David stood with shame and guilt etched on his face. He was caught. The sins he thought were skillfully hidden, confronted him.
So, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to tell David this story: 2 Samuel 12 (CSB)
“There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very large flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought.
He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food, she would eat; from his cup, she would drink, and in his arms, she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him.
Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.
David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”
And Nathan, the prophet pulled back the curtain that David thought perfectly concealed his sin.
Nathan replied to David, “You are the man!“
What was David’s sin? You have heard of Bathsheba? He failed in his duty as king to join his men in battle, which set into motion adultery, murder, and mostly, disregard for God.
For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household,
and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be
for those who disobey the gospel of God? “
1 Peter” 4:17 (CSB)
For brevity, here, let me ask you to finish this story in your own personal devotional time. It will be worth the time spent. Suffice it to say that David stood condemned by his own admission of guilt.
As believer’s we can all relate to David’s shame. We get so caught up in our secret sins, thinking no one knows. But somehow, believers fool themselves into thinking that as long as other people don’t know God will be patient with us till, we can figure a way out of our sinful mess.
How do I know this? Take a guess! I am just like David! So are you. Our sins may be different, but they are no less sinful. And we bring them into God’s Church, sometimes without regret. If we do that, I wonder how sure our salvation is. True believers cannot live under the pressure of unconfessed sin forever. Lost people have no compunction about dishonoring God.
The problem is that if there is no Nathan in our lives to stick us out, then it is very hard to come clean, with God and people we have offended.
Ahh. But there is. In the Person of the Holy Spirit. You see, David and other believers did not have the Resource that you and I have had since the Holy Spirit came to dwell in our hearts. But David still had no excuse for what he did, because God gave him all that he needed to obey God’s moral law.
So, not only do believers have the Holy Spirit, but we have one another. And we are to support each other Spiritually.
Read 1 Corinthians 5. The household of faith, the Church, is commanded to help each other face our failures. We do that without hypocrisy or judgment. The guide for how to do this is very clear.
The longer we hide out in our cage of concealed sin the more we add to the fear of getting caught.
Also, the longer we stay there, drowning in our sin, the more likely we are to add to our sinful behavior. And worse, yet the further we will drift from our relationship with God and grieve the Spirit.
There is only one thing we can do. We have to repent. We have to open our hearts to the God who does not want us to wallow in the darkness and fear. He just wants us to be humble and turn around.
Just as with David, God has mercy for every sinner. For believers caught in such a trap, God is not willing to leave you there. He will mercifully remind you of your need to repent. John 1:16 reminds us that believers receive grace upon grace. But don’t abuse that grace. Believers always hate the sin they are caught in.
Share the Good News in your world!
Isaiah 52:7
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
