Who Is That?
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin.”
2 Samuel 12:13
When a man installed a security camera outside his house, he checked the video feature to ensure that the system was working. He was alarmed to see a broad-shouldered figure in dark clothing wandering around his yard. He watched intently to see what the man would do. The interloper seemed familiar, however. Finally he realized he wasn’t watching a stranger roam his property, but a recording of himself in his own backyard!
What might we see if we could step out of our skin and observe ourselves in certain situations? When David’s heart was hardened and he needed an outside perspective—a godly perspective—on his involvement with Bathsheba, God sent Nathan to the rescue (2 Samuel 12).
Nathan told David a story about a rich man who robbed a poor man of his only lamb. Though the rich man owned herds of animals, he slaughtered the poor man’s lone sheep and made it into a meal. When Nathan revealed that the story illustrated David’s actions, David saw how he had harmed Uriah. Nathan explained the consequences, but more important he assured David, “The Lord has taken away your sin” (v. 13).
If God reveals sin in our lives, His ultimate purpose isn’t to condemn us, but to restore us and to help us reconcile with those we’ve hurt. Repentance clears the way for renewed closeness with God through the power of His forgiveness and grace.
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
REFLECT & PRAY
God, help me to see my life the way You see it and experience Your grace.
What sin(s) do you need to bring to God today in repentance? How does His grace encourage you to come before Him in honesty?
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INSIGHT
Nathan’s confrontation of David’s adultery, conspiracy to commit murder, and cover-up recorded in 2 Samuel 12 could have been withheld by the historians of Israel. But the record of David’s crimes remains in our Bibles as evidence of the credibility of a Book that doesn’t hide the moral failures of its heroes, while assuring us of God’s readiness to forgive without suspending the consequences of our wrongs. Mart DeHaan
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