He was relaxing on the palace roof when he saw her. Now in his early 50s, King David was tantalized by the beauty of a young woman bathing on a nearby rooftop.<\/p>\n
But things went too far. Bathsheba, the wife of one of his officers, became pregnant. A scandal was inevitable. He tried to cover it up by calling Uriah, Bathsheba\u2019s husband, back to the city. For three days he entertained him, urging him to have a night at home with his wife. But Uriah refused: his troops were still fighting.<\/p>\n
David adopted an unscrupulous plan. He had Uriah put at the center of a major battle as his troops were drawn back. Left to fight alone Uriah was killed. David married Bathsheba. Like the eye-surgeon in Woody Allen\u2019s\u00a0Crimes and Misdemeanors<\/em>, David had apparently committed the perfect crime. But he had made a mistake. He had forgotten God.<\/p>\n Today we live in a self-absorbed society where everyone is intent on pursuing their own interests and pleasures, ignoring the reality of God.<\/p>\n Not that this is new.<\/p>\n Writing in his\u00a0Letter to the Romans<\/em>\u00a0(1:28-32), Paul the Apostle says:\u00a0Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God\u2019s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die\u2014yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n As Paul points out earlier in\u00a0Romans 1, we have evidence all around us that there is a creator God. We also have the evidence of history \u2013 the life of a unique man, Jesus of Nazareth who, after he was put to death, was raised again to life.<\/p>\n Furthermore, we have the awareness of our own conscience that we are guilty before a holy God. To agree with the implied conclusions of Woody Allen\u2019s\u00a0Crimes and Misdemeanors<\/em>\u00a0suggests that there is no ultimate justice \u2013 that there is no God to whom we are all accountable. We may as well live as we like.<\/p>\n But it is foolish to ignore the reality of God. Psalm 49:13-14 (it\u2019s worth reading the whole psalm) says:\u00a0Such is the fate of the foolhardy, the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Like sheep they are appointed for death; \u2026 But God will ransom my soul from the power of death, for he will receive me.<\/em><\/p>\n Repentance<\/strong>. Three millennia ago, the prophet Nathan rebuked King David (2 Samuel 12). David was reminded that the guilt within him was neither socially conditioned nor a psychological hang-up. He knew he had offended God:\u00a0You are justified, God, in your judgment, for against you alone, have I sinned\u2026<\/em>\u00a0(Psalm 51:4).<\/p>\n Some disagree with David\u2019s words:\u00a0Against you alone, God, have I sinned\u2026<\/em>\u00a0\u2018What about Uriah?\u2019 they ask. Bathsheba may have consented, but what about Uriah? David expresses what we all have to come to terms with: ultimately all sin is against God. Committing adultery and murder is breaking the second commandment: \u2018Love your neighbor\u2019. But sin against our neighbor is first and foremost sin against God. We cannot come to terms with our guilt until we personally deal with God.<\/p>\n And so, when David turned to God in an honest confession from his heart (Ps.51:7), he could say:\u00a0Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.<\/em><\/p>\n We need to be cleansed, not merely from our isolated sinful acts, but from sin\u2019s powerful grip on our lives. So David prays:\u00a0God,<\/em>\u00a0create in me a pure heart\u2026\u00a0<\/em>(Ps.51:10). Our problem is that we too often shy from this.\u00a0We don\u2019t want to change.<\/p>\n As speakers at GAFCON last week observed, when we fail to call one another to repentance we preach a false gospel. How important it is that when we turn to Christ we do so in true repentance and in faith. How important it is when we gather as God\u2019s people we also confess our sins against God before one another, for our own benefit and also for the benefit of outsiders who are present.<\/p>\n When by God\u2019s grace we do truly turn to him with heartfelt repentance, we have this assurance: God in Christ not only\u00a0pardons<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0our sin when we turn to him and confess it, but also\u00a0delivers<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0us from its consequences.<\/p>\n