SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20
Scripture: 2 Samuel 12:1-12

In this passage Nathan the prophet was sent to King David after the death of Uriah the Hittite. In his confrontation with David, Nathan began with a story. There were two men one rich and one with a single little ewe lamb. The rich man saw the lamb and decided he wanted it and took it to feed a guest. The rich man refused to take from his own flock and instead took the poor man’s and prepared it. David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity. Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’ David was caught. Nathan said, ‘For you did it secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” David had to listen to the fact that he would lose his kingdom, all of his wives would be taken before all of Israel because of what he did secretly. God was now going to do this to him openly. One of the things we’ve learned about judgment is that what we do to other people can and often does come back on us. We certainly see that here. God didn’t condone David’s behavior but He brought it back on David’s head. David had to acknowledge his sin and then walk through it before all Israel. To David’s credit he did not make any excuses but in verse 13 he said, “‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.’” One of the things we know about King David was that he was quick to repent. He did not make excuses for his own failures and mistakes but he acknowledged them, quickly repented and turned from them. That is certainly something that all of us need to emulate. As believers it is a key to daily keep our hearts renewed in blamelessness. There is something else here. King David was declared faultless and became a great example in Scripture. He still sinned, but when he turned back to God, the Redeemer made him blameless once again. Through the Blood of Christ you and I can overcome our mistakes! We can overcome our faults, we can grow out of past failure because of what God has done for us. Accepting forgiveness is essential! The real sin here is believing our mistakes are greater than the remedy of Christ’s Blood shed for us. This applies to sins both before our conversion and after as we keep a humble, repentant heart. We must rise up beyond our failures and embrace the freedom, that Blood purchased! It is foolish to continue to believe we are unworthy in the face of the examples which God has put in His Word! David killed Uriah. As we see with David, even in the sin of murder God does not withhold forgiveness and salvation. Blamelessness is the key to acknowledgement and repentance. We are without excuse for not accepting the power of the Blood that makes us blameless. We need to embrace eternal truth.