Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12: 7-9

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed some discussion of David’s multiple sins revolving around Bathsheeba. We can speculate about motives, but in the end, sin is sin – even for the powerful among us.

Power creates fear, but among all of Israel, Nathan was one man who was willing to take a stand with King David. How many of us have someone who has permission to speak directly into our lives? What if we were able to avoid the kind of self-inflicted pain in the first place?

When David finally faced his own actions, it left him undone because there was no way to recover. He could not undo his entanglement with Bathsheba. He could not undo his actions that caused the death of a better man, Uriah. He could do nothing to correct the damage and all of Israel would know of his complete and utter failure.

When I think back to some of the many mistakes I’ve made through the years (notice how I referred to sin as mistakes?) there are more than a few regrets. There are plenty of things I am unable to undo. Thankfully, there is God’s mercy and grace.

Most of us think we have little in common with David’s adultery and murder, but I would suggest you consider Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount.

“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5: 27-28).

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment (Matthew 5: 21-22b).

So how do we respond when our lives are exposed? Tomorrow we’ll start with a look at Psalm 51.