“Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? …From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own…Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the Lord by doing this, your child will die.”
2 Samuel 12:9-10, 14
We often try to cloak our sins in flowery excuses. On the other hand, God uses words that go straight to the heart, and expose the deepest issues from which our sin arose.
Through Nathan the prophet, God told David that he had despised the word of the Lord. David knew God’s commands, and yet he disregarded them as if they had never been spoken. And since words are part of who a person is, by despising God’s words, David despised GOD Himself.
No wonder God was upset—David had broken relationship! By going ahead with what HE wanted to do, David ignored his Shepherd’s loving command that had been given for his own good. David still chose self over loyalty to the Lord, and therefore God plainly stated, “You have despised ME!” David’s actions proved that what HE wanted was more important than relationship with his God.
A breach of relationship by a man after God’s heart would most certainly bring pain. Perhaps that’s why God went on to say that David had shown utter contempt for the Lord—he had scorned what God had taught him, and by his actions, disgraced their precious relationship.
No sugar-coating can erase such heartbreak. The words God used came from the pain He felt, because in God’s heart, RELATIONSHIP is everything!
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