You Shall Not Die
Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You 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. Now therefore, the 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 (2 Samuel 12:9-10, New King James Version).
In the above passage, the prophet Nathan helped King David with an early diagnosis of sin. We all know that cancer is deadly and yet a friend in the UK reportedly survived cancer. You see, cancer is a silent killer of the body, just like sin is a silent killer of the soul, but every disease condition has better chances of being cured with early diagnosis. Therefore the earlier the diagnosis, whether it is cancer of the body, or cancer of the soul (sin), the better the chances that you shall not die.
We see God immediately dispatching Prophet Nathan to King David with the diagnosis of the twin sin of adultery and murder. He also provided the prognosis, that is, the outcome of the condition. Without intervention, David's sin was going to result in a permanent sword in his family, permanent killing among his generations yet unborn.
Like cancer, sin is at first hidden from others; known only to you. You have no way of knowing what sin anybody else committed last night. Also like a cancer, sin starts small and grows; David went from lust to adultery to murder. The thief becomes the robber; the sexually casual soon becomes a prostitute. At first, it appears harmless – no big deal. The devil is no fool. If the act does not appear harmless you will not do it. The 1st sip of wine appears harmless; that 1st cocaine whiff even seems wise, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise... (Gen 3:6).
Death, both spiritual and physical, is the immediate consequence of sin. It is usually preceded by trouble all around, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun (2 Samuel 12:11). It is accompanied by shame – the punishment is obvious to all, For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun (2 Samuel 12:12).
With such terrible consequences, why do we sin? Primarily, it is because we are always on the lookout for number one - like this selfish king; self-focused and self-centered; selfishness leads to covetousness, which in turn leads to murder.
You just have to love King David. Almost before the words were out of the prophet's lips, David had discerned the root cause of his diagnosis as sin, he had discerned necessary intervention, had discerned that it was going to have to come from within himself and he was immediately applying it, all in the same breath. So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die." (2 Samuel 12:13).
Mercifully, as we see, God is a God of second chances but you have to admit that you have sinned and like King David, ask for forgiveness, by praying like Him, Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions (Psalm 51:1).
He will blot out your sin and you will not die.
Amen.
In the above passage, the prophet Nathan helped King David with an early diagnosis of sin. We all know that cancer is deadly and yet a friend in the UK reportedly survived cancer. You see, cancer is a silent killer of the body, just like sin is a silent killer of the soul, but every disease condition has better chances of being cured with early diagnosis. Therefore the earlier the diagnosis, whether it is cancer of the body, or cancer of the soul (sin), the better the chances that you shall not die.
We see God immediately dispatching Prophet Nathan to King David with the diagnosis of the twin sin of adultery and murder. He also provided the prognosis, that is, the outcome of the condition. Without intervention, David's sin was going to result in a permanent sword in his family, permanent killing among his generations yet unborn.
- David had enough knowledge for preventive care if he wanted to take it; he knew the right thing but he failed to do it. So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” (2 Samuel 12:5). Sin is knowing the good and not doing it.
- David killed Uriah, not acting in faith that God could heal even his adultery; Romans 14:23 says that anything that is not done in faith is sin.
- He despised God by trying to remedy the situation by his own strategy. From Adam and Eve, to the present time, humans have tended to use our own strategy of 'fig leaves' to cover our nakedness - a futile effort. Such an attitude that tells God that He does not have power to enforce His rules, despises God.
Like cancer, sin is at first hidden from others; known only to you. You have no way of knowing what sin anybody else committed last night. Also like a cancer, sin starts small and grows; David went from lust to adultery to murder. The thief becomes the robber; the sexually casual soon becomes a prostitute. At first, it appears harmless – no big deal. The devil is no fool. If the act does not appear harmless you will not do it. The 1st sip of wine appears harmless; that 1st cocaine whiff even seems wise, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise... (Gen 3:6).
Death, both spiritual and physical, is the immediate consequence of sin. It is usually preceded by trouble all around, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun (2 Samuel 12:11). It is accompanied by shame – the punishment is obvious to all, For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun (2 Samuel 12:12).
With such terrible consequences, why do we sin? Primarily, it is because we are always on the lookout for number one - like this selfish king; self-focused and self-centered; selfishness leads to covetousness, which in turn leads to murder.
- Fortunately there is immunization for sin, thy word have I hidden in my heart so that I will not sin against you (Psalm 119:11).
- Once thus immunized, pray for a discerning spirit; Joseph saw the trap of Potiphar’s wife and was saved, (Genesis 39:9).
- Avoid Isolation: Faith is personal but the Christian growth is not; Like a baby before and after being born. Just like the lion, Satan gets the loner easily. Try to see the big picture - eternal weight of glory is far better than the slight affliction of the present 2 Corinthians 4:17. Esau did not see the big picture.
- Finally, focus on Jesus – the author and finisher of our faith.
You just have to love King David. Almost before the words were out of the prophet's lips, David had discerned the root cause of his diagnosis as sin, he had discerned necessary intervention, had discerned that it was going to have to come from within himself and he was immediately applying it, all in the same breath. So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die." (2 Samuel 12:13).
Mercifully, as we see, God is a God of second chances but you have to admit that you have sinned and like King David, ask for forgiveness, by praying like Him, Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions (Psalm 51:1).
He will blot out your sin and you will not die.
Amen.
