2 Samuel 12:1 "And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man."For the non-decerning: 1) the rich man had many women, 2) the poor man was Bathsheba's husband Uriah, 3) the traveler was David 4) Uriah had, but one wife, 5) the traveler, David, took the only wife of the poor man Uriah.
When told the story David got angry and judged the traveler guilty and due the penalty of death. As such David judged himself guilty unknowingly! Nathan had presented his case shrewdly and this powerful man took the bait. He was remorseful (Read Psalm 51), but he still suffered the consequences of his actions.
Jesus said Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that ye be not judged.2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."Of course "judge" has a range of meanings from "having an opinion" to "condemning". Scripture clarifies what "judging" means in this context:
Luke 6:37a "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned:"David judged the anonymous person harshly. He condemned him to death, but by judging that mercilessly he condemned himself!
I did the same thing at a lower level, but just as wrong!
After Dad passed away I found a type-written letter which was an essay full of unfounded criticism of others. Dad often wrote his thoughts and nearly always typed them out. As I read the essay I lost respect for my Dad. I was really disappointed that he was so "hateful" as I thought it. I quit reading half way through and pondered awhile "I didn't know Dad thought that way."
Then I skipped to the end. It was signed and dated by me! It was an essay I had written many years before when I was in college. I didn't know that I had thought that way and was profoundly embarrassed of myself! Just as David did, I judged myself, but if I had known it was me, my scale for judgment would not have been so critical. I judged Dad harshly, but it was my own self who I was condemning! I no longer had thoughts like that and had forgotten that I ever had!
The lesson here is twofold: 1) never judge harshly and 2) when it's necessary to have an opinion use a fair scale. Why? Because God just may judge you as you judge others,
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