The Repentance of David

Through successive generations, infidels have pointed to the character of David, bearing this dark stain, and have exclaimed in triumph and derision, “This is the man after God’s own heart!” … But the history of David furnishes no countenance to sin. It was when he was walking in the counsel of God, that he was called a man after God’s own heart. When he sinned, this ceased to be true of him until by repentance he had returned to the Lord…. Though David repented of his sin, and was forgiven and accepted by the Lord, he reaped the baleful harvest of the seed he himself had sown. The judgments upon him and upon his house testify to God’s abhorrence of the sin….

God intended the history of David’s fall to serve as a warning that even those whom He has greatly blessed and favored are not to feel secure, and neglect watchfulness and prayer. And thus it has proved to those who in humility have sought to learn the lesson that God designed to teach. From generation to generation, thousands have thus been led to realize their own danger from the tempter’s power…. David’s repentance was sincere and deep. There was no effort to palliate his crime. No desire to escape the judgments threatened, inspired his prayer. But he saw the enormity of his transgression against God; he saw the defilement of his soul; he loathed his sin. It was not for pardon only that he prayed, but for purity of heart.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 722-725
With God at Dawn p. 139
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for David who is depressed and angry. Pray for his deliverance from this. Buck
—-PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SISTER. SHE HAS A HEART CONDITION. PLEASE PRAY FOR COMPLETE HEALING AND REST. Jean
—-Please pray for Israel and the world that God will delay things. Rosemary
—-Please pray for my friend Agnes who is having many life threatening Health issues with kidneys and heart! Ann
—-Please continue to keep Johanna in prayer. Rose
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
When Eileen was six, she and her cousin, Annie, often played together. One day, as they were playing, they noticed DJ, Annie’s little brother, who was two at the time eating something. They walked over to see what he had. There he was, happily eating live, wiggling worms! Eileen and Annie thought that was “yucky” and took the worms away. DJ began to cry. After talking their problem over, they decided that they would cook the worms for him. That would dry his tears. Alabama is very hot in the summertime—hot enough that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. So, they decided to fry the worms there. They explained to the whimpering DJ, that they were going to make the worm taste better for him. It didn’t take long before the worm was hard and stiff. They girls then picked it up and gave it to the boy. DJ ate it happily. He seemed to like fried worms much better than live ones, so they helped find him more.
A little later, I decided it was time to check on Eileen and see if she was alright. I walked around the trailer park until I found them. When I saw them putting worms on the hot sidewalk, I was shocked. As I looked around I could see many dried worms. Hating to see any animal hurt or killed, I explained that what they were doing was very wrong. Taking Eileen by the hand and leading her into the house, I told her that she could not play outside for the rest of the day. This would help her remember to be kind to animals. Eileen was not happy. She felt that she was being treated unfairly and told me so. Finally, she was able to make me understand why they had done what they did. As I listened, I could see that in their childish reasoning that they were doing what they thought was right. I had misjudged their motives.
How often we “jump to conclusions” before we really know all of the circumstances. How often we condemn someone before understanding their motives. Our Dear Saviour commands, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matt 7:1-5 He did not mean that we should allow wrongs to exist, but that we should not judge “according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24
Just as it was right to stop Eileen and Annie from feeding DJ worms, so we are told that there is a time to judge. We must not allow sin to run rampant lest others follow their example. We should, however, be very careful not to shun, not to gossip, not to discourage, not to condemn. Instead, restoration should have a part with the judgment. Since it is true that when we see a wrong, we should not keep silent, it is equally important that we should to very careful of our own motives and work with that individual in a loving way to help them see the error of their ways and place their feet firmly on the path that leads to Heaven. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal 6:1,2
Let us ask for wisdom, that we might not misjudge another’s motives. Let us ask for the eye salve of the Holy Spirit that we may work for the erring as Jesus did, seeking for their restoration; for if we do not approach them correctly, we will drive them further away from the right path. Let us, when corrected, study and pray to see if we, too, have strayed; and if so, step back upon the right path; but if not, stand firmly for the right.
Rose