After serving Jesus for over thirty years, it is still very amazing to me as I watch people who are knowingly sinning, knowingly hurting someone, knowingly in private and public rebellion toward God, and they are carrying on their lives as if nothing happened. It happens far more than we will ever know.
Whether they are personally deluded or simply pretending that their sin didn’t really occur, they live as if they are completely innocent. Some even say, “I’m completely pure.” Not only have I watched this in the past, but I am also seeing it currently in the present. It can be absolutely frustrating.
Often, there is the cry, “How long, Lord, will you let them get away with it?” Friends, for those of you waiting for God’s justice to arise, continue to wait. Don’t take things into your own hands. God’s justice is coming. We wait for it as we wait on Him. No one gets away with any sin, ever.
Psalms 35:17 (NKJV) “Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, My precious life from the lions.”
Psalms 44:22-26 (NKJV) “Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground. Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.”
Never forget, “Time is always on the side of truth.”
King David sinned in a wickedly diabolical way. He went from adultery to murder, literally, within a few days. Then, for about nine months, he lived his life as if he had gotten away with it. That is, until God sent Nathan to him with a little story. For nine months (for others, it can be 13+ years), David thought he had gotten away with it and that his life was untouched by the consequences of his obvious sin. He got away with nothing.
I’m so thankful for God’s sending power, aren’t you?! The story of a rich man stealing a precious ewe lamb from a family infuriated David to the point where he pronounced the death sentence on that man! What the man in the story did wasn’t deserving of death, either in the law of the land or the law of God. But David, carrying around his sin for so long, was actually pronouncing the sentence he deserved upon himself.
Then, at just the right moment, Nathan declares, “You are that man!” Convicted. Humbled. Broken. Changed. In a moment, from the sending grace of God, David was brought back to a right relationship with his Lord!
2 Samuel 12:7 (NKJV) “Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.”
His response is epic. “I have sinned.” This is the only acceptable response to the conviction of sin in our lives. I have sinned. Admit it. Repent from it. Make things right immediately.
I’m encouraged by how David didn’t make excuses. He didn’t dodge the reality. He didn’t offer some half-hearted, “I’m sorry, maybe kind of for whatever I’ve sort of done that now you’re feeling so bad, but really shouldn’t” response. I’ve heard my fair share of those, as I’m sure you have, too. Instead, David says it right: “I have sinned!” It’s raw. It’s real. While it’s recorded that he said three important words, Psalm 51 reveals his heart behind them. What a powerful picture of true godly sorrow leading to repentance!
Friend, make it right with God. Make it right with others. Return to your love relationship with Jesus today. In fact, remember this: “You are that man/woman!”
Without Godly Sorrow There is No Real Repentance
