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| 1 And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. |
Sent Nathan – It required courage, but whoever has a message from the Lord must needs have the courage to deliver it wisely and faithfully. R5681:3, R2017:1
The prophet was sent directly to the king. PD43/53; R4271:5
There were two men – The prophet made a parable showing the injustice and asked what would be a just decision. PD43/53; R5681:3, R4271:5
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| 2 The rich had very many flocks and herds; |
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| 3 but the poor man had nothing at all, but one little ewe lamb which he had bought, and was nourishing; and it grew up with him, and together with his children: it ate of his morsel, and drank of his own cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter. |
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| 4 And there came a traveller to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that had come to him; and he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him. |
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| 5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this thing is worthy of death; |
Anger was greatly kindled – King David asked the name of the unjust man that he might be punished. PD43/53; R5681:3, R4271:5
Shall surely die – David unconsciously condemned himself to death. R2017:3
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| 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. |
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| 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man! Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; |
Thou art the man – It was a critical moment for David. Would he proudly resist the power of the truth, claiming that the customs of the world, instead of the Law of God, were to him the standard of privilege? R2017:2,3
Blessed is he who is not condemned by his own declarations in respect to the affairs of others. R3255:6
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| 8 and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. |
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| 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah to do evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Urijah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. |
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| 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urijah the Hittite to be thy wife. |
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| 11 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. |
Of thine own house – Absalom's rebellion was the means employed for this punishment. R1397:2
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| 12 For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. |
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| 13 And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah has also put away thy sin: thou shalt not die. |
I have sinned – The king saw the horrible mistake and humbly confessed the sin to the Lord. PD43/53; R5681:3, R4271:5
David saw his own conduct, not from the standpoint of other kings and what they did, but from the standpoint of the divine law of righteousness. R5681:3, R1396:6
The 51st Psalm is generally recognized as his expression of contrition for the sin. R3254:2
Put away thy sin – Justice would have been required in respect to the sins; but to the repentant soul the Lord's favor would, nevertheless, still be granted. R5681:4
God showed mercy on David (as to all Jews under the Law's typical sacrifices) in that he made allowance for his fallen condition. R1397:2
Realizing the Lord's forgiveness for the penitent moves one toward repentance. R3254:2
For the Christian, involuntary sins are cancelled; but wilfulness has a penalty attached. R1397:4
Sinful Christians find great consolation in the Lord's compassion if they are exercised as was David by their sins. R3254:2
Thou shalt not die – Because he had confessed and repented. R5681:3, R2017:5
The penalty of David's sin was death, under two indictments: Lev. 20:10 and Lev. 24:17. In view ofng only such pu R2017:4, R5681:3
If sin is fallen into, God does everything to encourage the acceptance of forgiveness and reformation, though the sinner is obliged to bear some severe penalty. R5681:4; Q281:3
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| 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, even the child that is born to thee shall certainly die. |
To blaspheme – While David's sin has given occasion to blasphemers, his repentance and forgiveness have given hope and encouragment to many who have been overtaken in a fault. R3260:6
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| 15 And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah smote the child that Urijah's wife bore to David, and it became very sick. |
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| 16 And David besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth. |
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| 17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he ate no bread with them. |
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| 18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice; and how shall we say to him, The child is dead? he may do some harm. |
The child died – Though the Lord indicated his forgiveness, yet there must be a punishment. R5106:4, R3255:5
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| 19 But David saw that his servants whispered, and David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. |
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| 20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing, and entered into the house of Jehovah and worshipped; then he came to his own house and required them to set bread before him, and he ate. |
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| 21 And his servants said to him, What thing is this which thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child alive; but as soon as the child is dead, thou dost rise and eat bread. |
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| 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows? perhaps Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live. |
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| 23 But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. |
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| 24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon; and Jehovah loved him. |
Solomon – His name signifies "the peaceful," thus commemorating God's promise concerning him. R2045:3
The LORD loved him – God accepted David's penitence and restored him to his favor. PD43/53
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| 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake. |
His name Jedidiah – Meaning "Beloved of Jehovah"; indicating David's forgiveness and restoration to divine favor. R2045:3
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| 26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. |
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| 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. |
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| 28 And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city and take it: lest I take the city and it be called by my name. |
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| 29 And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it. |
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| 30 And he took the crown of their king from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with the precious stones; and it was set on David's head; and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. |
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| 31 And he brought out the people that were in it, and put them under the saw, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkilns. And so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. |
Put them under saws – While we mark with pleasure the noble traits in David's character, we must deplore the steps of his decline leading to unnecessary cruelty, not only conquering, but triumphing ignobly over his foes. R2016:3
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