You Are the Man! – Sermon 2 August, 2015

You are the Man!
2 Samuel 12:1-10
In our story today, David and Bathsheba had a relationship after David spotted her bathing on her roof. She was married, so her pregnancy would have, at the very least, blemished David’s image in the eyes of the people. After unsuccessfully trying to trick her husband Uriah into sleeping with her and provide a reasonable explanation for her pregnancy, David had Uriah killed so he can marry Bathsheba instead. So everything’s all settled now.
Nathan the prophet came to David and told him a little story about a man and his pet ewe lamb. The man and his family lost their lamb because a rich man with many sheep and cattle didn’t want to use one of his own animals to make dinner for a guest.
David was furious. This was exactly the kind of thing the laws of God were designed to prevent, and as king, it was his job to enforce those laws. The strong should not take advantage of the weak, and this rich man owed four times the cost of the lamb, or else he’s in deep trouble.
“You are the man!”
Now Nathan gave David the message God sent him to bring:
I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hands of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you ….
David’s response was very interesting. “I have sinned against the Lord,” he says.
David now saw the full impact of his sin. He knew he’d done wrong against Uriah and Bathsheba, but since he didn’t get caught, it didn’t count. Now he understood that it did count, in a way he’d never thought about.
God’s message is clear that what we human beings do in our lives is going to matter.
We bear the image of perfect God. So our actions and words and thoughts echo in eternity, with impacts and consequences and results we aren’t equipped to see.
God has offered guidelines for us that if followed, we will be safe. He calls us to roles in our lives that do the same, and when we depart from them we don’t just cut ourselves off from each other. God has decided that we matter to him, so what we do is going to matter.
So David saw that; his actions did wrong people he was pledged to protect. But they also went against God, because anything done to one of God’s children matters to God as well. And he responded in a way that says he finally understood: “I have sinned against God.”
Those words are awful and wonderful at the same time. Awful because we realize the extent of the harm we’ve caused.
Wonderful because once we say them, God says, “Yes, but I forgive you”. This is Good news.
We all love to hear good news, and if we can, we will do all we can to keep from hearing any bad news. The prophet Nathan delivered Good News and Bad News to David.
1. Good News
David had defeated all his enemies and God had given him peace with all nations that surrounded him. David realised that he was living in a house built of cedar, while the ark of God was still housed in a tent. David wanted to build a house for the Lord, but God told him he could not.
However, there is good news. In 2 Samuel 7:12-13. It is a marvellous thing when God uses us in his service, but equally marvellous when He uses our children. The prophet Nathan brought David good news. He also brought.
2. Bad news
David had done some terrible things and God knew all about those sins he had committed. But notice that as bad as the news was that Nathan brought, there was also some good news. God forgave David (12:13). We can come to God with a repentant heart and He will forgive us of our sins and give us eternal life.
If we look a Nathan we see:
1. The prophet and his ministry
– His Courage.
We have some who are afraid to be like Nathan and deal with the sins of the people. Some do not preach the truth about sin because they lack the courage. They know it takes a lot less courage to preach what people want to hear than what they need to hear.
– His Wisdom.
How did God use Nathan? God led Nathan to use his intellectual talents. He knew David had sinned and that those things had to be exposed and removed. Look what Nathan told David a story that David thought was a true story. Many times we have to see the evil in someone else’s life before we can see it in our own life.
2. The prophet and his method
God used Nathan to show that he could not hide his sins.
David could not hide his sins from himself.
David was sure everything was all right thinking that thought he had committed the perfect crime and gotten away with it.
David could not hide his sins from god.
We may actually hide sin from ourselves and from others for a little while, but we cannot commit sin and hide it from God. God saw David when he lusted committed adultery with Bathsheba, and murdered Bathsheba’s husband. God saw all of this. Finally David, because of Nathan’s obedience to God, realized he could not sin and get away with it.
He confessed seeking God’s forgiveness and God showed His mercy to him.

Krikor Youmshajekian