You Da Man
“You da man” … it’s been spoken thousands…probably millions of times over the last several years as a term of praise or a compliment. It’s sometimes just mouthed, with someone pointing at the person in which they’re praising…after some great feat has been accomplished or milestone met. Maybe someone has looked you in the eye, smiled warmly , and with an appreciative look, gave you that respectful, ” You da man” that you felt you so rightly deserved. It’s a good feeling; right ? So how would you feel if someone came up to you and proclaimed, “You da man”, and they weren’t smiling…weren’t offering it as a term of endearment but as a statement of guilt ?!? It happened to David…after he’d risen from a shepherd boy to king…after Goliath…after Saul’s death…after victory after victory with God’s favor. His power and privilege caused him to become self-important and to become complacent in his walk with the God who’d placed him in this seat of royalty. And, as is usually the case, David let his self-importance cause a lax in judgment and chose to give in to temptation and sin against God. He not only committed adultery with a married woman, he had her husband, a loyal subject, to be killed in battle and took Bathsheba as his wife ! God couldn’t let this stand, so He sent a messenger…the Prophet Nathan, to David’s house to proclaim to David, “ You are the man.” ( 2 Samuel 12:7 ) This is where we ( should ) hear that great “slap” in the face sound ! A “calling out” from God ! David was chosen by God, called by God, favored by God, blessed by God, and now, convicted by God for what he’d done ! Although David felt remorse and guilt…was repentant as he should’ve been…God couldn’t let him go without being punished … so He struck the child he and Bathsheba conceived with an illness that caused the death of this innocent child, vowed calamity on David’s household and gave David’s wives to someone close to him so as to bring shame on David and contempt from God’s enemies ( 2 Samuel 12:1-25 ). Yeah David was sorry for what he’d done. Yeah he sought forgiveness by repenting. Yeah he hoped God would change His mind and not go through with His promise. But just like today, “sin” brings consequences ! Just because a murderer or rapist acted in the heat-of-the-moment, doesn’t mean there won’t be punishment for their actions. Neither will the actions of a born-again child of God be overlooked when they choose to go outside God’s boundaries and choose to sin against Him ! Letting down our guard…leaving the devil a foothold, only opens the door to pain and suffering for a believer ( as well as the believer’s family members ) ! Satan is here to lie, steal, kill and destroy ( John 8:44, 10:10 )…and he’s good at it ! Let’s not “make” God do something He doesn’t want to do. Feed the Spirit within…Walk in the Spirit so as not to give in to the flesh / sinful nature…put God first in every situation and love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength ( Galatians 5:16, Matthew 6:33, Mark 12:30 ) !! It’s better to “know the Man”, than to have someone proclaim to us ,” You da man.”