Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by your generous Spirit.     Psalms 51:8-12 HCSB

I’ve often heard it said that sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay and cost you more than you wanted to pay. David certainly learned this the hard way.

How did David go from a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), to being a man who would be at the receiving end of God’s wrath? Let’s take a minute to look at this. In the book of 1 Samuel, the Israelites have rejected God and asked for a king. God anoints Samuel as king, but Samuel is disobedient. God removes the throne from his family, and we see Samuel in a downward spiral of madness.

We first see Daniel as the young shepherd boy that slays Goliath. He is then taken, by Saul, into his court where he plays his harp for Saul and calms him when he is in his manic episodes. God then sends Samuel to anoint young David as king. David would spend years being pursued by Saul. David had two opportunities to kill Saul but refused to do so since Saul had been anointed by God as king. Saul would later die in war.

David was described in 1 Samuel 13:14 as a man after God’s own heart. David was obedient and he obviously loved the Lord. God made him a mighty warrior. Once Saul dies in war, David becomes king. God gives him peace. When David did go to war, he was victorious. Life was good for David, but he had one weakness and that was women. In 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, we are told that David had 8 wives and an unknown number of concubines.

In 2 Samuel chapter 11, David should be off at war, but had chosen to stay home. He sees a young woman bathing in her courtyard. He inquired about her and found that she was the wife of a soldier in his army but didn’t let that stop him from sending for her and sleeping with her. She becomes pregnant and he tries bringing her husband home hoping he will sleep with her. But he is too honorable to do so while his men are off fighting and thwarts David’s plan. David has a backup plan. He tells the commander of his army to put Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, on the frontline and go aggressively into battle. This plan works and Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah dies in battle.

When David is confronted by the prophet Nathan, he is blind to his own sin. It’s like he is clueless to how badly he has messed up. Nathan speaks to him in a parable about a rich man that has stolen a poor man’s sheep. David is furious at such a horrible transgression and says that this man must die. Nathan then drops a bomb and tells David, “You are that man.”

David repents and Nathan said that he would not die, but that the sword would never leave his house. And it didn’t. There was adversity in David’s house with his children for the rest of his days. God doesn’t overlook our sin. There is a price to pay. But we can restore our relationship with Him. He will forgive us and remove our sins from us if we will only ask.

David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. He asks God to cleanse him and renew a steadfast spirit within him. He asks God to blot out his sin and remove his iniquities. He asks God to restore the joy of his salvation.

Perhaps you can identify with David. Maybe there was a time when you felt that you were strong in your relationship with the Lord but have stumbled along the way. Know that God can restore the joy of your salvation. Come back to Him. Give your sin over to Him and ask Him to cleanse you. Ask Him to renew your steadfast heart. Ask Him to restore your joy. It’s not too late. Trust in Him today.

Have a great weekend!