Happy indeed ...

Adultery takes place when a married person is unfaithful to his or her partner. Adultery is common in Jersey. Not only is it extremely hurtful and damaging to the partner but also it is abhorrent to the LORD – the God of the LORD Jesus Christ. 

King David, who ruler in Jerusalem between 1000 BC and 970 BC committed adultery with a married lady named Bathsheba. He wrote about it – some years afterwards - in Psalm 32 above. 

Murder occurs when one person takes the life of another. Media reports of recent days have detailed a less common situation where a man arranged for another to murder his wife. That’s still murder. In his book “A very English Scandal” published last year, author John Preston details the 1975 murder plot of the then leader of the Liberal Party. The attempted murder failed.

King David’s arranged murder of Bathsheba’s husband – a soldier in the King’s army – didn’t fail. He was placed, by design, into a hopeless battle position. David, for a short time, was pleased.

All this occurred when King David was known to be a godly man. He was a hymn writer. Today we would definitely call him a Christian. He committed this adultery and this murder whilst a “Christian”.

 

Please have another read of Psalm 32 in bold above. Does it surprise you?

Over the years I’ve seen at least five instances of stealing. The amounts varied; not one of those thieves confessed. I’ve also heard of several instances of cheating at examinations. None were brought to account by the authorities and the cheats went on, one in particular to seemingly great things in the Island. None confessed.

Adultery? Murder? Fraud? Cheating? All of them concealed by the person concerned. Yes. But King David, unusually, wanted to make it abundantly clear to everyone how he felt when he was in denial. 

But then a change occurred which made him happy indeed. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

What did he mean by “the iniquity of my sin”? Was “the iniquity” the inner desire which gives rise to “my sin”? Was that forgiven as well?

He was able to formulate – in this Psalm – this song – a general principle. Happy indeed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

In whose spirit there is no deceit…? No deceit in my spirit? Yes, no deceit - especially towards the LORD.

 

In the closing years of his life on earth this King David wrote his own epitaph. 

Like Psalm 32 it’s been preserved in the national archives of Israel. Here’s an extract from it. When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of the LORD God, the LORD dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.… 

There’s a great deal I need to know in my spirit. There’s a great deal for every person to get to know.