For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. – (Psalm 51:3-5 ESV)
“We are often like Adam. He sinned along with his wife in eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But when God came to him in the garden demanding, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Gen. 3:11), Adam did not confess his transgression. Instead he began to shift the blame to other people and eventually to God himself. He said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (v. 12).
It was the same with Cain. Cain killed his brother. But when God came demanding, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain answered, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9).
And what about Abraham? Abraham lied about his wife, Sarah, saying she was his sister, because he feared that the men of the Negev would kill him for her. When he was found out he excused himself, saying that it was not an outright lie: “Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife” (Gen. 20:12).
This is not how David prayed. David acknowledged his sin, laying it out and confessing it utterly. This is the significance of verse 4: “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” Many commentators have pointed out that this was not strictly true. David had sinned against Bathsheba and against Uriah, her husband. He sinned against the armies of Israel, who lost their battles during the time of David’s sin. He sinned against the nation. But in the sight of the perfection and majesty of God, David knew that these wrongs fell into relative insignificance. The greatest of all problems with sin is that it is an offense against God. It would make a vast difference in many lives if people could only see this. David did see it. Therefore, he did not try to cover sin up, but confessed it, saying, “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”
Another aspect of David’s confession is his acknowledgment that it is not only that he sinned once, but that his whole nature was permeated with sin: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (v. 5). This verse says nothing about sex being wrong. This is the way it has been interpreted in some sectors of the Roman Catholic Church as the result of an asceticism that became a goal of Catholic piety during the early and late Middle Ages. But this is not what David is talking about. He is saying that there was never a moment in his life when he was free from sin and no part of his being escaped sin’s contamination. It is the same with us. By ourselves we have never done anything to please God; everything we have done is contaminated by sin. But God can cleanse us. He can begin a work that will enable us to live victoriously.”
While I regarded God as a tyrant, I thought sin a trifle; but when I knew him to be my father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against him. When I thought that God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against one who loved me so, and sought my good. – Charles Spurgeon
Boice, J. M. (1998). Genesis: An expositional commentary (928–929). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Trisha says
Boice is spot on in speaking of how quick we are to blame others for our sin. And what joy there actually is when we cast those excuses aside and come to the Lord crying out for forgiveness. Give me a repentant heart, O LORD! The longer I’ve walked with Him, the better vision I have been given of the darkness of my heart, my excuses, my wanderings, etc. as well as just how amazing His grace is. I just finished reading Watson’s The Doctrine of Repentance…very convicting and yet, so encouraging. One of my most favorite quotes: “While God has been storming others by His judgments He has been wooing you by His mercies.”
Love you!!
Barbara Thayer says
I love how David utterly repented before the Lord and admitted he was a sinner against the Lord his God. If only we could remember how permeated we are with sin from our mother’s womb then we would rejoice all the more to see the salvation of the Lord in our lives. May God ever give us grateful hearts! Thank you for this wonderful and rich post Christina!!!!
roberta gordon says
I once read a meditation that has always hastened me to repentance Jesus said to a dear saint, “Your sins are like a drop of water in the ocean of my mercy ” What an awesome, incredible picture that brings to mind, and we know we can throw ourselves upon his mercy. Thank you Lord.
Laurie (@lauriebernardin) says
Excellent! How sad that, in our day, sin is redefined as ‘orientation’, ‘disease’, mental illness’, ‘gay’, etc. This makes the sinner the victim and provides a way of escape from accountability. How desperately we need to return to the ‘old paths’.
Blessings to you dear sister for this excellent post.
Diane says
“but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against one who loved me so, and sought my good. ”
These words of Spurgeon’s really got me.
Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful truths with us my dear friend.
Petra says
Excellent, Christina!
“But in the sight of the perfection and majesty of God, David knew that these wrongs fell into relative insignificance. The greatest of all problems with sin is that it is an offense against God.” But in the sight of the perfection… Let’s not loose sight of His perfection, which is so easily done, because: “By ourselves we have never done anything to please God; everything we have done is contaminated by sin.” Everything we have done… our best is utterly filthy when compared. But…
“But God can cleanse us. He can begin a work that will enable us to live victoriously.” Alleluia! Amen!!
Hugs! ♥