How terrible is terrible?

S: 1 Samuel 13-15; 2 Samuel 11-12, Psalm 51

O: Saul got scared that Samuel didn’t show up in time to sacrifice to Yahweh before they  and some of his army were starting to scatter. So he usurped the priestly role of making the offering himself – his role was king, not priest. When Samuel confronted him with it, he made excuses instead of repenting.

Then, later, he got greedy with the plunder from Amalek – kept the best stuff instead of destroying it all as God commanded. And when Samuel confronted him with it, he tried to weasel his way to justify it instead of repenting.

2 Samuel 11-12 David saw someone else’s wife bathing naked and sent for her, then committed adultery with her (or rape, depending on your view – she had no choice, really, since he had all the power) then tried to cover it up, and when that failed murdered her husband. But when Nathan confronted him, he confessed and repented, and wrote Psalm 51 as his repentance psalm, proclaiming his guilt and repentance publicly.

God deposed Saul but kept David on the throne, and even later called him a man after God’s own heart. Though David did suffer several terrible temporal consequences of his sins, he did not lose his relationship with God.

Objectively, one might think that Saul’s sins were more minor – taking unauthorised spiritual authority and being greedy – and David’s more major – adultery and murder. And yet… God accepted David back but did not accept Saul back. The difference? True repentance.

A: When we sin, we must repent. For real, not for show. Not to make us look good, like Saul’s first “repentance”. Only then are we appropriating the blood of Christ to cover our sin, and the grace of God receives us back into fellowship with Him.

P: Father, forgive me for I have sinned. I do not deny my sin; I repent of my sin. I turn 180° to walk towards you again. May I always do this whenever I sin and not allow fake repentance or no repentance in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.