Proper Provision

“And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.” (2Sa 12:4 AV)

Nathan the prophet has come to David to confront him of his sin.  David had an affair with Bathsheba, then put her husband Uriah in the front of the battle so that he would perish at the hands of the Ammonite archers.  Nathan fabricates a parable to ensnare David to react emotionally to his own sin.  The parable speaks of a rich man with many sheep and a poor man with but one.  A traveler comes to the rich man’s house and instead of slaying one of his many sheep to feed the traveler (something he would have been obligated to do), he takes the one sheep of the poor man and provides it.  David is incensed.  As he should be.  Then Nathan utters those well-known words, “Thou are the man.”  The traveler is often depicted as temptation.  But he is not.  The traveler, and the impending obligation to entertain him, is not a morally bad individual.  The traveler is neutral.  A stranger who happens to arrive as an obligation of hospitality.  The error was not is providing hospitality to the traveler.  The sin was in how the provision was made.  David’s traveler was the need for intimacy.  God provided for that intimacy by a relationship with Him and the provision of wives.  Why not seek Abigail?  Why not one of the others?  The traveler would have been satisfied.  David chose to fulfill a genuine need in a wicked way.

We all have basic human needs.  Intimacy is but one of them.  There is a need for rest.  There is a need for nourishment.  There is a need for growth.  There is a need for purpose and definition of life.  There is a need for health (this is particularly poignant today).  There is a need for spiritual, emotional, and social influence.  There are many needs.  For those needs, the LORD has provided specific venues of fulfillment.  To go outside those provisions designed by God is where sin enters in.  Our world has taken that which the LORD has provided and twisted it.  What the LORD has provided is often seen as unfulfilling.  Marriage is not seen as admirable, honorable, or fulfilling.  How foolish.  It is more than enough.  Eating healthy is seen as boring or unfulfilling.  My wife and I are relearning how to cook more healthy meals and they are far more flavorful than the junk we have been consuming.  The LORD has provided for our spiritual and emotional needs by providing the church and family.  There is no need to go to the world for those relationships.  We could go on.  But we get the point.  Sin is not in the traveler arriving, necessitating an itch being scratched.  Welcome the traveler.  The LORD allows the traveler to show up for a reason.

We all have our travelers.  They show up at all sorts of times.  They are genuine.  They are not to be avoided.  These travelers are part of living.  They are often the very definition of what it means to be human.  David was not in the wrong for wanting a moment of intimacy.  He was wrong in how he went about it.  This traveler will always show up.  You cannot avoid it.  Asceticism is the belief that all human desire is evil.  This is a false idea and leads to what Paul called ‘will worship’.  This idea that we have to feel unclean because we have desires is not a biblical idea.  God gave us desire.  He gave us the traveler.  It is not wrong to desire intimacy.  It is not wrong to desire nourishment.  It is not wrong to desire a purpose in life.  It is not wrong to desire to know God.  It is not wrong to desire music.  It is not wrong to desire relationships.  Desire is not evil in and of itself.  It is what we provide for the traveler that makes the act right or wrong.  So, when those desires come around, seek God’s provision.  He has given you a whole flock from which to pick.  Just like the garden of Eden.  A whole orchard of trees from which to choose.  Just stay clear of the one sheep that wasn’t meant for you.