DEVOTION - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012

DEVOTION – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012

“An Unraveled Life “

BY

JAMES MACDONALD

Psalm 25:11 For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Second Samuel 11:1-4 records, incredibly, that while everyone else was out at battle and David stayed home, he saw Bathsheba. Verses 2-4 say, "He saw from the roof a woman bathing. . . . [He] sent and inquired about the woman. . . . [He] sent messengers and took her." You're like, "Who can do that?" The king can do that! And nobody contradicted him! That is until God began to use his friend Nathan and his son Absalom to absolutely crush David. Consequences began to unravel David's life.

As the next several years unfolded, Absalom murdered his brother Amnon because he raped his sister, Tamar. David did nothing about it. He lost Absalom's respect because he was so passive late in life. Absalom led a revolt against his father. He was trying to take over the kingdom. David's authority and power had blinded him to his own sin.

The word guilt in today's verse means literally to bend, to twist, to distort, to warp, to pervert, or to ruin. The word means sin. David in effect said, "For Your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my bent-ness; pardon my twistedness, God. Pardon my distorted, warped, perverted way of thinking, God. Pardon my ruin, what I've done with myself." It's an incredible statement of personal admission. David's prayer flowed from humility born of adversity. "I'm wrong, God! My actions are wrong! My words are wrong! My motives are wrong! I am wrong!"

When was the last time you were undone? When was the last time your life was unraveled by your own shortcomings? How quickly we are worked up about the shortcomings of others. When was the last time you were taken apart by yourself? Not by what your spouse needs to learn. Not by what your mom's doing wrong. Not by the shortcomings of the leaders in your church or where you work, but by yourself. That's the moment that God's trying to bring about. That's where all this is headed. Not that you should observe the shortcomings of others, but that you should have a better understanding of yourself and where you're failing. That's what God is always going for in your life.
—James MacDonald