Tag: david

God’s Remarkable Response to David’s Sin

Psalm 38 finds David in a low place, brought low by his sin.  Whereas in other Psalms he lays claim on his innocence and seeks deliverance, here he bemoans of his guilt.  

There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; 

there is no health in my bones because of my sin. -Psalm 38:3

In this couplet, David suffers a strickenness in direct result of his sin.  We find it throughout the Psalm. 

For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. 

My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,  

I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.

But David’s desolate condition is not merely the result of sin: he suffers too from the hand of God. 

I know this because verse 3 informs me of it. The lack of health and soundness in David’s body is given two causes.  These are God’s indignation and David’s sin, and they are inextricable. 

To think that God is so gracious to be ambivalent to our sin is to misunderstand God and to belittle the devastation of sin.  It is also to misunderstand grace.  

Sin is not a mere quirk or untimely hiccup, it is an offense against God.  

Grace is not overlooking sin, but acknowledging it face on and atoning for it. Hearing the vulgar rebukes of his mockers, Jesus, pinned to the stake cried, “Father, forgive them! For they know not what they do.”  Jesus embodies perfect grace.  

And God would not be God if our sin did not stir within Him an indignation.  He is the Holy One.  

God cares too much about us to be the ambivalent friend. Indeed, God disciplines those he loves, that they might not suffer continually from their sin.   David tangibly describes God’s discipline in verse 2:

For your arrows have sunk into me, 

and your hand has come down on me.

The greatest reminder from this Psalm for me is that my sin affects God and rouses from Him a response.  Here it is called indignation.  Paul later calls it grief (Eph 4:30).  It is remarkable that the Infinite, Perfect, and Immense Creator of the Universe could have such an affection for me that my minute comings and goings could sway Him–Him!  That truth is indeed too marvelous to behold. 

We could never comprehend the complexities of the emotions of God, nor the perfect means by which God mingles his love for his children with his hatred of sin.  But as we grow nearer to his heart, the more wisely will we live and the more fully will we love. While my sin is forgiven and atoned for, it still stirs the heart of my Father.  May I be sensitive to Him and desire deeply to please Him.  God help me! 

God’s Tender Walk with David’s Conflicted Heart

A few observations on the following text of David’s apparent impersonation of Harrison Ford in The Fugitive:

[Saul] pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.  And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. -1 Samuel 23:25b-29

1.  David is remarkably merciful by his insistence on not harming Saul.

By my estimation, David would be totally justified in wrenching the kingdom from Saul.  David’s been anointed king by Samuel, and his predecessor Saul has been told that he’s been sacked (though, in denial, he continues to show up at the “office.”)

Why would David refrain from taking what is rightfully his?  To some degree, his conscience can’t bear it.  He ninja-style tears a corner off of Saul’s robe to show that he means him no harm (yes, when Saul is still trying to kill him), and the realization that he ruined the man’s North Face overwhelms him (1 Sam 24:5-7).  Should he be this sensitive though?  

I’m not sure.  To me it’s David’s duty to take the throne, but it seems that, as surprising as it is to us,

2.  God is willing to work within David’s conscience.

When Saul comes up in this passage with his army against David, God could have allowed the fight to break and routed Saul and company.  To me, that would make sense.  Hubris sends the fellow into working against God and God turns it back on his head.  BOOM.  That makes for a quick, clean story.  Moral: served.  

But it didn’t go down that way.  God is tenderly raising up David, and when David feels like his conscience forbids him, God respects it and brings in the Philistines to redirect Saul away.  (Again, God can work through sin and, in fact, uses it to accomplish his purposes [Gen 50:20]).  This shows me that…

3.  Our consciences are important and should be respected.

David has a right moral (I must not harm the Lord’s anointed!), but his information is just a bit off: he’s actually the anointed one now.  But while David is still deriving the the right data and compiling, God is not going to lead David into betraying David’s conscience.  

Similar situations happen with us.  We can feel that something might be wrong, even when it is ambiguous or even totally acceptable. But when we do feel like we are breaking conscience, we should honor that feeling.  Crossing over and disobeying one’s conscience only begets more and more disobedience.  We unfortunately get used to feeling bad, and then stop feeling anything altogether.  The end result is a deadened or severely weakened conscience that we need for things like life.  That’s why Paul encourages the church members to respect one another’s arbitrary opinions:

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. – Romans 14:5

We must obey the silent murmurs and even silly apprehensions of our hearts.  They are there for a reason.  Maybe we have the wrong data, and that will work itself out eventually.  But let us be fully convinced in our own minds.

You may feel like your conscience has been so maligned by you that it is deadened beyond recovery.  Take heart.  It is not.  You, or your heart, are never beyond recovery.  Our God’s arms are never too short to reach you, nor are His healing hands ever too unskilled to restore you.