Articles
David's Repentance
David's repentance
(Ps 32, see also Ps. 51; 86; and 122)
[1-2] The great principle: With God, there is forgiveness. Blessed is the man who is forgiven (1-4, Rom. 4:7-8).
[3-4] The wonder of guilt. The function of our conscience is to sit in judgment upon our thoughts and actions according to our knowledge of right and wrong. David was a man who knew God's law. Of course, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' and "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife' are not difficult to understand! Thus, having violated what he knew to be right, his conscience kicked in big time, and so it should!
[5] David acknowledges his actions as sinful and confesses them before the LORD. Sometimes it takes someone like Nathan to confront our sins before we man-up and confess. Men like Nathan are indeed our best friends and their confrontations are the needed.
[6] David acknowledges also that 'there is a time when God can be found'. There is a line that is crossed by rejecting the LORD whereby our conscience becomes seared and no longer functions as it should. At that point, repentance doesn't happen. It takes the godly sorrow produced by a functioning conscience to produce repentance that brings forgiveness.
[7] With such forgiveness, David's relationship with God is restored and God again becomes his refuge, his hiding place in a time of trouble. When we know we have sinned but are determined NOT to acknowledge it, confess it, and forsake it, we can not walk with God. As Adam and Eve, we seek to hide ourselves, to distance ourselves, to cut ourselves off from fellowship with God. Prayers are abandoned. Thoughts of God are pushed out of our minds. When we return and find forgiveness, how sweet it is to again be able to freely think of God and commune with him in prayer. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven!
[8-11]Such blessing from God naturally causes one to talk about it: to proclaim the holiness of God and the mercy of God. Such forgiveness should prompt the forgiven one to 'be a Nathan' to others!
Is David your example of dealing with sin? Hugh DeLong
