Getting to Know . . . 2 Samuel (chapter 12) The Rebuke of David’s Sin (Part 2)

“Rebuke the king?”, Nathan might have thought to himself. But that’s what the Lord calls him to do. Let’s read over 2 Samuel 12 and then make a few more observations:

We have seen that Nathan’s obedience to the Lord provides several guidelines for us when we need to confront another person with their sin.

Here are several of those principles:

1. Make sure you are sent by the Lord (v. 1).

2. Use wisdom in your confrontation (vv. 1-4). The story that Nathan tells – with the heart-touching details of a family pet being stolen and barbequed by an evil rich man incenses David! And when David says, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die” (v. 5), he condemns himself!

3. Speak directly about the sin (vv. 7ff). The “man,” by the way, is the word ISH in Hebrew. Nathan says in verse 7, “ISH! You are the man, David!”

4. Review God’s acts of kindness and goodness in the person’s life (vv. 8-10). Nathan reminds David what the Lord had given him and what the Lord was ready to further give him – if he had only asked!

5. Speak of the awful evil of despising God’s word (vv. 9-10). Please notice that despising the word of the Lord and despising the Lord Himself are equivalent expressions in these verses.

6. Warn the person of God’s hatred of sin and His power to bring judgment into one’s life (vv. 11-14). The Lord will bring calamity on David from his own household. Someone will sleep with his wives in broad daylight before all Israel (David’s sin was in secret)!

(to be continued)

A couple of takeaways for today:
1.God hates sin and must punish it!
2. We are wired up to get outraged at another’s sin but minimize our own!
3. We need people in our lives who will lovingly confront us with our sin!
4. It is always right to remind each other of the Lord’s kindnesses to us!

Your thoughts?

 

Getting to Know . . . 2 Samuel (chapter 12) The Rebuke of David’s Sin (Part 1)

“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” So ends chapter 11 of 2 Samuel. But displeasing the Lord requires repentance! And God raises up Nathan the prophet to do the unthinkable — to confront the King of Israel with his sin. Let’s carefully read 2 Samuel 12 as we begin to make some observations of this episode in David’s life:

As I look over this chapter, several principles of intervening in another person’s life occur to me. Whether one is involved in counseling as a profession or simply wanting to help another person, the principles that guided Nathan deserve our careful attention.

Here are several of those principles:

1. Make sure you are sent by the Lord (v. 1)! Some of us are always feeling “sent” to rebuke or correct others. The text tells us that “The Lord sent Nathan to David.” How do we know when we are “sent”? Galatians 6 say, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.”

Apparently there was direct instruction from the Lord to Nathan to confront David. Our instruction comes from God’s written Word. We are to care about those whose lives are being ruined by sin — and get involved!

2. Use wisdom in your confrontation (vv. 1-4)! Everyone loves a good story — and Nathan spins one for King David. Only he does not begin his story by saying, “Once upon a time . ..” No. To David the story sounds like a real event in his kingdom.

We will notice the details of that story in our next post — and see David’s reaction!

Today’s takeaway: God has a process of dealing with sin among His people. And some of us are sometimes called by God to do something hard. May you and I have the courage to lovingly confront when called by God to do so!