A Lesson in Forgiveness

I don’t really have any fancy metaphors for this blog, just a cool thing I’ve been meditating on this week. (:

First, you gottagottagotta go read 2 Samuel 11-12:24. (esp. verse 12:13) and then go read 1 Kings 11. Okay, so in 2 Samuel, we see the story of David and Bathsheba. During the time when David was supposed to be at war, he was wandering around his palace (on the rooftop, no doubt staring at all the women in their R&R while their husbands were in battle). So, his first sin was selfishness or maybe even laziness. His next was lust, because after he saw Bathsheba in her bathtub(v.2), he ordered some of his men to go get her. Now, I wonder what she was thinking. Did she know that it was his intent to be intimate with her? Would she have gone if she had known? The point is that she went, likely because it was a summons from the king. Though, that definitely does NOT make her actions inexcusable. She could’ve stopped his advances, but she didn’t. She was probably lonely since her husband was out in battle. Next thing you know, Bathsheba is pregnant(vs.4-5). She told David and he freaked out. He sent for Uriah to come home and eat some dinner, inquiring about how Joab was and how the war was going(v.7)…really? Making small talk while your troops are fighting for their lives? Then he tried to send Uriah home, hoping he’d sleep with his wife (v.8). But Uriah’s loyalty was to David, and he stayed out on his porch(v.9). The next day, David got him drunk and tried to send him home again. Again, he spent the night outside the palace(v.13). Even as a drunk, Uriah had more integrity than David.

So when Uriah doesn’t go home, instead of ‘fessin up, David sees murder as his only option. He puts Uriah where the battle is most intense, and Uriah is killed (vs. 14-17). Then he sends for Bathsheba and they get married. So let’s tally up his sins so far: laziness, selfishness, lust, manipulation, lying, and finally murder. Seem unforgivable? To me too. But let’s see what happens. God sends a prophet named Nathan to convict David of his sins(12:1a). David didn’t get it at first, but then, why would he? He hadn’t been spending any time with God, so how could he recognize His voice at first? Anyway, finally David sees his wrong and confesses his sins to God. And you know what happened? Look at chapter 12, verse 13. Nathan tells David “…the Lord has forgiven you…” As in, God ALREADY forgave you. As in…before you even had the courage to ask, God forgave you because He knew your heart. So, I thought that in itself was awesome. But if you’ll turn over with me to 1 Kings 11, then you’ll see something even MORE awesome.

Solomon is the wisest man ever to live, but he made a lot of stupid choices. We see in verses 2-3 that he disobeyed God by having more than one wife (wayyyyy more). Then we see that God obviously wasn’t trying to stop his fun, He knew that all these women would turn his heart from Him(v.2). God was right, and Solomon’s heart WAS turned from the Lord (vs.3-4). However, we’re not gonna focus on Solomon, we’re gonna talk about how David was remembered. You first see this in verse 6, when it says, “In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David had done.”

Years later, when Solomon was in his old age, God remembered NOT David’s many sins, but the fact that he was faithful to Him! How cool is that? Even when we think we’re unforgivable, Jesus covers our sins and His grace can always reach us. No matter how far we may seem from Him, He is always ready to forgive us, standing with open arms. In fact, He runs to us! We don’t even have to meet Him half-way! We just have to admit we did something wrong and stop doing it. Jesus loves you, even when you completely ruin your life. (Or when it seems that way.)

Another cool thing? Solomon writes the book of Ecclesiastes, full of confessions of his wrong and little nuggets of wisdom for when you mess up. Ecclesiastes 12:1 – “Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget you Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”