David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 12, 1 Chronicles 20, 2 Samuel 13, Psalm 120.

2 Samuel 12:1-9, 13-15

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest 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 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶ and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸ And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. ⁹ Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? …¹³ 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 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

Ugh! It’s the second move in a theory of sermon writing — the point where you get down to the root of the issue. It’s the “Houston, we have a problem” moment, when it becomes clear that we cannot wriggle out of the mess we’ve made. We’ve dug a hole so deep that the only option is to stop digging. It’s the turning point — when we move from the problem toward the possibility of a solution. Aha! Maybe there is a way out.

But David has to get there.

He has to hear the story of the poor man with a ewe lamb — a lamb he loved like a daughter — taken from him by a wealthy neighbor. David is incensed: “The man who has done this deserves to die!”

Funny how our anger can be stirred by someone else’s sin. We can get outraged at reckless drivers weaving through traffic, while we casually cut off someone going too slowly for our liking. We can be offended by those who skirt the law, while we quietly fudge on our own taxes. We all do it. We overlook the log in our own eye while pointing out the speck in our brother’s.

Sometimes we need to hear it plainly:
“You are the man. You are the woman.”

We all sin and fall short of God’s glory.

We regularly say the words from 1 John in worship:
“If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

But how quickly do we move on?
“But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Too quickly?
Too casually?

Thankfully, God’s forgiveness does not depend on the depth of our awareness. Jesus said of those crucifying him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” That word reaches us as well.

And just as David confessed his sin and received the assurance of forgiveness, so we are given that same gift of grace.

There are still consequences. The child dies. Absalom rebels. David lives with the sorrow his sin has unleashed — at least in this life. And yet we hear his confession after the child’s death:
“He cannot come to me, but I will go to him” (2 Samuel 12:23).

For one day a Son of David would come — to redeem a lost and broken world, to bear the sin of many, and to open the way to eternal life.

So the next time you hear those words,
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,”
pause.

Acknowledge it.

And then say with joy:
“But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 2 Samuel.