Back to David...

Once we turn from sin, we confess (1 John 1:9 involves repentance, and if you're leaving out that aspect of "confession" then there's no promise in the verse for you), God forgives our sin (He's faithful and just). Then we can leave that sin with Christ - It's over. The wrath of God for that event in our life was poured out on Calvary - Jesus paid it all. So is it over?

I am reminded of David. He sinned with Bathsheba, and then essentially murdered her husband. He sinned big! Then he was confronted by Nathan in a "Thou art the man" bombshell. Then David repented.

Notice that David didn't repent until he was "cold busted". Don't think that if you are "busted" that there is no repentance for you. Forget what anyone thinks of your motives...forget what you think of your motives. Just know that it's sin and repent. Sometimes you've been lying to yourself about your sin, and getting busted first allows you to come clean with yourself (cause now everybody knows). Then you can confess and repent before God - He knew all along.

Back to David. David's repentance, recorded in Psalm 51, is one of the greatest examples of brokenness over sin ever. This man understood that his sin was against God - never mind all of the other collateral damage - his sin was first and foremost against God (he said against Thee and Thee only). He prayed from a heart of contrition with words that I have prayed along with him so many times. David truly confessed his sin, and God surely forgave his sin and cleansed him from all unrighteousness (that wasn't a new idea when 1 John 1:9 was written, God is unchanging). So was it over for David? In one sense, yes. God's wrath would be postponed with the blood of animals until it was satisfied on Calvary when David's sin was placed on Christ - He who knew no sin became sin for David. So in that sense it was over, but there's another sense.



David's sin had a lasting and terrible effect on him for the rest of his life. David's family was destroyed (they would have had their own Springer marathon). David's sin was paid for and covered by the blood, but he had to live with the consequences for the rest of his life. I'm sure that there were days when David vividly saw how his sin caused him later heartache and grief. But David knew where to take heartache and grief. The psalms are full of examples of how David poured out his heart to God, and he serves as an example to us in that.



So what about my sin...what about your sin...should we put on a smiling face and tell ourselves that we should not be ashamed of our sin? should we pretend it never happened, ignore it and it won't be there? After we confess and repent, after we know that we have received forgiveness from God, we may still be left with scars that stay with us. There may be real hurt and lasting effects of sin in our life. We may still mourn over that sin and all that has come about because of it. But as you mourn, remember that Jesus said the mourner will be comforted. That's not speaking of a pat on the back and a pep talk, but of a healing that can only come through Christ.

I think about Philipians 3 where Paul speaks of "forgetting what is behind". I see that we should put the past things in the past and leave them there (this may be a process that is often - re-putting the things behind us). Then antoher part of that is "pressing on toward the mark" of God. We can know healing from that pain when we confess and repent, then put the past in the past, then dive in to what God has for me today. (And all of that "Today" stuff is going to be found in an ancient book that God wrote.)

Pastor