Is this the same David who took the wife of Uriah and had him killed to cover his sin of adultery? Is this the same David who cried out to the Lord, after his encounter with the prophet Nathan, "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight....Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Ps 51:2-5)? Really? Really!
How can that be? How can one lay claim to a blameless life in one breath and then in another lament the fact of his total immersion in a life of sin? The word incongruity seems hardly strong enough in the face of these two cries to the Lord. And yet, there they are. What are we to do with this dichotomy, this extreme contrast?
First, trust in God's Word to be true. Second, search for the answer, trusting God to reveal to you the whole truth. In doing so, we find that the incongruity is not in the Word of God but in the soul of man. It is not God's misstating of reality but of David's struggle with his humanity.
David knew he had sinned, he had no doubts that he was included in the reality that "all sin and fall short of the Glory of God " (Rom 3:23). When he reflected on his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, he understood the full weight of his transgression. However, he also understood the undying love and unyielding forgiveness of the Father, "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand" (Ps 40:1-2).
David's claim to a blameless life was not in denial of his sinful actions but in rebuke of them, standing, not on his own goodness but on God's grace. He was lifted out of the mud, cleansed and set on the Rock. This is his blameless life in contrast with his sinful self - God's mercy and forgiveness: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:8-9).
The sinner David could lay claim to a blameless life and so can we. In Christ, we who are so guilty of sin can rest in the certainty that "the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 Jn 1:7). Notice the purification is from "all" sin, not some or most. If then, we are cleansed by His blood from all sin, we are in possession of a blameless life. Jus' Say'n.
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