The third step is to realize there may be consequences to one’s sin.
III. The Consequences of Sin (2 Samuel 12:14; Psalm 32, 38,39)
In David’s silence he brought more consequences upon himself for failing to immediately confess his sin. There were both effects on himself and on others.
Effects on himself
1. Physical pain (Psalm 32:3-4; 38:3,7,10)
He was zapped of physical strength 32:3- his bones waxed old- he felt like an old man. Chapter 38 says he had a loathsome disease that generated a nauseating stench (38:5-7)
2. Emotional pain (Psalm 38:6,8)
He roared or groaned all day from his emotional pain. He was no longer the happy-hearted cheerful leader of the kingdom. Sin had stolen his joy. He groaned over what he had done in secret and it had affected his countenance. His moisture or vitality left him. He had become frail and emotionally insecure and unstable. He was constantly reminded of his sinful deeds and it haunted him daily!
3. Spiritual pain (Psalm 39:1-4, 10-13)
David felt separated from God. He felt God’s chastisement. God had stroked him (vs. 10) and hit David with blows from His hand. David was distant from God due to his silence over his sin. God’s response was to get his attention with physical affliction. A stroke of God was a reference to a plague of some kind like leprosy. God rebukes in vs. 11 took away David’s beauty. His good looks and his chiseled physique was withered away due to his sin. So he was spiritually, physically, and emotionally distant from God. Was one short night with a beautiful woman worth all that? Hardly. Sin never pays!
Effects on others
1. His child died (2 Sam. 12:14)
2. His private sin would be made public (2 Sam. 12:12)
3. His whole family would be in disarray (2 Sam. 12:10-11)
His children would rebel. His they would rape and commit incest within the family. There would be murder. They would attempt a coup! Some of his kids would be killed (Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah). Solomon would become a womanizer and an idolater!
Finally, there’s the cleansing of sin
IV. The Cleansing of Sin (Psalm 51:7-12)
A. David asked to be purged with hyssop (vs. 7)
This was a figurative picture from the ceremonial sprinkling of the hyssop herb for the cleansing of a leper under the Law of Moses. The cleansing of his soul would do for him what the hyssop would do for the leper: make a way for him to be declared publically clean. He no longer wanted to be seen as filthy or an outcast from the Lord.
B. David asked to be washed (vs. 7)
David’s heart was stained with sin. He wanted bathed in the righteous forgiveness of God. Do you sense the level or brokenness in his requests? David knew his sin was horrible and he as filthy as a result. The only answer was a complete cleansing overhaul!
C. David asked for joy and gladness (vs. 8, 12)
David had become deaf to the voice of God and consequently lost his joy. He couldn’t hear the melodious sounds of his harp that resonated tones of joy and gladness. It was drowned out with the dull drone of his sin! He was depressed! Sin is the root cause of most depression. When we confess and forsake it, we can have the joy of the Lord restored.
D. David asked for a clean heart (vs. 10)
The word for “create” here is the same word as used in Genesis 1:1 for God creating the world- He made something from nothing. David wanted his heart remade from scratch, a brand new heart not tainted at all with sin. Having a changed but old heart wasn’t good enough. He wanted a brand new one that was completely clean. What a request!
E. David could use his sin and subsequent cleansing experience as a means of teaching other sinners (vs. 13)
Through David’s own experience he would now be able to help those who have been pommelled by sin.
Hebrews 2:18 says of Jesus, “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Knowing the pain of sin and the wonderful feeling of the removal of guilt is something to be shared with others who suffer from guilt. God would use this in David’s life to be a help to countless millions down through the centuries who read his Psalms of dependence, trust and cleansing, in the Lord.
What’s the life lesson for us?
God gives as a wonderful primer of how to handle the giant of facing our sin from David’s life. In a word; don’t keep silent-confess. Don’t hold on to sin-repent. Don’t stay dirty- get cleansed! Enjoy the richness of God’s forgiveness and strive to sin less and less as you grow in Him!
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