“And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.” (Mark 14:72)
We cannot even imagine the sorrow he felt at realizing he’d denied Jesus. This was impetuous Peter who had declared to Jesus, “I will never leave you.” (Matthew 26:30-35) In his fear, trying to hide among the crowd so as not to be captured, he didn’t realize what he was doing until the crock crowed twice.
This is human nature. We always say to ourselves, “If this or that were to happen, I would never do such and such.” Or we say, “I would do such and such.” The truth is that until we are in a situation, we don’t know how we will react. Denying Jesus was the last thing Peter thought that he would do. Yet it wasn’t long after his declaration to never leave Jesus that Peter did exactly what he said he’d never do and exactly what he never wanted to do.
In a moment or in a situation, we act or react in a way that we shouldn’t. We sin. We’ve all been there. And after we sin, it’s as if we come to our senses. This is what happened to the prodigal son. (Luke 15:11-32) The prodigal son had no good intentions when he asked for his inheritance. And he carried out his intentions until the money ran out. It wasn’t until he was feeding pigs and so hungry he’d eat the slop the pig ate if they offered it to him that he came to his senses. “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” (Luke 15:17)
The same thing happened to David when he numbered the people. (2 Samuel 24:1-9) And immediately after the thing was done, David realized he’d sinned. “And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.” It’s not until after we have sinned that we realize, we shouldn’t have done it because it's sin.
The importance of coming to our senses and realizing our sin is the hatred of the thing we have done. This is a good thing. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2Corinthians 7:10) That sin that arose in a moment should be followed by godly sorrow. Peter wept. David’s heart hurt him. Sin in us should move us to sorrow, regret and hatred for it. It should move us to repentance.
The world is sorrowful for the loss of earthly things and worldly objects, riches or fame. And it leads man to take matters into their own hands, sometimes even to suicide. That is what happened to Ahithophel. Ahithophel was king David’s advisor who abandoned him and went with Absalom when Absalom rebelled and took over the kingdom. He became Absalom’s advisor, but David sent Hushai the Archite to Absalom to give him bad counsel and to report to him about Absalom. Hushai the Archite’s counsel was chosen over the counsel of Ahithophel. “And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.” (2Samuel 17:14) Ahithophel was so despondent he went and hung himself. (2Samuel 17:23)
We hear often of famous and rich people who kill themselves. They may have riches and fame, but they have placed a priority on some worldly aspiration that they failed in and take matters into their own hands. This is what happens when there is no hope. When someone is far from God, he is far from hope. God is hope. When a person is near to God, there is hope, hope for forgiveness and hope for restoration.
When one sins, there must be a recognition of that sin. This is the first step in restoration. We must come to the conclusion that what we have done is sin. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13) We cannot make excuses for sinning nor deny it’s a sin because of fabricated exceptions.
David schemed and had Uriah killed so his sin with Bathsheba wouldn’t be found out. 2 Samuel 11-12. God says, “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) When Nathan confronted David, he realized the sin he had committed was the reason he felt so badly and repented. “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” (Psalms 32:3-5)
Peter is restored when he proclaims three times, “Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee.” (John 21:15-19) When we recognize our sin, the sorrow and regret of sinning, of failing God and betraying God should lead us to reaffirming our love and devotion to our Lord. It should lead to repentance. God is merciful and forgiving. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9) Rededication of our love of the Lord, and repentance and confession of our sin is necessary for restoration.
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