True friends always show you the way.

Here is something I love. David and Bathsheba named their third son Nathan. These are not people I know on Facebook. I’m talking about David the ancient King of Israel and his wife, Bathsheba. If you have never read their story, flip to the book of Second Samuel in the Old Testament and start reading in chapter eleven.  They don’t start out very promising, and things get way worse before they get better.

Now, back to Nathan. He is a prophet in Israel and a loyal friend to David. But one day, he walks into the throne room, looks at the king and says, “Dude, do you realize you murdered one of your best friends (Uriah) so you could have his wife (Bathsheba) with whom you’d already had an affair and conceived a child?

He did it much smoother and more middle-eastern than that. But here is what the king must have heard: You are a wretch, and I’m a good enough friend to tell you so. Because I love you, and I love the Kingdom, and I want to see both of you rescued from this mess.

If you want to know how David felt after this conversation with a friend, read Psalm 51. If you want to understand what such friendship can accomplish, read the rest of the story. David repents. Then he revives. He becomes an amazing king who brings peace to Israel and worship to the world.

His first son with Bathsheba dies as a baby. Their fourth son, Solomon, becomes the next king and carries on an amazing legacy. But their third son, Nathan, interests me. I wonder about the details of their friendship. I wonder how David, Bathsheba, and Nathan the Prophet overcame the tension, embarrassment, anger, misunderstandings, and basic differences of opinion that must have gone on in those years.

But, I know they did. Because at the end of the king’s life, Bathsheba and Nathan stood together at his deathbed. They stood the way old friends can stand after years of trials and treasures. They stood determined to see God’s plans succeed and the enemy’s schemes defeated.

And the younger Nathan? He obviously grew up, got married, and reared children. He and his son are both listed as forefathers in the family tree of Jesus Christ the Messiah. Not bad for a middle child from a dysfunctional home.