This is our lamb Rebecca and through her, God has been teaching me new understanding.
2 Samuel 12:3 NKJV — “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.
This is part of a story Nathan the prophet told King David, and until now, I’ve never understood it.
When I was a teen and my parents had sheep, we raised some bummer lambs.
But I still didn’t understand the poor man in this story, because I couldn’t imagine letting a sheep be part of the family like that.
Until, I only had one ewe lamb.
Our one ewe lamb has been teaching me a little about how the poor man would have felt.
We all enjoy her antics and we all spend time with her.
Our son has said more than once, “We don’t need a dog, we have a sheep.”
And right now she’s a bit more like a pet than a farm animal.
Circumstances have kept us from putting in our cross fence, so she has a small pen and the rest of the time we keep her with us as we work or play around the yard.
Here she is investigating the crochet game Anne and Jase are setting up.
There aren’t any pictures of her eating my potted plants on the deck, although it’s frequent.
Because I don’t stop to take a picture, rather I stop to grab her before she does too much damage.
She won’t always be allowed on the deck or to roam with us around the yard, but she will always be well cared for and she holds a place of promise in our lives.
If she continues to remain healthy and strong she could be the beginning of the flock we wish for.
Which is why I suddenly have been more understanding of the poor man in the story Nathan told the king.
For a poor man with a family, one ewe lamb might mean, especially in King David’s day, and way out of poverty.
David would have understood the preciousness of a single ewe lamb to a poor man and his family.
One lamb, would be extremely precious, and it makes sense the poor man would keep it in his home, care for it himself, and would come to love it.
King David would have grasped the time, care, and the emotion of a poor man in this circumstance.
His reactions tell he understood this story fully.
2 Samuel 12:4 NKJV — “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.”
2 Samuel 12:5 NKJV — 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!
2 Samuel 12:6 NKJV — “And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
With my increased understanding of how precious this lamb would have been, and how King David would have felt, the truth of the story hits home even more.
2 Samuel 12:7-9 NKJV — Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ‘I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ‘Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.”
God gives us life and sustains us through a long list of blessings: jobs, home, family, church,…
When I covet something God hasn’t given me, I’m sinning against Him, both by longing for something He’s blessed someone else with and for not being grateful for the blessings I already have.
When I act upon this covetousness, I’m sinning again.
My flesh wants to make excuses and compare my behavior to David’s: “I’m not committing murder…”.
But sin separates us from God, any sin and I don’t want to separate myself from the Lord in anyway.
Yes, I still sin daily, because I’m a sinner.
But there is a difference with sinning intentionally, it is choosing what I know is wrong rather than walking in what I know is right.
And the Lord has brought me to a better understanding of all this through our one ewe lamb.
I’m thankful for her and for the reminder to be on guard against covetousness.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 KJV — And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
I’m grateful for God’s many blessings.
James 1:17 KJV — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
I’m seeking His face with praise and a heart of thanksgiving.
Praise the Lord!
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for teaching me from it daily. Thank You for blessing us with so much. Lord Jesus, thank You for breath which I can use to speak Your praises and the goodness of Your Word. Thank You for showing us the difference between right and wrong. Please continue to comfort the hurting, return the prodigal, protect the innocent, and save the lost. Thank You for all Your wonderous works! I love You, Jesus. Amen.
patientlyhopeful 