Ignoring Leviticus 19:18
Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Psalm 51:4 NASB
You only – Suppose you are at last confronted by your worst sin. Suddenly it comes to the light. There is no more denial, pretense or escape. You are uncovered. What do you do? Well, if you’re inclined to deflect even the most revealing faults of character, you just might suggest that the whole thing is really a “spiritual” issue between you and God. Yes, of course, others are involved, but only indirectly since the real transgression was a breach in your relationship with the Father. So confession, repentance and forgiveness become a private spiritual matter. Others may feel the hurt, the betrayal, the damage but that doesn’t really matter, does it? What really matters is your relationship with God—and who is going to raise an objection about that?
Is that what David is doing? Is he deflecting the hideous consequences of his affair? What do we say about Uriah, Bathsheba, Bathsheba’s baby, David’s subjects, God’s holy nation, the example to the Gentiles? Are they swept away because David addresses God only, leka levadka? I don’t think so. Perhaps the reason David focuses on the relationship with YHVH is that he is king. He is supposed to reflect the royal character of YHVH as YHVH’s anointed. His sin is far more than a violation of human standards. It is even more than adultery, conspiracy and murder. It is blasphemy and idolatry. David’s actions have smeared the name of the Lord. In the end all David’s transgressions are infractions against God because they are all violations of YHVH’s commandments. It is not that the consequences for others aren’t important. It is rather than they are all subsumed under the sin against God. There is a royal hierarchy in this confession and the one at the top of the ladder is the one most maligned. Whatever harmed human subjects is the result of what harmed the divine Creator. What good is asking forgiveness from others if God is still affronted?
Leviticus 19:18 is the scriptural foundation of loving our neighbors. Yeshua ties it directly to the commandment to love God. One does not work without the other. When David acknowledges his sin before the Lord, he is not excluding or ignoring his sin before men and women. Sins before God imply violations of human relationships as well and forgiveness of one requires forgiveness of the other. But David’s song begins with royal restoration because a king without a relationship with YHVH is no king at all. We can be quite confident that David’s public confession entailed many moments of private humiliation and pleas with Bathsheba, agony over the house of Uriah and considerable distress concerning the lost child. But this is a song about failing the trust of the King and so it must begin with the King at center stage. We are not kings, but our sins are nonetheless of royal proportion. We are His representatives. The world is watching. Our sins slander His name. Our confession must begin with Him as well.
Topical Index: sin, leka levadka, only, Psalm 51:4, Leviticus 19:18
All sin – the very definition of sin – takes the focus off of Him and puts it on me. Its kinda like removing the subject of the sentence; you lose the ability to speak. Put the Subject back and then you can talk again.
P.S. thank you all for your kindness yesterday: I appreciated what everybody said, and it all helps me to understand and to think. I am sorry if the column kinda veered! Thank you Michael, Skip, Mel, Barbara my friend, Carl, and all.
That’s so very interesting to me. Remember when i was so overcome by events that i couldn’t communicate, couldn’t speak…for years, it seemed. I wonder if that applies.
I couldn’t forgive, i would curl up and pray “against you i sin, in not forgiving, and i’m sorry”. Very clumsy, but totally sincere. I wonder if grief masquerades as unforgiveness, or delays it. I was and certainly am still very focused on me. Survival and all….
And i still pray that way.
Re: Yesterdays party. I think i’m kinda hung over…. 😉
Nothing is more important to me at this moment than my relationship with God. This is something that has happened to me recently. So David’s confession had nothing to do with acknowledging his wrong behavior before the people so to speak? If he hadn’t made public confession, would not most people have looked at him as a “hypocrite”? whatever Hebrew word or words might fit there. Of course if David were here in our day, he would have been sent to death row or executed. Well maybe not as a leader. So, the world is watching and we are judged by our actions and not our intentions, necessarily. And do I need to confess what is in my heart to YHVH if He already knows my heart? My sin, yes but what about those matters of the heart?
If David were alive today it is quite likely that he would be acquitted on the basis of mental defect. As far as I can remember, no leader of a status like his has ever been convicted on anything, even when everyone knew he was guilty. Sad day.
Focus on the Father
~ and when you pray, say — “our Father..” ~ (Luke 11.2)
By now, (I hope) we are all (too?) familiar with the parable of the Prodigal. (Luke 15.11-32) David’s poignant words “against You and You only have I sinned..” (Psalm 51.4) hit the heart of our Father who hears us when we pray. And David, a man after God’s own heart, has at this time and with these words, “hit the mark” dead center.
One more thing about sin we need to know, — our sin grieves the heart of our Father. In this parable with purpose, we observe the “errant” son as he “squanders his inheritance with riotous living,” and we observe the elder son who “squawks and squeals” to his Father, – “what about me?” But no one, most “story-tellers” included, considers the aggrieved heart of the Father!
All in the Family
The confession of the son who sinned is a model prayer for each of us: “Father, – “against Thee and Thee only have I sinned.” First things first — Restoration of relationship. For fellowship has been fractured and there is rift in right-relationship. Because of sin, the family is fractured. And then comes? The Gospel. The “Good News!”
Son, “I forgive you!” The forgiveness of our Father, for He is “our Father” as well!! Let’s go over this again, and this time tighten up the focus a little more, (for I too have sinned! – and stand in need of my Father’s forgiveness!)
Personal Prayer
“Father, forgive ME, for “I” have sinned and [I] have done what is not only wrong, but is “evil” in Your sight.
In order to receive complete forgiveness, there must be complete confession. And? [the Good News?]
~ If we confess our sins, He [our Father!] is Faithful and Just to [not only] forgive us our sins, but to [also] cleanse us from all unrighteousness! (1 John 1.9) Totally forgiven, —totally clean! (May I?) -“Hallelujah!”
And? Relationship with our Abba-Father is restored.
~ Of David. A maskil. [How] Blessed [how full of joy!] is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered ~(Psalm 32.1)
This, I know.. because that “one” is me! And? “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2bwIK5txds
Growing up a Christian I heard many times how Israel had failed to be a light to the World. Until a few months ago I didn’t know what that really meant. In some study recently this revelation was given to me. Awwww now I see! Israel as well as all of us who call YHVH our God are the representatives of Him to paople and when we sin we distort the picture of who God is to those who see us! What an awesome responsibility. And I mean that in the actual definition of that word of being overwhelming and and creating a Holy fear within. We blasphem His name when we sin and confuse others about who He is. This changes my perspective on how I should live does it not? How can I walk in a way worthy of His name? Truely an awesome task indeed.
“a king without a relationship with YHVH is no king at all”
I was just thinking in reference to our current batch of government “leaders.” I cringe.
I strain to see evidence of leadership based on this idea.
YHVH, what will it take to straighten out our “house?”
Start with me. Wash this place. Wash me.
Are you tracking the up and coming batch of potential leaders? Scary.
Like crabs in a bucket, we all clamor for Self to hold preeminence, but in vain. Without Him, we are all the same: lost. With Him, we are all restored to our glorious difference. C.S. Lewis said,”aim at heaven, and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth, and you get neither”. I think that applies to ourselves, too. When we put Self first, we suddenly become ‘just like everybody else’. When we put Him first, then we find our true identity. Yellow hair flop not necessary. (My pardon, please: for reference purposes only, no personal affront intended.)
Did David need to go to prison? It seems he suffered severe consequences for his sins! As have I in my journey called life.. Pain is real and so is being human…. And there is a difference between being “mentally ill” and in being a human and suffering the consequencs of sin….bad choices driven by the wrong desires or motives. One I am grappling with now But the good news is God is Real and that is not something I need to grapple with any longer. Praise YHVH and Yeshua! Wanting to walk the walk not just talk the talk is where I want to go now And looking for help along the way. And always trying to do this with love and humility. Always LOVE because that is ultimately and most importantly who Jesus was.