The LORD has taken away your sin-(22-02-07)

r my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22). How could the man after God’s own heart be guilty of sex sin and murder? What does this say about the reality of forgiveness?
The sad story is told in 2 Samuel 11. The chapter ends with Bathsheba pregnant in King David’s house. Her husband has been killed and David has taken her with indecent haste as soon as the time for mourning her husband was over. It might seem the end of the story except that “the thing David had done displeased the LORD” (vs 27)
Chapter 12 opens as God sends Nathan the prophet on a dangerous mission to confront the king. One can imagine that rumours were flying around. People could work out the dates. David’s sin was not hidden though he may have thought he had got away with it because no one dared to speak to his face. Nathan has God’s command and must speak.
So he prepares a story that will appeal to the king’s sense of justice and generosity. It’s the story of a rich man who took a poor man’s only lamb to set before a traveler instead of one of his own sheep. David’s anger flares against the rich man. “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!”
Then he gives sentence echoing Exodus 22:1. “He must pay for that lamb four times over”.
Now there is an awkward pause… a long silence. Nathan does not say “Thank you, my Lord” as David expected. Instead, his eyes pierce to David’s heart as God through Nathan pronouns sentence, “You are the man!” Nathan does not stop there. Words tumble out of his mouth as all his pent up emotions pour out. Maybe David did not take in anything else Nathan said. When the prophet paused, David simply says “I have sinned against the LORD”. And Nathan with huge relief can reply “The LORD has taken away your sin”. That is the marvel and the miracle of forgiveness.
You are the man. I have sinned again the LORD. The LORD has taken away your sin.
What glorious news for all of us, for we too are sinners. Thank you, LORD
The heading to Psalm 51 reads: “A Psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David committed adultery with Bathsheba.” Read the psalm slowly applying it to your own life and sin. How deep is David’s repentance. How he longs for God’s acceptance. This is the heart cry of a broken man. It is not a shallow flippant confession. It is not just saying ‘Sorry God’ as if his sin didn’t matter and God’s forgiveness was cheap. We need to feel the agony David felt as a sinner in the presence of God’s consuming holiness. Only so will we experience the joy of God’s salvation.
What do we learn for ourselves and our Church?
There is forgiveness with God for sex sins. For our sin and for the sin of others we may be tempted to look down on as ‘sinners’.
Forgiveness is not cheap but it is complete. We can be fully accepted in the LORD. The adulterer can become a person ‘after God’s own heart’. Let us accept God’s forgiveness ourselves. Let us accept those whom He has accepted. “With you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared”.