I am the Man!

You are probably thinking is some self proclaiming post about how great of a man I am, but it is actually quite opposite. There is a story in the Bible that most know, which is the story of David showing us that you can be a grave sinner and still love God because of a repentant heart. David had just went through having sex with another man's wife, getting her pregnant, getting her husband drunk, getting her husband killed, and then taking the woman as his wife. Crazy. What happened afterward is something that always hits me in between the eyes every time I read it. Here it is in its whole:

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.
“The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
“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.
“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.”
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.
“He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
Nathan then said to David, “You are the man!"
2 Samuel 12:1-7a

This story always seems quite amazing that David is such a moron. The problem is that everytime I read it or hear it preached, Nathan seems to always yell at me: You are the man! For whatever reason I can easily discern everyone else's sins besides my own. I can see their faults as though I sit on some throne of righteousness. If you know any theology at all, you know, and I should know, how much I need Jesus more than any other person I know. I need to realize that I am the greatest sinner, not the most mature saint.

John Piper says that when he prays he starts by praying for himself, because he says that he is the greatest sinner he knows.

The apostle Paul said that he was the least of the apostles and chief of sinners.

Isaiah, the great prophet of God, said that he was a man of unclean lips and that he was undone.

As I look to others in their sins, I need to first know that I am far worse than they are. The second that I look past my own sins to the sins of others, I become a proud Pharisee awaiting judgment from my perfect Saviour.

The great thing is that God continues to forgive my proud heart, and continues to point to his cross where my sins were paid and my forgiveness shown.

We all like to be Nathans, but rarely do we realize that most of the time, if not all the time, we are the Davids instead. The sooner we realize this, the more we will be able to worship Christ and his cross instead of our own righteousness.

Know that I am, indeed, the man.