HYPOCRITE!

'Are you in health, my brother?' 2 Samuel 20:9

Would you ever accuse someone of something you would excuse in yourself? Never? King David did. While confronting the king over his sin with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet told David a story about two men. One had many cattle; the other had only one lamb. When a guest came to the rich man's house for dinner, he took the poor man's lamb. 'David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said ..."the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb ... because he had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!'' (2 Sam. 12:5-7 NKJ).

You see, the story Nathan told had David's name written all over it, but David's pride wouldn't let him see it. Things went pretty badly for David after that, until he finally repented and got right with God. We can do the same, very easily. We slam others for spreading gossip on Facebook but relish telling close friends the juicy secrets we've heard. We're quick to condemn politicians and public figures for dishonest dealings but our own affairs are not exactly whiter-than-white. Sometimes, like David, we don't even notice we're doing it. We need to keep watch over our hearts and make sure our hands are clean of hypocrisy.

What now? Reflect on David's words in Psalm 51 ('Create in me a pure heart, O God...') and try to make them your own.

written by Bob Gass