Wednesday, July 12, 2017

July 13, 2017

As you know, Psalm 51 is one of the most honest, intense and heart-felt chapters any where in the Bible. It is also a text book example of how repentance should happen. 

Meditating on this Scripture this week I wondered while I read and re-read his confession it occurred to me, "Why didn't he think about these things BEFORE he did the awful deeds? If he had bothered to think with his head instead of his lustful heart, this Psalm would have been unnecessary."

 

That is when I came up with the phrase "pre-pentance" - or confessing the moment the sinful thoughts took shape in his mind. Had he taken each of those THOUGHTS captive by confessing them to God it would have kept him from committing those sins that ruined his life and ended Uriah's.


You and I can certainly learn from David's failure and make a promise to God and ourselves that we will defend against destructive sin in our lives by learning "pre-pentance".

 

Here's what I mean:

 

The story begins in 2 Samuel 11:1-4


Let's break it down!

1"Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem."

MISTAKE #1 – Wrong Place!   

Pre-Pentance – Go To Right Place


2"Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance."

MISTAKE #2 – Another Wrong Place!   
Pre-Pentance – Repent of Lustful Look and Thought

3"So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said,“Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

MISTAKE #3 – First Look Was Free – Second One Was Sin.

Pre-Pentance – Repent of Lustful Action and STOP NOW!

4 "David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house."

MISTAKE #4 – Totally Out of Control Now – Abused His Power To Use This Woman AND Betray Her Husband, Who Was One of His Loyal Soldiers. 

Pre–Pentance – TOO LATE NOW!
Repentance is the only way to be freed from the guilt and bondage of your sin. True repentance to God allows Him to come in mercy and power to cleanse your sin and restore your spirit.

But you could render repentance a rarity in your life if you would train yourself to "pre-pent".