Study 13 "Remorse to Rejoice"

Psalm 6.6-10

Remorse without repentance leads to further failure and guilt. To "feel sorry" for some wrong deed might be an admirable emotion, but without further action, remorse is a counterproductive response. But, without remorse of some degree, repentance will not take place. We must have some kind of sense of remorse or regret for ethical lapses.

David detailed a series of remorseful actions: weariness, sleeplessness, anxiety, alienation, and the like. David rolled in his sleep, consumed with grief over his misdeeds. Added to his own guilt were the accusations of his enemies. The King’s adversaries were quick to point out where he had gone wrong. They were also willing to use David’s sin for their own advantage (typical of most political types). Those who opposed David were not concerned with helping him correct his error, they wanted to use his sin to define him in the public eye.

So, David wept day and night. His "eye [had] wasted away with grief." David had wept so at his regret and the pain he experienced by the hand of those who hated him that his vision was beginning to fail.

David had alternatives available for changing his situation. He could have sued for peace with his enemies, agreed to their charges, and been in their debt. He could have determined to redefine himself to Israel by reforming his own character and thus become a model of virtue. What he did, though, was to reject the charges of his enemies and resort to God’s grace. So, he declared, "Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping."

No longer would David allow himself to be victimized by his own guilt and remorse or by the hateful treatment of his adversaries. He had called out to God, and the Lord had heard his prayer. He had rejected the course of rationalization, self-reform, and retreat. He had faced up to what he had done in his life, held himself accountable before the Lord, and taken responsibility for his life.

David knew that the Lord had not only heard the voice of his weeping (his deep prayer of contrition), he had heard his supplication and received his prayer. God not only listened, he responded. If God received David’s prayer, that means he looked with favor on the content and the motive of his prayer. David took responsibility for what he had done, he did not shift blame or whine at the unjust treatment he had received from his enemies. David had prayed because he knew that above all other concerns, his sin had alienated him from the God whose heart he sought.

David trusted God to restore him to a right relationship, and, so, he rejoiced at the frustrated plans of his enemies. Whatever harm they had sought to bring upon David had been turned aside by the Lord. His adversaries would be ashamed; because their plans failed, they would themselves be held up to ridicule, not David. His enemies’ disappointment would be all the more evident because of David’s rejoicing.

David did not rejoice because his antagonists had failed in their bid to do him harm; he rejoiced because their defeat was proof of his restoration to fellowship with God. God had protected David even when he failed to be the man God wanted him to be; God preserved him even in the error of his way. For, God intended to show himself faithful in David’s life even as many declared that God had deserted David in his sin.

The writer of Hebrews reminded his readers of a great promise of God. "‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’" (Hebrews 13.5-6)