Thursday April 11, 2024
Theme: “Breaking the good news to the authorities”
Text: 2 Samuel 12:1-6
1. The LORD sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said to him, There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor. 2. The rich man had very many sheep and oxen. 3. The poor man had nothing at all except a little sheep, which he had bought; he fed her, and she grew up at home with his children; she ate of his bread, drank from his cup, slept on his breast, and he looked upon her as his daughter. 4. A traveler came to the rich man's house. And the rich man would not touch his sheep or his oxen, to prepare a meal for the traveler who came to him; he took the poor man's sheep, and prepared it for the man who came to him. 5. David's anger was kindled violently against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives! The man who did this deserves to die. 6. And he will restore four sheep, for having done this deed and for having been merciless.
Let's remember:
It is the Lord who sends us to the authorities to correct their enormities. An authority invested with any power can commit profanities arousing indignation both from the people and from God. With the intoxication of power, one would think that everything was allowed. When we cross this line, even sin is trivialized and minimized without remorse. Power is like a drug, if you're not careful, you'll get drunk. Power makes a person blind and deaf to reality. Those who dare to reproach are treated as jealous. The superiority complex always gets involved and spiritual blindness comes full circle. Under such conditions, only God's intervention can bring back the thoughts of such authority captive to the obedience of Christ. God can directly touch the heart of an authority without going through an intermediary prophet or other servant. Here, God came through Nathan the prophet to condemn this infamy which saddened his heart. Nathan tactfully and subtly announced the Good News to King David. He used a figure of speech called the parable. The parable in the Bible is an allegorical story which serves to illustrate a point. Its aim is to make David feel the enormity of his crime. We see, however, that the prophet uses caution and consideration, and that he seeks to touch the king, for fear of embittering him. Whatever authority is in front of us, let us have the courage to tell him the good news without procrastinating but by bringing his heart back to God to arouse his obedience and repentance. Have a great Thursday. Amen
Alain Louz.-