The Other Man

I was thinking about this passage in 2 Samuel 12 last night while I was at work and I wanted to share it with you today.

1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

As I was thinking about this passage, my mind was drawn to verse 4 where it says, "Now a traveler came to the rich man..." I began to focus on this line because as we read about David's sin with Bathsheba the only other person we read about is Uriah, who is represented by the poor man in Nathan's story. So who is this other guy?

The traveler in this story is a personified representation on David's sinful lust and desire. A traveler that so often wants to visit each of us. In this story we find David, the man after God's own heart, welcoming the traveler in and desiring to fill this guy's appetite. David then had a choice. He could do the right thing and resist the urges of the traveler and could satisfy his desires with his own wife or he could give in to the passions of his sinful nature and progress in a downward spiral of sin. It started simple enough with a lustful longing that quickly turned into a covetousness of his neighbors wife, then progressed to a rebellious decision to act upon the lust in his heart, and then David moved to the physical act of adultery. After this he began to lie and scheme to cover up his sin and finally ended with him having Uriah killed.

The fact is each and every one of us has a traveler that comes to call. This traveler can come in many shapes and sizes but each and every time we are faced with an opportunity to appease the traveler or be obedient to God. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we have this promise, No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

It is great to know that we have a Savior who is greater than our darkest temptation and has the power to provide the way out if we would just turn to Him.

I don't know what you are battling today but I know this, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." ~ 1 John 4:4 So what ever it is that is pulling at you today rest assured that you need not worry, just lean not in your own understanding but trust in Him who has already gained the victory.