Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“At the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, Joab led out the army and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it. David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it. It was set on David’s head, and he brought very much plunder out of the city. He brought out the people who were in it, and had them cut with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. David did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.”
(1 Chronicles 20:1-3)

“He also spoke this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others: “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.””
(Luke 18:9-14)

If you go to 2 Samuel 11:1-4, you get a very different picture of this time period. This was David’s big sin. He committed adultery with a woman (spying her in her house from his roof) and then goes on to deceive and murder her husband to avoid the scandal. And marries her. Why nothing about all of that in Chronicles? Because Chronicles is Holy Spirit’s Coles Notes of the history of the Israelite people. It contains all the major points of their history. All the things Holy Spirit wants us to make sure we notice. And what we see here is no mention of David’s big sin. That’s because David repents of that sin. He acknowledges his guilt, repents, and seeks the Lord on it. You NEVER hear of another case of adultery in David’s life. He got God’s point of view on it, didn’t waver again. He truly repented. As a result, what happened with David is recorded in scripture (not hidden or glossed over), but God doesn’t FOCUS on the wrongdoing. David repented and was forgiven, even though there were consequences.

The publican did not have God in his heart. In fact, he prayed TO HIMSELF. The tax collector didn’t pray in a group or loudly. He simply recognized his wrong doing and threw himself on God’s mercy. He REPENTED. The Pharisee did not. The Pharisee put all of his trust and worth in what he had accomplished and the things he did. His actions. His rule following. The tax collector had NO TRUST in ANYTHING he did. His actions. His rule breaking. His attempts to be good. The tax collector, however, trusted GOD would be merciful. That God would HELP him. That GOD would move to change him. He REPENTED. And in the end, the Pharisee left in the same condition he arrived while the tax collector left taking the first steps in a new relationship with God.

Summary

Repenting is part of salvation and salvation isn’t possible without repenting. Repenting is the constant process of finding, thinking about, and training our minds to accept God’s point of view, God’s moral character, and God’s directives on each and every area of our lives – spirit, soul, and body. It is the process that never ends until God says it’s over and we’re standing before His Throne (2 Corinthians 3:18). It’s not one and done. Salvation is a journey. Repentance is part of that journey. We can trust Him to provide correction. Repentance is our acceptance of His correction and our movement away from what WE think, WE want, and WE do into HIS thoughts, HIS wants, and HIS commands. That is what having a relationship is all about. That is what salvation is all about. More of Him and less of us on a day to day basis. That’s the Way Jesus opened for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). That’s the Way we need to walk.