2 Samuel 12:1-25
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession
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.
The Death of David’s Son
And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”
And they said, “He is dead.”
20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
Solomon Is Born
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the LORD loved him, 25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
We see the serious and painful consequences of David’s sin with Bathsheba and the restoration of God’s good and loving grace afterwards. When David covered his sins of adultery and murder, the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to confront David with a parable to open the king’s eyes to the seriousness of his sinful actions. He told the story of a rich and powerful man who took the beloved lamb of a poor man from him and his children whose pet that lamb was and killed it to serve as a meal for a passing stranger. This rich man refused to offer his own lamb but took the only beloved one from the poor who could not stop him. David heard this tale and cried out for accountability for the rich oppressive man who,had no pity for the one with so little, all he had. Nathan then hit him with the truth of the parable saying, “you are that man!” God had given David so much in power and wives and children , yet he had taken the only wife as a lamb from Uriah his obedient soldier and had him murder to seal the deal to take the man’s wife for himself as a passing stranger to consume her. The consequences included ongoing adversity with conflict in David’s children and his wives would publicly be taken in the full light of day by other men to his shame as he had taken Bathsheba from Uriah in secret to dishonor God. David admitted his sin as we read also in Psalm 51:1-2, 3-4, 9-10 in his song of abject godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) to sincere repentance. God forgave David and put away his sin (Psalm 103:12) but the consequences remained to lose his child of sin whose existence brought blasphemy on God’s name because he was the anointed king and servant who represented the LORD. His punishment and forgiveness were given for Israel’s and our example (1 Corinthians 10:11-12, 13) to consider the consequences of our sin and flee from even considering it. When the child finally died, David stopped mourning as all hope had gone for the baby and he worshipped the LORD for His mercy and grace that onlookers could not fathom. We also see the hope of the resurrection here as David explained the loss he could not bring back, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” God then showed restorative grace in giving him and Bathsheba another son afterwards who would be loved by God, Solomon. We learn that no sin is unforgivable, and yet consequences of our sin do not just go away. We are accountable (1 Corinthians 3:14-15, 16-17) for what we do, yet we are safe and secure in eternal life in the righteousness of Christ who seals us (Ephesians 1:13, 14) as His forever (John 10:28, 29, Romans 5:20, 21, 6:23, Hebrews 7:25) in forgiveness of grace and the presence of His Spirit in us. This then is a parable for us of God’s restoration of grace in spite of the consequences of sin we bring on ourselves.
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