But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter.
2 Samuel 12:1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David: and when he was come to him, he said to 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 sheep and oxen.
2 Samuel 12:3 But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter.
2 Samuel 12:4 And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, to make a feast for that stranger, who was come to him, but took the poor man's ewe, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2 Samuel 12:5 And David's anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death.
The verse centers on "poor", "nothing", "little", "lamb", "bought", "nourished", "grown", and "house". 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 sheep..." into verse 4's "And when a certain stranger was come...", 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.