King David had been a great warrior. But when he became king, he sent the army to war, and he stayed in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:2-5 “Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So, David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, ‘Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, ‘I am with child.’” Uriah was one of David’s great warriors. So, David made a plan to send for Uriah from the war so that he would come home and lay with his wife and think that the child was his. Uriah came from the war, but he did not go to his house but slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants. So, David sent Uriah back to the war with written instructions to the commander to cause Uriah to be vulnerable to be killed in battle. When Uriah was dead, David took Bathsheba to be his wife. 2 Samuel 12:1-7a “Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: ‘There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.’ So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.’ Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’” Verse 13: “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.’”
While there is much that we could learn from this incident in David’s life, I want to point out that when Nathan the prophet told David the story about the man with the pet lamb, David was very angry. He thought that the rich man should be put to death and restore fourfold for the lamb that he had taken from the poor man. But Nathan told David that he had done the same thing when he took Bathsheba and killed her husband. David could see the wrong of the rich man, but he had been blinded to his own sin. In the same way, it may be easy for you and me to see the sins and trespasses of others, but we can be blinded to our own faults that are similar.
Romans 2:1-6 “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds.’” We must not despise the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God toward us. If we excuse our sins and have a hard and impenitent heart, we deserve the wrath of God. Romans 2:21-23 “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?” I confess that I am guilty of this principle. It is easy for me to see the faults of others while I do the same thing. When I am driving my car, I am critical of those who do not use turn signals or are inconsiderate of other drivers. But then I catch myself not using turn signals and being inconsiderate of other drivers.
We may criticize others for being inconsiderate or not showing love while we ourselves are inconsiderate of others and do not show love. We can hold bad feelings for others for sins they have committed in the past while wanting to forget and receive forgiveness for our sins of the past. We can be critical of those committing adultery while looking at another to lust after them and committing adultery in our own hearts. We can criticize others for being lazy while we put off doing what we need to do. Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Instead of judging others, we should work to remove from our own lives the sins and weaknesses that we have. Romans 14:12-13 “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”
I encourage you to not judge others. You may be guilty of a similar fault. Be quick to forgive others since you want God to forgive you. With God’s help, work to purify your own life.