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2 Samuel 12:2
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Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession

1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And ahe came to him, and bsaid to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.  
2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.
4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this1 shall surely die!  
6 And he shall restore afourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”  
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I aanointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  
8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!
9 aWhy have you bdespised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? cYou have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.  
10 Now therefore, athe sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’  
11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will atake your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.  
12 For you did it secretly, abut I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”  
13 aSo David said to Nathan, b“I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has cput away your sin; you shall not die.  
14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord ato blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”  
15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the aLord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.  

The Death of David’s Son

16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and alay all night on the ground.  
17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
Commentaries:
Matthew Henry
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2 Samuel 12:1-31

Nathan's parable-David confesses his sin. (1-14) The birth of Solomon. (15-25) David's severity to the Ammonites. (26-31)

Verses 1-14 God will not suffer his people to lie still in sin. By this parable Nathan drew from David a sentence against himself. Great need there is of prudence in giving reproofs. In his application, he was faithful. He says in plain terms, Thou art the man. God shows how much he hates sin, even in his own people; and wherever he finds it, he will not let it go unpunished. David says not a word to excuse himself or make light of his sin, but freely owns it. When David said, I have sinned, and Nathan perceived that he was a true penitent, he assured him his sin was forgiven. Thou shalt not die: that is, not die eternally, nor be for ever put away from God, as thou wouldest have been, if thou hadst not put away the sin. Though thou shalt all thy days be chastened of the Lord, yet thou shalt not be condemned with the world. There is this great evil in the sins of those who profess religion and relation to God, that they furnish the enemies of God and religion with matter for reproach and blasphemy. And it appears from David's case, that even where pardon is obtained, the Lord will visit the transgression of his people with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. For one momentary gratification of a vile lust, David had to endure many days and years of extreme distress.

Verses 15-25 David now penned the 51st Psalm, in which, though he had been assured that his sin was pardoned, he prays earnestly for pardon, and greatly laments his sin. He was willing to bear the shame of it, to have it ever before him, to be continually upbraided with it. God gives us leave to be earnest with him in prayer for particular blessings, from trust in his power and general mercy, though we have no particular promise to build upon. David patiently submitted to the will of God in the death of one child, and God made up the loss to his advantage, in the birth of another. The way to have creature comforts continued or restored, or the loss made up some other way, is cheerfully to resign them to God. God, by his grace, particularly owned and favoured that son, and ordered him to be called Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord. Our prayers for our children are graciously and as fully answered when some of them die in their infancy, for they are well taken care of, and when others live, "beloved of the Lord."

Verses 26-31 To be thus severe in putting the children of Ammon to slavery was a sign that David's heart was not yet made soft by repentance, at the time when this took place. We shall be most compassionate, kind, and forgiving to others, when we most feel our need of the Lord's forgiving love, and taste the sweetness of it in our own souls.


 
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