(2 Samuel 11-12)
King David of Israel was a man after God’s own heart, but He was still a man. He had personal flaws and weaknesses just as we all do. However, the difference between David and King Saul is that David had a truly repentant heart when He came to the realization of His sins, while Saul did not. That’s what made David not only a man of God, but a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
Psalm 51:1-17 (NKJV)
Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just [a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
We all have done things of which we are ashamed, some worse than others. But, it doesn’t get much worse than sleeping with the wife of a man who is loyal to you, getting her pregnant, trying to conceal the pregnancy, and finally having that man killed so you can have his wife.
That is what David did. And, he paid a huge price for that sin. Read 2 Samuel Chapters 11 and 12 again to refresh your memory of what happened.
It’s interesting that when the Prophet Nathan rebuked David on the behalf of God that God DID NOT tell David could not be King anymore. His sin did not disqualify David’s anointing. God still fulfilled His promise to David.
God went on to use David to write most of the Psalms in the bible. These Psalms teach us how to praise, pray, worship and even lament to God.
The fact is that God knew what David would do even before He chose Him to be King. David did not surprise God when He sinned, and neither do we.
In today’s culture, not only would David not have been allowed to remain king, but once people discovered what he did, they would have wanted to take all of His Psalms out of the bible.
It is important for us to strive for holiness, but God made us and He knows we are just flesh…
Psalm 103:13-14 (NKJV)
13 As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He [a]knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust
This is good news!
Your sin and your failures don’t necessarily disqualify your anointing. Like David, it’s your attitude after you sin that determines if God will continue to use you.
Be careful how you jump on the bandwagon when a Pastor, leader or public figure has a moral failure that becomes public, and thank God that no one knows your most shameful secrets. Please read this… AREN’T YOU GLAD GOD ALLOWED SOME THINGS IN YOUR LIFE TO REMAIN SECRET?
BE BLESSTIFIED!
BE BLESSTIFIED! 