I’m sure that every believer has a favorite character or two from the Old Testament. Its pages contain the stories of the richest characters involved in the most dramatic tales — Noah and the flood, Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son, Moses and the Exodus, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho — and the list goes on. However, the Old Testament character who is mentioned most is King David. Is there a better-known story in the Old Testament than that of David and Goliath? It’s a story often referenced in the secular world when a surprise sporting victory occurs. In all the stories about David (and there are many), though, the great blemish is the story of David and Bathsheba.

The story of these two starts with an ominous line in 2 Samuel 11:1, where we read, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel … But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1 NKJV). What subsequently unfolds is a story of idle hands becoming the devil’s tools.

I won’t elaborate greatly on the ensuing story except to say that David had a sexual encounter with Bathsheba, a married woman, and the cover-up led to David orchestrating the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. David then took Bathsheba as his wife and thought he’d gotten away with it all — until he received a visit from the prophet Nathan. Nathan exposed David’s sin, causing David, a man after God’s own heart, to confess, “I have sinned against The Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13).

David had a special relationship with God. Indeed, God made a covenant with David, saying, “Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). When his sin was completely exposed by the prophet Nathan, David was cut to the core. He was devastated and wanted, more than anything in the world, to restore his relationship with God. David then did what he had done so many times before: he wrote a song to God. This song or poem, Psalm 51, is a gift to the believer. It is a model of forgiveness that demonstrates perfectly how to ask for and receive forgiveness. In what follows, we will look at David’s stages of forgiveness as we read through this psalm.

The first stage is conviction. God does the convicting. For David, God’s convicting came through the prophet Nathan. Because of our sin, our conscience is pricked, and we must decide whether to ignore our conscience, make up an excuse, or, as in the case of David, struggle to live with it.

Next comes hatred of our sin. In verse 3 of Psalm 51, David says, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (ESV). If you’ve ever hated anything or anybody, you will know that one can become consumed by hatred, with every waking thought circling around the object of your hate — it is ever before you.

An important step towards forgiveness is to feel deep sorrow and remorse. David writes, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2 NIV). Here, David’s sorrow leads him to want the sin gone, to be washed and made clean. When we become fully aware of our sin, we feel dirty, and we wish we’d never done it. Indeed, our sorrow should be compared to mourning as we mourn the separation between us and God.

Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (NKJV). Renunciation, the commitment to never doing it again, is a very hard part of the process. Our sins give momentary pleasure, and often, the anticipation of that pleasure drives us to sin. To renounce the sin is to deal with the anticipation. When I’m trying to lose weight — which is most of the time — I must contend with my desire for a chocolate bar. I look forward to that sweet, chocolatey taste and think, “It’s only one.” When I step on the scale at the end of the week, having eaten only one chocolate bar several times, I greatly regret my weakness. I should have made the decision not to eat more chocolate bars because the short-term pleasure brings long-term frustration. The short-term pleasure of sin results in an eternity of pain. Renounce that sin!

Famously, in verse 4, David wrote, “Against You, You only, have I sinned” (NKJV). David had certainly wronged Uriah, essentially having him killed in battle. He also wronged Bathsheba, having used his power and authority to sleep with her. However, only God could judge David’s sins. If we are to truly be forgiven, then we must reckon with the reality that God is our creator and judge. Our evil acts against our neighbors are sins against God. When we violate God’s righteous order for us and the world, we break relationship with Him and He alone is our judge. We must be reconciled with Him.

How often I’ve heard the words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NKJV). In the context of the story of David and Bathsheba, and in light of David’s fall from grace, this is a sincere plea to be forgiven. Forgiveness is what our merciful God desires to give us, and here we see David pleading for and experiencing that forgiveness. God sits in judgment of us all, but His seat of judgment is a mercy seat, because that is what He offers: mercy. Follow the model David presents in Psalm 51, and you, too, will be able to receive forgiveness.

Often we Christians struggle to submit to God. Submission is bowing to a greater authority. Once we are forgiven, we become aware of the bigness of the God who spoke the world into existence, the God who keeps count of the hairs on our heads. David bows to the omniscient God when he says, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You” (Psalm 51:12–13 NKJV). Perhaps many of us have not experienced forgiveness for a long time because, in our submission, we are called by God to go out into the world. Perhaps the world would be a better place if we were to truly submit to God.

In verse 17, we read another well-known portion of this psalm as David writes, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, You will not despise” (NKJV). Having presented his offering to God, David now experiences restitution. His sins are forgiven, and he is now restored in the sight of God. The forgiveness God gave David was complete, even though there were still consequences for his actions. God’s forgiveness restored David as a righteous man. His forgiveness can do the same for you.

AN OPEN INVITATION

You can receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ by praying something like the following:

Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I need Your forgiveness and grace. I believe that Christ paid the penalty for my sin, and He died in my place, and He rose from the dead. I invite Jesus Christ to come into my life as Savior. Thank You for saving me from my sin and making me Your child. Help me to grow and learn how to serve You. Amen.

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