AGAINST THE LORD

Psalm 51:1–9
AGAINST THE LORD
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.... (v.4)

Psalm 51 is the best known of the penitential psalms. Its context is pinpointed for us in the title: "When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba." While the record in II Sam 11:1 to 12:25 tells us what happened in history, this prayer tells us what took place in David's soul.

David, king of Israel, took another man's wife. When she was found to be pregnant, he took the man's life. His double crime of adultery and murder came to light when God's prophet exposed him. To Nathan's charge "You are the man!", David pleaded guilty: "I have sinned against the LORD." Psalm 51 expands that one-sentence confession.

David's sin was first and last "against the LORD." True, he sinned against Bathsheba by exploiting her body. He sinned against Uriah her husband by plotting his death. He sinned against his people who placed their trust in him as king. But we read that though he got away with his evil deeds for a while, "the thing David had done displeased the LORD" (II Sam 11:27). God sees all, and His holiness is violated by all sinful acts, against whomever they may be committed.

Hence all sins are ultimately against the LORD. Unless they are recognized as such, there can be no true repentance. "I have sinned" had been uttered by lips of shallow remorse. Men like Pharoah (Ex 10:16) and King Saul (1 Sam 15:24) were more concerned about how their sins might affect them than how their sins had offended God. Both perished in their false repentance.

Sin always hurts the LORD. Genuine confession starts when we realize that not only have we done something wrong, we have broken Someone's heart.

All sins committed are committed against God.