II Samuel 12:15-16, 19-23 (NIV) 15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. 19 David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead." 20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. 21 His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!" 22 He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."
Psalm 51:1-4, 17 (NIV) 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
When we rationalize that our actions can’t possibly hurt anyone, the truth is that they hurt Jesus Christ. In Psalm 51 David confesses the wrong he has done: the iniquity of distorted thinking, the transgression of deliberately going against God’s gracious will, and letting his life be sabotaged by powers bent on destruction. He accepted the hurt, but he did not stay stuck. The servants were shocked and disturbed that David got over his grief so soon. People who take their sin to God, honestly acknowledging them and humbly accepting God’s work will sometimes appear almost callous to those who have never experienced grace and forgiveness, removal and restoration.
If it takes a certain kind of tenderness to ask for God’s help, it also takes a certain kind of toughness to believe that our sins are forgiven and then to get on with the responsibility that is ours. For it is God’s will and desire to fill us with joy and gladness so that the life that has been broken by sin may once again report for duty to God. This is the life we see in Jesus. He lived under the shadow of the Cross, yet called life good. He was surrounded by the blundering confusion of the disciples, yet called them His very best friends. He was beset by temptation, harassed by opposition, yet uttered no complaint. And Jesus told us about a God who saw His child returning home beaten and bruised and empty in soul, and had compassion for the child who had chosen to come home. This, too, was the spirit David brought to God, a broken and contrite heart still confident in a God of steadfast love and tender mercy.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 4, 1991
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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