Forming Faith Blog

Nathan and King David (2 Samuel 11)

Posted on October 13 2026 by Gregory Rawn

How can stories change our perspectives? The prophet Nathan told a story that broke through King David’s denial of responsibility for his crimes and brought about repentance.

Photo by Paul Groom Photography Bristol
About the Story

Where we left off last week, life in the Promised Land was good, but that would be short-lived. Being God’s chosen people made the people feel different. All the other nations had a king. The Israelites began to beg for a king (1 Samuel 8), no longer feeling that the leadership of judges (military and religious leaders) was enough to lead God’s people. Finally, God gave the Israelites what they wanted, warning them that human kings could turn out to be a lot more trouble than they were worth. This was proven almost immediately by their first king, Saul, who started out okay but soon proved himself to be an unfaithful leader. (1 Samuel 13). In place of Saul, God appointed “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). It is the shepherd boy, David, who is anointed to become the next king. 

If you have been following along in the daily readings for the past week, you will have seen the early career of David play out. He began as a shepherd boy, then found himself in the midst of a battle against the giant Goliath, and eventually became king of Israel. His faith in God made him so bold that he put his life and all of his trust in God’s promises. David became the best king that Israel ever had. In fact, God promised David that there would be no end to his kingdom and that one of his descendants would sit on the throne forever (2 Samuel 7).

But David was far from perfect, and the passage for today shows that even a man after God’s own heart is still bound to stray from God’s path. David saw the beautiful (and married) woman Bathsheba bathing from his palace. He so desired her that he called her to himself and slept with her while her husband, Uriah, was off at war. When she became pregnant, he called Uriah back from the battlefield, hoping that he could cover up who really was the father of this baby. But Uriah refused to sleep anywhere other than the ground outside David’s house in loyalty to those still on the battlefield. So David did the unthinkable: he ordered Uriah back to the front lines and demanded that the other troops abandon him there. Uriah was killed.

The story continues when the prophet Nathan confronts David over his sin, telling the parable of a rich man who stole a lamb from an impoverished man. When David realized what he had done, he confessed his sin. Psalm 51:1-9 is his prayer. (Adapted from Living the Word: Small Groups)

Context Insights

The following are a few insights found in our background resource Living the Word: Contexts & Connections. Within the Contexts portion of the resource, all factual and interpretive statements are cited in the endnotes, although those citations are not included here.

  • Culture/Religion: The parable that Nathan tells references an apparent practice in the nomadic tribes where a member of a tribe could take an animal from their neighbor in order to serve an unexpected guest only if the host did not have an animal of their own. David immediately sees the injustice in the parable: it was not theft per se, but rather a rich person taking advantage of a poor person. This makes Nathan’s revelation to David that the parable was about him all the more incriminating.
  • Literature/Genre: 1 and 2 Samuel are part of the Deuteronomistic History. As such, the books in this category tell a theological history of Israel from Moses and Joshua through judges and monarchy to the temple’s destruction and the beginning of exile. They are connected to Deuteronomy in that a primary theme is covenantal fidelity to God as outlined in Deuteronomy 1–4. A theological history is an account of historical events within a narrative framework that shows God’s relationship to the people of Israel.
  • Common Misunderstandings: A common interpretation of the David and Bathsheba story is that Bathsheba seduced David. The biblical account in 2 Samuel provides no evidence of this. The question of Bathsheba’s agency in the situation is particularly troubling for contemporary scholars, as our contemporary notion of consent did not exist when 2 Samuel was being written. Since Bathsheba would have had little to no agency in the situation, many scholars understand this passage to mean that Bathsheba was raped by King David. Particularly problematic is that Nathan’s parable likens Bathsheba to a lamb, property of the poor man (2 Samuel 12:1-6). In other words, the writers of 2 Samuel understood David’s sin as a sin against Uriah and against God, not as a sin against Bathsheba, further revealing Bathsheba’s lack of agency in the situation. For more information about the nature of David’s and Bathsheba’s relationship, read Wil Gafney’s commentary on the passage: https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2535. 
Connections and Suggestions

We have Narrative Lectionary resources for 2026-2027 for all age groups. Here are a few activity summaries you can use. The full activity descriptions and much more are available in the product noted. 

  • Kids: Play a game of “Who Stole the Lamb?” in relation to Nathan’s parable against David. To play, have students sit in a circle with one student in the middle. Give a student in the circle a cotton ball, which will be the lamb. While music is playing, all students in the circle will pretend to pass along the cotton ball while the real cotton ball is moving. Passing will freeze when you stop the music. Have the student in the middle guess who has the cotton ball. Allow three guesses. Whoever was holding the cotton ball becomes the new guesser in the center. (From Living the Word: Kids (PK-2nd))
  • Youth: Invite youth to name and discuss situations of injustice they see around them, large or small. Point out that the prophet Nathan used a story to catch King David’s attention. Help the youth choose one particular area of injustice, and have them work together to come up with a story that would get to the heart of that particular injustice. Have them write the story down and perhaps see if the story can be shared or published in some way (with the pastor, in the church newsletter, in a local newspaper, etc.). (From Living the Word: Youth)
  • Intergenerational education: Set up a walking labyrinth, designate one or more walking paths, or hand out finger labyrinths. Explain that the Hebrew word for repentance is teshuva, which means to return or retrace one’s steps. Invite participants to walk along the labyrinth or path (or trace their finger along the finger labyrinth) while reflecting on how they have turned away from God at some point. In their own time, participants can then physically turn around and retrace their steps, committing to change their actions in the future. (From Living the Word: Cross+Gen Education)
Daily Bible Readings

Throughout both the Narrative Lectionary year (roughly September through May) and the summer, we have created a daily Bible lectionary that corresponds with the Narrative Lectionary readings. These readings are used throughout our NL products, and you can subscribe to them digitally through our Daily Readings Calendar.

DateDayLectionTitle
10/25/2026Sunday2 Samuel 11:1-5, 26-27; 12:1-9; Psalm 51:1-9Nathan and King David
10/26/2026Monday2 Samuel 12:10-25The Fallout from David’s Sin
10/27/2026TuesdayPsalm 51:10-19A Plea for Redemption
10/28/2026Wednesday2 Samuel 23:8-17David’s Mighty Warriors
10/29/2026Thursday1 Kings 1:5-37Intrigue in Old David’s Palace
10/30/2026Friday1 Kings 1:38-53Solomon Is Anointed as the Future King
10/31/2026Saturday1 Kings 2:1-12David’s Advice to Solomon
11/1/2026Sunday1 Kings 3:4-28Solomon’s Wisdom
Previous Posts

This is our blog’s third go-around in the Narrative Lectionary, Year 1. Here are some previous posts on this particular passage if you are interested:

I hope you find this all useful! If you have any questions or feedback on this blog post (or anything else), comment on this post below or on Facebook, or send me a message.

In Christ,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

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