So I confess my guilt. I am anxious because of my sin. But my enemies are vigorous and powerful. Many hate me for no reason. Those who repay evil for good attack me for pursuing good.
Lord, do not abandon me! My God, do not be far from me. Hurry to help me, my Lord, my Savior! (vs. 18-22)
What is it that makes us reticent to confess our guilt? The punishment? The shame? The egregious need to be right all the time? I don't know which is worse - to confess and be restored or to get away with sin and go on as though nothing ever happened. Guilt brings with it the same ramifications either way - paying, with grief, for what we have done. For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation. Worldly grief produces death.
(2 Corinthians 7)
Our Father loves us enough to allow us to face our sins and grieve that we committed them. They are paid for, but we cannot experience the joy of that fact until we agree with Him about what we did. The Holy Spirit is given to us in part to convict us of sin. To nudge us in the moment. To ask forgiveness from the Father before the seed of sin has grown into a bush that must be hacked down. Sin builds a case for itself almost as soon as we have committed it. No one will ever know. I deserved this. She hurt me. Where is God anyway. Etc. And if you have been righteous (or self-righteous) for very long, it is very difficult to fess up to being a worm in need of forgiveness - even to your own conscience. So, many of us are carrying a sack full of unhacked bushes around on our backs. They will become too heavy. We will become sick. We will need repentance and forgiveness. Or we will die spiritually. Simple choice. And our Father, because He loves us, will let us go down that road until we have had enough - or He has.
Unburdened, David is relieved and can once again trust that God will help him. That is one of the onuses of our sin. It separates us from God. Not because God moved, but He hates pretension. Won't stand for lying. The smell of our own festering boils must finally convince us that we need help. He waits. Never stops loving, but has to be lord. He will not compete with another god, especially the god of self.
David's predicament in his moment is that even though he is now right with God, there are still those who don't notice that he has turned himself around and is doing good again. His sin created enemies and then there are still those who were his enemies all along. They were glad to see him wrecked. Sheesh! The man after God's own heart. Yeah. Right! And God looks bad along with us. Fortunately, God cares more about the man/woman than about their mission. God loves us as individuals and goes after our hearts again. That is not something we can explain to those who have a different father. Ours will take down our kingdoms to save our souls. After all, Jesus promised to keep us. It might be that those we have offended in our sin will exact repayment from us. The toll might be heavy. But, in the end, we have gained a repentance that will not be regretted because it has left us clean. Ready to start over. Weeping over the sores of sin a thing of the past. But in our memory the disgusting plight of our willfulness had best leave a scar that reminds us that we don't want to end up there again.
I love that David can still cry out to God to not abandon him! We freely abandon the Father Who loves us so much He gave Himself for us, then have the audacity to scream: "Don't leave me!" You know the most flabbergasting thing about that is He doesn't!!!! Who said the God of the Old Testament is a mean old taskmaster waiting for us to screw up? Only those who don't know my Abba.
Lord, do not abandon me! My God, do not be far from me. Hurry to help me, my Lord, my Savior! (vs. 18-22)
What is it that makes us reticent to confess our guilt? The punishment? The shame? The egregious need to be right all the time? I don't know which is worse - to confess and be restored or to get away with sin and go on as though nothing ever happened. Guilt brings with it the same ramifications either way - paying, with grief, for what we have done. For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation. Worldly grief produces death.
(2 Corinthians 7)
Our Father loves us enough to allow us to face our sins and grieve that we committed them. They are paid for, but we cannot experience the joy of that fact until we agree with Him about what we did. The Holy Spirit is given to us in part to convict us of sin. To nudge us in the moment. To ask forgiveness from the Father before the seed of sin has grown into a bush that must be hacked down. Sin builds a case for itself almost as soon as we have committed it. No one will ever know. I deserved this. She hurt me. Where is God anyway. Etc. And if you have been righteous (or self-righteous) for very long, it is very difficult to fess up to being a worm in need of forgiveness - even to your own conscience. So, many of us are carrying a sack full of unhacked bushes around on our backs. They will become too heavy. We will become sick. We will need repentance and forgiveness. Or we will die spiritually. Simple choice. And our Father, because He loves us, will let us go down that road until we have had enough - or He has.
Unburdened, David is relieved and can once again trust that God will help him. That is one of the onuses of our sin. It separates us from God. Not because God moved, but He hates pretension. Won't stand for lying. The smell of our own festering boils must finally convince us that we need help. He waits. Never stops loving, but has to be lord. He will not compete with another god, especially the god of self.
David's predicament in his moment is that even though he is now right with God, there are still those who don't notice that he has turned himself around and is doing good again. His sin created enemies and then there are still those who were his enemies all along. They were glad to see him wrecked. Sheesh! The man after God's own heart. Yeah. Right! And God looks bad along with us. Fortunately, God cares more about the man/woman than about their mission. God loves us as individuals and goes after our hearts again. That is not something we can explain to those who have a different father. Ours will take down our kingdoms to save our souls. After all, Jesus promised to keep us. It might be that those we have offended in our sin will exact repayment from us. The toll might be heavy. But, in the end, we have gained a repentance that will not be regretted because it has left us clean. Ready to start over. Weeping over the sores of sin a thing of the past. But in our memory the disgusting plight of our willfulness had best leave a scar that reminds us that we don't want to end up there again.
I love that David can still cry out to God to not abandon him! We freely abandon the Father Who loves us so much He gave Himself for us, then have the audacity to scream: "Don't leave me!" You know the most flabbergasting thing about that is He doesn't!!!! Who said the God of the Old Testament is a mean old taskmaster waiting for us to screw up? Only those who don't know my Abba.
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