We are so easily deceived; either by ourselves or by our enemy. One place where this repeatedly occurs is in the area of unconfessed sin. The account of David’s sin with Bathsheba is instructive. When David’s army went out to war, David decided to remain at home. But that was where the wives of all his warriors were! Bad move. He sees Bathsheba, a beautiful woman, inquires, calls for her, commits adultery with her and she gets pregnant. David tries to cover his sin by calling the husband home in hopes that he will sleep with his wife and think that the child is his. When that doesn’t work, David sends him back into battle with orders that will end up getting him killed.
So now David has committed adultery, had an innocent man killed and then taken his wife. The cover up has worked, but not with God. After more than nine months of waiting (the child is born) God sends Nathan the prophet to confront David with his sins. Nathan’s message is successful and David finally acknowledges his sin and repents. But for at least nine months he had been living the cover-up. What must that have been like for a man like David, a man of righteous
integrity who loved God and had been given God’s spirit! In Psalm 32, David seems to describe this very experience:3For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Psalm 32:4-5)
In his strength, health, and emotional state David experienced the heavy hand of God upon him. But he delayed for nine or more months. Why? Why do we do the same? What do we anticipate that keeps us from taking action; shame, humiliation, fear of rejection or fear of condemnation? The enemy would certainly like us expect that from God, but in fact, the very opposite is the case. The serpent told Eve, “You will not surely die,” and he tells us, “God could never forgive you for that!” David tells us what actually happened:
5I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:3–5)
Not humiliation, rejection or judgment, but mercy and forgiveness. We see the same paradox in the parable of the Prodigal Son. The rebellious son is finally desperate enough to be humiliated; indeed ready to be taken back as a mere servant. But what he finds instead is a Father watching, waiting and eager to have him back. A Father ready to forgive and receive him back as his son. That’s what David experienced and describes:
1Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1-2)
Many centuries later, the apostle John put it like this:
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8–9)
Before our confession and repentance we experience the consequences of our sin, the guilt, and even the heavy hand of God upon us like David did. After confession and repentance, we experience the joy of forgiveness and reconciliation, not rejection and condemnation.
Let us stop being deceived by our guilt and fear, and let us be quick to run to the arms of a forgiving Father.