“To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” (Psalms 51:1)
David could not plead anything other than mercy for what he had done. This was a man who loved God and had a relationship with God. But the lust of his flesh overtook him. Not once did he think he was doing evil. His only thought was for what he was after. He plotted driven by his lust. And that is the way with sin. It’s like we forget that this is sin, that this offends God and that we should not do this. But our mind forgets until it’s done. For David it was Nathan who confronted him. For us it’s the Holy Spirit.
David realized his sin when Nathan told him a parable of a rich man who had many flocks taking the only lamb which was part of the family of a poor man. David is infuriated at the rich man who has no compassion. It illustrated David’s sin of taking the only woman Uriah had, while David had seven other wives.
Nathan very carefully crafted the parable so that David would come to the conclusion that his sin deserved death. And without realizing it, David pronounced death to himself. “And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:” (2Samuel 12:5). But although the punishment for this sin was death, God had other plans for David and death for his sin was paid by the death of his son. “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.” (2Samuel 12:13-14) Sin is death. If we realized the seriousness of sin, we’d be more careful. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Mercy is the only thing we can plead when we sin. It is because of the Lord’s mercy that death isn’t pronounced over us because of our sin. And the Father was merciful to all of mankind and sent mercy in the birth of Jesus. This was the good news. The translation of the word Gospel mean better than good new. In David’s time there was punishment for sin. The better than good news is that payment for all of our sin, past, present and future has been made. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross;” (Colossians 2:13-14). David pleaded with God to blot out his sin. While this would happen with the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, only God’s mercy on David could help him. Sin had to be punished. And David paid dearly for his sin.
It is God’s mercy that He provides redemption and forgiveness for us. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7) Our salvation is such a holy act. The miraculous that happens in each one of us in the spiritual realm is incredible and so sacred. It has nothing to do with us, but with God’s mercy, His love and His will. It is a powerful, mighty act of God. And He does this because of His mercy, because He sent Jesus to take our punishment, to take our sin away and to take our death.
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