Am I the man? I AM the man. Part I

I've been reading through II Samuel and recently came upon the story of our beloved King David and his sin with Bathsheba in chapter 11. Then in chapter 12 is where the prophet Nathan is sent by God to confront David about his sin.

In 2 Samuel 12:1-6 Nathan used a powerful story to illustrate exactly what David's sin looked like to the outside observer. And as we know, David, seeing the transgression from a position outside of himself declares that the rich man who killed the poor man's lamb should make restitution and be put to death.

Then come the words of Nathan in verse 7 that seem to hang in the air even to this day:

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.

There it is. It's that punch in the gut you know you deserve. As you lay there on the ground gasping for breath, you are incapable of being angry because you know it is exactly what you needed.

The conviction of the Holy Spirit can be the same in my life as a follower of Jesus Christ. How many times are we told in the book of Proverbs that every way of a man is right in his own eyes?

Thank you Lord for the Holy Spirit who shows us the sin in our lives that we would not see clearly on our own.

But seeing the sin is only the first step. After realizing that he indeed was the man, David had a choice to make. He had to choose how he was going to react to God pointing out the sin in his life. He had to decide whether to push aside God's efforts at reconciliation and proceed in his sin, or to repent from his sin and return to fellowship with Almighty God.

In verse 13 we see David's decision:

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.

David chose correctly. His repentance didn't eliminate the consequences that followed, but fellowship with the Lord was restored.

So what about me? What about you? What is my response when the Holy Spirit speaks to me clearly and says, "Ryan, thou art the man".

I too have to make the same decision David did; to accept God's efforts to reconcile me to Himself and repent from my sin, or choose to go on in my sin trying to ignore God's conviction.

Recently Keeley and I had a "break in fellowship" over an issue. As you might have guessed, I was the man in the situation. God made it abundantly clear that my sin had caused the problem and I needed to repent and make things right both with God and with my wife.

Accepting the blame goes against our nature. Great, great grandpa and grandma Adam and Eve provided us with an excellent legacy in this area, the original blame shifters. It is easier put the blame on someone else (my wife for example) than to accept the wrong and repent.

This time worked out fine. I listened to the Holy Spirit and made things right with God and my wife.

But what about next time? And the time after that? And the time after that?

I want to always respond correctly. "Yes, Lord. I am the man. Please forgive me"

How do you respond to the Holy Spirit's conviction in your life?


For Part II we will take a look at the characters in the story that Nathan used to confront David. Who do the characters represent in the life of David and what can learn from them?