For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment. (Psalm 51:3-4 ESV)
Psalm 51 was written by King David and contains his appeal to God for mercy and forgiveness. David had committed adultery and murder, had finally been confronted about his sin, and being found guilty, he brought his broken and contrite heart before God.
David’s sins were heinous. They had a tremendous impact on those around him. He had violated Uriah and Bathsheba’s marriage, violated his own marriage, precipitated the death of his own son, no doubt hurt the morale of his own army and hurt his own reputation. But the greatest, most grievous part of his sin was that he sinned against God. He had committed evil against God.
This is the same for our sins, no matter how great or small they are. We affect ourselves and others when we sin, but the greatest problem with our sin is that we sin against God. This is bad, but there’s also some great news here. When we understand how bad our sin is (no matter how great or small) and when we understand whom we’ve sinned against, then we’re own our way to understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If we sin against our brother, and that sin was isolated to just our brother, then we would be in trouble. We might not ever have access again to our brother or, our brother might not forgive us. This would be devastating to us. Our sin, in this isolated example of a case, would not be forgiven.
God is the Creator and is our Redeemer and Sustainer. He is the sovereign God who is the author of righteousness and is Righteousness. He is perfect and holy. Because of this, when we sin in any sort of way, our sins are against Him. But here’s the good news: this righteous and holy and perfect God has made a way for all of the sins against Him to be forgiven. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to us and meet the requirements of a perfect life and then He offered Himself up as a substitute for our sins. Then, when we rose again on the third day, His resurrection defeated death and guaranteed that He wouldn’t have to come and do it all over again.
If you’re reading and understanding this, then it’s not too late to offer up a prayer of confession to God and seek His forgiveness and mercy. When we follow the pattern of David, it shows us the condition our heart must be in to receive God’s forgiveness. Namely, when we know that it is us that sinned and when we know that we sinned against God, then we are ready to receive God’s forgiveness.
Husband Father Son 