O, Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (vs. 15-17)
I appeal to you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1
People go to jail for what David did. Some for the rest of their lives. He plotted murder and had it carried out. Said, "Whew!" Then married the dead man's wife. Evil. Covering one sin with others, heaping condemnation upon himself. The consequences he bore might actually have been worse than jail. For his family fell apart. One son rapes a sister. Absalom chases David from Jerusalem, sleeps with his concubines on the palace rooftop to make a show of his coup, then plots to kill his father. Though God forgave David's sin, the consequences were devastating and shameful.
When Nathan came to David, however, David's first response was not to go kill a bunch of cattle to make a bloody sacrifice. To, in self-righteous piety, make a show of his grief over sin. Instead, David hit the floor in acknowledgement of the fact he had grieved the heart of God. He was set at a distance from the Lord. David had never known this. Always the hand of favor had been on the king's life. Now God stood back, waiting for the heart change. I can hear David wail as he understands fully his sin against God. I can feel the "Please don't leave me!" of his pleading. He screwed everything up.
Grace. Would you have forgiven David? Can you accept that his man was freed to go on living though he took the life of Uriah? Where is the limit of God's grace placed? What does He not forgive? Does grace give carte blanche?
For by grace you have been saved, by faith, and that is not even of yourselves. It is a gift from God so that no one can boast. (Ephesians) Transgressing against our God is sinning against our relationship with Him. That is the heart of sin. Separating ourselves from Him. Going our own way without regard for His sovereign love. It hurts Him. Devastates us. Because God is love, He is, therefore, concerned primarily about our hearts. So many bulls. So much blood. But without a truly penitent heart, it is just so much death. David understood he had broken God's heart and that is what broke his. The mending of the relationship took time. David never again felt the strength of favor on his life. I think he made some of his family decisions thereafter based upon the fact that he was such a sinner himself. How could he then judge another?
Grace. Bathsheba grieved over the loss of Uriah. Placed in the palace with the other concubines. One of many women David slept with. Not the beloved sweetheart of her warrior husband. But a woman brought in once in a while to satisfy the king. Lost also the child of David which was the catalyst that caused him to marry her and then kill her man. Grief on grief. Hating this turn in her life. Wailing for the days when she could just be at home with Uriah. David lies with her to console her heart. And to make another child. The king has compassion on his new wife. Solomon is formed, cell by cell, to be a child of grace. For it is he who will be king. Wise and powerful. The man God chose to build the Temple in Jerusalem, though David wanted to do this thing himself.
The child of the adultery would be king. The murderer forgiven. It is not a straight line. Grace never is. That is why the heart of God desires a repentant heart. He can work with that. The one who wants to be made right by her own actions will always fail. Really. Always. For rules are made to be broken. Even our own. Mercy has but one rule. Repent and rely on the heart of God to forgive. Mercy triumphs over judgment! David didn't fall on his face and recount to God all the ways he had been such a good little Hebrew all those years. It wouldn't have worked! The king knew his God well enough to understand that what He wants is us. All of us. Our entirety. It is only reasonable for us to present ourselves to Him as the ultimate sacrifice. Because He knew we couldn't get it right, He became our righteousness by dying in our place. That is why sin breaks the Father's heart. That is why He wants it to break ours.
I appeal to you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1
People go to jail for what David did. Some for the rest of their lives. He plotted murder and had it carried out. Said, "Whew!" Then married the dead man's wife. Evil. Covering one sin with others, heaping condemnation upon himself. The consequences he bore might actually have been worse than jail. For his family fell apart. One son rapes a sister. Absalom chases David from Jerusalem, sleeps with his concubines on the palace rooftop to make a show of his coup, then plots to kill his father. Though God forgave David's sin, the consequences were devastating and shameful.
When Nathan came to David, however, David's first response was not to go kill a bunch of cattle to make a bloody sacrifice. To, in self-righteous piety, make a show of his grief over sin. Instead, David hit the floor in acknowledgement of the fact he had grieved the heart of God. He was set at a distance from the Lord. David had never known this. Always the hand of favor had been on the king's life. Now God stood back, waiting for the heart change. I can hear David wail as he understands fully his sin against God. I can feel the "Please don't leave me!" of his pleading. He screwed everything up.
Grace. Would you have forgiven David? Can you accept that his man was freed to go on living though he took the life of Uriah? Where is the limit of God's grace placed? What does He not forgive? Does grace give carte blanche?
For by grace you have been saved, by faith, and that is not even of yourselves. It is a gift from God so that no one can boast. (Ephesians) Transgressing against our God is sinning against our relationship with Him. That is the heart of sin. Separating ourselves from Him. Going our own way without regard for His sovereign love. It hurts Him. Devastates us. Because God is love, He is, therefore, concerned primarily about our hearts. So many bulls. So much blood. But without a truly penitent heart, it is just so much death. David understood he had broken God's heart and that is what broke his. The mending of the relationship took time. David never again felt the strength of favor on his life. I think he made some of his family decisions thereafter based upon the fact that he was such a sinner himself. How could he then judge another?
Grace. Bathsheba grieved over the loss of Uriah. Placed in the palace with the other concubines. One of many women David slept with. Not the beloved sweetheart of her warrior husband. But a woman brought in once in a while to satisfy the king. Lost also the child of David which was the catalyst that caused him to marry her and then kill her man. Grief on grief. Hating this turn in her life. Wailing for the days when she could just be at home with Uriah. David lies with her to console her heart. And to make another child. The king has compassion on his new wife. Solomon is formed, cell by cell, to be a child of grace. For it is he who will be king. Wise and powerful. The man God chose to build the Temple in Jerusalem, though David wanted to do this thing himself.
The child of the adultery would be king. The murderer forgiven. It is not a straight line. Grace never is. That is why the heart of God desires a repentant heart. He can work with that. The one who wants to be made right by her own actions will always fail. Really. Always. For rules are made to be broken. Even our own. Mercy has but one rule. Repent and rely on the heart of God to forgive. Mercy triumphs over judgment! David didn't fall on his face and recount to God all the ways he had been such a good little Hebrew all those years. It wouldn't have worked! The king knew his God well enough to understand that what He wants is us. All of us. Our entirety. It is only reasonable for us to present ourselves to Him as the ultimate sacrifice. Because He knew we couldn't get it right, He became our righteousness by dying in our place. That is why sin breaks the Father's heart. That is why He wants it to break ours.
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