Monday, August 9, 2010

Repent From Your Heart

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, and only you, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge."

-- Psalm 51:3-4

David gives me hope. Always. He was a man after God's own heart -- and he committed adultery and murder. God forgave him and welcomed him back. That bodes well for the rest of us.

David is a good example of what not to do. He shouldn't have been in a place where he could be tempted by Bathsheba. Really. He should have been fighting with his men but he decided to stay home. You could call it a mid-life crisis. Whatever. He was a warrior king who stayed at home. That gives us a good example of why we really shouldn't be someplace where we might be tempted. It only leads to bad, bad things.

Once he was tempted, David just had to have Bathsheba. He didn't care that she was married --- and to a man who was a loyal fighter for his king. David didn't consider denying himself. He saw. He wanted. He took.

And then there were the consequences. A pregnancy. Uh-oh. But did David confess and seek forgiveness? Nope. He tried to cover it up. When it didn't prove as easy as he'd hoped, he sentenced Bathsheba's husband, Uriah the Hittite, to death when he had him sent to the front lines of the battle. So an innocent, honorable man, died because David did a dishonorable thing and tried to cover it up.

It wasn't until God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David that the king realized, and acknowledged, what he'd one. David repented and begged God for His forgiveness. Of course, it didn't change what had happened. David paid for his sin with the death of the son Bathsheba bore.

But to give David credit, when he repented it wasn't just with words. Verse 17 tells us that "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart..." David understood that God didn't just want words like "I'm sorry" or "I won't do it again." God wanted to know that deep down in David's heart he was truly sorry for what he'd done. That's true repentance. And a really good lesson for all of us.