Let me state a fact that should be fairly obvious to everyone, and that is that we are all sinners. Most reading this may be true Christians, but we still have all done some rather rotten things. There are some Christians who have even committed some actual crimes. Will God forgive them? Will He forgive us for all of the terrible things we have done? A look at today’s psalm, one written in the aftermath of a grievous sin and then genuine repentance, should give us the answer.
King David was one of the great people of the Bible. He was the hero from the battle with the Philistine Goliath, and countless other wars against various other Canaanite nations. David was the author of many of the Psalms in the Bible. And yet as we read in the Scripture, David fell into a very serious and shocking sin. In II Samuel 11, we read how David, instead of going with his army as its leader as he should have, stayed home. During this time he saw a beautiful woman, Bathsheba, had her brought to the royal palace, and had an affair with her, despite her being married to one of his military officers. When she found out that she was pregnant, David brought back her husband, Uriah, hoping he would go home to his wife for a while, so David could pass the child off as Uriah’s. However, that didn’t go as planned, so the king issued an order that Uriah be sent to the worst of the battle, then all military support withdrawn to leave him to die. When that was done, David took Bathsheba as his wife. Thus, in a few short weeks, he had committed both adultery and murder.
Does that mean that David wasn’t really a true believer? Of course he was. God called him a man after His own heart (I Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). Would God forgive him of such heinous sins? Will He forgive us when we do some terrible sin? The answer to both is yes. When we confess and repent, the Lord will forgive us (I John 1:9). It took David a while to come to God in repentance, over a year, because the baby was already born. The Holy Spirit was undoubtedly pricking his heart during those months, but it took a visit from the prophet Nathan to get David to fall on his knees in confession to God (II Samuel 12:1-15). Psalm 51 was written in response to this time. God will forgive any and all sin, including murder, if the individual comes to Him in genuine repentance and confession.
As we read through this psalm, we see that David acknowledged that he had sinned against God (vs. 4). But hadn’t he really sinned against Uriah? He took that poor fellow’s wife, and then his life! And he took advantage of Bathsheba, leading her into sin. All sin hurts us and others. David’s shining testimony was greatly tarnished, and his sin cost Bathsheba her reputation, and Uriah his life. However, all sin is ultimately against God, and requires His forgiveness first and foremost. This sin, all sin, offends God because sin in any form is a rebellion against His way of living.
True repentance and confession will admit guilt. Repentance takes full responsibility for our sin. It doesn’t blame someone else. David didn’t put the blame on Bathsheba. He didn’t complain to Nathan or to God that she shouldn’t have been bathing where she could be seen, so it wasn’t really his fault, it was hers. In verses 1-3 David repeatedly owns his sin, saying my transgressions, my iniquity, my sin.
When we are truly saved we can never lose our salvation. David didn’t, and we can’t, either. But we can lose the joy of our salvation through our sin (vs. 12). By repenting and confessing we can return to peace with God. That year of unrepentance must have been a miserable one for David, but once he confessed and got right with God, he could pray and God’s joy and peace could return. God didn’t put David on the shelf as a result of his sin, either, but continued to use him in many mighty ways (vs. 13).
When we are feeling the farthest away from God, He is actually the closest to us (vs. 17). He does not abandon us in our time of crisis, for He has promised to save us, even in our darkest time. When we are at our lowest point, God is very close to us, and He promises to save those who are crushed in spirit.
In closing, perhaps you have done something that you feel God could never forgive you for. Perhaps you are a Christian, but have fallen into something that you are so ashamed of, and feel that God has forever turned away from you now. He didn’t turn away from David, and He hasn’t turned away from you. There is no sin that is too great that God won’t forgive you of! God can and will forgive us of any sin. However, He doesn’t always erase the consequences of that sin. David’s life, his testimony, and his family were never the same as a result of what he did. If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, you need to turn to Him, confess your sins, and call upon Him to save you. As verse 7 says, Come to Jesus and He will wash you whiter than snow!
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