Read 2 Sam. 11: 1 – 12:24
David
was an adulterer who had a man killed because he wanted to marry his wife. This
action brought God’s judgment upon him and he was told by Prophet Nathan that the
product of that sinful union would die. He fasted and prayed for forgiveness so
that the child could be spared. His servants and aides became worried because
of his refusal to eat.
At the end, the child died. When the news was broken to
him, David washed and anointed himself and asked to be given food which he ate.
He did not stop at that: the Scriptures say in 2 Sam. 12:24 “And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and
went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name
Solomon: and the LORD loved him”. This Solomon grew up to be the wisest and
wealthiest man to have ever lived. Christ was a descendant of Solomon - a
product of adultery.
David
was far from being perfect. Yet, he enjoyed a wonderful relationship with his
Maker. God loved him so much that He promised to establish his dynasty for
ever. How could God love and use this man that was full of faults? The answer
is because he had a repentant heart. We could see the condition of his heart in
Psalm 57 which he wrote after his sin with Bathsheba. He even went further to
make a vow that he would never set his eyes upon anything sinful (Ps. 101:3).
Guilt
is a subject that many young Christians are yet to have a grip on. They feel
that the sins and mistakes they have made before encountering Christ can never
be corrected. This is very untrue. The moment a person has genuinely confessed
his sins and asked for forgiveness, God has forgotten about that sin and
blotted it away from His record (Heb. 8:12). After that, the individual ought to be filled with peace from within. If he is still feeling guilty after genuinely repenting, then he ought to know that such feeling is not from God but the devil who must be rebuked according to the word “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony... (Rev 12:11).
God
does not want us to continue living with guilt because it will limit and make
us cower where we ought to exercise boldness. It will deny us the opportunity
of being used mightily by God. As David was able to forgive himself knowing
that God had forgiven him, we also must not sit down brooding over our past
mistakes. Rather, we should commit them to God who knows how to turn around our
shortcomings to promotion.
