A quiet and humble prophet shows another face of courage. This man was willing to risk his life and deliver God’s word. Nathan was a brave prophet who had to deliver a tough word to the King of Israel. Many times we equate courage with being a strong warrior, but in this case Nathan was a courageous prophet.
It takes courage, risk, and resolve to deliver a word that others may not want to hear. Nathan observed David for quite sometime before he addressed his sin . Nathan began by telling parable about a rich man who took a little ewe that belonged to a poor man. David rightly reacted with anger and said that the rich man should get killed for such an injustice.
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” 2 Samuel 12:7-10
Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba and the fact that he taken the only wife of Uriah. Nathan took a major risk by confronting David. David could have killed Nathan out of fear or anger. He could have denied the whole thing and accused Nathan of having ulterior motives. Nathan must have counted the cost before going to King David.
David was patient. He waited until almost a year later to confront David. The Bible does not tell us that David shared this information with anyone during that time. Nathan must have sought the Lord for wisdom and discernment on how to handle this touch situation.
Will you be able to deliver an unpopular/tough message? Are you afraid of backlash? Despite all the possible fears or concerns, Nathan didn’t stop from doing God’s will.Nathan loved David and was a loyal man to the King. However, he loved God more most and that gave him the courage to do God’s will in God’s time!
