Your Word for Today
“and Nathan said to David, You are the man (II Sam. 12:7).
As one reads this Chapter, one must come to the conclusion that it testifies to the inspiration of the Bible, for only the Holy Spirit could have (would have) recorded so faithfully its infamy and horror. It gives a true insight into man’s nature as sinful and fallen. It teaches the reader the humbling lesson that such is the nature he possesses, and that, if Divine restraints are withheld and temptations sufficiently attractive and skillfully offered, there is no depth of evil, shame, and falsehood to which he will not fall.
Uriah, the husband of Bath-sheba, was one of David’s thirty-seven mighty men (II Sam. 23:39). To make him the bearer of the letter arranging for his murder was a depth of infamy which is appalling; worse yet, it was committed by one of the Godliest men who ever lived — David.
David’s efforts to shield Bath-sheba is the one redeeming feature in this sad history. But his plans were his own, and, unfortunately, they succeeded. Bitter fruit usually follows from successful human plans. Had David, directly he had sinned against God, Uriah, and Bath-sheba, cast himself with anguish of heart upon God, the Lord would have made a way of escape and forgiveness consistent with Himself and morally instructive to David (Williams).
The Lord raised up David as a king to witness to the nature of Divine Government. In this matter of Uriah, David falsified that testimony; God, therefore, vindicated Himself by judging and chastening David in the sight of all men. He was accordingly disgraced by one son (13:14), banished by another (15:19), rebelled against by a third (I Ki., Chpt. 2), cursed by a subject (16:5), betrayed by his friends, and deserted by his people. His child was stricken with death; the sword never departed from his house. His whole subsequent history was a succession of sorrows and calamities.
Concerning this, Williams says, “Thus God protects women, honors marriage, and strikes with burning judgments the sin which men lightly regard, clothe with poisonous poetry, or treat as a subject of humor and jesting.”
David’s anger in Verse 5 concerning the lamb is a remarkable instance of how sensitive the moral judgment may be at the very time when the heart is blinded by sin! This fact illustrates the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13). And yet, David had a true knowledge of God. When his sin was pointed out by Nathan the Prophet with the awful words, “You are the man,” David’s first thoughts were, not the punishment that would follow, but the injury done to God.
Psalm 51 witnesses to the depth and sincerity of the king’s Repentance; and his submission to the judgment that smote his child showed that, although more guilty than they, yet he had a spiritual knowledge of God which others did not possess. He laid open the tenderest emotions of his heart to God — the heart that God was wounding — but directly the Will of God was manifested, he at once submitted. This was the evident Work of the Holy Spirit in him.
David really loved Bath-sheba; and she was, in many respects, a woman of character. In fact, the last Chapter of Proverbs, written by her son Solomon, portrays Bathsheba. The Holy Spirit sanctioned all that was written.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
“and Nathan said to David, You are the man (II Sam. 12:7).
As one reads this Chapter, one must come to the conclusion that it testifies to the inspiration of the Bible, for only the Holy Spirit could have (would have) recorded so faithfully its infamy and horror. It gives a true insight into man’s nature as sinful and fallen. It teaches the reader the humbling lesson that such is the nature he possesses, and that, if Divine restraints are withheld and temptations sufficiently attractive and skillfully offered, there is no depth of evil, shame, and falsehood to which he will not fall.
Uriah, the husband of Bath-sheba, was one of David’s thirty-seven mighty men (II Sam. 23:39). To make him the bearer of the letter arranging for his murder was a depth of infamy which is appalling; worse yet, it was committed by one of the Godliest men who ever lived — David.
David’s efforts to shield Bath-sheba is the one redeeming feature in this sad history. But his plans were his own, and, unfortunately, they succeeded. Bitter fruit usually follows from successful human plans. Had David, directly he had sinned against God, Uriah, and Bath-sheba, cast himself with anguish of heart upon God, the Lord would have made a way of escape and forgiveness consistent with Himself and morally instructive to David (Williams).
The Lord raised up David as a king to witness to the nature of Divine Government. In this matter of Uriah, David falsified that testimony; God, therefore, vindicated Himself by judging and chastening David in the sight of all men. He was accordingly disgraced by one son (13:14), banished by another (15:19), rebelled against by a third (I Ki., Chpt. 2), cursed by a subject (16:5), betrayed by his friends, and deserted by his people. His child was stricken with death; the sword never departed from his house. His whole subsequent history was a succession of sorrows and calamities.
Concerning this, Williams says, “Thus God protects women, honors marriage, and strikes with burning judgments the sin which men lightly regard, clothe with poisonous poetry, or treat as a subject of humor and jesting.”
David’s anger in Verse 5 concerning the lamb is a remarkable instance of how sensitive the moral judgment may be at the very time when the heart is blinded by sin! This fact illustrates the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13). And yet, David had a true knowledge of God. When his sin was pointed out by Nathan the Prophet with the awful words, “You are the man,” David’s first thoughts were, not the punishment that would follow, but the injury done to God.
Psalm 51 witnesses to the depth and sincerity of the king’s Repentance; and his submission to the judgment that smote his child showed that, although more guilty than they, yet he had a spiritual knowledge of God which others did not possess. He laid open the tenderest emotions of his heart to God — the heart that God was wounding — but directly the Will of God was manifested, he at once submitted. This was the evident Work of the Holy Spirit in him.
David really loved Bath-sheba; and she was, in many respects, a woman of character. In fact, the last Chapter of Proverbs, written by her son Solomon, portrays Bathsheba. The Holy Spirit sanctioned all that was written.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
