1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’” 13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house. 2 Samuel 12:1-15a
It is, many times, so much easier to see the sin in others than to see our own. We recognize the wickedness of sin in those around us in this world but fail to see the wickedness of our own sins.
After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged the death of her husband Uriah in battle to cover up his sin (2 Samuel 11), the Lord God sent Nathan the prophet to David with the story of the rich man with many flocks and herds who took his poor neighbor’s one little ewe lamb to feed his guest.
And David was furious! He recognized the wickedness of this rich man and said, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
Yet, David did not get the point of the story until Nathan said to him, “You are the man!”
And how often we are the same way! We read a Bible text or hear a sermon preached, and we say, “So and so sure needed to hear that message. He is guilty of sin and deserves to die!”
But God’s Word says to us, “You are the man!” While it may be true that our neighbor is guilty of sin, God’s Law reveals to us our own sin and wickedness.
Even if we haven’t sinned like David by committing adultery with a neighbor’s spouse and then covering up our sin with murder, who is innocent of sinful thoughts and desires? What man is there who has not committed adultery in his heart as Jesus defines it in Matthew 5:28: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”? And who has not been “angry with his brother without a cause” or called his neighbor a fool or emptyheaded (Matthew 5:21-22)? God says we are “in danger of hellfire”!
When we read and hear God’s holy commandments, it is not just so that we can pass judgment upon others; it’s so that we can examine ourselves and see our own sin and guilt before God. Cf. Matthew 7:3-5.
The Bible says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). God’s Law says to us: “You are the man!” We are guilty and deserve only God’s eternal wrath and punishment!
When David confessed his sin to Nathan, saying, “I have sinned against the Lord,” Nathan told him, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Though there remained consequences for his sin in this world, God pardoned and forgave David of his sins for the sake of the coming Messiah and Savior who would “redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:8). David would not suffer eternal death and condemnation for his sin because, when He confessed his sin unto the Lord, the Lord forgave the iniquity of his sin (cf. Psalm 32:1-6; Psalm 51).
As God sent Nathan the prophet to David, so God sends pastors today to preach and proclaim God’s Law and say, “You are the man!” But God’s purpose and desire in sending men to preach the Law of God is that we see our sin and confess our guilt before God that the Gospel of God might be proclaimed to us and we receive in faith God’s mercy and forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. For, when we acknowledge our sinfulness before the Lord, when we acknowledge that we “have sinned against the Lord,” God’s ministers proclaim to us, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”
God’s ministers proclaim to us the Gospel – that Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). They proclaim to us that through faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross, we are “accepted in the Beloved,” that “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:6.7). They proclaim to us that we shall not die eternally but have everlasting life (cf. John 5:24).
And, in the Supper of our Lord, Christ gives to us, through His ministers, to partake of His very body and blood which were given and shed for us on the cross for the remission of all our sins. He gives us to eat of His body which was broken for us and to drink of His blood of the new covenant which was shed for us that we might be assured our sins are forgiven for the sake of His sacrifice and that, instead of death and damnation, we have life eternal in heaven for Christ’s sake.
So I ask you before God: Do you acknowledge that you are a sinner and have sinned in thought, word and deed? Do you confess and agree with God that you are guilty and deserving of his wrath and punishment? Do you trust that Christ Jesus has truly redeemed you and made atonement for all your sins? Do you also believe that Jesus, in His Supper, gives you to partake of His body and blood which were given and shed that your sins might be forgiven you? And, as a fruit of your faith, do you truly desire and seek God’s help to amend your life and live it in accord with God’s Word?
If you are truly sorry for your sins and look to Christ and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for pardon and forgiveness, I announce unto you the grace of God and, in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Amen.
O LORD God, by the gracious working of Your Holy Spirit through the Word, grant that we see our own sin and wickedness and not just that of others, and grant that we truly repent of our sins and look to You in faith for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]