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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Samuel 12:1–14, “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. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And 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. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”
The Lord is gracious and was willing to give David a chance to confess his sin and repent. He sent Nathan, the prophet, to king. This was a courageous act on Nathan’s part because David was the king and, in the cultural context of that time, was able to make the law in his own land. Nathan told David a parable that the Lord had given him. Nathan spoke about a wealthy man living next door to a poor man. An important person visited the wealthily man and he took the poor man’s only lamb to feed the important person. The wealthy man had many sheep and cattle of his own and the lamb, that he took, was the poor man’s only lamb and his pet as well. David was very angry when he heard this parable and demanded that the wealthy man die and repay the poor man four times as well. At this stage, Nathan took his life in his own hands and told the king that he was the wealthy man. The Lord had anointed David king over Israel and given him the kingdom. However, David broke theLord’s commandments and both committed adultery and murder. David realised that he was a sinner and confessed his sin then repented. David composed a Psalm of repentance as well. (Psalm 51) The Lord told David that he would suffer the consequences of this action and there would always be blood and warfare in his family till the day he died.
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