This post is part of my ongoing series of writing down my thoughts on the Bible passages I read each day. Some days I hope to have great insight that the Lord gives me, and many days, I will likely struggle through the text and not know what to write down based on what I read. My hope and prayer is that as I make this a habit, just as I did daily writing for so long, that I will improve on my ability to read and understand the passages I’m reading. Please keep in mind that many of these posts may be published late at night or with little time studying and simply be my first thoughts after reading. This is in no way a commentary that one should use to discern the Bible, but my own personal thoughts.
“Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…”
You really see the contrast here between David and Saul. Here we get to see David’s “journal.” You see how truly repentant of his sins he was. That he understood the consequences of his sins.
However, he also had a very clear understanding of God’s forgiveness. None of these prayers come as a “God be merciful and don’t smite me” kind of prayer. They come as an “I know that God has already forgiven me and for that I am eternally indebted and grateful.” He knew that God loved him and desired a relationship with him. He knew the fault that he had committed, but he didn’t dwell in that. He simply acknowledged it, asked for forgiveness, and moved on.
We would be wise to take a page from David’s book when it comes to our sin. Our sin is serious. It’s as serious as death. We should treat it as such, but we should also treat Jesus’ sacrifice that took that sin with as much (in fact, a greater) weight.