Sometimes smart people do dumb things. Sometimes godly people do bad things. It has nothing to do with our sincerity for God, but a weakness of the flesh.
Story: David - 2nd Samuel 11
You too may have done things that you hope no one ever finds out about. You may be hiding something desperately shameful in your past. No one knows about that brief fling. No one knows the things you stole, the secret late nights in front of the computer, or the impure thought life that threatens to be played out. No one knows about the lying, scheming, or cheating we have all done in our past. But you know. And God knows.
We all want to make it right so badly, yet we often avoid God at all cost. One thing that everybody has in common is that we have all blown it big time. No matter how bad, how wrong, how ashamed, how embarrassed you may feel, God is there for you. Failure is never final with God! Even though you knew better, God is willing to meet you. He may even send a Nathan (YP, parents, friends) to let you know that He knows everything. But isn’t pushing you away, he is trying to bring you back.
How can you recover when you know you’ve done wrong?
How do you get rid of the guilt and embarrassment?
How do you find the courage to deal with the consequences?
Can you restore your relationship with God and others?
Psalm 51 teaches us that God is with us always ... even when we’ve blown it big time!
STEP 1: COME CLEAN (vs.1-4)
A. Get Hones. Stop rationalizing, minimizing, and excusing.
B. Obstacles to confession
Fear of losing our reputation - What will people think? We overcome this fear by getting to know God better. When we know God - forgiving, protecting, able to deliver, eager to restore - we can trust Him to respond rightly.
Fear of losing our favorite sin - When we seek God, we must leave behind everything that detracts from or works against God’s purpose in our lives. Until we renounce the sin, we haven’t repented
C. The basis: God’s unfailing love + abundant mercy: If you don’t know that aspect of God’s nature, you will be afraid to take this step. Jesus’ death on the cross reminds us that God is not surprised by our sin, but has made a way for fallen people to be forgiven.
STEP 2: ASK GOD’S FORGIVENESS
A. David isn’t playing “Let’s make a deal” - He admits completely what he has done
B. “Blot out”, “Wash me” - Clean up the mess I’ve created
STEP 3: ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR SIN
A. You are no the victim. You are the violator.
1. Look at the pronouns here - my sin, my iniquity
2. He saw sin as a problem at the core of his being
B. “I deserve whatever I get”
1. David knew there was going to be severe consequences to his sin
2. Someone who is truly repentant is willing to endure the consequences
3. He trusted that God would not overreact to his sin
C. God is a loving disciplinarian
STEP 4: ACCEPT GOD’S FORGIVENESS ON GOD’S TERMS (vs.6-9)
A. God forgives us on the basis of the cross of Christ
1. Future obedience doesn’t make up for past mistakes
2. We are forgiven only through the cross
B. “I can’t forgive myself”
*This normally happens when somebody does something that really violates their conscience. In my teenage years as a Christian, I remember feeling like a failure. I would promise God that I would never do that again, but then I kept doing it. I would be depressed over small sins for a few days and big sins for a week. Then I would gradually let myself off the hook because I thought I had suffered enough. That’s theologically inaccurate and spiritually deadly! It produces a viscious cycle of sin, guilt, shame, depression.
1. Forgiveness is not an emotional feeling; it is a fact. Our emotions lie to us. When God says we are forgiven, we are forgiven!
2. We have to realize it is God that does the forgiving. We are not more important than God
STEP 5: ASK GOD FOR REVIVAL IN YOUR HEART
1. Create - means create out of nothing. God give me a new heart
2. “Renew a right (steadfast) spirit” - What do you want to do when you have sinned badly? Run! He was asking God to give him the spirit he needed to hang in there, to face whatever would come without running. Give me a teachable spirit. Help to accept correction and counsel (don’t muzzle the truthspeakers in your life!). Don’t wait for your emotions to kick in. Take willful steps of faith!
3. “Cast me not away...” - God, don’t take your hand of blessing and power off my life. God don’t abandon me to my own ways. God don’t do to me what you did to Saul.
4. “Restore to me the joy of my salvation” - God, give me the intimacy back. I want to worship again and feel free. I want to have the sense that when I pray, you’re there. When I read your Word, I want it to jump off the page and speak tome! I want the relationship with you I had before I sinned! I want your heart, your arms, your approval, I want it back!”
STEP 6: DECIDE TO USE PAST FAILURE FOR FUTURE MINISTRY
A. God can use your story for His glory
B. Failure is not final. Even though he’d blown it, he was looking forward to a day when God would be using him to help the lost get found, and he hopefully expected God to make it happen.
C. Vs. 16-17: Religious activity is meaningless unless it comes with a change of heart. He wants our hearts to break over the seriousness of our sin, so we will turn back to him.
STEP 7: PRAY FOR LIMITED FALLOUT
EXPERIENCING GOD AS YOUR FORGIVING FATHER
You may be remembering the ways you’ve blown it. It may be that the words “singleness” and “purity” can’t be used in the same sentence when speaking of your life right now. It may be something others would not consider a big deal, but God’s Spirit has convicted you about it. Stop for a moment. Ask God if there is any sin in your life that you need to address right now.
Take the first step. Rely on the steadfast love of your God. You have a God that redeems, restores, and renews.
Maybe you’re here, you don’t know that Jesus is your personal Savior. You have done many wrong things in your life. But I’m not as bad as others or I’m just like everybody else. God doesn’t judge us in comparison to others. He judges us in comparison to Jesus. We all fall short. But Jesus’ death means we can all be forgiven.
Remember, God doesn’t see you as a sinner but as his child. Draw near to God as you realize that you can’t do anything to make God love you less or love you more. Take in fresh hope as you understand that failure is never final with God. David failed badly in 2nd Samuel, but in Acts, his legacy and lasting remembrance is “a man after God’s own heart.” Don’t let past failure cause you to miss future opportunities to bring God glory.
Father in heaven, I ask you right now to help my heart be tender because I know sin makes it hard. Please let the blood of Jesus cover all my sin. Let me feel again the hope and renewal of your forgiveness.
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