Have you ever felt that you have blown it so badly that there is no recovery? In your heart, you know that God is a forgiving God but you can’t forgive yourself? And, even if you can forgive yourself, you can’t imagine your life ever being what God designed it to be.
Today I was reading the story of David that details the death of his baby with Bathsheba (II Samuel 12). David had taken another man’s wife and arranged to have her husband murdered. No, he didn’t hold the weapon that did it, but he put Uriah in harm’s way that resulted in his certain death. Uriah was a man who had faithfully and selflessly served David. In this chapter, David is confronted by Nathan the prophet concerning his evil deeds. I’ve come to realize that we all need a Nathan in our life that is willing to tell us the truth no matter how badly it hurts.
In the following verses, David is faced with the death of his child by Bathsheba and pleads with God through prayer and fasting as he lay prostrate on the floor. For seven days, David was so distraught that he would not eat or bathe while awaiting the outcome. After the baby died, David’s servants feared telling him because they thought he might harm himself.
To their surprise, once David learned the baby was dead, he arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. Then he went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. “Afterward, he ate,” the scripture says. The servants didn’t get it. “How can you fast and weep for your child while he is alive but after he dies, you can eat,” they asked him? David’s reply is profound: “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
It relieves me, as a woman, to know that David then comforted his wife, Bathsheba. This tells me that David finally got his priorities right! David began to see from a Kingdom perspective. He could not bring his baby back but he would one day see him in heaven. In the meantime, he receives God’s forgiveness, ministers to his wife and moves on with his life.
In spite of David’s mistakes and gross sin, God declared David to be a man after His own heart. David was an amazing guy. No matter how badly he failed, he didn’t linger in regret. He always repented from his heart, worshiped and moved forward. This story is an encouraging reminder that when we seek His face, our Redeemer not only forgives but He makes all things new.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (NKJ)