You've given occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme, and he says to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb, prepared it for the man who had come to him.
So he to satisfy his lust, he stole, he killed, he lied, he used others. And now he's entering into yet another crime as he's listening to this story, and it is the crime of hypocrisy. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of Second Samuel.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the Book of Second Samuel, Chapter Twelve, with today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. Second Samuel Chapter Twelve. There is enough doctrine in this chapter that we'll have to take it in two parts because. It would not be good to rush through it, so we'll take the first fourteen verses.
We read at the end of chapter eleven, when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband, and when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing. That David had done displeased the Lord, and then we read. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. They are married.
They have had a child. They appear to be going on as though nothing happened on the outside, but we know David is haunted by what he has done. He has not dismissed it. It is working hard against him, and it is God a letting it happen. He has let this year go by so this could work in that man's heart, and we know this, or at least some of what is going on, because for sure Psalm fifty-one, David writes about what he was going through, and also Psalm thirty-two, which is believed to have been written about this very event in his life.
Now, at the time we get to these events in chapter twelve, he's not yet written either of those psalms, Psalm fifty-one or thirty-two, but we can look at those psalms and say, "Well, we know what he was going through when Nathan showed up." We read, for example. In Psalm thirty-two, when I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groanings all the day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
The music would play to think about what he just said, and so there it was. God's hand was on him, but yet nothing was made public. Not a peep from any man of God or anyone in the palace about what had taken place.
Now we look at verse one. Then Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, "There were two men in one city, one rich and one poor." Now this parable we'll have to interrupt as we go through it, but Nathan knew that directly confronting David. Would bring about results that were not ideal. The purpose was not just to expose David. The purpose was to restore him, to rebuild him.
But first, he was going to have to do him in, hit him really hard. As I read this story, I am convinced that Nathan wanted David to repent and be restored. In spite of this horrible sin, it it would have been worse for the nation. You have to draw this conclusion because of how God handles this. It would have been worse for the nation to kill David and leave them where they were, as in the days of Saul.
But again, if the prophet outright charged David, he would have become likely defensive, maybe even hostile. And so it is the genius of the prophet. God has given him the message, and it appears that it's up to Nathan to figure out how to deliver it. Just because God sent him to address the king did not guarantee that he would have success and could be careless at the same time or abrasive. Nathan is an honorable man in this chapter.
He is the guy.
So the prophet. He looked to make things better. He wasn't looking to just make it a crime scene. He wanted healing. David's sin had to be exposed without without denying the crime.
Not enough to just expose the sin. There had to be confession and repentance. Also, as far as Nathan was concerned, because that was God's concern. And so God was breaking David's heart before Nathan shows up, but he's not finished. He's he's going to wrap it up.
We would say by the time the prophet is done, and it will be a heavy price. And this parable is going to prepare David to feel the stinging rebuke, and it is going to be brutal. If you put yourself in David's place, you say, "Oh gosh, I would never want to be the recipient of such words." And when I get to that, you'll see it. I hope if you don't see it already, was God dealing with Bathsheba? Of course, He was.
But David was the primary. He was the real problem. Again, I think she was young and she was seduced. That doesn't relieve her of guilt, but David was—he was the bad guy, the baddest of the bad guys. And so here he had a year to repent.
He doesn't take it, and we read the Lord sent Nathan to David. You want to ask David? Do you still feel the delight of the law at this point in your life? Do you still meditate in it day and night? You know Psalm one.
Well, if he certainly did not, but he knew the greatness of the law, but he wasn't happy about it because of his sin. There was separation between him and God, but he will get it back. We we know that, but here. The Lord sent Nathan to David.
Well, David sent messengers to Bathsheba, and he sent messengers to Joab. And you read that God is now sending His messenger to David, Nathan, the man that had to take back His blessing on David's building of the temple. A very special prophet. It's hard to be wrong, as you're a man of God. People are expecting you to be right.
Sometimes they want you to say something profound when you've got nothing, and so Nathan, you know, to go back and say, "David, I have to take that back." It certainly wasn't pleasant, but it speaks highly of the man and his character. I don't know if Nathan knew about the sin. I don't think he did. I think the staff covered it up well enough. Joab wasn't going to tell anybody.
He was that kind of a guy—a man of few words and many knives. But he knows now. Nathan does whether he did or not. If he did not know, and God reveals it to him, then that is, of course, giving him that divine discernment. That the gift of knowledge is the gift of knowing something that you could not have known unless God told you.
The gift of knowledge is not someone who steps into the pulpit and knows about the Bible. That's teaching that comes from hard work and study. Knowledge is when you know something is wrong because God has told you, and you otherwise would not have known it. And maybe that is the case with Nathan. God has told him.
Well, either way, he's showing up, and he's going to exercise two forms of prophecy: direct prophecy, "You're the man, David," and predictive prophecy. This is what's going to happen. And so we see this gift of prophecy in that sphere working through this prophet and confronting the guilty is very unpleasant, especially one that's a murderer, that as David and king. We never know how they're going to react when we confront somebody who's guilty. Will they turn on you, or will they yield?
Will they confess what is right and make restitution, or will they defend their wrong with some subtle excuse, or maybe an outright way way of just denying it? I think of King Asa. The prophet went to King Asa. And spoke words of warning to him, and he received them. The prophet went again a second time and spoke words to King Asa, and King Asa rebuked him.
And the same thing with King Amaziah. The prophet went and spoke. The king submitted. I wish we had time to get into these things. The second time the prophet spoke, the king said, "Who made you a counselor?
You better shut your mouth before something happens to you." You can read about that in Second Chronicles fifteen and Second Chronicles twenty-five. My point is, just because someone receives a rebuke once doesn't mean they're going to receive it again. People get tired of being corrected for their wrong, and you would think that believers would say, "Sorry, that I had to put you through that, Pastor," but they they often don't. And it, this is what Nathan is confronted with. I'm sure he was not happy and gay about the whole thing.
And I use the word "gay" in its true form, not its corrupted form. And he came to him and said to him, "There were two men in one city: one rich and the other poor." Now, parables were a favorite form. Of address in that culture at that time, especially when there was an unwelcome truth to be considered, the atrocity of David's sin far exceeded the crimes in the parable.
So, as Nathan is giving the parable, giving the parable, Nathan is saying, "Man, what you've done, David, is far worse than eating somebody's lamb. You murdered somebody." The rich man represents David. The poor man, Uriah. The eulam Bathsheba, and the traveler represents the urge passing through the flesh that has been put before the eyes. Whether it is from hell or the flesh, it doesn't make a difference.
It's bad. Verse two: The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
Now that again parallels David and his harem. Verse three, 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. I think it's gross letting an animal eat out of your cup or off your plate.
Some of you might, you know, you know, let the dog lick you in the mouth, and ah.
So every time I read that, it's like, oh, come on, you have to put that part in. But anyway, of course, he's he's painting a picture, and David is listening to all of this. He is the judge. This is the Supreme Court, and he's bringing this case before the judge. To make a decision—that's how David is is thinking it.
Of course, Nathan knows what he's going to do with this. And there was Uriah, loving and providing and protecting for Bathsheba as best he could. He says here it was like a daughter to him. And what he is saying is the love was deeper than mere romance, as we. Transfer the parable from the character with the ewe lamb to Uriah.
He loved Bathsheba, and it wasn't just you know casual relationship. This was deep. It was genuine, without care or expectation of anything in return. This is going to help when it hits when. Nathan puts the parable together.
All of this is going to come crashing down on David in an instant because emotionally he's now connected to this story. Verse 24, 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.
So that traveler is the lust of David, the wayfaring man, the man who had come to him. And in the parable, Nathan says that the man refuses to satisfy his urges with his harem. In the case of David, he goes ahead and takes another's. And of course, it's we know the story from chapter eleven. This traveler is, I think, also mentioned for us in Job chapter one, and you'll know the verse when I read it.
And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From going to and fro on the earth." And from walking back and forth on it, see, he's a traveler. He's a wayfarer. He is one that comes to you. And there, Satan he looks; he's on the prowl.
Well, God does too. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro on behalf of the righteous, that he may show himself strong.
So it's not like we're without assistance, and that's where the struggle is.
So coming to visit the one. Who was not where he was supposed to be? Remember, David was supposed when the crime was committed, he was supposed to be on the battlefield, but he opted to stay home in his palace, and that's when the traveler came to him. Ezekiel he makes this interesting statement about Sodom and Gomorrah, which is outlines for us the pattern of. Idle hands being tools of the devil.
He talks about Sodom. He says, "This is their problem." Ezekiel sixteen verse forty nine. He says, "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy." She was selfish.
She was greedy. She was full of pride, but she had an abundance of idleness. I think in this country. There's a lot of idleness that's allowing all of these special wacko advocates to run loose and everywhere they're just they've infested the corporations, the government. I don't want to go political.
You don't need me to do that. There are enough other people out there. You come to church to hear God's word, but let it be said there are these sodomites out there doing the same thing. And I don't mean that to insult. I'm just calling it like it is.
And if it's an insult for being guilty of what's true, that's just the problem. Then change teams. Anyway, this sinful urge from this needy traveler stopping by, compelling attention and action, is what James talked about. And this is tough stuff because you know the flesh has got such an advantage over us. We're born in iniquity, as David wrote in one of the Psalm thirty-one, I believe it was.
I was born in iniquity. My mother brought me forth. I was born a sinner. I was born with the disadvantage. James one, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, he gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. And he's probably thinking about David or maybe Cain. There are enough characters in the Old Testament for James to be mindful of. Then he says, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." Here in verse four, it continues to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd, and he committed a crime to feed the traveler. Is what he is saying.
David had eight wives at the time this was committed, and concubines.
So that's how much we know before Bathsheba. As David is listening, he's infuriated by this. And Nathan pours it on thick, on purpose. It's because that's what it requires. This was a big deal.
How do you get this king to confess, to repent, and get right with God in the eyes of so many witnesses? Which Nathan's going to bring that up. He's going to say, "A lot of people are watching this, David. You've given occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme." And he says to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb, prepared it for the man who had come to him.
So he's to satisfy his lust. He stole, he killed, he lied, he used others, and now he's entering into yet another crime as he's listening to this story, and it is the crime of hypocrisy. Remember Joseph. We remember Joseph. I don't care what sin you struggle with.
Joseph ran from the sin. Sin can run pretty fast too.
So I mean, I wish you could, you know, you could just shoot it and kill it, and that be the end of it. It just doesn't work that way. And God says, "Remember that you who are spiritual, restore such a one." And that's what we're seeing here. We're seeing Galatians six one in action. When Paul's telling the Galatians, while you're taking in this law over grace that I brought to you, remember you who are spiritual, restore such a one, lest you be overcome.
I'll get to that verse again, verse five.
Now, so David.
So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this shall surely die." There's the hypocrisy, because David is guilty, and he wants this judgment extracted on the man that stole a sheep and killed it. But what about the man that stole a woman and killed the husband for her? The very thing that Nathan wanted to do. Was to awaken that noble man in David, and he does it. This does it.
This is the noble righteousness rising up in David, is waking him up out of his stupor. But it takes a lot, does it not? We like to see God just do a miracle in part to see.
Sometimes God says, "I'll part the sea," but you're going to have to use a bucket. And that might be a bit hyperbole there, but my point is.
Sometimes for God to do the miraculous, He uses us to be involved, and it's hard work. And we we don't expect that. We think that miracles should sort of just be served. And this is not the biblical example. The cross was a miracle.
It cost blood, death, and the old Christian saying: We cannot expect Jesus to do all the dying. We have to die to self ourselves.
So Nathan's parable it hit its mark. It causes David to unknowingly pronounce judgment on himself. But would he own it? Would he own the guilt? We see folks sometimes confess or admit, "Yeah, I did it wrong," but they don't own it.
They end up, you know, they'll leave the church or they'll defend their wrong or something like that, but they won't own it. And that makes reconstruction grace very difficult. I must add, though, it is very hard to be flayed like this. But sometimes it is necessary. And he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this shall surely die." Doesn't sin look so much more ugly in somebody else than it does when we do it?
When we see somebody else speeding, I don't know about you. When we see someone, I hope he gets caught. When it's us, oh no! I do not want the blues. Those blue lights that show up.
It is not until our conscience is awakened do we begin to sympathize. You who are spiritual, restore such a one.
So David moves from one who coveted to one who became an adulterer. A thief, a liar, a murderer, and here again is the hypocrisy. He just tramples the law of God. He's not trying to. He did not wake up one morning and say, "Today I'm going to trample God's word." It snuck up on him.
According to Exodus 22, the penalty for stealing and slaughtering another man's animal was fourfold restitution, not murder.
So David goes a bit over the top because again he's emotionally put into this. He see all he can see. You know, David's a champion of the of the underdog at heart. He is a good righteous man who got tripped up, and God does not dispose of him because of it. He does not say, "You know, you were a good righteous man.
I gave so much to you, and you blew it.
Now you're going to hell." He does not do that. Nothing even close to that. The difficulty with preaching such things is that the guilty then tend to just remember that part of the story without the confession, the repentance, and the judgment. And there is judgment coming. David's not going to get a smack on the wrist for this.
He is going to pay a heavy price, and not only him; others are going to pay. And then he's going to mess up again later on in his ministry, big time. Such. Great lessons abound from what we know as the Bible.
Well, he David, of course, he does worse than this character. He commits adultery and murder, which did require death.
So that's the irony. He's calling for murder for a guy who needs to restore fourfold when he is the murderer who cannot pay. You cannot, according to the law, buy your way out of murder. You cannot say, "Well, you know, I'll bring ten oxen and just be right with God." There was just no, no way to. You had it was death by stoning, in most cases.
And so, this parable of Nathan is a work of genius. Logic, the logic behind it is is powerful. The rich man not only took the poor man's ewe lamb, but he killed the poor man. In reality, that's what he's going to hit him with.
Now, the preacher cannot overdo his points so that the condemnation is devastating, leaving nothing to repent. You know, we don't want to do that. It's a tricky business. Again, the best you can do is make appeals from the word. You you present the law, you present the judgment, the consequences, and the grace, and you hope that the individual will sort it out before the Lord.
Your church discipline is one of the most stomach turning. Events to have to sit down with somebody and say, "Listen, this is how we do it, or this is how the Bible does it, this is how you did it, and we got a problem." No pastor skips to such a meeting. This has been the latest edition of Cross Reference Radio. Pastor Rick Gaston is teaching through the Book of Second Samuel, which details the reign of David as king of Israel. There are so many life lessons to be learned during these years of David's life.
We're glad you've tuned in to hear more from God's Word. This radio ministry comes to you from Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you're interested in Accessing more messages, just like this one, you can listen online or download these messages at CrossReferenceRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to our podcast by going to your favorite podcast app. We can't wait for you to step into the next teaching that Pastor Rick has for us.
So come back next time for Cross Reference Radio.
