January 29, 2010
Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
By
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab which he sent by Uriah. In it he directed: “Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce. Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.” So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the defenders were strong. When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab, some officers of David’s army fell, and among them Uriah the Hittite died. (2 Samuel 11:14-17)
Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me. For I know my offense; my sin is always before me. Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight that you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn. (Psalms 51:3-6)
“To what shall we compare the
Piety
Lord, too often, I’m all about me and getting what I want in the way and time that I want it in my life. Then, when it backfires, I’m too embarrassed to come to you for help. I humbly ask You for the insight to plant that tiny mustard seed of faith in You… and the wisdom to let it take root and grow.
Study
What an arrogant jerk David was.
He gets Uriah’s wife pregnant. Then David orders Uriah home from the military campaign and tries to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba to cover up their adultery. When Uriah resists, David sends his friend to his death.
And then, caught flatfooted in this treachery by the prophet Nathan, David writes the most famous, and many believe the most beautiful, of the penitential psalms.
Outrageous! How in the world did David have the nerve to ask—and not only to ask, but to ask confidently—for forgiveness?
Two words: Outrageous faith.
David lived life big. He ruled big. He fought big. He loved big. He sinned big. He celebrated big. He sinned big. And he believed big. Big as all outdoors. Maybe as big as any human ever has.
Many of us live small. We don’t take chances for ourselves or God. We give treasure, but not so much as it’d pinch us. We give time, but not to a cause that would inconvenience us too much. We give talent, but stay away from ministries that might stretch us a bit. We try to keep ourselves and our relationship with God inside the box we’ve built for ourselves. We don’t color outside the lines. We play it safe.
And then we sin. Sometimes, it’s a whopper like David’s, so large that we’re afraid to go to God. Sometimes, it’s a smaller one, like gossiping or being judgmental, but we stop taking it to God because after all, we’ve been asking for help with this problem for years and don’t seem to be making any progress.
Be outrageous. Dare to ask—confidently, even—for forgiveness. Plant that mustard seed.
Action
Ask God to forgive the unforgiveable sin that’s been weighing on your soul. Or, dare to take another big chance God has been nudging you to take.
