How do we respond when we know that we have sinned, when we feel the Holy Spirit convicting us for something we have done? Do we quickly respond with repentance, and get ourselves right with God? Do we try to ignore the Holy Spirit and His conviction, hoping He’ll go away? Or do we brush it off and think that it’s no big deal, especially if the rest of society thinks that way? Our psalm for this week is King David’s response to the Holy Spirit’s conviction of a grave sin he had committed.
Psalm 51 is a psalm of repentance which David wrote following the darkest period of his life, that being when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his leading soldiers. Then, when he learned she was pregnant, David at first brought Uriah back from the battlefront, hoping he would sleep with his wife, and then they could pass the child off as his. Uriah was too honorable for that, so David ordered him to be put into the thick of the battle, and there abandoned to die by the enemy’s hand. David then took Bathsheba as his wife, and acted as if nothing unusual happened (II Samuel 11).
Naturally God was not happy with this, and the Holy Spirit would have been convicting David of these sins of adultery and murder. However, David tried to ignore the conviction he was feeling. He tried to sweep it under the rug. It took until after this baby was born and a few months old before David faced this sin, and then only after one brave prophet, Nathan, dared to confront the king over his sin (II Samuel 12:1-14). Like many people, David refused to deal with his sin right at the start. He had grown comfortable with it, so much so that he probably didn’t even think about it any more. That is, until a man of God made him face it again.
Once the prophet Nathan confronted David with his sins, he acknowledged and genuinely repented of them. David did not point the finger at anyone else, saying that they were partly responsible. He blamed no one but himself. David didn’t blame Bathsheba for bathing where he could see her. He didn’t blame Uriah for not going home to his wife. David took full responsibility for his sins. He called it “my transgressions”, “my iniquity”, and “my sin” (vs. 1-3). He never blamed anyone else.
Genuine repentance involves confession, and true confession acknowledges guilt. Repentance includes taking responsibility for our sins. If we are blaming others for our sins, we haven’t truly repented. Repentance is not complete without honesty. Are we truly asking God for forgiveness, or are we just asking Him to excuse our bad behavior?
David knew that the sins he committed were against God (vs. 4). Bathsheba and Uriah were victims of David’s sin, but his sin was ultimately against God. That is true for us, as well. Whenever we sin, and whatever it is that we do, even when others are involved, our sins are done against a holy God.
The sins that David committed are two rather significant sins, ones that some people may not want to forgive, ones that fellow believers may shun the sinner for. However, we need to remember that there is no sin that is too great to be forgiven for, if we come to God in sincere repentance. God can and will forgive us of any sin. And when David truly repented, he also forgave himself. Despite the gravity of his sins, he accepted God’s forgiveness.
A repentant sinner can know God’s peace and joy again (vs. 12). When we are saved, we can never lose our salvation. However, when we fall into sin, the unrepentant sinner can lose their joy. With unconfessed sin, all joy is lost. I am fairly certain that the year or more when David was unrepentant was probably the most miserable in his life. That is why we need to confess and repent as soon as we realize what we have done, and our joy and peace can return. The longer one goes without confessing, the more difficult it becomes to do so. With sin confessed, cleansed, and put away, the joy of salvation returns. Also, a repentant and forgiven sinner can then be used by the Lord again (vs. 13).
We all stumble and fall during our Christian walk, and we fail the Lord. The best thing to be sure and do is confess and repent as soon as we can. When we do the Lord will wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow.
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