David’s 3 Choices

“If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Psalms 130:3

After David had sinned grossly against God, he was given 3 choices of reaping what he had sowed (Galatians 6:7-8). David had already repented and confessed his sin with Bathsheba and had been forgiven by God and yet, he had to reap what he’d sowed. David had committed adultery and having Bathsheba’s husband killed, numbering Israel, etc., he was given 3 choices to reap what he’d sowed….

“And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.” 2 Samuel 24:14 

Notice how loving it was for the LORD to give David the choice…. Judges 10:16 David, a man after God’s own heart, knew the LORD and therefore knew His divine attributes, which included His great mercy toward His children (Genesis 32:10; Titus 3:5-7).

The sins that should concern us the most, are our own! Repenting afresh, confessing all sin, letting Jesus wash you afresh will always result in rejoicing to see others receive the same undeserved mercy God showed to you. Aren’t you glad that mercy trumps, triumphs over judgment in Christ’s bless-ed kingdom!!!! (James 2:13)

“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8 

David was already reaping… his son Amnon had raped his daughter Tamar (2 Samuel 13). Another son, Absalom was trying to kill him and take the throne (chapters 15-19 of 2 Samuel)…. Shimei cursed David for his sin (2 Samuel 16).

“Harboring unforgiveness against someone else is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.” unknown

v15— our sin affects other people

v11 – Ps 141:5

As a child of God, have you ever gone through a season of sinning? Was God merciful to you? What about men? Were they merciful or were they ruthless to you?

Men can be mercy-less. God is mercy-FULL.

People who don’t forgive simply do not realize just how wicked they themselves are.

God is the Judge, not man. God’s people are to “judge righteous judgment” and that DOES NOT include condemning folks God has already forgiven (John 7:24) …. Such as the fornicator of 1 Corinthians 5 who Paul said repent and the LORD forgave him fully (2 Corinthians 2). Paul told the believers around him that was restored, to show special love to him (2 Corinthians 2:7).

When we realize that the sin that should concern us the most is our own, we will cease wrongly condemning others (Job 19:28; Matthew 7:1-5; Ephesians 4:31-32; Romans 8:33-34). Read this passage closely and notice who we are to first and foremost and always  judge first – “ourselves.”

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5

“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 

Okay, now watch what the apostle Paul instructs us to “examine”:

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Quote Romans 8:33-34 to the next person who wrongly judges you… kindly, confidently say aloud “You are not my judge, GOD is and I’ve already confessed all my sin to Him. By the way, if you’ve been born again you also can repent and confess all your sins to God. He forgave me and praise God He will forgive you if you will repent and confess.”

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:33-34

The Bible is replete, flooded with examples of God’s mercy on those who sinned…. Such as: David, Peter, the woman taken in adultery, thief on the cross, Peter, John Mark, etc.

The LORD forgave them when they repented and confessed and yet for their sin, they had to reap what they sowed which is an inescapable reality (Galatians 6:7-8).

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” John 8:7

Wicked, self-righteous men are trying to cancel you forever, to get rid of you. But not God. God is love and He’s not willing that ANY should perish, especially not His own (2 Peter 3:9).

Our Sin has Consequences

Even though David was forgiven upon repenting and confessing that sin to the LORD, he had to reap what he sowed.

The same is the reality for us today and yet, like David, the LORD could also call us “a man after mine own heart” in the end, if we can truly say (and do) with Paul “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (Acts 13:22; Galatians 6:7-8; 2 Timothy 4:7).

Setting the Course from Here to the End

Whatever you do, never stop seeking the face of the LORD. No matter how deep you think you’ve fallen into a pit of evil and darkness, get up and call upon the LORD, stay upon thy God (Isaiah 50:10). If you aren’t fighting, you are losing. When you “fight the good fight of faith,” you are laying “hold on eternal life.” Think about that. If you don’t fight, you will lose out. This is clearly implied here and elsewhere.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12

The LORD loves and is with His people, no matter what they’ve suffered or will suffer.

“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.” James 5:7-9

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

“My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:20-23

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalms 103:10-12

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5-7

Regrettably, some who claim to be saved have very little patience and maturity to help a fallen saint back up. See Restoration. The godly are like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10; Galatians 6:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Lots of the memes we see speak of “mistakes” we’ve made instead of calling it “sin.” Yes we all have and do make mistakes and yet the LORD calls them sin, not mistakes. Let’s be biblical. Romans 14:23; Titus 2:1 Yes David’s sins were mistakes and also his mistakes were sin in the eyes of God. Otherwise he would not have had to reap, right?

2 Samuel 24:14 commentaries

“It was wise to choose to fall into the hands of God. They are very loving and tender hands, but David viewed them as punitive and not redemptive; and the plague, which devastated the people, cut him to the quick.” FB Meyer

“I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord – David acted nobly in this business. Had he chosen war, his own personal safety was in no danger, because there was already an ordinance preventing him from going to battle. Had he chosen famine, his own wealth would have secured his and his own family’s support. But he showed the greatness of his mind in choosing the pestilence, to the ravages of which himself and household were exposed equally with the meanest of his subjects.” Adam Clarke

“Notice the effect produced by the fear of God. (1) The fear of God brings us to confession, and humiliation, and a grateful hope. (2) It leads us to judge rightly of the comparative guilt of different offences, and to value them, not according to the opinion of men, but according to the word of God. (3) It makes us eager and ready to forgive, even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us.” T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i., p. 164.

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