Most people have heard the story of David and Goliath, and many a thousand sermons have been preached on this famous bible story. If we were to take a poll of professing Christians we could assume a great majority of those know very little about Davids life other than this story. Some who are more grounded in the faith would probably recognize the statement... “Thou art the man.” (II Sam 12:7)

Lets walk through the text and unpack the truths involved.

Using the RANSOM study method pause here and read II Sam 12 several times for yourself.

The backstory of this encounter with the King and the Prophet is; David had committed a series of grievous sins and is now in his palace presumably thinking he had gotten away with them.

The first thing we see in 12:1 is an example of one of Gods glorious attributes, namely forgiveness. We see that God SENT Nathan. From the day that God went and asked Adam “where are you” to the day that God sent His only Son, we see God as the one who seeks and saves the lost. He is the good shepherd that leaves the 99 to save the one. He is the one that initiates conversion by regenerating a rebels heart that is dead in trespasses and sins. Just as Jesus stated “all the father gives to me WILL come to Me and I WILL raise him up on the last day.” God is a covenant God, not based on the ability of humans to keep the precepts of the covenant, but based on HIS nature. David was a King with untold wealth at his disposal, however he still needed one thing money can't buy and that is forgiveness.

Notice the display of human nature we see in David. When Nathan tells the story of a poor man who is mistreated by a rich man he immediately became indignant with the guy, overlooking his own sin, but ready to punish the rich guy in the story.

As we continue, we see that a true Prophet of God confronts people in their sin. (II Sam 12:7-12). They don't coddle and affirm people in their sin. They are not afraid to deal with sin. Not that they are perfect and infallible themselves, but they know the Holiness of God and are unafraid to speak the whole counsel of God.

Now lets look at II Sam 12:13. In this verse we see David repenting for his deeds. On the surface we could skim through this and see David repents and God forgives. However, if we zoom out a little and read 7-13 we see that Nathan was making a declaration from God. “I anointed”, “I delivered”, “I gave”, “I will raise up adversity”, “I will take your wives”. Then mid sentence David interrupts Nathan with his confession of guilt. I believe one subtle word in verse 13b is critical to a right perspective of this narrative...ALSO. As well as anointing David as king and delivering him from Saul, “the LORD also has put away your sin.” The point here is Nathan was sent with a message from God. He didn't go to offer David a chance to repent if he wanted to. He didn't go to see what David’s response would be to God’s kindness. No, Nathan was sent to tell David that God has pardoned him, already justified him. ABOVE DAVIDS WILL, APART FROM DAVIDS CHOOSING, WITHOUT DAVID’S PERMISSION! See, God being sovereign, He can justify anyone He chooses to. (Rom 8:33-34) He doesn't need man’s permission or cooperation. The penalty under law for David’s crime was death (Lev. 20:10) . Now at this point we have to look at Romans 3:25-26. In the old covenant just as in the new, God could justify a sinner based on one thing alone... THE OLD RUGGED CROSS! Hallelujah!!! I can hear David now singing “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” (Rom 4:7-8)