Wednesday 22 January 2025
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." (v. 1)
Background
This week we have been reading about how King David seduced Bathsheba, wife of Uriah. In chapter 11, David ‘sent’ messengers to Bathsheba to bring her to the palace because he wanted her. In today's passage we read the Lord ‘sent’ the prophet Nathan to David. (v. 1) Not to take, but to give a prophetic message to the king.
Commentators note that this encounter between Nathan and David is very different in tone to the way most of the story is told in these chapters. It would have been enough to say, "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord" (11:27). Readers are reminded that the choices and behaviours of human beings are not the whole story; there is a larger narrative here, and a wider perspective. God is not absent. However, it is thought that chapter 12 of 2 Samuel may have been added by a ‘prophetic editor’ who wanted to draw particular attention to the specific ways in which God confronts us with the truth.
We last met Nathan the prophet in chapter 7 of 2 Samuel. At that time, David was settled in his house, and the country was at peace. David planned to build a magnificent home for the ark of the covenant. Initially Nathan endorsed David’s idea, but during the night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: "I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle" (2 Samuel 7:6). It is Nathan who takes the Lord's message to King David. He tells him God is mobile; God has been with God’s people, as he has been with David, wherever they have found themselves. In 2 Samuel 11 Uriah reminds us that the ark of the covenant is housed in a tent on the battlefield – it is King David who is back home in his house, who is doing evil.
In the passage today, Nathan invites David to look at things from a different perspective. He doesn’t confront David aggressively with his sin. He tells a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man has very many flocks and herds. The poor man has just one little ewe lamb, a kind of household pet: "it was like a daughter to him" (v. 3). The rich man ‘took’ this much-loved pet lamb, and cooked it for his guest. David is outraged.
To Ponder:
- There is a lot of ‘taking’ in these stories. Where do you observe ‘taking’ in your community? In the world? In your own life?
- Why do you think Nathan narrates a story to David, rather than simply telling him he has done wrong?
- Who invites you to see things from a different perspective?
Prayer
Holy God, open our eyes to the selfishness and injustice in our world. Open our ears to the stories of those who are vulnerable. Open our minds to your perspective, and to a recognition of our own greed. Open our hearts to your loving generosity. Amen.
Bibles Notes author: The Revd Val Reid
Val Reid is a newly retired presbyter who lives in Salisbury. She is exploring what ministry looks like in this new season of her life and relishes time for choral singing, wild swimming and walks in the New Forest.