Long before Nathan, the prophet, told his story (2 Sam. 12), David was living in an alternative story, a delusion actually.
In David’s fantasy, he, the hero, was able to lust, steal, kill and cover it all up (2 Sam. 11). Presumably he thought he could do this because he was the king. The trouble is, all of us are like David. We lust and take and kill too (Matt. 5:2 1-30; James 4:1-2), and we’ve all followed that pattern since the garden (Gen. 3:6).
So here we are: little Davids casting ourselves as the hero of our own personal drama. How can we be awoken from our dream world? Nathan knows. He spins a yarn: There is a poor man with nothing but a wee ewe-lamb – just picture it! She drinks from his cup, sleeps in his arms, she is like a daughter to him. And a rich man simply wants her, takes her, kills her. Monster, right? But – boom! – ‘You are the man!’
The elderly and bereaved: a growing gospel need
“Let me put it this way. I don’t expect there to be many people at my funeral.”My new friend …