So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest."
David was furious. "As surely as the Lord lives," he vowed, "any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity." (2 Samuel 12:1-6 NLT)
Two things we can learn from David's reaction:
- We judge more harshly for other people's sin. David's reaction to Nathan's story was the rich man must die, the rich man must repay. He was very judgemental because he did not know he also committed the same sin.
- We may not be aware of our own sin even if we were not told directly. David was totally unaware that he had committed the rich man's sin until Nathan pointed out to him explicitly. That is why sometimes when we are too shy to call a spade a spade, the sinner may thing that he is just a regular good guy.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3, Luke 6:41 BSB)
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. (2 Samuel 12:7a KJV)
No comments:
Post a Comment