The Price Of Sin And The Joy Of Repentance

Psalm 51

Can a believer in the Lord Jesus fall into sin?  The answer is yes. How about “big” sins, like adultery and murder?  Unfortunately yes, as well. Our psalm for this week comes upon the background of such a scenario.  It all started early one evening as King David was up on the rooftop terrace of the palace, possibly enjoying the cool evening breeze.  Looking down from the roof he spied a woman bathing in her pool in the adjoining yard (II Samuel 11). Rather than turn away, David sat there and let his eyes feast on what he was seeing.  His feelings quickly turned to lust and desire, and rather than flee the sin, he had the woman brought to him, where he succumbed to the sin of adultery. That was quickly followed by her pregnancy, and then the murder of her husband to cover his sin.

As a believer in Yahweh, David would have known God’s commandments, and would have known that what he was doing was wrong, but he wouldn’t yield to God’s will.  It took almost a year or more from that first night for David to repent of this sin, after a very brave man of God, Nathan, came to him and called him out for his sins.  David tried but couldn’t hide his sins from himself, others, or from God, and neither can we. As Scripture says, his sin found him out (Numbers 32:23). However, after Nathan came to him, David turned and repented.  This psalm is the record of his confession and repentance. He blamed no one but himself (vs. 3). True repentance involves confession, taking full responsibility, and not passing the blame or making excuses. It also must have complete honesty.

David desired to be cleansed from these sins (vs. 1-2, 7).  He knew that sin contaminates his soul, and it blocks up the path of fellowship he has with God. Hyssop was a shrub whose twigs were used for sprinkling in religious rituals of purification and cleansing.

We have a natural inclination to sin.  We are born that way since we are born with original sin, passed down from Adam (vs. 5).   David, though, did did not use that as an excuse, that he just “couldn’t help it”. He was honest about his sins, and truly repented.  

Even if our sins aren’t noticed by other people, or they are accepted by the world’s standards, sin does hurt us, and it is offensive to God. Once a person has come to the Lord for salvation, they can never lose their salvation, but they can lose their joy if they have unconfessed and unrepented sin in their life (vs. 12).  As we can read in the many psalms David wrote, he had much joy and praise in the Lord, and he did not want this lost in his life.  Joy in the Lord is a wonderful thing, so we should be sure that we don’t let sin block this from our life.

David knew that his sins would be forgiven when he confessed them to God. That is true in our life, as well. Sins will be forgiven, but the consequences are not removed, and sometimes those consequences can last years or even a lifetime.  Unfortunately David would find this out. His whole family fell to shambles. One son would rape his half-sister, and then another brother would kill that brother. Later that son would raise a rebellion against David, forcing him to flee Jerusalem and fight to regain his throne.  We could ask David if one or two nights of sin was worth the price he paid in his family, and for sure the answer would be no!

Some of you may think that your sin is just too great for God to forgive.  That is a lie of Satan. King David committed adultery, got the woman pregnant, and then had her husband, who was in his military, put in the front lines and the rest of the troop withdrawn, leaving him to die, meaning David had essentially ordered his murder.  God forgives when he sees true repentance and sorrow for sin (vs. 17). He forgives even if time has past since the sin. David waited a year or so, since Bathsheba’s baby had already been born when he finally fell before God in sorrowful repentance.

God saw David’s broken heart (vs 17).  He knew he was truly sorry for his sins. He will do the same for us when we turn to him in repentance.    When we fall into sin, don’t run from God. Instead run to Him.  He will uplift us as He did for David.