Topic: Spiritual War
"And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
"And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
"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; and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun." (2 Samuel 12:1-12 KJV)
In the previous chapter, II Samuel 11, we learned how David was left behind and committed a serious crime. King David was supposed to go with his armies to fight against his enemies. Instead, he let Satan play with his mind. We need to guard ourselves from satanic tricks. Paul said in Ephesians 6:12-13, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
If you are on duty, don't put yourself off from the position that you committed to. Don't put yourself off guard. Satan would love that. Now, we see how David faced suffered from his wrongdoing. Before facing the consequences, God wanted to know what David would do when the person committed a crime.
After David replied in verses 5-6, Prophet Nathan said, "You are the man." You are the man who killed a faithful servant. You are the man who committed adultery. You are the man who stole a woman from his servant. "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; and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things." (2 Samuel 12:7-8.) God can do more if David asked Him. Wow! What a God we have. But due to his action, David had to decide to face his punishment.
Since David had done things that were ungodly secretly, God will punish him openly to all the people of Israel (12:9-12). Not only did God punish David, but He also wanted to let His people learn from doing things secretly. Even though God gives us the freedom to choose which way we are supposed to live, He also wants to have personal relationships with each of us. He wants to show the path of light so that we can have life rather than live in fear and darkness. There are only two ways for us to live on Earth. We can live for God so that He can show us the way to everlasting life; or follow the world system that leads us to confusion and death.
Do you have a relationship with His Son, Jesus? God didn't bring His Son to the earth so that he could clean our sins off. No, no. Jesus did this on the calvary so that He can have a relationship with us. He did not deserve to die for our sins, but He did. Now, it is up to us to respond to Him. I'm not going to spell out the sinner prayer, because it is not sincere prayer to Him. We must spend our time with Him daily. Don't just watch or listen to preachers on the TV/radio, but spend your own time to have quality time with God through reading His words and prayer. If you want the extra effect, put the worship music on. Whatever you do, do it for God. Your quality time with God also can make a shield, so that Satan and all the negative things cannot enter to your mind.
