#454 Naked Heart

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.

2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

3 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.

4 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.

5 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:

6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

7 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;

8 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.

9 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.

10 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.

11 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.

12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

13 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.

14 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.

15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.

25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.

28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

31 And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 12 KJV

Nathan is a friend, but he is definitely on a mission here, and he is the voice of God now to David. I think we often put away or aside what we know God would say on a matter. I would avoid other Christians at this point, at least real ones, they might tell me that I am wrong to my face. It is not like when the world tells you, it is not a matter of what is is. There is no drama that can dissuade what God has said, and my friend may cry for my pain, but he will tell me the truth. Nathan doesn't have a choice, the scales tip the balance towards God, if he sends me then I am but his mouth piece, there is no filter of cultural standards, only a parable that he can well relate to, that is expository to the law which David already knows. Now, those of state must hear out those of moral authority, for the state will otherwise make the claim of "needs of the many", or "desire of the masses", which may often be the uneducated, deluded, rogue mob. It may be the wave that was formed by one point of view or surging lie, so it could never be that the state or the majority is always right just for being the state. Nathan must fear God above man, or else power and position might guide his tongue, and the bar will be set ever lower. Now many kings and rulers may appreciate some facets of religion, proverbs, luck, a god that is easily manipulated, and some often think the sacraments of true religion to be such tools of manipulation. If I do this, sacrifice this, give my body to be burned, donate large sums of money, then God is obligated to return the favor. No, the God of the Bible will say such horrible things as "I would have mercy rather than sacrifice,' that, 'obedience is better than the blood of bulls and rams." He tells them He has hated their sacrifices.  

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;

your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice roll on like a river,

righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5: 20-24

Being a king, a nation set apart, did not keep you from God's wrath. The poor man had but one lamb, and it was loved with all the love of the house, for there wasn't another. He doted on it, much as Uriah must have took great care and pride over his one beautiful wife, his own soul. The rich man in the story is not as wicked as David and yet David is ready to show him no mercy. The rich man stole the lamb, but he did not kill the owner. David wants first the rich man's life, second four fold to be repaid because of his lack of pity. Many men and women see the relationship that another person has, and it is a game to them, home wrecking, ignoring such good and sacred boundaries, all for fun, and much for evil. David has more wives than he should, but it is the one that he shouldn't have that intrigues him, the only one of another. You cannot even enjoy such when you would not know it for yourself, she is just a thing to him, an acquisition that can only be wrongfully enjoyed. It is this way with the world, the heart wants what the heart wants, but God says the heart is wicked and deceitful above all things. God does not accept David's justification, he stands accused of murder, it does not matter the hand that held the sword, it was David's wish and his words. He defied God's commands, and now whom the Lord loveth will be ever so chastened at least 4 fold. David will not die, but one born into sin, yet not yet having sinned, will die instead. This child of Bathsheba will die and the sword will not depart from his house. His son will rape his sister, be killed by his stepbrother, Absalom will openly ravage his father's bed and then be killed himself. David made poor choices when it came to women, and  more poor choices on behalf of the first ones. Yet here is where he differs from Saul, here is where you need to find yourself, because you're already there regardless, I am guilty. I am not dead yet physically, but I am a spiritual still born. It is in my heart to lust, to envy, to hate, to murder, to steal, and David says, "I have sinned against the Lord." No buts. He does go to prayer on behalf of the child, for he knows the Lord to be merciful, maybe, just maybe He will not finish my son. Most would like to hide their sin, down to the child, but David wants him to live. There is nothing in this world, and here is where you should also not be confused, nothing that God does not allow and that is not under His sovereignty. There is no puny, impotent god up there wondering what will happen next or needing me to apologize for letting mankind live in it's sin. God is Holy and Just, yet He is Loving and willing to show mercy, but it comes at a premium. David's life was not taken, but the life of the child was, it is God's to take. Those that think he got off easy should keep reading the rest of his life. He fasted, he prayed, God took that small life back to himself, and David cleaned himself from his mourning and worshiped God. There is no point in being angry, no point in continuing in his grief, for all the tears he could ever cry, will not bring his son back. We could be mad at God I suppose, as this is a popular route, for the loss of a soccer game and an ice cream cone I have heard no less, but no one has a leg to stand on here. There is none righteous, not even one, not even the shepherd king with the sling. He brought down giants, and is here brought down by himself, no one stands before God forever in arrogance, they are all brought down, their wisdom is crushed, their was no justification for David in his own words. The words that did apply, could only condemn, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sin. My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me, why are You so far from me? God hates sin, so understand that as well, if He is going to bridge this gap, then He will have to deal with sin. An infinite God will require a sacrifice of infinite greatness, the Son of David that will come much later, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God. This is a sad story, but if you can see yourself in David's place, cry out, God, I have sinned against You, and all sin is against You. Everything that I have done to the least of your brethren was done against You. I have nothing to offer You in trade, nothing that You would not have to give me first. I believe that I was born into original sin, and that You have provided in Your Son a way for me to be saved from Your just wrath. I ask You to change my heart, to quicken my spirit. God, please save me and my family. Let me keep your commandments and forever walk in Your ways. Lord, I pray this for all my friends, please show them the way, the truth and the life.  

It is a curiously sad thing to read the end of this chapter. David seems at times to still lack mercy, even though he has been shown so much. You may argue otherwise, but God does not owe us life to begin with, and if he left David without correction, then that would be to his eternal demise. He would have been kinder killing his enemies in battle then slowly breaking them under such harsh labor. Work is a thing of honor, but such slavery makes it seem dishonorable. As one writer put it, he should have thrown the crown of the other king at the feet of God, rather than place it upon his head. Power surely corrupts, but it wouldn't be so easy if we weren't already so corruptible. 

And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15This is a trustworthysaying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into theworld to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. 16But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience, as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.…1 Timothy 1:14-16