Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Severe Mercy

Reflections on 2 Samuel 12:1-12
Use the frame on the left to read these Scriptures.

We all know that God was merciful to David and forgave him, and we usually assume that God's mercy removed the severity of his punishment. While God's mercy certainly removed completely the eternal punishment of his sin, God did not in his mercy reduce the severity of the consequences of his sin. God's severe mercy is justified by the parable Nathan told David.

THE PARABLE. The parable stresses three things. First, it stresses the great difference in the wealth of two men. The rich man had a "very large number of sheep and cattle," but the poor man had a single ewe lamb that he had bought. Second, the story stresses the intimacy between the poor man and his ewe lamb. It lived in his house like a pet. It ate his food, drank from his cup, and "slept in his arms" ("lay in his bosom" - KJV). The lamb was like a daughter (Heb. bat, which is the same as the first syllable of Bathsheba). Finally, the story emphasizes the rich man's heartless treatment of the poor man. The rich man had no pity and slaughtered the poor man's dear pet to feed a traveler.

THE KING'S JUDGMENT. David was enraged because the rich man had no regard for the feelings of the poor man. David declared, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die." The fourfold restoration for the sheep required by the Law (Exodus 22:1), and which guided David's final judgment, could not restore the object of the poor man's affection. The Law's penalty was a woefully inadequate for the callous act (EBC, 1992, p. 943). David's declaration recognized the inadequacy of even fourfold restoration and left him no room to protest the Lord's judgment.

GOD'S JUDGMENT FOR MURDER. As soon as David gave his verdict and noted its inadequacy, Nathan declared, "You are the man who had no pity, you are the man who deserves to die. You are the rich man who had many wives while your poor neighbor had but one. Nevertheless, you killed Uriah with the sword (in other words, in battle, for he was killed by archers on the wall) and took his wife. Therefore, the sword will never depart from your house." The actions set in motion by David's sin could not be stopped with David's death. The sword would not devour one man, David, but many in David's family instead. David's earlier reply to Joab, "the sword devours one as well as another," would haunt him repeatedly as the swords of lust, revenge, rebellion, and selfish ambition devoured his own sons. David learned that the God whose law he had despised, was the God who said, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me" (Exodus 20:5). What a great punishment God handed down!

GOD'S JUDGMENT FOR ADULTERY. After sentencing David for murder, God turned to the charge of adultery. Just as David had taken the wife of a man close to him, so one close to him would take his wives and lie with them openly. What David had done to Uriah would be done to him, "wound for wound, stripe for stripe (Exodus 21:23-25), but with a painful twist. Not merely one of his wives would be taken, but many; furthermore, they would not be taken secretly, but openly. What a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God!

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