"Thou Art The Man"

“Thou art the man” — so Nathan said to David (2 Samuel 12:7). I am no prophet nor the son of a prophet, so God has never spoken directly to me about the condition of another person’s life. I am not an apostle, therefore, I do not have insight to a person’s private thoughts and motives as Peter did (Acts 5:1-11). However, I am a teacher of God’s Word and that requires that I do more than speak in vague generalities about sin. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to make the application of God’s word personal – the learner’s responsibility is to apply the Word personally. If people cannot see their need for the message of God’s word, then I have failed as a teacher.

When Nathan came to David and told him the story about the man and his little ewe lamb, he did not, at first, tell David that he was the one who was guilty. The story was designed to arouse feelings of unjustness so that David could make personal application to his own behavior. David was enraged because of the selfish, unfair behavior Nathan described (2 Samuel 12:1-6). Then, when Nathan said to David, “Thou art the man” (2 Samuel 12:7), David’s eyes were opened.

We might wonder how David had not known what he had done before Nathan said, “Thou art the man.” When he committed adultery, then, having failed to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, carried out an insidious plan to have Urriah killed so he could have his wife, he was not unconscious. How can a man hide the awfulness of such behavior from himself? To ask the question is to see our own faces reflected in David’s mirror, for we also hide sins in our hearts. David’s conscious remorse and heart-felt anguish are revealed in Psalm 51. It says that he got the message!

Our judgments about the application of God’s Word can be flawed and our lives spotted by our own imperfections, but that is no excuse for not dealing with sin. Weak, insipid, namby-pamby preaching that makes people feel good but never addresses wrong attitudes and sinful practices causes people to be deceived. I have to be willing to see how God sees my sins before I can ever repent of them, and God does require repentance (Acts 2:38; Acts 8:22; Acts 17:30).

Beloved, there is something to be said for bent knees and tear stained cheeks for the cleansing of the heart (2 Corinthians 7:10). I pray we take the above thoughts personally, for it was intended that way!

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets