In the Book of books we read of two of God's chosen men who committed great crimes, yet condemned those who committed them as being worthy of death until the guilt was placed on them.
In Genesis 38 we read of Judah, the son of Jacob, who condemned a woman to be burned until she proved him to be the guilty man. Then he declared her to be more righteous than himself.
David the Psalmist, declared to be a man after God's own heart, committed the great crime of having Uriah put in the front in battle that he might be killed and that he might get his wife, II Sam. 11 and 12. God sent Nathan to David with his parables, and when David heard the parable he said, "The man must die." Then Nathan said to David, "Thou art the man." Then David confessed to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Later he said, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight." (Psalms 51:4)
How careful we should be in passing judgment on others. We should first get the beam out of our own eye before trying to get the mote out of the other fellow's eye. None of us should set himself up as being more honourable than Judah or David to whom it was said, "Thou art the man."
This old selfish nature of ours is so prone to condemn faults in others, but often the verdict comes ringing back, "Thou art the man."
Psalms 19:14 : "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." May this be the prayer of us all.
By Elder Marshall Lewis Vaughn (1858--1947), Mt. Enterprise, TX. First printed in 1940 in The Baptist Progress. Reprinted in The Baptist Waymark June 1986.
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