Repentance

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/16/crushed-and-beautiful

For almost a year, David refused to acknowledge and confess his double sin of sending Uriah out to the battle front to die, while he commited adultery with Bathsheba. It was only when the LORD sent the prophet Nathan to confront him that he relented and repented of his sins. Bathsheba was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as the King of Israel and Solomon was probably the wisest king ever to have lived.

Two important points I like to highlight today from this story of David with Uriah and Bathsheba. The first is that the writers of the Scriptures wrote the story as it was, they didn’t hide the sin or wrongdoing of David, particularly when David was regarded as one of the icons of the faith. In fact, the pinnacle of God’s relationship with Israel was during the reign of David, the golden years of Israel. Yet the shame of the sin of David was for all to see.

Secondly, God chose to raise Solomon out from David’s originally adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. The adultery and murder were big blemishes in David’s otherwise near excellent character and reign as someone after God’s heart and yet God continued that line from David till Christ through Bathsheba.

I think it goes to show that when we seek forgiveness and repent from our sins, God can and will use the broken pieces of our lives to make a great painting like the intricate and complex painting Consider the Lilies, by Makoto Fujimura. The forgiveness of God is real and genuine even if there are consequences to our actions. In the case of David, he lost a few of his sons as a result of his sin.

If we had sinned against God and turned our back from Him, return to Him for forgiveness and in repentance. Christ has died for us and fully paid for our sins on the cross. The LORD will take our broken and contrite heart and make it into a beautiful sunflower that will stand tall and proclaim the grace and goodness of God to everyone! Christ will lift us up from the slimy pit, the miry clay and make us whole again!