“Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” II Sam.12:13“
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.” I Sam. 13:11,12
We do well to remember that Saul began well. Very well, for that matter. “So Samuel said,“When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?” I Sam. 15:17. Early in his career as king, he was little in his own eyes. But somewhere along the way Saul began to coddle his own self-esteem, to pamper his inflating ego, and to carefully craft compelling arguments for his own sinfulness. When Samuel asks, “What have you done?”; Saul’s response is only to justify the reasonableness of his sin. “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 the rest, as they say, is history. Tragic history.
David – in stark contrast - maintained ruthless honesty over himself. When confronted with his sin, David refused to play the king card – “But I’m the king, I can do as I please…” He offered no extenuating circumstances – “She was out bathing and I just couldn’t resist her beauty…” He steeled himself against using the fatal word which assassinates all genuine repentance – “but.” Yes, I sinned, but… No, David looked the situation square in the eye and refused to take anything less than 100% responsibility. "I have sinned against the LORD." End of sentence…end of discussion…end of any rationalization…end of all blame-shifting. And the beginning of tasting the wild, free, soul-cleansing grace of God which only the genuinely broken know first-hand.
I heard recently about a group of teenagers sitting around a campfire on a youth camping trip. The leader of the trip posed the question, “What do you most appreciate about your father?” There were many different answers such as his hard work for the family, the time he spent with his children, the fun they had with him, etc. Then one young man ventured, “What I most appreciate about my dad is that he is willing to admit to us when he was wrong in the way he handled a situation.” Apparently there was dead silence until one girl chimed in, “I would give anything for my dad to do that.” Almost every other teenager there said the same thing in one way or another. The group leader told me that the teenagers later kept telling that one young man that he had no idea how lucky he was to have a father that would do that.
Israeli Prime Minister Disraeli was exactly right. “One of the hardest things in this world is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission.” Sincerely uttering the simple words “I was wrong” is often times one of the most difficult things a person can do. And courageous. And essential for ending up in the camp of David rather than that of Saul.
Flashpoint: Ruthless honesty with ourselves is indispensable for deepening intimacy with our God.
