II Samuel 12:1-4

“So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up, living with him and his children. It shared his meager food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”

David was the king and a man and although he had a relationship with Nathan, he was likely not overly approachable.  

Scripture encourages me to be gentle and thoughtful when confronting a brother.  

Galatians 6:1

“Brothers, if someone is overtaken in any type of sin, you who are spiritual, should restore such a person with a gentle spirit”

This is Nathan. 

His assignment from God is to ‘restore’ David and not just ‘rebuke’ him. David was ‘overtaken’ by sin and he needed a thoughtful and gentle restoration – and so Nathan told this ‘story’. 

Rebuking is easy. Anyone can rebuke someone. I can and have rebuked others in anger and in the flesh. 

Restoring someone to a right place with God takes a thoughtful, gentle spirit.