Aren't You Glad You're Not Like David?

Thoughts from my reading in Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul David Tripp.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Title of Psalm 51

Aren't you glad you're not like David,
Such blazoned sin, how could he?
Aren't you glad you're not like Saul,
Making up his own rules; what was he thinking?
Aren't you glad you're not like Cain,
Violence against his own brother?
Aren't you glad you're not like Rebekah,
Such planned deceit?
Aren't you glad you're not like the Israelites,
So easily seduced by idols?
Aren't you glad you're not like Absalom;
How could he be so jealous?
Aren't you glad you're not like Elijah;
How could he forget God, be so depressed?
Aren't you glad you're not like Nebuchadnezzar;
How could he be so obsessed with power?
Aren't you glad you're not like Samson;
How could he be so easily deceived?
Aren't you glad you're not like Jonah;
How could he run from the Father's call?
Aren't you glad you're not like the Pharisees,
So religiously right yet spiritually wrong?
Aren't you glad you're not like Judas,
Selling the Messiah for a little bit of silver?
Aren't you glad you're not like the Corinthians,
So much better at division than at serving the Lord?

The truth is, if we are honest we will see ourselves in them and identify in so many ways. They were human and so are we. They are like a mirror where we see our reflection.

We see that we are not righteous. We need mercy! Because of God’s great compassion and love, we can step out of darkness and self-deceit. We can admit who we are.

Here is a question from the meditation:

Do you humbly identify with the weakness, foolishness, and failure of the characters of Scripture, or do you tend to tell yourself that you are essentially different from them?

For many years, I didn’t look at Scripture in the way mentioned here. I didn’t think of it as a place where I could see myself in history. Of course I believed it to be God’s word and I studied it but for some reason I didn’t place my life next to the characters I read about.

I missed out on two things. One was the reality that they did stupid sinful things just as I do and the other was to be prodded to look at their lives and then to ponder if I have the same faults in myself.

I’m thankful for the grace of exposure and for the grace of change.

Philip
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