Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Devotional Thought: "A Man After God's Own Heart?"
When God replaced Saul as king, he sought “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). 2 Samuel 11 leaves us wondering if God truly found such a man in David.
David commits adultery and murder. Although his servants, commander, and other military personnel were complicit, narrative clues implicate David alone. The narrator carefully persuades us that David was not where he should have been (2 Sam 11:1) and that, with forethought and full knowledge, he misused his power and position.
Even kings were not exempt from God’s law. They were instructed not to exalt themselves above other members of the community (Deut 17:14-20). David had failed on all accounts.
God sends Nathan to confront David. Nathan tells a parable of contrasts: A story of two men, with an imbalance of resources and power. The rich man has a growing number of sheep and cattle. The poor man had nothing at all except a little lamb. She is a cherished and intimate member of the poor man’s family, sharing in all he had. But when a traveller comes through the area, the rich man has compassion on his own animals and takes the poor man’s lamb to prepare the hospitality meal.
David’s passionate and angry response to the story affirms its believability and effectiveness. He accuses the rich man—who is said to have compassion on his own flocks and herds—of not having compassion at all! To this, Nathan responds, “You are the man!” David—the so-called man after God’s own heart—is accused of heartlessness! The lack of compassion is the foundation of David’s sin.
This is a cautionary tale of the misuse of position and power. It construes sin as acting without compassion and thought for others. But David’s conviction and penitent response (both here and in Psalm 51) offer us a glimmer of hope for what it means to be “a man after God’s own heart.”
Prayer:
God forgive us for the times we have acted without thought for others. Give us hearts of compassion that we might be people after your own heart.
Rev Dr. Linda Stargel