After a long period of fleeing away from the insecure King Saul, God crowned David as the next king of Israel. And having fought many wars, David was now well into the second half of his life. He is well known today even among the non-Christian world through the brave fight with the giant Goliath. And for us, we have the scriptures to tell us that he is a person after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14).

Yet, with all these good qualities attributed to him, the height of his spiritual victory suffered a blow when he fell into the depth of his spiritual defeat through the lust of his eyes. 2 Sam 11-12 narrates that he was supposed to go to war with his men, but he chose to remain in his palace. He looked out of his window and saw Bathsheba taking a bath. He called her and slept with her. After knowing she was pregnant, he called her husband, Uriah who was one of his soldiers, to return from the battlefield. As a loyal soldier, Uriah did not go to bed with his wife; he felt that it was not right for him while his fellow soldiers were fighting for their country. Next, David schemed by asking his commander to put Uriah at the frontline to be killed by the enemies. Finally, God sent Nathan the prophet to confront him and his sins. This is that story that constitutes the background of Psalm 51.

David’s fall is a sober lesson for us. But the account ends with his brokenness in verse 17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” And also God’s promise to do good through David’s life in verses 18 and 19 prevails. God knows that this man whom He has chosen will prevail. Though his son born to him died after his act of adultery, God continues to keep His covenant with him. Many years later, the lineage of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus traces back to David.

Being the Lord’s anointed, David no doubt knows His God very well. It will be the same for many of us who have known the Lord for many years and our knowledge about Him from the bible increases. Yet the danger of increased knowledge but with no transformation of the heart can lead us to compromise in our faith and rationalize our wayward way. But God’s Spirit works within us helps us overcome small as well as big sin areas in our lives.

As our spiritual age increases, we may have seen God working in us through the small areas of our lives. In this season of your life, please ponder what is one significant area that can make you drift away from God. As we claim upon His forgiveness through what Christ has done for us, we want to pray that He will continue to grant us His favor over our personal lives, our families and even our church here.

PRAYER

Dear God, you are the same God whom David worships and believes. You are holy and You detest sins in my life. I confess to you _____ (specific your sin). I acknowledge that I was wrong to do it. Thank you for forgiving me through Christ’s death on the Cross. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.