"And the Word became flesh…" (John 1:14)
THE MAN AFTER God’s own heart had followed the crooked path off self-destruction.
One sin inevitably led to another, then another, then another.
It all started with a small, perhaps even innocent, distraction from his palace rooftop (2 Sam. 11:2).
Little did the monarch realize that his momentary lapse of judgment would lead to much more serious events.
Incrementally, David would migrate from lust, to adultery, to lying and deception, to murder, and finally to an elaborate cover-up plan of his indiscretions.
Oblivious and unconcerned about the consequences, he continued this activity until God sent a preacher – Nathan, to confront him.
The prophet’s divinely-ordained job description was to “call down” the king of Israel.
Tell a story, expose hypocrisy, and then petition his majesty to humble repentance.
A daunting responsibility, at the very least.
I have often wondered about Nathan’s emotional and mental state just prior to that sermon.
If Nathan was like his contemporaries (1 Kgs. 19:3; Jas. 5:19), he experienced a certain trepidation at his task.
And why not?!
David had, with Joab’s assistance, murdered Uriah without remorse (2 Sam. 11:15-25).
What prevented the proud king from doing the same thing to this puny prophet also?
He had done it before; he could do it again, couldn’t he?
I imagine Nathan was well-aware of the potential repercussions of delivering his message.
Why I don’t know exactly what Nathan felt, because the Bible doesn’t tell me so, I do know what he did.
He preach is “firing” sermon.
You know, the kind of sermon that sometimes gets a man his pink slip.
Note the components of Nathan’s bold proclamation:
Telling a sovereign king what he didn’t want to hear had to be very difficult.
It took conviction.
That’s a trait that few preachers possessed then, or for that matter, possess today.
Exposing sinful behavior is tough.
It invites retaliatory criticism and personal attacks.
It opens doors to insult. It can cost a man his reputation, his job, his livelihood, even his very life (cf. Mat. 14:1-12; Acts 7:51-60).
But that didn’t matter to Nathan.
He knew the price of preaching (2 TIm. 3:3-6).
He understood the expense of unyielding conviction (Mat. 16:24) and he willingly made the payment.
Sound preachers don’t enjoy pointing out people’s faults, but it part of what God has called them to do (2 Tim. 4:2-5).
Love the sinner, but hate the sin.
Folks bound up in the fetters of iniquity need release (Rom. 6:17-18).
Watered-down, wishy-washy sermonettes won’t bring that about.
Firm, yet loving gospel preaching will.
“Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority…” (Titus 2:15; cf. 1 Tim. 5:20).