PSALM 51
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me
(Psalm 51:3).
Because of our sinfulness, we tend to interpret the sinful actions of other people in the worst possible light, while we make excuses for our own sins. When somebody hurts me, my tendency is to believe this person stayed up all night conspiring to destroy me. But if I discover I have hurt someone, I say, “I didn’t realize that what I did would hurt you.” We view our own sin through rose-tinted glasses, while we look at the sins of others through jaundiced eyes.
It is almost impossible to recognize with any degree of accuracy the grievousness of sin that resides in ourselves. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the sin of David recorded in 2 Samuel 11. David had become accustomed to taking whatever women he pleased, and eventually he had many wives. Thus, it was easy for David to slip into the sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Clearly, he was in violation of Deuteronomy 17:17.
Bathsheba became pregnant, and David, in order to cover up his sin, brought Uriah home from war and tried to get him to visit his wife. Righteous Uriah, however, replied that since the ark of the covenant was in the field, and this was a holy war, he was not permitted to sleep with his wife (compare 1 Samuel 21:4–5). David even forced him to get drunk, hoping to break down his resistance, but Uriah still did not go home. Finally, David had Uriah killed, hoping to cover up his sin.
God sent Nathan to rebuke David (2 Samuel 12). Nathan did not begin by accusing David, but instead told him a story about a wealthy man who, in preparing a banquet, had passed over his own flock and robbed a poor neighbor of his only lamb, a family pet. David, blinded by his own sin, was outraged at the man’s callousness. “You are the man” was Nathan’s rebuke.
CORAM DEO
Ecclesiastes 10–12
2 Corinthians 11:16–33
God made us with a rational capacity. Unfortunately we often misuse this capacity by rationalizing our sin. Our potential for excusing our sins is only second to our power to sin. Identify personal actions or attitudes that you have been rationalizing away as not that serious. Begin to hold yourself accountable on these.
For further study: Psalms 32; 139; Doctrine of Sin series
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