David

May 27

2 Samuel 12:1-10, 13

The stain

One evening, while David was walking on the flat roof of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman having a bath. He told his servants to find out who she was and bring her to the palace. When David found out that she was married and that her husband was in his army fighting the Ammonites, he sent a message to the commander telling him to move Uriah to the front ranks where the fighting was fiercest. David wanted Uriah to get killed so he could marry his wife Bathsheba.

Uriah did get killed and David married Bathsheba. What he had done was wrong in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to show David how that he had taken something very precious from someone else. Then David confessed his sin and said, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Will the Lord ever forgive me for something really bad?

Do you have old clothes that are stained? Maybe there is a blob of ink or paint that just won’t go away completely, no matter how many times it's been through the wash.

What David did was really bad! He wanted something (someone) that didn’t belong to him. He had Uriah killed and brought dishonor to the Lord. Do you think that David deserved to be forgiven after all that the Lord had done for him? No, David did not deserve forgiveness, and neither do we! Not one of us has an excuse for the wrong things we do.

But God is gracious. That means, He will forgive us for every sin—no matter how big it is! However, to be able to forgive us, someone had to take the blame and the punishment for that sin. That person is Jesus. He loves us so much that He chose to be nailed to a cross so that His blood can wash away our sin and make our hearts white as snow.

Verse for today

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2