When The Truth Hurts

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.’”

2 Samuel 12:7,9

The game comes to an abrupt halt as the referee blows the whistle. “Foul!” he shouts, as he calls out your number and points at you. All eyes are directed at you. Everyone in the crowd knows what you did wrong.

In this passage, David thought he had gotten away with his sins of adultery and murder. But God saw those sins, and Nathan the prophet knew David’s secret crimes. Then, like the referee, Nathan blew the whistle on his friend and confronted David with the truth.

The truth hurts. We’d rather hide from it and pretend that everything is okay. Like David, we need to be confronted with the truth of our sins so that we can confess them to God. Perhaps David’s greatest strength was his willingness to confess his sins and repent. While David still suffered the consequences of his sins, God forgave him and restored their relationship.

It’s hard to admit we did wrong. But the alternative — denial — is much worse. Unconfessed sin separates us from God.

Confession is at the heart of worship. Be honest with God and admit your sins. Remove anything that comes between you and your relationship with God. He already knows, and he stands at the end of your prayer, waiting to forgive.

PRAYER
Lord, I confess my sins to you …