Tag: David’s sin

The Wrong Thing

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

A selfish choice.

A bad decision.

I make them…

You make them….

and sometimes we just don’t want to admit it.

It was foolish.  We just weren’t thinking.

Or – we were thinking – but it was all about what we wanted.

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.

If we work hard enough at it, we can rationalize anything.

Make excuses.

Avoid owning up to what we did what we said.

We can also become very good at blaming others for the consequences of choices we made.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie, The Shack, is when he asks God (who is a woman in this part) why she punishes us and she says that she doesn’t have to punish us.  The consequences of our sins are punishment enough.

Amen!

As I’m reading about David’s life in 2 Samuel, I realize that one of the qualities David possessed was the ability to quickly admit it when he did something wrong.  Sure – there were times that people like Nathan had to point it out to him.  But then David immediately owned up to it and took responsibility for the consequences.

Even when the consequence was the death of his young son……….

He didn’t blame anyone else.  He admitted his sin and repented.

David is a good role model for us when it comes to dealing with our sin and its consequences.  God wants us to admit it and own it and repent.  When we ask, he will help us grow in wisdom and grow our faith as we deal with the trials and sorrows that our bad decisions cause in our lives.

God walks with us through the muck and the mess we cause – guiding us, loving us, giving us strength and hope.

When we let him, God will help us – like he helped David –  develop into men and women after God’s own heart.

Thank you, Abba Father.

So Easy

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

It can be so easy to make quick judgements about other people’s actions.  Their unfairness is so crystal-clear.   Their lack of judgement is so evident.

Why is it so much harder to look at our own behavior using the same standards?  We are very quick to excuse ourselves and rationalize away our own actions.  There is a veil of self-centeredness that covers our eyes when we look at our own choices.

Sometimes we all need a very good friend to help open our eyes to what we are doing.

That’s what Nathan did for David in 2 Samuel 12.  He tells David a story about a very rich man who took advantage ofApril 10 2014 a very poor man.  When David heard the story, he burned in anger and said the rich man should die for his actions.   And then Nathan turns to David and says’ You are the man.’

Wow!  Call it like it is Nathan!

Nathan goes on to correlate his story with David’s recent action with Bathsheba and Uriah.  This helped open David’s eyes to what he had done and David acknowledge his sins before God.  David was so good at turning right back to God when he strayed.

He asked for God’s mercy for his sins in Psalm 51 and here is how some of that psalm might have sounded if David had written it in 2014:April 10 2 2014

I really need your mercy this time, God.

I know you love me.  Your great compassion makes all of my sins disappear.  Wash me, dear God.  Clean me once again.

I know I have sinned against you – I can’t get it off of my mind.

I am guilty – go ahead and judge me.

I have always been sinful yet you desire faithfulness.

Cleanse me and wash me, dear God.  I’m ashamed of my sins.

Create in me a heart that honors you, dear God.

May your spirit continue to grow within me.

Never turn away from me.  You have saved me – may I find joy again.

Help me be a willing and faithful servant, dear God.

Amen.