O LORD, you
have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you
discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are
acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O
LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your
hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot
attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your
presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you
are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold
me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be
night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you. … Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try
me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead
me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 ESV)
Your
greatest problem is sin. Jesus is not only the Lord of life but the Savior from
sin, Lord from Creation and Savior since Calvary.
The subject
of sin makes most people uncomfortable yet the problem is wrecking lives and wreaking
havoc. When someone addresses an unwholesome lifestyle they are sometimes accused
of condemning. Is it conviction instead? To have an assurance
of no condemnation in Christ, people need sensitivity to the convicting power
of the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist declared, “Where can I go from your Spirit?” No
where!
God clearly
knows the full extent of your greatest problem. The issue is not that you have
an ounce of good but the seed of sin. The God, from which no one
can hide, attempts to help you get your head out of the sand about your natural
bent toward rebellion and pride. He knows your problem but do you clearly see it?
What do you
do when confronted with your sin? Since God sees everything, you have been caught red-handed. A person can run but cannot
hide. “If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a
foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the
heart.” (Psalm 44:20-21 ESV) Your sins are already revealed to the One that
matters the most.
Two
individuals in the Old Testament reveal three ways people respond when caught,
and what naturally follows.
Saul against the Philistines (1 Samuel 13)
Saul began
his leadership of Israel at 30 years of age and reigned for 40 years. Jonathan,
his son, attacked a garrison of Philistines with a small band of Israeli
soldiers. The Philistines assembled for revenge and Saul summoned the entire
army.
The enemy
came to the battlefield with 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and “people like
the sand on the seashore in abundance.” The priestly prophet Samuel instructed
Saul to wait seven days and he would come to ask God’s favor.
Israel saw
this large assembly of fighting men and grew increasingly afraid, quaking with
fear. A day passes, then two, then three, and the sight of the encamped
Philistine army causes their imagination to go wild. The enemy grows more
invincible in their minds. Soldiers begin to scatter, hide, slip away, and head
back home. Saul falsely believed decisive measures were needed or there would
be no army left. He, as king and not priest, offered a sacrifice to God. Just
as he finishes Samuel appears.
After
greeting Samuel he hears, “What have you done?” Saul replies, “When I saw that
the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the
Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come
down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt
offering.” (1 Samuel 13:11-12 ESV)
Accusation:
“It’s your fault for not getting here on time.” Allegation: “It required me to
take charge of the situation.” Samuel coming later was not a mitigating basis for
overstepping divine authority.
When
confronted with your sin, do you try to justify
yourself? Do you think, “It was only a small technicality, not a sin!”?
“I didn’t
have any money so I just slipped the item into my pocket. It’s no big deal! The
store has lots of merchandise.”
“I switched
the price tag but the store overcharges on everything anyway.”
“I really
didn’t cheat on the exam. If God didn’t want me to see the answers He wouldn’t
have allowed the score sheet to be available.”
“It’s
better to lie than die so I thought it best to deceive.”
“I was
tired. I forgot. I wasn’t thinking. I, I, I….”
You are trying
to excuse yourself, denying truth? You are failing to be real.
Scripture
does not say, “If you justify
yourself, He is faithful and just to forgive….” (1 John 1:9)
Saul’s
outcome? And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept
the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the
LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your
kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart,
and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have
not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:13-14 ESV)
Are you feeling passed over? You may be attempting to
justify poor behavior.
Saul against the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15)
When Israel,
centuries earlier, was wandering in the wilderness, Amalek made war with them. God
promised Moses that He would eventually deal with these people. The day of
reckoning had come and Saul was selected to bring victory.
The
instructions were similar to Joshua’s days of conquest, when taking possession
of the land. “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they
have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and
sheep, camel and donkey.” (1 Samuel 15:3 ESV)
Saul summons 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
The army besieged the city of Amalek. Saul defeated them, yet he captured the king, kept the best
animals, and took the most appealing possessions. He only destroyed the despised and worthless.
Samuel receives a direct word from the Lord and confronts
him: “And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ‘Blessed be you to
the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.’ And Samuel said, ‘What
then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I
hear?’ Saul said, ‘They have brought
them…the people spared the best…to
sacrifice to the LORD…the rest we have devoted to destruction.” (1 Samuel
15:13-15 ESV)
Saul had heard Samuel’s tone of voice before. He was caught.
His greedy actions were confronted.
Samuel stops Saul from further dishonesty and then says,
“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of
Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And the LORD sent you on a
mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and
fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the
voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on
the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” (1 Samuel
15:17-19 ESV)
Saul
pleads, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on
which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have
devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the
people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to
destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” (1 Samuel 15:20-21
ESV)
Samuel
responds, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as
in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and
to listen than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22 ESV)
When
confronted with your sin, do you blame others?
“They did it, not me. I just watched. I didn’t participate.”
The blame
game is regularly played, husbands blaming wives and wives blaming husbands, young
people blaming parents, teachers, coaches, friends, and circumstances. When
will people accept responsibility for their failure?
The most
injurious form of blame game is accusing God. “I didn’t choose my country of
origin. I didn’t choose poverty. I didn’t choose my family. I didn’t choose my
parents. Not my fault!” Other than expressing a poor attitude, how does this
relate to wrong actions? One person’s excuse is many times another person’s
opportunity. Regardless of a less than perfect situation, with divine grace and
mercy you can shape a favorable outcome out of any challenge.
Scripture does
not say, “If you will blame
others, He is faithful and just to forgive….” (1 John 1:9)
Saul’s
outcome? “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected
you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:23 ESV)
Are you
feeling rejected? Are you blaming others?
David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12)
In the
spring when rulers went out to battle, King David stayed home. He had no
business being where he was. Unable to sleep he saw a woman bathing in the
middle of the night. He sends for her and they have sexual relations. He knew
this was the wife of one of his most valiant soldiers, one of the elite individuals
in the prestigious ranks of Mighty Men.
This was
not an act of a foolish young man but a genuine worshipper of God, someone in
his 50’s. David is later informed of her pregnancy and brings the lonely
soldier back. Since other soldiers are experiencing hardships Uriah refused the
comforts of his house. David returned him to the frontlines with a written
death sentence.
Uriah dies
in battle and, after a period of proper mourning, David marries the woman carrying
his child. The cover-up seemed complete but not according to Psalms 139: “Where
can I go from your Spirit?”
The prophet
Nathan tells the king a story: A rich man with many flocks takes the only lamb
of a poor man. David becomes angry and said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the
man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold,
because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan responds, “You
are the man.” (2 Samuel 12:5-7 ESV)
David was
caught. He responds, “I have sinned against the
LORD.” (V. 13) When confronted with your sin,
do you confess?
David wrote Psalms 51 shortly afterwards: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before
me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight….”
(Psalm 51:3-4 ESV) He forcibly took a girl, had her husband killed,
dishonored his divinely given office, shamed the nation, yet the transgression
was ultimately a heavenly violation.
Psalms 51
continues by declaring, “Surely you desire truth in
the inner parts … The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” (Vs. 6, 17)
David’s outcome? Nathan
informs him, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” (2
Samuel 12:13 ESV) David experienced restoration.
Are you sensing a need of being restored? The answer is confession.
Scripture does say, “If you will confess your sin, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John
1:9)
Please take
note: Confession does not exclude consequences. David paid a price for rebellion and pride. The infant conceived in adultery died at childbirth, a time
without war never occurred during his reign, and evil arose within his own household, publicly shaming him and his family.
Yet the ultimate outcome was far more favorable than going down the road of
denial.
Confess
There
is no peace by justifying yourself or blaming others. There is only peace by
confession. Are you sensing the agony of caught?
Then confess!
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