The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Samuel 12:1-10, “Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.

2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.

3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom and was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; rather, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.

6 “He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.

8 ‘I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!

9 ‘Why have you despised the Word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.

10 ‘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.’”

All sin is serious and should be viewed as such. Some would distinguish between excessive speeding in a car and parking a car in a “No Parking” zone. Yet, each is an infringement of the law. What David did in the passage above was wrong. It is doubtful that he overlooked the wrong when the instance of the poor man’s lamb was used as an illustration of his greater sin. We are always and ever in the sight of the LORD!

What we should not miss is that all wrong is sin in God’s eyes, and that He will require payment for everything that we intentionally or unintentionally overlook. Way back in the book of Numbers (32:23), the LORD said, “…be sure your sin will find you out.” It was true then, and it is true today. Yet, He will forgive our sin if we turn from it and humbly ask for His forgiveness.

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need

Until He becomes all that we have.” — Corrie ten Boom