2 Samuel 12:1

2 Samuel 12:1 says, And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.  The prophet Nathan was sent by God to David.  As Christians, we need to go where the Holy Spirit sends us.  Nathan under God's guidance spoke to David about two men in the same city, one rich and one poor.  We certainly have enough of that in the world today.  Verse two adds, The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:  Verse three continues, But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.  The rich man had large flocks and herds, which he probably thought little about other than the fact that they were his.  The poor men had but one little lamb, which he had lovingly raised and treated like a daughter.  I believe those who are poor often tend to take a personal interest in and value what they have more those who are rich.  Verse four states, And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.  When a traveler came to the rich man, instead of killing one of his own lambs, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it.  I believe that figuratively speaking there are rich men today who are taking poor people's lambs.  Verse five adds, And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:  David was very angry at this rich man and said as the LORD lived, the man would die.  It is easy for us to have righteous indignation against other people, but we need to remember that we are all sinners saved by grace.  Verse six continues, And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.  David said that in addition to being put to death that the rich man would restore to the poor man four fold, because he had felt no pity in what he did.  I believe as a general rule the truly rich have little compassion on the poor.  They build bigger houses and yachts and such as the poor struggle just to have enough to eat.  Verse seven declares, And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;  Nathan the said to David that he was the rich man whom he had just condemned to death.  Of course, even if Uriah were alive, David could not restore his wife fourfold.  Nathan then gave David the message from God, saying that He had appointed David king of Israel and delivered him from Saul’s hand.  David was truly blessed by God.  As Christians, God has delivered us from sin and death, and we are truly blessed.  Verse eight continues, And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.  God pointed out all that He had given David  and told him if he needed more God would have given it to him if he had asked.  God has blessed us with everlasting life, and if we want more, we simply need to ask and He will always supply our needs.  David’s real problem was giving in to his wants and putting his plan into action to get what he wanted.  We should to never be guilty of this.  Verse nine asks, Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.  Nathan asked David how he could despise the commandment of the LORD by having Uriah killed by the Ammonites so that he could have his wife.  David may have thought no one would know what he did, with the possible exception of Joab, but God knew.  If we as followers of Christ sin against God's commandments, no one else may ever know, but God always will.  Verse ten adds, Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.  God then told David that he would never be free of war in his life because of his despising God and taking Uriah's wife.  If we give in to sin, until we repent and ask God's forgiveness, we will never have peace in our life as Christians.  Verse eleven continues, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.  God said that He would raise up evil from within David’s own house and that another would take his wives.   We can debate on whether God actually raises up evil, but personally I believe He simply knew what was going to happen without His protection.  I don't believe that God uses the mistreatment of others, which is what was going to happen to David's wives, to punish us.  We are all responsible for the consequences of our sins, and if others are harmed by them, I don't believe that God causes evil to punish us.  Verse twelve concludes, For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.  God said that even though David had committed this sin in secret that the people of Israel would see what happened to David.  There are no secret sins that we can hide forever.  God knows, and one day I believe that even as Christians if we sin one day we will have to answer for them before God.  Though we have everlasting life through our faith in Jesus Christ, this is never a license to sin.