Questions and Answers | Walk in the LIght

Your question is one many have asked. This passage is part of David’s cry of confession and plea for restoration after he took Bathsheba unlawfully and had her husband Uriah killed. David’s sins of murder and rape which resulted later in the death of his child were dark, egregious sins.

I don’t think for a minute David was avoiding his responsibility for these dark acts or in any way ignoring his obvious sins against Bathsheba and Uriah. But in this prayerful confession, he had to get to the core of his sin so that he could be restored in soul, spirit, and mind. Sin holds a posture of defiance toward God’s commands; it is an assault on God’s authority. One Bible scholar notes that sin is primarily about “assaulting the glory of God, rebelling against God...a vertical phenomenon.”

Too often we confess our sins toward others without fully understanding our offense against God. Although David failed miserably, he was known as a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). He always returned to his earnest love for God. He always repented and understood his failure before God and reset his life toward Him. David knew that he couldn’t live long with the separation from God, caused by sin.

So, when David said, “Against you, you only, have I sinned,” he was acknowledging his rebellion against God. He was asking forgiveness for his dismissal of God’s commands. As commentators have noted, when Nathan came to David he said pointedly, “Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?” (2 Sam. 12:9).

David knew that the worst thing he had done was to despise God. He was not minimizing his crimes against others. Rather, he was emphasizing the direct assault on God that he had caused with those acts.

Some years ago, I was in a Bible study with a group of people my age. Invariably, a number of them said God had spoken to them in audible ways. I could not claim that same level of clear communication from God in my life. One day, I asked earnestly, “What did God say and how did it sound?” I wasn’t trying to be rude; I really wanted to know. How does God speak to us today?

We know that God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. As 2 Timothy 3:16–17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” That is why it is so important to read the Word regularly, to know it better and better through the years.

Second, God speaks through faithful teachers and preachers who know the Word, who live as the Scriptures command, and who teach with humility. God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit who “will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).

You will know if God is speaking to you if what you hear from Him is confirmed by Scripture. God will never contradict His own Word. Beyond that, there are times when you may receive impressions or promptings about things to do, people you should help or call. I think we also hear and see God in His creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Ps. 19:1).

Finally, God speaks to us through circumstances, difficulties, and sometimes suffering, to change us, to get our attention, to help us depend on Him.

It’s not only alright to be angry when someone you love dies, but also appropriate. Though not everyone may feel anger, it is an expected stage in the grieving process.

Jesus demonstrated these human emotions. In John 11:35, when Lazarus died, we are told that “Jesus wept.” The word “wept” is also translated as “deeply moved.” This same term is used when Jesus came to the tomb in verse 38. Other uses of the term in Scripture seem to contain the sense of “indignation” or “rage.” Death is not good; it should not be sentimentalized. Death is the result of the fall, of sin; it destroys and separates. In the incarnation Jesus shared in our suffering. He was not an automaton. And even today, He is present with us in our times of sorrow and anger, reminding us of eternity.