“Confession, Forgiveness and Freedom”
Oh what joy for those whose sins have been forgiven! David wrote these words after He experienced the Lord’s forgiveness. Most of us know the story when David decided to stay home when it was time for the kings to go to war. David made one bad decision after another falling into rebellion and losing the intimacy he once had with the Lord.
But thankfully we serve a loving, merciful and forgiving God. David is giving us some powerful instructions for when we rebel and lose our intimacy with the Lord.
Psalm 32:5
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
God Himself through the Prophet Samuel called David to be king. God referred to David as a man after God’s own heart. When we study the life of David and read his writings in the Book of Psalms we can see the intimacy that David has with the Lord. But like any man he was not exempted from temptation and the ability to rebel.
The scriptures tell us that one day when the kings were going out to war, David decided to stay home. This was the beginning of David’s poor choices and rebellion. He was on his roof one evening and looked across and saw a beautiful woman bathing. He gave an order to his servant to go get the woman. David slept with Bathsheba and she became pregnant. Rather than confessing and doing what was right. David ended up having her husband killed in battle and attempting to cover it all up. This went on for approximately one year. Until another prophet Nathan confronted David. David did not deny his sin, rather he cried out to the Lord, “I have sinned against You.”
In today’s scripture David is sharing with us, when he FINALLY confessed ALL his sins and stopped trying to hide his guilt he experienced God’s forgiveness and freedom. There are two kinds of guilt. Satan can attempt to make us feel guilty, his guilt will lead to condemnation. But God’s word assures us “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” But there is a guilt that comes from the Lord. His guilt will lead to confession, repentance, forgiveness and freedom. God’s desire is always to restore intimacy with Him.
My friends, sin will always separate us from the intimate relationship God desires for us. He loves us deeply and sent His Son to die for our sins. But just like David we can choose to walk in our flesh and rebel. We must be willing to humble ourselves, confess, repent and acknowledge the Lord’s forgiveness. When we do He will restore us to that intimate relationship He desires and we will walk in His joy and freedom!
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