"Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge."
Psalm 51:4 (NIV)
I was blessed right down to my socks when little Sierra quoted part of this verse these past Sunday, as part of our Awana feature. May she remember this verse and may it not just be a matter of her mind and her tongue, but a matter of her heart and soul.
David is a child of God; he is not referring in this verse to sin that he committed before he trusted in the LORD - no, he is referring here to sin that he committed as a “Christian”. Some will object to me calling King David a “Christian”, but they have no grounds, for David saw Christ clearly; he wrote about His sacrifice and His reign and wrote about his salvation through Him. But surely we are comfortable with calling the apostle John a Christian, and yet in his first paragraph of his church letter, he tells us that he commits sin that requires confession and cleansing. Is John a saint who sins OR a sinner who is a saint?
If you would like to measure the closeness of your relationship to God, ask yourself what was the last sin that you confessed, and when did that confession take place? If you can’t remember that last time you confessed sin, you have drifted away from God. David was the closest to God when he penned the words of Psalm 51. He penned beautiful worship psalms; he spoke words of great faith, and he performed many acts of faith, yet he was the closest to God when he repented of his sin. David knew that what is required of a true worshiper is a broken and contrite spirit (Ps 51:17) and John knew the same thing.
Friend, when we get close to God (true worship) and when we see Him for who He is, we see ourselves, and then we see our sin and then we humble ourselves and seek forgiveness from the One who we sinned against. This is the life we are called to, for Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. May we sinners, who are saints, practice true repentance today!
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