Thou art the Man

“7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;” – 2 Samuel 12:7

It’s hard to look in the mirror, when you first wake up in the morning.  I scarcely have known anyone who will bare more than a glance at themselves; really just glancing to see what needs to be primped.  I don’t believe I have ever woken up in the morning and looked in the mirror only to say; “Yep, I look great!  I am ready for the day!”  The plain fact is this; we don’t want to see our reflection for too long because it is unattractive to us.  The big puffy eyes, hair going all over the place, it just brings about that feeling of “UHH”; then (perhaps for some of us) “where’s my coffee?” 

When something is unpleasant the tendency is to look away or run away.  Nobody stops and stares at road kill, you won’t find a painting of a dumpster, odds are good the homeless man begging on your local street corner is not going to make the cover of the latest fashion magazine.  Why do folks change the channel or look away when the UNICEF commercials come on?  Because nobody wants to see starving children in Africa, it simply reminds us that there are starving children in Africa.  Frankly, a greater majority of the world is saying “your pain is not my problem, and don’t bring it to my doorstep.”  Not only is the tendency to ignore it, but also to find unpleasantries in others.  Stop and ask yourself, am I swift to point out the sin in others?  Are we quick to spot our neighbors shortcomings?  King David found himself, for a moment, as such a man.

King David was a great and honorable man who made a grievous mistake; he took what was not his (the following is found in 2 Samuel 12).  By and by God sent the prophet Nathan to preach to David, and not David only but to his sin.  Nathan began by telling a story of a poor man with one little lamb.  This poor man loved his little lamb, cared for it and nurtured it. The scripture says that the lamb was to him as a daughter.  He didn’t have much but he had his lamb and that was enough.  Then a rich man came along, and stole the poor man’s lamb he loved so great; and this rich man killed it, and served it to a traveler staying at his home.  While David thought on this tale, an urge for justice must have filled his heart; “this rich man must pay for his great transgression!” he must have thought; for when Nathan asked David.  “What shall be done to this man?”  David responded “Kill him and restore the poor man four fold.”  Then Nathan spoke those cutting words to the great king: “Thou art the man.”  You see not to many days prior, David had taken the wife of his noble servant Uriah; and got her pregnant.  He then sent Uriah into battle and called the armies to draw back, murdering him as a cover up.  Finally, once Uriah’s death was known, he took the wife that Uriah loved so much……he took her and made her his own.  David was the rich man, and Uriah the poor.  “Thou art the man.”

We hear often of others who fall into the trappings of sin.  It seems so easy for humanity to see the sin in others, and often even easier to see it and do nothing.  But when the Holy Ghost speaks to your heart, and declares plainly: “Thou art the man” there is no denying it.  You cannot turn away from the unpleasant ugliness of your sin; you cannot point your finger at anybody but you alone.  God has declared plainly your unrighteousness and all that is left is to fall to the ground and plead for mercy.  All that remains is the earnest declaration of the obvious, as David said: “I have sinned against the Lord.”   The clutter and business of life can provide a convenient excuse to ignore the obvious.  However, let me beg and implore of you; stop and “consider YOUR ways.”  Has the Holy Ghost pointed the finger at your life?  Declared specifically to you……..“Thou art the man.”