Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:1-5
David was told that he was anointed and chosen to be the King when he was just a teenage boy tending sheep. It would not be for many, many more years that he would sit on that throne. Psalm 78:70- 72 says He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; he brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over his people Jacob — over Israel, his inheritance.He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands. David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was also human. He made some bad choices that had some tragic consequences, but God forgave him of his sin and continued to use him to lead His people.
When David was King, one night on his balcony he spotted a woman bathing. Her name was Bathsheeba and David followed his fleshly desires for her instead of surrendering his thoughts and feelings to God and walking away. This path led him to adultery and murder, and resulted in the death of his and Bathsheeba’s son. In Psalm 51, we find the prayer for restoration that David prayed to God.
Sin always takes a toll. None of us will escape sin unscathed and sometimes the consequences of our sin spreads to the ones we love. It feels hopeless and like all is lost, but we always have hope in Christ. We can recover from sin and be forgiven. Unfortunately, sometimes we, and our loved ones, are affected by sin for a lifetime. David and Bathsheeba lost their son as a result of their sin, but they were forgiven and cleansed form their sin by God. God takes away our sin but He doesn’t always take away the consequences. Of course the best time to think about the scope of the consequence is before we sin, but like David, we often act first and realize what we have done later.
When we sin how can we take steps toward spiritual recovery for God to do His work in our lives again? The first step in restoration with God is always to confess our sin to God. Admit that we have sinned and lay it all out before Him and ask and receive His forgiveness. He knows all things – everything we have done and will do – but He wants us to confess that we realize our sin. Acknowlegding that we have done wrong is only the first step – and only words – unless it is followed by repentence. Repentence means we turn away from the sin we have been involved in (completely going in the opposite direction) and to stop doing it. If we continue in our sin, we are not repenting from that sin. True repentence is required for us to live a life as a Jesus follower. We cannot walk in sin and walk with Him as well.
The consequences of sin can take us out if we let them. The shame alone can destroy us, let alone broken relationships, job loss, financial ruin, and so much more. Don’t let the consequences take the reconciliation you can have with God. Don’t let the shame, guilt, and pain keep you from experiencing the joy of salvation resotred. Our constant and never changing God waits for us to come back to Him and to resotre our relationship with Him.
Is there unconfessed sin in your life that you need to acknowledge before God and receive His forgiveness?
Are you carrying the burden of shame and guilt from the consequences? He is waiting for you, to take that burden and remind you who you are in Him. Don’t wait any longer, but run back to Him now.
