2 Samuel 12:7

Thou art the man. David the judge had found David the transgressor worthy of death. He could not go against his own judgment, because it was he himself who had pronounced the sentence. It would be useless to plead that the facts as presented were not in accord with the crime committed. Actually the deed of which David was guilty was far worse than the deed he had pronounced worthy of death.

David was without excuse. He knew that he was in the wrong and that the sentence pronounced was just. In spite of the magnitude of his crime, his conscience was not yet dead. He had succeeded for a time in hiding his crime from the eyes of men, but he did not succeed in hiding it from God. Through a chain of circumstances the Lord allowed him to catch a glimpse of the terrible nature of the crime he had committed and to pronounce a just sentence against himself. The unflinching application of the parable to the king portrays the holy boldness and faithfulness of God’s prophet. This plain-spoken rebuke might well have cost Nathan his life, but he did not waver in performing his duty.

The boldness and suddenness of Nathan’s words brought a shock to David that woke him from the evil spell that his crimes had cast upon him. David had been essentially a good man, one who endeavored to obey the Lord. But he had yielded to temptation, and in the attempt to cover up his guilt had become ever more deeply entangled in a net of evil. For a time his senses had seemed to be stupefied by a delirium of power, prosperity, and perfidy. Now he was suddenly brought back to his senses.