angry at the fictitious antagonist tell him it’s him.” And God gave Nathan the rest of the words he had to say to David.
Nathan goes to David and speaks these words to him. I wonder what David was expecting to hear from Nathan when he invited him into his throne room, Nathan who doesn’t get a mention before this point. Perhaps Nathan might offer some encouraging words or a promise of future blessing. David got none of that. Just words straight from God’s mouth, via Nathan, who knew that his one task was to repeat them verbatim to David.
It was a sin to steal the wife of Uriah. It was a sin to kill Uriah. It was a sin to despise God’s law. And now God has spoken in judgement: David will see fighting in his kingdom for the rest of his life. There will be trouble ahead – he’s going to get tit for tat on the relationships front. And God isn’t finished with David yet…
Has God ever burdened you with something to say to someone, and you’ve found reasons to avoid saying it?
Who in your church fellowship do you trust for an honest answer?
Father God, no-one applies for the job of prophet. You choose, and that’s that. You may have put thoughts into my head and I’ve dismissed them. I may have felt the call to speak your righteousness to a situation and I’ve stepped away from it. Please reveal once more your heart. Amen.
53:28 Was mein Gott will (Choral)
25. Chorale
What my God wills always occurs,
His will is the best;
he is ready to help those
who believe firmly in him.
He gives aid in need, this righteous God,
and punishes with measure.
Who trusts in God, rely upon him firmly,
God will never abandon.
26. Evangelist And he came back and found them sleeping, nevertheless, and their eyes were full of sleep. And he left them and went away another time and prayed for the third time, and spoke the same words. Then he came back to his disciples and said to them:
Jesus Alas! Do you wish to sleep and rest now? Behold, the hour has come, when the Son of Man is to be handed over into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us go; see, he who betrays me is here.
Evangelist And as he was speaking, behold, there came Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a large troop from the high priest and the elders of the people with swords and spears. And the betrayer had given them a sign and said: “The one that I will kiss is him; seize him!” And just then he stepped forward to Jesus and said:
Judas Greetings to you, Rabbi!
Evangelist And kissed him. However Jesus said to him:
Jesus My friend, why did you come?
Evangelist Then they stepped forward and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
Ends at 57:00
Paul