You Are the Man

Chapter 12 shows God's faithful pursuit of a guilty king. Yahweh sent Nathan, who told a story that drew out David's sense of justice. A rich man spared his own flocks and seized a poor man's only ewe lamb, which ate from his food, drank from his cup, and lay in his bosom. David angrily declared that the man deserved to die and must restore the lamb fourfold, because he had no pity.

Nathan's reply was four words: You are the man! God had anointed David, delivered him from Saul, and given him much, and would have given more. Yet David had despised the Lord's word by striking Uriah with the sword and taking his wife. Therefore the sword would never depart from David's house, and evil would rise up against him from within his own family.

David's response was immediate: I have sinned against Yahweh. Nathan announced that the Lord had put away his sin and that David would not die, but the child would die because David had given great occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme. David pleaded with God, fasting and lying on the earth for seven days. When the child died, David rose, worshiped in the house of the Lord, and accepted God's will. Later Solomon was born, the Lord loved him, and through Nathan the prophet he was named Jedidiah. The chapter closes with Joab and David taking Rabbah.