Living in the Spirit
July 28, 2015
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added 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. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within 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 very sun. For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan said to David, ‘Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. –2 Samuel 11:7-13
Where was my Nathan when I needed him, when I opened my mouth to pontificate wisely about things of which I truly had no wisdom? Where was he when I failed to speak when silence gave credence to injustice? Where was my Nathan when I turned a blind eye to my own sin? The remarkable thing about Nathan’s confrontation with David is David’s response. He recognized his sin and repented. While he still faced the consequences of his own action, the Lord forgave him.
Would I recognize a real Nathan, if I met one? There is so much chatter in our world today finding truth is difficult. Pilate’s question to Jesus at his trial “What is truth?”* echoes in my mind. When I seek guidance in all the clutter of absolutes available, many seem to lack the seasoning of God’s love. For Pilate, the politician, truth boiled down to expedient self-interest. David recognized the real Nathan when he hear the sound of God’s love in Nathan’s words.
I have come to follow what I call the test of love. If some action or policy or way of being does not pass the test of love it is not of God. When love is present God is present also.
Prayer: Help me to discern the true prophets within my world today. Let your words pour through them into my heart. Protect me from the false prophets saying what I perhaps want to hear, but is not sourced through love. Amen.