It’s Hard to See With a 2×4 in Your…

“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.”  II Samuel 12:5

This account of the conversation between King David and Nathan, the prophet, is a clear illustration of what Jesus meant when He defined a hypocrite in Matthew 7:3-5 as one who makes a big deal about a tiny speck in another’s eye when within his or her own eye a beam as big as a 2×4 is lodged.  This conversation took place sometime after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then set up her husband Uriah to be killed on the front lines of battle.

Nathan went to David and told him a parable about a very wealthy man who owned a large flock of sheep and a poor man who owned very little.  One might say that the rich man was “self-sufficient” from a material standpoint, that is, he had plenty of his own possessions and would have no need of taking from someone else.  In contrast, the poor man had one little lamb.  This lamb was actually a pet of the poor man’s family, and we all know how folks love their pets.  It was never intended to be roasted and eaten.

One day a visitor came to the rich man’s home, and not to be hospitable was a big social no-no.  This wealthy man had at his disposal plenty of lambs from which he could choose to roast and serve to his visitor, but for some reason, he chose to take the poor man’s pet lamb to roast and set before his guest.  How cruel can someone be?  As most anyone who heard this story would become outraged, King David was furious.  How dare someone do something so heartless and selfish!  However, David had failed to see the parallel between this story and his own life.  It’s very easy for us to see that Nathan was illustrating David’s sin because it’s always easier to see the sin in others that it is in our own hearts.  The reason why it is so easy is because of sin’s familiarity in our own lives.  We recognize it, but we don’t want to own it.  We are so pathetic.

David couldn’t see that he had done something far worse.  Nathan had to wake him up to that fact.  Nathan also pointed out that God had given him more than he could ever have imagined, yet he still desired something that he couldn’t have, yet took it for himself.  This story reminds me that I, too, have criticized someone for something that they had done or said when I was guilty of something just as bad or worse.  It’s good to be reminded of our own failures, not to dwell on them, but to repent of them and make a conscientious effort to not repeat them.  The Christian life is a battle that we wage everyday between our selfish desires and our desire to please the Lord, but He gives us the strength to be victorious over our sin.