2 Samuel 12:1–14 (NASB)

¹ Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, “There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor. ² “The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds. ³ “But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nurtured; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie in his lap, And was like a daughter to him. ⁴ “Now a visitor came to the wealthy man, And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the traveler who had come to him; So 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, the man who has done this certainly deserves to die! ⁶ So he must make restitution for the lamb four times over, since he did this thing and had no compassion.” ⁷ Nathan then said to David, “You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I also gave you your master’s house and put 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 and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now then, the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to 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 sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and in open daylight.’ ” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, since by this deed you have shown utter disrespect for the Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.”

This is a sobering text to read. Consider these lessons: 

1. We don’t get away with sin. David didn’t, even though some time had passed since his sin with Bathsheba. God still knew. 
2. Sometimes we have to say, “You are the man!” It isn’t because we relish doing so but because we love the person. This touchy situation involved someone of influence, authority, and power, but Nathan had no options. Sin must be confronted. 
3. Sin has serious consequences. David’s life after this point is a bitter reminder, as Nathan told him it would be. His life goes to pieces. The child dies, his son rapes his sister, another son kills that one, and later leads a rebellion against him. An absolute mess. Why? Sin. 
4. As awful as sin is, it is not the end of the story. David found forgiveness for his sin and restoration to God. This didn’t remove the earthly consequences, but it did bring him back into a relationship with Yahweh. 

These same truths apply to us. We don’t get away with sin. We are amenable to God and are guilty of being “The man!” in sin. Sometimes, we must be confronted, and sometimes, we must do the confronting. Although we will carry the weight of sin’s consequences, we can be absolved of our sins before God by obedience to King Jesus. Jesus is the answer to this conundrum. We need to be reminded of David’s successes and failures. It can keep us humble and penitent before our God. Learn from Nathan and David.