Sunday March 14, 2021
The Only Proper Response
Why was David forgiven by the Lord and Judas not? Why was there a life change in Peter and not in Saul when confronted their sin? Why is “I’m sorry” is still judged when “forgive me” is not? The answer lays in two words…sorrow and grief. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of sorrow)
David had committed adultery, ordered a murder, and lied to Nathan the prophet. Nathan then goes to David and confronts him about his sin (2 Sam.12:1-15). This confrontation occurs about one year after the incident with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. David has been “sitting” in his sin all this time. Finally, David breaks from sin’s weight with a broken and contrite heart and repents. Psalm 51 is the product of that brokenness.
In illustrating the heinousness of sin, David uses the three most important Hebrew words to describe it: transgression (defiant sin), iniquity (perversion), and sin (missing the mark). That is how David saw his sin…a deliberate perversion of God’s perfect will. When David sees the depth of his sin, he is broken. His response is not because he sinned; it is the sin itself that breaks him. His sorrow is so deep it feels as if his bones were broken.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (Ps.51:7-9)
We see the same type of response with Peter. In Matthew 26:75, Peter wept bitterly when confronted with his sin. The word bitterly comes from a Greek word that means, “sharp; like a pine.” His sin also caused pain within. Again, not because he sinned, it was the grief and sorrow he saw in the eyes of Jesus.
Now Judas felt no sorrow over his betrayal, only regret. Matthew 27:3 says, “Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.” The word here is regret, not sorrow or grief…just bitterness over the situation.
When Samuel the prophet confronted Saul with his sin, Saul’s response was again, not one of sorrow or even regret. His was an unyielding justification. He couldn’t even grasp that he had sinned!
And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. (1 Sam.13:11-13)
All Judas and Saul wanted was a way out without having to confess and repent of their sin. Paul addresses godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow in his second letter to the church at Corinth. The church had exemplified repentance (a true change of heart, mind and direction).
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Cor.7:10)
The unbroken, proud, and arrogant spirit is not pleasing to God. If I am to be in fellowship with Him, I must be in agreement with Him (Amos 3:3). Sin is sin. We must be humble in acknowledging our sin, confessing our sin, and turning from sin. You see, it’s more than just “I’m sorry,” it’s “I’m sorrowful” over my sin. That is the only proper response to sin. And it leads to the joy of salvation with Jesus. Amen!
