David's Remorse Was As Great As Was His Guilt, May 22

I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15, NRSV. Sinners seldom feel right in regard to reproof.... How little sympathy they feel for the one who has carried the heavy load the Lord has laid upon him! They assume the role of a martyr and think they deserve great pity, because they are reproved and counseled contrary to their own ideas and feelings. They may admit some things, but with dogged persistency they hold fast to their errors, their own ideas. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” To all intents and purposes the Word of God is rejected.... How different was the character of David! Though he had sinned, when God sent him sharp rebukes he always bowed under the chastisement of the Lord. David was beloved of God, not because he was a perfect man, but because he did not cherish stubborn resistance to God's expressed will. His spirit did not rise up in rebellion against reproof.... David erred greatly, but he was just as greatly humbled and his contrition was as profound as his guilt. There was never a person more humble than David under a sense of his sin. He showed himself a strong man, not in always resisting temptation, but in the contrition of soul and sincere penitence manifested. He never lost his confidence in God, who put the stern rebuke in the mouth of His prophet. He had no hatred for the prophet of God. He was beloved, also, because he relied upon the mercy of a God whom he had loved and served and honored. To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much. David did not take counsel of associates who were sinning against God. This is where many fail. They are left in midnight darkness because they choose to counsel with those who walk not in the counsel of the Lord. They will excuse sin in the sinner when it is not repented of, and pass over wrongs when God has not forgiven them. David trusted in God more than in humans. The decision of God was accepted as just and merciful. Oh, how many are walking in blindness and leading others in the same path, where both must perish because they will not heed the reproofs of the Spirit of God!—Manuscript 1a, 1890.