Matters of the Heart
“ We All Blow It”
John Saunders, professor at the Union Theological Seminary in New York, made the following statement.
“Biblical characters are given to us not as models of morality but as mirrors of identity.”
Wow! What a revealing idea. It has also been stated;
“God reveals the faults, flaws and failures in biblical characters for us to use to examine our own flaws.” – Pastor Russell V. Penn Jr.
There are several instances of God using imperfect man as a tool to show the perfection of God’s grace! When God changes the heart, beautiful things are possible. One way God expresses His grace is through promises. God is the divine Promiser! Those who believe or have faith to trust him are transformed into the children of promise (Gal. 4:28). This narrative is seen in the journeys of Noah, Moses, Gideon and Abraham, just to name a few however, our focus will be on the King of them all, David. Let’s look at the following text:
2 Samuel 12:1-13 NIV
“The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”
How could this be! He was appointed king over a great nation, he was acknowledged as “a man after God’s own heart.” He went on as if his sin would go unnoticed. The evil (at that moment) in David’s heart led to him….
– Seeing Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah and laid with her.
– Conceive a son with her.
– Deceive her husband and had him murdered in war.
Yes, he was fulfilling the duties of his assignment but as the text emphasizes, in secret he was sinning against the Lord. This is like us today. No matter the position, at some point we have to recognize our own sins and then repent of it. Yes, it is a matter of the heart; for sin corrupts and it corrupts completely! But, by the grace of God, there is hope.
Yes, Nathan called David out. God revealed the evilness in his (David’s) heart and he felt the weight of his sin. As a result, we have a Psalm of David (51:1-18). It is a heartfelt appeal where he takes full blame. The source of David’s sin was a sinful disposition. This Psalm completely outlines his plea to God for forgiveness and complete restoration.
We all blow it. But God’s grace and love provides us the opportunity for repentance and restoration. Failure and disappoint can be overcome with the love of Christ in our hearts!