If you feel overwhelmed by your own sinfulness, so did David.King David was described in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart. But a series of bad decisions nearly ruined his life. He fell into lust, committed adultery, and then lied and murdered someone in order to cover up his mistakes. Yet David learned something we all do, we can’t cover up our mistakes. Our sin always has a way of catching up to us…it will always have consequences. Our junk and our mess do not simply go away. Psalm 51 records the words David writes after acknowledging his own sin. He writes, “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.”
David’s sin was haunting him…he couldn’t get away from it. Have you ever felt that way? You think about the past and you immediately have feelings of regret and shame. You think about the present and wonder if you’ll ever break free from the stronghold in your life. Sin has the power to overwhelm us. It can consume us with feelings of guilt and shame. It can break us down and drive us away from God. However, we do not have to let sin have this power…it is not necessary for us to live life in this way. We should be encouraged by the fact that we worship a savior who came to forgive sin and free us from its power.
1 John 1:9 is a great promise: “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Christ not only forgives us, but purifies and heals our souls…he makes us new again. The good news of the gospel is that:
(1) Our Savior understands our struggle with sin.
(2) He is willing to forgive our sin.
(3) He will give us the power to overcome sin.
When I have a good day and I do my devotions, it is easy for me to believe these truths. However, on my worst days it is really hard for me to believe that. But it’s on our worst days we must believe the promises of scripture over the feelings of our hearts. Do we really live each day in the blessed assurance that we have been saved by grace? After falling flat on our faces, are we still firmly convinced that we are loved by God? Are we really aware that there is nothing we can do that will make him love us less? Faith in Christ implies that we will not allow sin to ruin our life or keeps us from God. We really believe that we are a forgiven people, and we live life trusting in that reality.
