When David's kingdom is established and he has set in place the proper offerings of Israel before the Temple you would think anything this man wanted would be his. Here David has subdued Israel's enemies. He has learned his lesson concerning the Ark of the Covenant and brought in right sacrifices and leaders. Now David, the great king, and hero has it in his heart to do something noble in 1 Chronicles 17. He's going to set out to build a glorious Temple for the Lord.
At first Nathan the prophet is with him. He encourages him to do whatever is in his heart for the great history of his life is proof positive that God is with him (see verse 2).
But the very next verse presents Nathan, the prophet with a complete turnabout.
1 Chronicles 17:3–4 (ESV) But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in.
Could you imagine being Nathan in this moment? You have just spoken in the king's favor. You have even benefited from his leadership and victories. You are part of his inner circle. And he wants to do something noble... build a house for the Lord! What an incredible amount of courage for Nathan to speak contrarily to David in this moment. It takes guts to be a Nathan.
The text wants us to see that Nathan leaves nothing out that God would tell David.
1 Chronicles 17:15 (ESV) In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
Sadly, it's hard to find Nathans in our celebrity culture. We don't want to offend anyone anymore. Why? Because we are usually interested in leveraging their importance to generate our own importance. In a culture where everyone is chasing fame and notoriety, it's easy to turn a blind eye to misguided ideas and plans of those we admire and seek to use for our own benefit.
Thankfully, Nathan refuses to hold back with David. If the Lord has revealed this word to him he will share it! He will be strong in the opinion of the Lord so that the opinion of man has no power over him.
We need Nathans in our world. We need people who will listen to God over the opinions of men. I recently preached a message about the end times and Jesus' return. I confronted many of the societal issues I see putting Christians to sleep. The message was not user-friendly but it was Biblical. After the message I found out a lady came to Christ at the end of the service though she at first did not agree with what I was sharing the Bible says about homosexuality. After receiving Christ she commented to her friend that brought her that my willingness to not appease people with what they wanted to hear was refreshing and appreciated.
We need Nathans.
I wish I was always a Nathan. I have many times failed to live up to this standard. But let us not miss this moment enshrined in Holy Scripture so that we learn to follow in his footsteps. We need to be less enamored with celebrity and "you scratch my back..." culture and more enamored with the Word of God. We need to love what HE SAYS more than what people think.
The best part of Nathan's boldness here is also illustrated. God has a better plan for David in the long run. He was going to establish his kingdom forever through his Son (first Solomon and ultimately Jesus). You see Nathan's willingness to confront David with God's contrary word to his plans actually encouraged David to think long term about life and the big plan of God.
Give us Nathans who will speak the truth. If we listen to them and follow, it only helps us and glorifies God's plan for the world.
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