Thursday 31st October
Read 2 Samuel 12:13-15
“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’
Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.’
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.” (NIVUK)
The penalty for murder is death. Yet the Lord takes away David’s sin. Before we even have time to reflect on that amazing fact we are struck with another that is far more challenging to grasp. ‘Uriah’s wife’ and David’s son will be struck down and killed because of David’s sin. In case we are inclined to believe it simply a coincidence, the author explicitly states that ‘the Lord struck the child’.
There is no avoiding these words. To deny them is to worship a ‘god’ of our own choosing. To accept them is to wrestle with our own sense of injustice. This is the purpose of the author and the purpose of the Lord. We are meant to meditate long and hard on what these words mean. Spend some time reflecting on it today. What does justice and mercy truly look like?
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26 – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26) (NIVUK)
