This text isn’t in the M’Cheyne plan for today, but it is closely linked to a passage that is - Psalm 51.
David’s adultery with Bathsheba followed by his arranged killing of Uriah the Hittite have been exposed by the prophet, Nathan. It seems that David is almost instantly convicted of his sin and feels the weight of guilt bearing down on him. What I found interesting as I thought about this is the fact that David’s forgiveness is declared just as immediately by the prophet. There were consequences in David’s life (the death of his son by Bathsheba and the problems with Absalom, to name but two) but he was nevertheless told that his sin was forgiven with no delay.
The reading in Numbers (15:22-31) today had to do first with offerings in relation to unintentional sins (where offerings could be made to secure forgiveness) but then with provisions for those who sinned “with a high hand” which effectively means wilfully and unrepentantly. Such individuals were to be cut off from the Lord’s people and their sin would remain upon them (15:31). There seems little doubt that David sinned wilfully in regard to Bathsheba and Uriah - and that both adultery and murder attracted a death penalty under the Law. How, then, could Nathan assure David that his sin was put away (didn't remain on him) and that he wouldn’t die? It was because David’s heart was tender and he repented as soon as his eyes were opened to see the magnitude of his sins.
Then I looked into Psalm 51 - David’s prayer of confession following the exposure of his sin by God through Nathan. I found these words:
Psalm 51:16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
David knew that the sins he had committed could not be cleansed away by the blood of any number of animal sacrifices - he would still have had a guilty conscience. In other words, his problem wasn’t about to be fixed by anything that he could do. What, then, was the answer?
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
David needed to have had open heart surgery. He needed to be granted repentance - to be broken in spirit and truly contrite - in order to enjoy his relationship with God once again:
This was nothing David could do - this cleansing of the heart and bringing about genuine contrition and repentance is God’s prerogative. When God does this in a person, their conscience is cleansed and the guilt of their sin is taken away.
Right away, we are back with the themes we have been looking at in Hebrews, with David being a wonderful example for us. He committed terrible sins that merited his death. Yet through the grace of God he was forgiven because he wasn’t looking to put things right by his own effort. He was turning from his sin and looking to God to make his conscience clean.
The writer to the Hebrews has been telling us that the blood of bulls and goats cannot clean people’s hearts from the stains of sin. A Better Sacrifice is needed - and that is what God has supplied in His Son, Jesus Christ at the cross. David was already saved and in a right relationship with God before he committed adultery and murder. He already had the Holy Spirit dwelling in him (which is why he prays that he may not lose the Spirit’s presence in 51:11). So he repents, and Nathan assures him that his wilful sins against God have already been put away through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
We must never see our salvation as a license to sin, though. Paul had to deal with some who misrepresented the Christian faith in that way (Romans 6). Someone who deliberately and willingly commits themselves to a course of persistent sin has never come to know Christ, whatever claims they may make to the contrary. We must also realize that sin may have painful consequences for us in this life, even though it cannot break the bond that God enters into with us when we are saved.
But there is great hope, great comfort and great encouragement for us in these passages if we are Christ’s! They show that salvation is God’s work entirely and not ours, that He has met the entry requirements of heaven on our behalf, and that, as those who are now called by His name, He will not let us go. We will sin (sadly), but these passages teach us that if we are truly Christ’s we cannot sin away our salvation. We may lose our enjoyment of salvation for a season. We may lose the sweet experience of the Lord’s nearness for a time, but these blessings are restored through confession and repentance. What a kind and gracious God we have! “Once in Him, in Him forever - thus th’eternal covenant stands.”
