David's journey of sin...

Most of us know the story of King David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, in fact that is the story that we use when making excuses for our sin! We justify ourselves by comparing our sin to his yet dismiss the repenting part of it. In any case, in this blog I will outline the journey David underwent after committing adultery. This is one of the big issues recorded in the bible because David was a strong man of faith, from childhood, wholly set apart for God’s purposes. So when he commits adultery and literally plots to kill Bathsheba’s husband it becomes a culture shock to see a real saint being overcome by the sinful nature.

God’s love remains unconditional

After King David committed sin, the bible says that “The thing David had done displeased the Lord.”(2Samuel11:27). Note that it was not David who displeased God but the thing that he had done. God separates His children from the sins they commit when He looks at them. A person may commit the foulest sins and yet God’s love for Him remains unconditional. He does not love us because we are good or better than other people, He loves us because He is love. So when we fall into sin we don’t lose the gift of salvation, rather we lose the joy of salvation. Hence David prayed “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm51:12). We should expect a loss of joy when living contrary to the Word of God, and that does not mean God has changed, His love is not altered; it is our choice to disobey His Word that results in that. The principle of life is that every action has a consequence and as believers we have been given the bible to help us make the right choices- the choice is ours yet again to obey. Many Christians are heavy burdened by the effects of their disobedience to God’s Word. They know that God loves them; and that brings much comfort but they need to understand that they cannot use that as an excuse to disobey the same God that loves them. By giving instructions in His Word God is not trying to punish or make our lives difficult, his instruction is a result of his love for us. When He says “Do not commit adultery”, “flee fornication”, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers”, “Do not steal” and etc., it is to help us live a joyous Christian life.

Accept Rebuke

I don’t know how David felt after committing sin but it looks like he was just fine about it until the Lord reached out to him. Many times after committing sin we just get in denial mode, in fact sometimes we walk into sin with much intent. We use self-pity as an excuse to sin and tell ourselves that we deserve a “reward” for being good all this time. Sometimes we get so stressed and use unhealthy habits such as pornography, masturbation or gluttony to help us cope with it, but those unhealthy habits only make matters worse in the end. The fruit never lies. Don’t make excuses to sin, watch out for stress, when you realise that you’re in a stressful situation look for Godly ways to deal with it like crying out to God and reading your bible.

So until the Lord sent Nathan to rebuke David, he continued with his life as if nothing unusual had happened. God hides himself from carnal people but to those who strip themselves off worldly pleasures and sins to seek His face, He gladly reveals himself. When David led a blameless life his ability to hear from God was not hindered in anyway only now did God  need somebody to reach out to him. After his rebuke by Nathan David’s eyes were clearly opened by the Lord. He could then see and say “I have sinned against the Lord” (2Samuel12:13). This is the power of accepting correction and rebuke from others instead of using excuses such as “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you” or you “Don’t know my story, only God can judge me”. David did not harden his heart towards correction and we should imitate him if there’s any hope in living in victory. Many people harden their hearts towards correction, they refuse to hear anything from anyone and this leads to their downfall. We have pastors and teachers in the church who can help us in yet we still refuse to submit to their mentorship because we believe that no one can tell us what to do; unfortunately that only leads to deception- and the fruit never lies.

A child-like faith

The verdict from the Lord on David’s case was that his sin will be wiped away; however because of being on the same side with the enemy by disobeying God, he had to face the consequences of his sin which was amongst many, the death of his and Bathsheba’s child. David understood that he could not argue with God, he saw himself for who really was and He saw God for who he really is. When Nathan told him that God says that his child was going to die he cried out and humbled himself before his God. He believed that although he sinned and deserves the punishment for it, it did not change God’s nature. The fact that he sought the Lord in fasting and prayer reveals that he still believed in the mercy and kindness of God. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning because of His great faithfulness and that is what David believed. Like a child David laid on the ground crying out to His Father who is pure and just pleading with Him not to take his child away, but the child died anyway. Who can fathom the sovereignty of the Lord? His ways are not our ways neither are his thoughts our thoughts, for as high as the heavens are above the earth so are his ways and thoughts compared to us. The new age gospel teaches us to claim, command, and receive things for ourselves- even sinners do that. We want comfort and pleasure and refuse to submit God’s ways.  David pleaded, and probably claimed that his child would be alive but the child died, and that was how God wanted to glorify himself. I realise how I always got in circumstances where I believed that my comfort and happiness is the only way God can glorify his name in my life; until I made mistakes, hurt other people, until I failed…even though I “claimed it”… then I realised that God will glorify himself in whatever way he chooses. God works not for our comfort but to purify our souls so that we can live with Him in eternity.

After the child died, David got up from the ground, washed, put lotions and clothes, and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. He did not get what he wanted but he still worshipped the Sovereign God. He could have felt that God had disappointed him and used that as an excuse to turn away from the Lord, but he didn’t. This is the attitude we ought to have in our trials and hardships some of which we place ourselves into by disobeying God in the first place. Let us change our attitude towards God because He is Holy, Just, Pure, and True and we are foul sinful people in need of His grace and mercy. Let us therefore humble ourselves before the Lord and in due time He will lift us up.