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Faith that Costs Nothing - The Sin of David

by Jerry Ousley  
4/18/2014 / Christian Living

I tell a lot of things on myself because, well, first of all I believe that people need to know that ministers are human too, and secondly when I use myself as an example I don't risk offending others. With that in mind I am about to tell on myself again. When we were pastors of the congregation in Crothersville, Indiana there was an instance one Sunday morning in which I acted like a coward. During the message that morning something was said, that was directly from the Lord and it hit a lot of people, one brother in particular. He was a very busy man but he had begun letting his financial offering each week take the place of service to God.

I had spoken to several people inside the auditorium and had headed out to the vestibule. Arriving at the doorway that separated the two I spied my wife in a heated conversation with this brother as he was about to walk out the door of the building. I acted cowardly because that particular morning I wanted to avoid conflict. I just wanted to go home and relax after the service. I should have gotten involved for two reasons; first to back up my wife and second because I was the pastor. Instead, I hoped no one had seen me and turned back into the auditorium where I stayed until it was over.

This was not necessarily wrong. Many folks would have done the same. It was sin to me because I had shirked my duties, both to my wife and as a pastor. I played it safe by not getting involved. I felt like a traitor. I knew inside that I should have done something. I had that feeling; you know the one that speaks to your heart while your temperature has risen fifteen or twenty degrees. Regardless how hot or cold it may be or whether it's summer or winter, you get clammy and start sweating. You also wish that the technology of Star Trek was real and you could just beam yourself to the comfort and safety of your living room and escape what's going on. I paid for my sin. My wife had seen me turn and run from the situation like a cat trying to get away from an infant that likes to pull tails. For several months after that I had to apologize for letting her down. I paid a second time in that the brother left the congregation. That was his last Sunday. It wasn't because Debbie's fault; she was doing what I should have been doing. What she had told him was only the truth. He left because I didn't get involved as the Lord had told me too in my heart.

In 2 Samuel 24 we read of a second recorded instance of sin by David. He had sinned before this with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. On the surface that had seemed to be a greater sin because he not only committed adultery but tried to cover it up. When Uriah refused to be with his wife while the battle was raging in the field, David had his general move the man to the front lines, in the hottest part of the battle where he knew he would be killed. In essence he murdered Uriah. Then he took Bathsheba as his wife to cover the fact that she was pregnant by him. That seems like a much worse sin than the one he committed in 2 Samuel 24. Here he decided to number the people. It was an act of pride. On the surface it didn't seem like anything that should have been considered wrong. The sin came in the fact that he wanted numbers to boast of his mighty kingdom. This was his sin.

Immediately after the census had been taken it was revealed to him what he had done and he wished that he hadn't done it. But it was too late. To make a long story short, as the angel of God moved through the country killing people who were innocent, finally David begged God to stop. He was told to go to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, erect an altar and sacrifice to God. I'm certain that it was an awesome sight because the Bible tells us that the angel had stopped at that exact point. In the shadow of that angel of death he was obedient to God, and the Bible says that the plague was stayed, or stopped.

We all sin, even preachers. We don't have to but we all, at times, fall to temptation and once done, it's done. But we can repent. I've said many times that when we repent at salvation, it's only the beginning of a lifetime of penitence. We just get started. But, thank God, we can repent. We can be obedient to God once again. It won't undo the damage done. We may have to ask some folks to forgive us, and, depending on what we've done, we may have to pay in other ways. But wounds heal and turn to scars. They are there to remind us of what has happened in the past, what God has brought us through, and serve as lessons to keep us from doing it again. Isn't God good?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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