David Rebuked by Nathan
- Dates
- 991 BC
After David takes Bathsheba as his wife, Nathan the prophet comes to rebuke him through a parable. David confesses his sin. Nathan says he will not die, but his son dies even after David fasts and prays.
In detail
As time went on David's sin came out into the open. It became known that David himself was the father of the child that was born to Bath—sheba, and suspicions arose that it was he who had brought about the death of Uriah. David was not only the civil ruler of his people but also "the Lord's anointed," the head of the theocracy, the leader of God's chosen people, and the one who was to uphold and enforce the law of the Lord. David by his sin had brought reproach and dishonor upon the name of the Lord. God therefore sent Nathan to David to deliver the message of divine rebuke, in an attempt to bring the erring king to a realization of the magnitude of his crime and to repentance.
David was without excuse. He knew that he was in the wrong and that the sentence pronounced on himself was just. In spite of the magnitude of his crime, his conscience was not yet dead. He had succeeded for a time in hiding his crime from the eyes of men, but he did not succeed in hiding it from God. Through a chain of circumstances the Lord allowed him to catch a glimpse of the terrible nature of the crime he had committed and to pronounce a just sentence against himself. The unflinching application of the parable to the king portrays the holy boldness and faithfulness of God's prophet. This plain—spoken rebuke might well have cost Nathan his life, but he did not waver in performing his duty.
The boldness and suddenness of Nathan's words brought a shock to David that woke him from the evil spell that his crimes had cast upon him. David had been essentially a good man, one who endeavored to obey the Lord. But he had yielded to temptation, and in the attempt to cover up his guilt had become ever more deeply entangled in a net of evil. For a time his senses had seemed to be stupefied by a delirium of power, prosperity, and perfidy. Now he was suddenly brought back to his senses. David had given the judgment that "the man that hath done this thing shall surely die" (v. 5).
By his own sentence David was the one who should die. But instead, God decreed that the child of his sin should die (see PP 722). To David the death of the child would be a far greater punishment than his own death. As a result of the bitter experience he would pass through, David would be brought to a full measure of repentance and conversion.
Bible passages
- 2 Samuel 12:1-15
1 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. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 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. …
Text of the King James Version.
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