Inside Out Living

“If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1 John 1:9).

King David sinned. It wasn’t just a simple sin, but a messy one of lust, sexual immorality, deception and murder. It was the kind of thing that anyone would look at and agree was wrong. How is it that a man who did all of this can still be referred to as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) in the New Testament?

Confession.

David was not perfect and neither was Saul. However, the way that each responded to being confronted for their sins was markedly different. Saul was defensive and blaming others, but David responded with a soft heart and quickly confessed.

Practicing regular confession is a key element to a healthy relationship with Christ. How do you respond to the realization that you have erred in some way? Remember David’s words in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.”

David never did wrong against Saul, but he was constantly the object of Saul’s jealousy. Saul made multiple attempts to kill David or to have him killed by others. However, we recognize that David was innocent in all of this and never lost his integrity. So why the constant attacks? Why did David have to call out to the Lord for help and protection when he was innocent?

The reality is that innocence and integrity don’t always protect us from personal attacks and accusations from people. Our innocence and personal integrity will eventually come under attack as no result of our own.

How are we to respond to such attacks? David did not take the opportunity to exact his revenge against Saul (1 Samuel 24:1-7), but rather allowed the Lord to take care of His enemies. He called out to the One who judges rightly to deliver him out of the situation.

May you, like David, seek God first when your innocence and integrity come under attack.

Saul was caught red-handed. He had again disobeyed the Lord and was confronted by Samuel for his actions. His response to Samuel’s confrontation was worthy of an Academy Award. In verses 15 & 21 Saul declares that ‘the people’ are the ones who spared the animals, and then he further justifies the sin by adding the spiritual benefit of sacrificing the animals to the Lord. It takes Saul three times before he admits to Samuel his wrongdoing.

You do not have to be perfect in order to maintain integrity. This is what the discipline of confession is for. Saul was unwilling to admit his sin and to ask for forgiveness. A person of integrity does the exact opposite. David was a prime example of this. David was not perfect, but when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his affair with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah, he confessed immediately. Both Saul and David made mistakes just like you and I. Are we going to respond like Saul, denying the sin and blaming others? Or will we respond like David with a soft heart that is quick to confess?

Can you picture Saul in the situation described in 1 Samuel 13? He had gathered Israel’s troops to battle the Philistines, but once they got a glimpse of the Philistine army, they were full of fear. Sensing the fear in his army, Saul becomes anxious and comes to the conclusion that the offerings to the Lord must be offered. However, Samuel has not arrived when Saul was expecting him. Thus, Saul takes matters into his own hands and violates the Lord’s command by assuming the priestly function.

Saul’s lack of integrity in this matter provides us with a three-part lesson:

1) Basing our decision on fear does not bring glory to God, for perfect love casts out fear.

2) Our timing is not always the same as God’s timing. Samuel was coming, Saul just lacked the patience.

3) Obedience is far more important to God than sacrifice or, for us, you could say it is more important than public worship.

This morning I was watching the Today show and they had an interview with the mother of the little girl who submitted a false essay to win a contest for Hannah Montana tickets. Turns out the mother actually helped the daughter write the essay. They now claim that they didn't know that the essay had to be factual and that they didn't intend to mislead anyone. Are you kidding me?

Now I don't really care about the tickets what really bothers me about this is the dishonesty and the unwillingness to just admit that they were wrong and got caught. For crying out loud she had a lawyer with her on the Today Show interview. There isn't even an ethical delimma here, there is no grey area for this mother to hide in. Even those among us that live in a land of moral relativism can clearly see that this deception was wrong regardless of their intention.

The Bible is very clear that this type of deception is wrong and is not approved of by our heavenly father. We are to let our yes be a yes and our no be a no. Basically meaning that we are not to deceive. You can also look at Ananias and Sapphira in the NT to see how God feels about deception. Another great example is King Saul in the OT when he spared the king of Amalek and some of the animals when God commanded him to utterly destroy everything. He reluctently took responisibility but it was too late. Compare Saul with King David who later when he deceived the nation by his sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah the Hittite was immediately repentant when confronted by the prophet Nathan.

Ethical standards are important for every person but especially so for Christians because we represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is also clear in scripture that God has an expectation of ethical behavior. Bear in mind that there is grace and forgiveness when we sin, but we need to acknowledge that sin and ask for forgiveness.