Grace: Do you put your whole trust in his grace?

February 7, 2021

Psalm 51

In order to appreciate the extent of God’s grace towards us, we must understand the extent of our sin. David, a man of God’s own heart, was a lying murderer and rapist. He was such a coward that he chose to involve Joab, his own kinsman, in the murder of the husband of his victim. Bathsheba was taken as if she was David’s personal possession. Uriah died fighting to defend David’s throne. Joab was never the same after discovering that the hope of David’s kingdom was nothing but a lie. Then David moved on with his life without remorse like a cold-hearted killer. The very same skill that God gave him to masterfully deal with the most complicated of problems, he used to cover his own transgressions. Until God sent Nathan to confront him with his sin.

Perhaps you think this is too harsh a critique on David; that this is David being David. We have difficulty seeing the action figure image of David as a vile, vicious sinner because of our fear that maybe God’s grace is not enough for our embarrassing sin. When we fail to see David for what he really is, we confuse the aim of the story. The hero is not David, but the God who redeems David. It is God who does the heavy lifting in David’s salvation. It is only when we see David for what he is that we can truly hear the words of Psalm 51 as the cry for help of one who has come to see themselves as an unreasonable facsimile of the man that he was created to be. 

When is the last time that someone asked you for forgiveness for something that they have done to you? How did you feel at the moment? 

Read 2 Samuel 11-12. What is most shocking to you about this story?

Read Psalm 51. Why do you think that this is the opening line of the psalm? What does this line tell you about David at the moment? What does this line tell you about God? 

What do you think that David states “against you, you only, have I sinned” while referring to God? Clearly, David had sinned against Bathsheba, Joab, Uriah, the nation of Israel just to mention a few. What does he mean by this line? 

Can you relate to David when he states “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”? How? 

Read Verse 17. How is this true in your life?