Psalm 51:5-6
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the
womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
There's a strong similarity between the story of David's sin
of adultery with Bathsheba, and Adam & Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden. Both Adam and David have a
God-given position as ruler and representative of the people (although in Adam's case the people who he represents haven't been born yet). Both saw something that they wanted, that God said they shouldn't have, and both took it anyway. Both then try to cover up their sin. But there is at least one way in which David is different - when he is confronted with his sin, he 'owns' it.
When God speaks to Adam and Eve after they've eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they are quick to try and pass the buck, blaming
each other, the serpent and even God himself ('if you hadn't put that woman here with me, none of this would have happened ...') David, on the other hand,
knows that his sin is his fault. It's not just a momentary lapse of judgement, totally out of character, prompted by someone else's behaviour. He knows that he sinned because, deep down, he is - and always has been - a sinner. Sinful from birth. In fact, even from before birth.
I don't think he's using that as an excuse - 'It's not my
fault, God, I was born this way.' It's an acknowledgement that his sin problem goes right to the very heart of his character. It's who he IS. But, wonderfully, it's not ALL he is. He is also a man made and known and rescued by
God. Even when his unborn body was being made in the womb, God was there with him, relating to him. At that point, God already knew that David would grow up
to be a murderer and an adulterer, yet he still taught him wisdom.
Our sin problem is just as deep-rooted. We aren't basically
good people who occasionally sin by accident. We are sinners by nature, from our earliest days. Yet the God who made us knew us and loved us before the universe was made. And so he sent us Jesus, the only man ever born without sin. The perfect representative of his people who resisted all temptation. Let's confess our sin to God today without making excuses or passing the blame. And let's thank him for Jesus, through whom we have been
given new birth and new hearts.
