One Little Lamb

Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, "There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 "The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him."
5 Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 "He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion."
7 Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, `It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 `I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 `Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 `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.' 11 "Thus says the LORD, `Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 `Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.' " 13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 "However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die." 15 So Nathan went to his house. 2 samuel 12

King David had so much the Lord had given him. And God, in His gracious loving kindness, would have given him even more blessings. Yet, David wanted something that did not belong to him.

Sometimes we are guilty of the same things. God calls it coveting; wanting what someone else has for our self. But sometimes our covetness comes in the opposite form. Sometimes, we simply do not want someone else to have something because we cannot have it.

St. Paul writes, "God will have mercy on Whom He will have mercy". I can say I have been guilty. Life just does not seem fair sometimes. But God is not about fairness; He is about justice and mercy. Justice is about getting what we deserve. And mercy is about NOT getting what we deserve.

In King David's story, his sin costs him the life of his son. The prophet, Nathan, tells him his life will be spared (mercy). But justice must still prevail. Our sin cost God the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. Our life was spared (mercy), but justice still had to prevail.

And, so all the blessings in life are just that...additional blessings. Blessings layered upon the ultimate blessing of eternal life. Unfortunately, it does not always feel like it. Instead, it feels like someone has taken our only lamb and sacrificed it for their own purposes. May God help us to see it from His perspective. But may we also know He understands our pain.