Can
you imagine your life having grown up on the lake? You are out there, the wind
too choppy for the sails to work, so you must sail the boat to safety. You’ve
been at it for hours. The lightning flashes allowing you to see an aberation
coming towards you, a man walking on water. As the lightning shows him slowly
getting closer, you noticed that he’s bid you to come out to him. How far do
you make it? Do you walk 10 feet, or 20 feet? Then you remembered the storm
that has been working against you. Before you know it, you’ve plunged into the
water, overwhelmed, wishing to be able to breathe.
Yet
not all storms will be of natural makings. More times than not, the storms we
face are from factors we have little to no control over, such as the shift in
the economy, or the actions of others, or even mistakes you’ve made. How we
respond to such storms defines, or reveals, our true character.
Let
me tell you about one man-made storm nearly 2500 years ago. He was a man who
had a hard youth. He joined the military much younger than normal, 14 or 15
years old, barely a teen. Before long, he is the object of the people’s
affection. He will be king one day. He will be lauded.
Yet
sin was crouching at his door, waiting. How would he respond? I use to think
until rather recently that David didn’t go to war with his army because in 2
Samuel 21, he almost fell to the sons of Goliath so his men said that he should
never again be on the battlefield. Then I realized that I had jumped forward in
time, further along than when David cast his storm.
Sin
often is the rod that is used to cast our storms. Speculating, but perhaps the
sin was coveting what was not his, the 10th commandment. He saw someone who was
wed to not just someone else, but wed to one who could be counted as a dear
friend. But who can say no to the king?
He
summoned her. She bore the fruit of his sin, so he summoned his friend home.
When he would not unwittingly help cover his sin, Uriah was sent back to the
front line, unwittingly holding his execution orders. He died, and the child
was born. David wed Bathsheba. His storm was full strength.
Then
came along Nathan. “There were two neighbors, one wealthy holding hundreds in
his flocks and herds, and one who had a sole lamb that he would harvest the
wool from a couple of times a year to help make ends meet. In turn, the poor
man kept his sheep as a dear pet, even allowing it inside the house. But when a
traveling friend came to visit the rich man, he hosted the friend by taking and
preparing the poor man’s lamb. The poor man’s family was devastated. What
should be done, O King?”
“The
rich man should be put to death!” One really must put thought to what he
or she says before he or she says it. Words are not so easy to swallow once
given life and voice. For Nathan accused him of being that rich man, and
Uriah, the lamb.
In
the midst of the storm that David cast, he realized that he had stopped looking
to God, that his sin is neck high threatening to either drown or choke him to
death. This storm would cost him dearly. First, his newborn son would die. Then
later, one of his other sons would commit the same sin, but publicly rather
than in the cover of night as with David.
It
is when he realizes that he was no longer focused on God that he wrote the 51st
Psalm. It is a Psalm seeking forgiveness, a psalm of repentance. It is a psalm
of hope, a psalm of healing. Let’s read it:
Be gracious to me,
God, according to Your faithful love; according to Your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion. Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.
For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
Against You—You alone—I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So
You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge.
Indeed, I was guilty
when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Surely You
desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within.
Purify me with
hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let
me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Turn
Your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt.
God, create a clean
heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish
me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy
of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit. Then I will teach the
rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You.
Save me from the
guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of
Your righteousness. Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your
praise. You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased
with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.
God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.
What
do we learn from David’s prayer? Let’s talk about forgiveness. All to often,
people are afraid to turn to God, believing that God will not forgive them
their stupid choices. It’s easy to think that the incidental sin can be
forgiven, but the willful one? David didn’t accidentally come across her. He
skipped a campaign for her. David didn’t accidentally kill Uriah, but
deliberately executed him. His focus was so far off God that a year had passed.
But even then, God forgave him.
Now
God’s forgiveness should never be mistaken for escape from consequences. No.
David will still have those. But here is what he did, according to Psalm 51, to
receive the forgiveness.
He asked for forgiveness and grace.
Now after all these
things, David turns to God. He seeks forgiveness. He does so with a humility,
not from an attitude that it’s a given that God will forgive him.
This also includes
confessing and owning your sins. This is harder in that as much as we our sins
seem to affect others, Uriah his life, for example, sin affects our
relationship with God. Our purpose is to worship him, to be in fellowship with
him. Yes, sin in my life will affect others, just as sin in your life does. But
this, David is saying, that we are His children, and holiness on our part is
for Him, not for our spouses, our children, our bosses, or even neighbors. Sin
ultimately is rupturing our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
He sought God’s help.
Some would call this
the petition part of prayer. Here he is seeking to be renewed, to be different
from the sinner he just saw. He wants to refocus on God alone. He doesn’t want
to lose the Holy Spirit in a time that not all people had the Holy Spirit. But
because he was the Lord’s anointed, like Saul, he realized that he did have the
Holy Spirit. He realizes that if he continued on, he would risk losing that
blessing.
He promised to praise.
Then he would rejoice
in the Lord, telling others of his marvelous wonders. In a way, this overlays
nicely with the model prayer we pray each week. It started focusing on God as
David confessed. Then there was the petition, give us our bread, forgive us,
and deliver us. Then the praise.
Can it be so simple
to return back to God? If you are in Christ, yes. Absolutely. Paul told the
Romans how he struggled with sin constantly. He would tell them that if we are
clothed in Christ, then God sees us pure, blameless, as if our sins never
happened, as long as we trust him, turning them over to him.
And thanks to Christ
Jesus, not only has he redeemed our souls with his sacrifice, but he’s given to
us this Holy Spirit to help us, to guide us.
Now allow me to warn
here. The author of Hebrews says that there will be a point that if we continue
to be willfully sinful, that there will be a time that repentance will become
impossible. But for today, if you are truly wanting to return to God, or if you
need to come to God, then this is that time for you.
It is as simple as
returning your focus back to Jesus, regardless of how the storm rages around
you.
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