You're the Man

You're the Man
Words of Faith 2-11-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2025
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 12:7-14
[7] Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. [8] I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. [9] Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. [10] Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' [11] "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. [12] You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'" [13] 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 made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."

There is a phrase that has become popular in urban culture: "You're the man." It is a male-to-male affirmation, usually in response to a positive deed. That was not the case on this day.
Nathan's reply was a bombshell: "You are the man!" He went on painfully to remind David that the Lord had given David everything he could ever need, but he had stolen from a neighbor who had only one thing precious to him. David now would suffer the sword, as had Uriah. David's wives would be taken from him as Bathsheba had been stolen from the Hittite.
This prophetic judgment was fulfilled years later when Absalom, David's own son, lay with David's concubines (16:22). David's shame would be even greater because, in contrast with David's sin in secret, all these things would happen in the glare of the public eye, in broad daylight.
Why was David not punished with death as he sternly advocated for the guilty man in the parable? Adultery and murder were both sufficient causes for the execution of even a king (Ex. 21:12; Lev. 20:10). The reason can only lie in the mercy of the Lord that David sought in genuine and contrite repentance.
We hear David's confession in the simplest form: "I have sinned against the Lord." We will hear more of the heart of that confession in Psalm 51, but this is the short of it. Confession is really so very simple. We are reminded of 1 John 1:8-9: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
We often clutter up our confession of sin with details and explanations, clouding the issue. We may seek a sympathetic understanding, but the truth is so very simple-- I have sinned against the Lord. As David puts it in his longer confession, against You and You only have I sinned (Psalm 51:4).
Nathan pronounced the Lord's forgiveness just as simply: "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die." The grace of the Lord is just that simple... and powerful. In fact, grace is so amazing that we often do not receive it well and instead want to grovel for a way to try and earn it. But the truth is that we can never earn that which cannot be earned.
Notice that the sin was taken away by the Lord. Only He can do that. The primary punishment was also taken away-- You will not die for this. But the broader consequences of the sin remained. "But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
There was no changing the "utter contempt" in the hearts of the enemies of God. This may be the worst consequence of our sin when those we would most like to reach for God are turned away from Him because of our sin and hypocrisy. David, the man after God's own heart, desired more than anything that people would worship the one true and living God. But now, he had become a barrier to that very thing. We could probably name countless times when the moral failure of a highly visible leader caused the enemies of God to smirk and hold the Lord in utter contempt. It is a most painful consequence.
The other consequence for David would be the loss of his son, who was born to Uriah's wife. This is linked to the utter contempt of the enemies of God and may have been an act of mercy on the part of the Lord that this child would not suffer under a label. We don't know the mind or judgments of the Lord, but the scripture is clear that the Word continued to view Bathsheba as the wife of Uriah.
What we don't want to miss is that the declaration-- "You're the man" -- was the beginning of healing for David. He had gotten so far from God. His heart was hardened against the Lord. But David was not beyond the reach of the Father. The arms of the Lord were not too short. Tomorrow, we will see that this was just the beginning of a marvelous work of the Spirit to restore David.

Father God, reveal in me the sin nature that battles against You. Reveal in me the acts of the sinful nature that war against Your Spirit. Reveal and remove those attitudes, actions, ideals, and behaviors so that I may walk in new life with You and manifest the fruit of Your Spirit. In Jesus' Name, Amen.