David haMelekh committed a terrible sin, when he took bat-sheba, a married woman and sent her husband to the battlefront. David did not repent by his own conscience. Natan, the prophet, was sent by God to admonish David, and help him realize the seriousness of the sin he committed. Natan presented David, who in his capacity as a King was also the supreme Judge of Israel, with a (fictitious) case: A rich man owned thousands of animals. His neighbor, very poor, had only one lamb. One day, the rich man received a guest. In order to save one of his own sheep, the rich man decided to steal and slaughter his neighbor's sole lamb, which he dearly loved. As Natan had expected, the King reacted angrily. David said: "That man (the rich guy) deserves to die!" Natan the prophet then turned to David and said: atta ha-ish.... "You are that man!". Faced now with the objective facts, and with the sentence he issued as a judge 'against himself' , David repented and admitted: 'chattati laHashem...' , 'I have sinned against God'.
For these transgressions, David was not permitted to build the bet-hamiqdash, but God accepted his Teshuba. Part of the credit goes to Natan who opened the King's eyes helping him to evaluate his actions objectively, allowing him to free himself from this form of psychological self-defense.
Rabbi Yosef Bitton.
130 Steamboat Rd. | Great Neck | NY | 11024.
Email: rabbibitton@yahoo.com
Click here to read: "Why Obama is Losing the Jewish vote". By Dan Senor, from WSJ.
