but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2 Samuel 12:1 And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 Samuel 12:2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds;
2 Samuel 12:3 but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2 Samuel 12:4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man`s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2 Samuel 12:5 And David`s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is worthy to die:
The verse centers on "poor", "nothing", "save", "little", "lamb", "bought", "nourished", and "grew". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "poor" and "nothing", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 2's "The rich man had exceeding many flocks..." into verse 4's "And there came a traveller unto the...", so "poor" and "nothing" belong inside that flow. In 2 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "poor" and "nothing" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.