The Word - May 22, 2012 - FORGIVENESS AND COMFORT IN THE PLACE OF GUILT

"Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' Nathan replied, 'Yes, but the Lord has taken away and forgiven your sin. You are not going to die. Nevertheless, because you have sinned, you have made the enemies of the Lord to show utter contempt, so the son born to you will die" (2Samuel 12:13-14).

The movie makers love a chapter in the Bible like 2 Samuel 11-12, because King David's sins of adultery with Bathsheba and David's calculated and cold-blooded murder of her husband Uriah, have all the ingredients for an exciting movie. But from the Lord's perspective, this is anything but an exciting chapter, it is a very sad account of a tragic transition point in David's life. For the rest of his life David suffered the consequences of his terrible sins.

On the other hand, this is an encouraging chapter in many ways. After David was confronted by Nathan, he immediately confessed his sin. As a result, we see God's plan and purpose of restoration at work and David was comforted in the assurance that his great sins were forgiven.

From Psalm 51 we learn that the enormity of David's sin overwhelmed his spirit, and the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him. Here are some lines from that Psalm: "Have mercy upon me O God, according to Your unfailing love, according to Your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins"

Just think of the comfort David must have experienced in the midst of his overwhelming guilt when God declared that his sins were forgiven. And what a comforting truth for us. God actually forgives and comforts us in our guilt. No, that does not mean that the comfort of God condones our sin, nor does in remove the consequences of our sin. We simply cannot sin in a vacuum. Usually other people get hurt and there is always a bad fallout and ripple-down effect when we sin.

But praise the Lord for the truth of 1 John 1:9 which says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." regardless of how horrible the sin, there is genuine and complete forgiveness, and this reality truly give us comfort; God comfort, and it is complete!

Do you understand the application of this for us all? We've got to move on! Don't live the rest of your life in depression and despair. Ask forgiveness, then stop rehashing the failure....you have got to move on! Yes there will be scars, but you must let God put the pieces back together. You can do it because His forgiveness is complete and his comfort never fails!