As a child, do you remember spilling a drink and attempting to cover it up so you would not have to tell mom and dad? How long did the concealing last? For most of us, the truth came out at some point and we had to deal with the consequences. The same is true with our sin. Last week we looked at the effect sin had in David’s life. David committed adultery and then added to that with murder, all in order to cover up where and how he had sinned in the first place. But, as the story goes, his sin found him out. David could not conceal and cover. He was going to have to be confronted and confess. This very thing occurs in the Lord’s sending of Nathan. The Lord uses Nathan as a prophet to confront David on his sin. Nathan reveals the truth by the way of a parable (12:1-6). Nathan shares with David the story of a rich man and a poor man, and the rich man does not take out of his abundance but he takes what is dear to the poor man and leaves him destitute. The purpose of Nathan’s parable was to expose David to his own sin. And it did just that. David’s response was anger, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die” (12:5). Nathan opens up David’s eyes to his blind spot and explains the parable is about him (12:7-12). When David realizes this, he responds in the manner he should have at first: confession. David admits, “I have sinned against the Lord” (12:13). Nathan assures him that God has put away and forgiven David of his sin because of his confession and repentance. Even so, David still has to face up to the consequences of sin, the child of David and Bathsheba will die (12:14). Confronting sin, confessing sin, and the consequences of sin. These three realities were not only present in David’s life but can be seen in each one of our own lives as well. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23). Ever since Genesis 3, our tendency has been to hide and cover our wrong doing (Gen 3:7) and not take responsibility for our sin (Gen 3:12-13). The problem is it will not work. We are responsible for our sin and our sin will be revealed sooner or later. Because of the gospel, we understand we are to confess our sins. We can confess our sins, repenting of them, and look to God for salvation. Because of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven. This does not mean, however, we will be free from the consequences of our sin. We will still have to deal with those, as David did, but our relationship with God is restored and we are reconciled to Him so that we have salvation, condemnation. But we must confront and confess sin.
Reflection Time:
- If there is sin in your life you need to confess, take it to God in prayer and then share it with those you need to. Do not cover and conceal it; confess it.
- Find a close and trusted Christian friend to hold you accountable to exhort you in identifying blind spots in your life. Who is this person and how will they hold you accountable?
- Read Psalm 51. Make this your prayer when you need to confess the sin in your life.
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