Based in Book of Samuel 12:1-14
We stumble many times.We are all sinners.How much we regret and repent, we still think:
Does God listen to my prayers?Does He sees my desire to repent?Will He forgive me?
The Bible teaches a refreshing truth.Despite God does not approved of our sins, He is ready to forgive us if we repent.We can see that in the case of King David of Israel in 2 Book of Samuel verse 12;
Think of this, David made a grave sin. He had an adulterous affair with Bath she ba and as he cannot longer hide the illicit affair,he plot to have Bath she ba's husband be killed in the war.He tried to keep it in secret for months and act as innocent.
But God Jehovah sees it all.But God sees the heart of David being sorry and would like to change(Proverbs 17:3) What will God plan to do?
God Jehovah sent the Prophet Nathan to David.With the help of the Holy Spirit, Nathan knows he must be very diplomatic in dealing the subject to the King.What could Nathan do , so that King David realize the gravity of his sins?
So that David cannot deny the truth, Nathan told David a story that he is sure would touch the heart of a shepherd like David.
The story is about two men, a rich and a poor man.
The rich man have a lot of flock( cows and sheep)but the poor one have only one female young sheep.One day the rich man received a lot of guests, and he decided to have the poor mans only sheep to be killed and be served to the guests.Instead of killing one of his flock, he took the only sheep the poor man have.
King David was so much affected of the story, he was thinking the story was real,King David was angry and crying: "The one that does that should die!"
Why?
"Because he is not compassionate to the poor man", answered David.
David was so touched by the story of Nathan.But in a way, David is condemning himself.Nathan told him: "It was you the man in the story"!
While Nathan speaks for God,it is clearly shown that God Jehovah was hurt of what David did.Because David violates Gods law.You betray me, God said.David was so crushed in his heart that he said: I sinned against God. Nathan assured David that God Jehovah forgave him, but David will still face the consequences of his wrongdoing.
After the exposure of Kind David's sins, he wrote the Psalms 51.Here in this book, he pour all his sadness and his heartfelt asking for forgiveness.Because of David's sins, it is like he despised God,but when God forgave him,this is what he said about Jehovah; "The heart that is crushed and broken, Oh my God, you will not hate."(Ps 51;17)
This will surely a comfort to all sinners who ask for forgiveness from God.
(The meals of a lamb to guest is a sign of hospitality. But to steal one's lamb is a crime(Exodus 22;1)In fines, the robber should pay back 4x the amount stolen. In the eyes of David, the deed of the rich man is unacceptable. The rich man killed the only source of food of the the poor man to his family, (milk and wool)Also, he stole the chance of the poor man to have many sheeps in the future.
How can we apply this principle in our daily lives?
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