2 Samuel, Chapter 12 - From Failure to Redemption | Prophets of Israel Daily

[music] >> Shalom friends, welcome back to the Prophets of Israel daily. This is the book of Second Samuel [music] chapter 12. I'm Jeremy Gimpel here with my dear friend, my partner in crime, and my root to my study partner, Ari Abramowitz. I'm on the road speaking across the United States and Ari is broadcasting from Judea and Prophets of Israel daily means daily. One chapter a day, every day, and once we start a book, we're going to make this happen. And so this series is brought to you by the Land of Israel Network at the land of israel.com and without the team at the Land of Israel Network and the fellowship, we would never be able to pull this off. So kudos to them. All right, last chapter, we saw the beginning of David's fall, his greatest mistake. While the army was off at war besieging Rabbah, David stayed home in Jerusalem and from his rooftop, he saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his most loyal soldiers, one of the mighty men who joined David even before he was king. And he took her and she became pregnant and to cover it up, David arranged that Uriah be killed on the front lines and then married the widow. So according to the p'shat, the simple meaning of the text, King David, the man after God's own heart, at the height of his power, committed adultery and engineered the death of one of his men. And the last line of chapter 11 sums it up. The thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord. And that's where chapter 12 opens. God sends a prophet to David. Verse 1. Vayishlach Hashem et Natan el David. And the Lord sent Natan unto David. And Natan doesn't march in and accuse the king, he tells him a story. Verses 1 through 4. There were two men in a city, one rich and one poor. The rich man had vast flocks and herds. The poor man had nothing but one little lamb and he raised with his children. It ate from his plate, drank from his cup, slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. And when a traveler came, the rich man wouldn't touch his own enormous flock to feed his guest, he took the poor man's only lamb and slaughtered it. >> [snorts] >> David, such a passionate man, erupts. David's anger blazes against the man and he declares, "As God lives, the man who did this deserves to die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no pity." And Nathan turns to the king and says the words that expose David to himself. Vayomer Natan el David, atah ish. And Nathan said to David, "You are the man." >> Jeremy, just picture >> Atah ish. You are the man. >> I It's It's just such a powerful piece right here. I mean, just look at what Nathan the prophet did there. It really seems like he wasn't just exposing David's sin, he was revealing a profound truth about the human soul. Think about it. How do you tell the most powerful man in the kingdom, a man with the authority to have you killed, that he's a murderer and a thief? You can't really accuse him directly. I mean, you can, but it probably wouldn't be wise. At best, he'd most likely, you know, I guess probably rationalize or deflect or or justify his actions the way we all do pretty often. Well, I get Maybe not you, Jeremy, but I know that I do. Right? The human heart is infinitely creative at excusing its own sins while condemning the exact same sin in someone else. So, Nathan doesn't attack David's defenses, he goes around them. He tells David a story about someone else and David, feeling no threat, judges the case honestly. His moral instincts are are still perfectly intact right now and he's outraged. He's righteous and he pronounces the death sentence. Maybe it wasn't actually a death sentence. He has to repay it fourfold, but he said on a deep like moral level, the man deserves death. And the moment David has fully committed to the judgment, that is when Nathan springs the trap. You are the man. Without realizing it, David has just sentenced himself. Out of his own mouth, with his own sense of justice. And here's the point I want to make, cuz this idea has lived inside of me for a long time. It's It's It's a precious concept in my heart. Right, that lesson, Jeremy, reaches far beyond David. Every time we rush to judge another person, we should be very careful. David didn't condemn a stranger. David condemned himself, out of his own mouth, powered by his own sense of justice. Whether he knew it or not, the moment he judged that man, he was judging himself. Maybe that's one of the reasons our sages say that that we should really judge others favorably. Not only because others deserve the benefit of the doubt, but because perhaps every judgment we make of others is, in Hashem's eyes, a judgment of ourselves. Because, you know, I before we're so certain about someone else's guilt, it's worth asking, why are they in my life right now? Why am I in the situation that I'm judging them? Is there at least a little bit of this in me? Nathan didn't just reveal David's sin. He held up a mirror while David thought he was looking through a window. Right, he revealed a truth about the human condition. We all have blind spots exactly the size of ourselves. And if we can learn to look inward before looking outward, we'll become not only more compassionate judges of others, but more honest judges of our own hearts. >> You know, that's exactly it, Ari. I mean, now look at David's response. Because this is why, even after everything, he remains the man after God's own heart. Nathan lays out the full indictment. God anointed you, gave you everything. He would have given you even more, and you just judged yourself. And even more so, you struck down Uria, you took his wife. You know what you've done is wrong in the eyes of Hashem. And David says simple words, verse 13. Vayomer David el Nathan, "Chatati l'Hashem." And David said unto Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." "Chatati l'Hashem." I have sinned against the Lord. There's no excuses, there's no but, no blaming Bathsheba, no blaming the war, no spin. Those words of total, unconditional confession and responsibility. >> Right, Jeremy, and those those two words are the entire reason David is David, and the reason he's not Saul. Because we've seen this exact scene before, haven't we? Go back to the first book of Samuel, the prophet Samuel confronts King Saul about his sin, disobeying God at Amalek. And what does Saul do? He argues and he explains, he says the people made him do it, he says that he was going to sacrifice the animals anyways, he says he basically did obey, right? He defends himself right up to the point that he loses the kingdom. When he's confronted with the truth, ultimately, Saul protects his image. On the other hand, when David is confronted, he falls to his knees. Same situation, a prophet, an accusation, a king's pride on the line, and the two men respond in opposite ways. And that is the whole difference between them. It was never that David didn't sin. David's sin here is arguably even worse than Saul's. The difference is what they did when they were confronted with the truth. Saul defended himself, and David surrendered. And that, friends, is the definition of true greatness. True greatness is not the absence of failure, but the capacity to own it completely the moment that the light hits you. The 51st Psalm, "Lev tahor bara li Elohim." We said this before, "Create in me a pure heart, O God." That's what he wrote at this moment. One of the deepest, most beautiful prayers of all of repentance, possibly in all of human history, was born out of David's worst fall. >> Yeah, all right, you know, there's no question that this episode with Uriah was his worst fall. Nathan answers immediately, "God has removed your sin. You will not die." He prophesies in real time. David is forgiven. But forgiven is not the same as no consequences. Nathan tells him the child born of this union is going to die, and that the sword will never depart from his house. And the rest of the chapter is hard to read. And in some ways, this is the turning point in David's life, from the height of his rule as king of Israel, walking on the roof, top of the world, king of the master of the all of Israel. He was just like so good. David betrays from the path, and things start to unravel. The child falls deathly ill. David fasts, lies on the ground all night, refuses to eat, pleads with God for the child's life for 7 days, and on the 7th day, the child dies. And when David realizes the child is dead, he rises from the ground, washes, anoints himself, changes his clothes, goes into the house uh of God and worships, and then asks for food and eats. And his servants are bewildered, like, "While the child lived, you wept and fasted, you were on the ground, and now that he's dead, you get up and eat?" And David's answer is really a powerful testimony to his faith, and his trust, and his acceptance of God's will. Verse 23. V'atah met. Lama s'ani tsom? But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. >> Jeremy, I just want to zoom in for a second on that. We could just move on, but there's really a lot in there. You know, cuz while there's still something that he could potentially do, while the child lived and prayer might still move and have a real world effect on the situation, David poured out everything he had. He fasted, he wept, he threw himself on the ground, he left nothing on the table. But the moment the decree was final, the moment it was truly beyond his power to change it, David did something that feels like superhuman. He just accepted it fully. He didn't rage against God or collapse into bitterness, he got up, he washed, he prayed, and he ate. And that single line I am going to him, but he will not return to me. Is also one of the clearest affirmations of life beyond death in the Tanakh cuz really that subject we don't focus so much, we don't read that much about it on Tanakh, but we do see about it there. Right? But David isn't only saying that the dead don't come back, he's saying, I will go to him. There is a place where they will be reunited. Right? His grief is real, but it's wrapped in faith. The death is not the absolute end. And I think that is how David is modeling for us how we can navigate waters that may feel unbearably painful. We most of us go through them at sometimes in our lives. You you know, you you pour out everything while you can act. You surrender completely when you cannot. And remember the entire time that Hashem is in control and that this life is not all that there is. >> Yeah, it's remarkable. I mean, we've seen David has such passions and emotions. The story of Bathsheba is a window into David's overpowering passions, but we see that although his inner world is truly a storm his faith allows him to accept reality as it comes knowing that everything that happens from Hashem is ultimately true and ultimately for his good. And so, David comforts Bathsheba and she bears another son. And they name him Solomon, And the Tanakh adds a line that points to order within the chaos, "And the Lord loved him." God sends word through Nathan to call the child Jedidiah, beloved of God. And out of the deepest failure of David's life, after genuine repentance, God brings forth Solomon, the son who will build the temple, the wisest of all kings, the king who gives us the only window we have into the Messianic era with the temple in Jerusalem, peace with all the nations, the nations streaming to Jerusalem to learn God's ways. And the story, you know, it just it doesn't end with sin. It ends with redemption. I think that is one of the most important teachings from David's greatest sin. From something that looks completely dark comes the greatest light, comes comes the temple, and ultimately comes Mashiach. And then the chapter does something just kind of closes the circle. It takes us back to Rabbah. Verses 26 to 31, Joab nearly captured the Ammonite capital, the very siege David walked away from at the start of chapter 11. And he sends word, and he says, "Come, finish it yourself, or the city will bear my name." So, David rises, gathers the people, goes out, and takes the city. And so, you see the frame closing. The whole tragedy began because David stayed home in his palace, away from his mighty men and the soldiers of Israel. That exact battle, now restored and forgiven, he finally goes. The king is back where he belongs with his people in the battlefield. And in this chapter, King David guides us in two dimensions, on a personal level and a national level. So, first in our own personal lives, this is the chapter that tells us the truth about greatness. It was never about being perfect. David committed a terrible sin. But what made him the man after God's own heart was that when the mirror was held up, he didn't argue, he didn't hide, he didn't defend his image. He said, "Hatati Hashem. I have sinned Hashem." And he meant it with his whole soul. And every one of us, just like what Ari said, you said it so beautifully, we have a blind spot exactly the size of ourselves. Every one of us needs the courage to hear, "You are the man." And then not flinch away from it. I mean, the promise of this chapter is that even our worst failures, brought honestly before God, they can somehow they can become the soil out of which our greatest blessings grow. Out of David's lowest moment came And on a national level, this chapter is the secret to Jewish eternity. Every other ancient nation wrote propaganda. Their kings were flawless gods. Their histories airbrushed. But Israel did the opposite. We preserved our stories as sacred scripture. The story of our greatest kings, our is most shameful sin. We read it aloud every year forever. Why? Because a nation that can look honestly at its own failures, take responsibility, turn back toward God, is a nation that can never be destroyed. We don't claim to be perfect. We claim to be a people who, when confronted by the truth, can still say, "Hatati. I've sinned." We can pick ourselves up, wash our faces, and walk back toward Hashem. That is what has kept us alive for 3,000 years, and it's what will carry us home to a new Jerusalem. All right, friends. Hazak Ve'ematz. Oh, and before we go, if these daily journeys, the words through the prophets, they mean something to you, they touch your heart, they're inspiring you, I want to invite you to become a sponsor of the Prophets of Israel Daily. I mean, it takes real work to bring this to people over 100 countries every single day, keep it for free, open for all. You can be a part of the engine that makes it happen. So, please dedicate a chapter, dedicate a book, just send a blessing to honor a memory of someone you love and have their name intertwined with the eternal words of the prophets being learned by people all over the world. So, to sponsor, just click on the link below or head to the landofisrael.com. We would love to partner with you. So, be'ezrat Hashem, we will see you tomorrow >> [music] >> for 2 Samuel chapter 13 where it all continues. Shalom.