David and Nathan

King David and Nathan Bible Study

David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible

Welcome to our Christianity Oasis Daily Bread study program. This is our David and Nathan Bible study taking a look into the King David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible story and how the very thought provoking David and Nathan Bible message affects your be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.

King David and Nathan Bible Lesson
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Saga

Nice to see you here at Daily Bread! Let's start by remembering what happened last in our study of The Second Book of Samuel. We shared the story of David falling into the temptation of lust after a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. Bathsheba became pregnant by David and, instead of repenting, David tried many different ways to make the problem go away.

He tried a few ways to have Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, one of David's mightiest soldiers, come home and sleep with his wife. When Uriah refused to go into his home because his fellow soldiers couldn't be home with their wives and families, David tried to get Uriah drunk enough to go home to his wife, but Uriah had no intention of doing such a dishonorable thing.

So David sent a message to Joab telling him to place Uriah in the front line of the most intense battle, and Uriah was killed. Bathsheba then became one of David's wives and had a son. And this, as one would expect, displeased the Lord.

The Lord sent the Prophet Nathan to talk to David. Nathan approached David and said, "There were two men in one city; one rich and one poor. The rich man had a vast amount of flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little female sheep, which he took care of. The small lamb grew up with the man and his children. It ate from the man's plate and drank from the man's cup. The man held it and treated it like it was his own daughter.

King David and Nathan Bible Discussion
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Tale

"Then a traveler came to the rich man and instead of taking from his own flock or herd to prepare a meal for the traveler, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his guest."

David was becoming very angry at the man who did this thing, and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man that did this must die. He must repay the man with four lambs because he did this and had no pity for the poor man."

Here comes the clincher ...

Then Nathan said, "You are this man. The Lord God of Israel says, "I have anointed you king over Israel and saved you from the hand of Saul. I have given you a beautiful house to live in, wives, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. If that wasn't enough for you, I would have given you more.

"Why have you despised the Word of the Lord and done this evil thing in front of me? You killed Uriah the Hittite, and have taken his wife to be your wife. From this time on, the sword will be a threat to you and your family because you have despised me and have taken Uriah's wife and made her your own."

King David and Nathan Bible Explanation
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Concern

The Lord says, "I will cause rebellion within your family and will take your wives and give them to someone else, and they will sleep together in public view. Since you did all of this secretly, I will do this before all of Israel to see."

At this, David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."

Ahhh, the beautiful sound of repentance. This Psalm that David wrote explains it all:

Nathan said, "The Lord has forgiven you, and you won't die because of your sin. But, because what you did has given the enemies of the Lord reason to blaspheme, the child that will be born, will die."

You might be wondering why God still punished David even though He forgave him. Check out this verse:

King David and Nathan Bible Research
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Warning

Nathan then left David. And the Lord caused the baby of Bathsheba and David to become very sick. David approached God on behalf of the child and begged for him to live. David fasted and lay all night on the ground. The leaders of Israel tried to convince David to get up and eat with them, but he refused. On the seventh day, the child died.

The servants of David were afraid to tell David that the baby had died. They said, "While the baby was still alive, but sick, David ignored us. How is he going to react when we tell him the baby has died?" But when David saw his servants whispering, he knew the child had died. He asked them, "Is the child dead?" They replied, "Yes."

Then David got up, washed himself, anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the Tabernacle and worshiped. When he returned to his own house, the servants gave him something to eat as he requested. Then one of David's servants asked him, "What are you doing? When the baby was alive, you fasted and cried for the child; but now that the child is dead, you eat."

King David and Nathan Bible Message
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Truth

David responded, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept because I wondered if God could be so gracious to me and keep the child alive. But now that he's dead, why should I continue to fast? Can I bring him back to life? I'll go to him one day, but he can't return to me."

David comforted Bathsheba, and went in and slept with her. She became pregnant and had a son, and named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan, that his name should be Jedidiah (beloved of the Lord), because the Lord loved him.

Let's back up for just a moment. Even though David messed up, big time, God forgave him and even gave him the son that God will use later to build His Temple. That definitely sounds like forgiveness! So the next time you think you've done something unworthy of being forgiven, maybe even the worst thing you could possibly do.

Just think back to David's story. David committed adultery, tried to cover his sin which ended up killing innocent men in battle, and purposely had a man killed. Even David, who some might label as a selfish adulterer and murderer ... Was forgiven and was still the apple of God's eye.

King David and Nathan Bible Message
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Truth

Something important to remember in all of this, is that the Lord forgave David because he repented. He was sincerely sorry for what he did from his heart.

If you're struggling with forgiving others, or even yourself, or accepting that God has forgiven you after you have truly repented, check out this great study:

And Joab continued to fight against Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, taking away it's water supply, and he persuaded David to gather the rest of the army together and come take the city himself so that he could have credit for the victory. (Actually, Joab told David to come and finish the job before they name the city after him. It's stretching a little, but for Joab, one might consider this kind of honorable!) So David gathered his men and went to Rabbah and destroyed it. David also took the crown of the king of Ammon which was made of gold and precious stones, and it was set on his own head. He brought back many things from the city including the people that survived and forced them to labor with saws, picks, axes and brick making.

King David and Nathan Bible Conclusion
David and the Prophet Nathan in the Bible Summary

(You may notice that your Bible says that David "cut them" with saws, axes, etc. however this term actually means "put them" as in "put them to work with.") This is how he dealt will all of the cities of Ammon. Then David and his army returned home.

Wow, what a great slice of Daily Bread we had today! It's a lot to digest at once, so let it set in, and then be sure to come back soon to see what happens next in David's family.

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