Daily Lesson for May 4, 2020

Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 1 through 4:

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?

In the Biblical tradition Nathan was a prophet.  An advisor to David, Nathan was the one who confronted David after David took Bathsheba from Uriah the Hittite and then had Uriah murdered.  It took tremendous courage for Nathan to reprove the King for this.

But Nathan was a courageous man, evidenced here in the Lesson by his earlier address of the King.  David wanted to build a Temple for the LORD.  But in a dream the LORD told Nathan David was not suitable to build Him/Her a house. Nathan was then called to confront the king with his oracle and tell him the truth that the LORD had other plans.

We need courageous people who are willing to stand up and be heard in high places.  We need people who can discern the truth, and are willing to stand up and speak it in the presence of kings, and princes, and presidents.  We need more prophets. 

We need another Nathan and his deep, deep courage . . .

NOTE: We are reading the Bible through this year.  Tomorrow's Lesson will be from somewhere in Psalms 25, 29, 33, 36, and 39.