David’s early life was marked with such anointing and strength. The stories we read of David in the Bible are legendary–killing a bear and lion with his bare hands, defeating Goliath with only a stone and a sling, being anointed king of Israel when he was a young shepherd boy– and those are just a few of the highlights?
But then David did the unthinkable. He committed adultery. Then murder in an attempt to cover it up. If ever there was a person who should feel shame, it was David. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
Maybe you can relate on some level. Whatever your story is, whether you’ve done things that are similar to what David did, maybe things no one else even knows, you have known the shame of a decision that led to your worst mistake.
David tried to cover up his sin, and we often do the same. God cares too much about us to let us keep pushing further into a cycle of cover-up without giving us a way out. Shame perpetuates the thought we are alone in the pit of sin and there is no way out. God redeems our life from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion (Psalm 103:4). What David tried to cover, God, in His grace, uncovered for the purpose of covering David in truth and grace.
“He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.
For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers.” -Psalm 103:10-11
God doesn’t deal with us as our sins deserve. David didn’t deserve to be called “a man after God’s own heart” after what he had done. We know there’s nothing about deceit, murder, dishonesty, or manipulation in the heart of God. Why would God let a man who clearly and deliberately sinned this way still have such a beautiful declaration said about him?
Even our worst sins can’t separate us from God’s love. God’s love is like a banner across the sky saying, “I love you. You are still my own. What you did does not define you. As you follow me, as you come with a humble and repentant heart, you’ll see I will not reject you.”
What made David a man after God’s own heart was the decision to no longer remain under the bondage and oppression of shame, but to break free with a humble and repentant heart.
The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit—
O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject. -Psalm 51:17Â
The enemy wants to whisper, “Shame on you,” in the dark corners of our failures, but God’s loyal love and grace towers over you in the full light of day as He says, “Shame OFF you.”
Know this: even out of your worst mistake, your darkest secret, the thing you thought defined your life with such shame, God is breaking shame off of you and He still has a beautiful, wonderful purpose and plan for your life. You are not the shame of your past. Shame OFF you, in Jesus name, and walk in the freedom of His forgiveness and loyal love for you.
