The rich man had very many flocks and herds,
Nathan tells David a story about two men. One owns flocks and herds beyond counting. The other owns a single lamb. The rich man's wealth is what makes his next act indefensible — and it holds up a mirror to a king who already had everything.
The parable opens
The prophet does not accuse. He tells a story about a town and two men, and the king listens as an outsider.
H. L. RossierNathan speaks in a parable, and in his blindness David does not detect that he himself is the one this account is about. The prophet says, There were two men in a city, the one rich and the other poor. One had many flocks and herds; the other had only one little lamb which he cherished.
Why the story is milder than the sin
Nathan keeps the story just far enough from David's own case to slip past his guard. It also stops well short of what David had done.
Leslie M. GrantThe story stresses the great difference between the two men. The rich man had everything. The poor man had nothing but one little lamb, which he had cared for so tenderly that it was like a daughter to him. But when the rich man wanted a lamb to prepare a meal for a visitor, he stole the poor man's lamb, though he had flocks of his own. In the parable the difference from David's own case was just enough to keep it from being obvious. Yet the parable said far less than the truth David had to face. This rich man's case was not nearly as serious as David's. David was guilty not only of stealing, but of adultery and murder.
Wealth that was a gift
The wealth in the story is not a neutral detail. When God explains the parable, He lists what He had given David.
H. L. RossierThe Lord reminds David of all that He had done for him: "I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 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 that had been too little, I would have given you much more." The treasures of My grace were yours and you sinned in the presence of My love! "Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?" How had David despised it? God had heaped blessings on him and David had preferred to satisfy his lust!
That word "despised" reaches wider than one king's crime.
H. L. RossierTo covet the things the world can offer is to despise God. We are usually barely aware of this, but this is how God looks at things. "Because you have despised Me," He repeats in verse 10.
The judge who sentences himself
David reacts to the rich man with real heat. His sense of justice still works perfectly — on somebody else.
H. L. RossierDavid's heart and conscience are in a bad state, yet his judgment is still righteous. Though he was under sin's yoke himself, he judged sin harshly in others. When we are not involved ourselves, we often see evil in others clearly and fully, while our own hearts go unjudged.
Another writer puts the warning sharply. Strong feeling about wrong does not prove that a conscience is awake.
William KellyDo not always trust people when they show fierce outrage. Even then David could feel strongly about evil. Sadly, there was no self-judgment... The only thing that lets us judge anything in others rightly is self-judgment. If we are to see clearly the speck in a brother, let us not forget to take the log out of our own eyes.
Righteousness and mercy
David was not seeking God. That God spoke at all was mercy.
C E StuartDavid had sinned in the matter of Uriah's wife, and was guilty before God of adultery and murder... God could not pass it over. It must all come out to the light. So Nathan visited the king. How God's righteousness and God's mercy shine out. Righteousness required that God deal with him for it. Mercy moved God to send the prophet to the king about it... Notice too that it was God who sent to David; it was not David seeking after God.
The exposure was never meant to crush him: God "would have David convicted of it... Not to drive him to despair, but to lead him to repentance" (C E Stuart).
Summary
- Rich — the man in the story owns flocks and herds without number. The whole parable rests on how much he already had.
- Given — everything David held came from God's hand, and God says He would have added more had it not been enough.
- Despised — to reach past all that for what belongs to another is contempt for Him. Coveting what the world offers is the same thing in smaller clothes.
- Blind — David judged the rich man rightly, and his anger was real. Yet he never saw himself. Only self-judgment clears the eye to judge anyone else.
- Sent — God did not wait for David to come. Righteousness required that the sin be exposed. Mercy sent the prophet, and the goal was repentance, not despair.