David Yarbrough
Psalm 51:2 (ESV)
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
One of Satan's primary tools to discourage you is to get you overly focused on how the strong have fallen and then cover over their virtues. The enemy will overemphasize when David fell into adultery, the pride of Hezekiah, Job's lack of patience, Noah's drunkenness, and Peter's denial of Christ, but then hide their tears, their deep groans, and their repentance.
It's hard to comprehend how David, a man of such strong conviction, got so weak and fell into sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). Then there is Peter, the one who loved Jesus so passionately, turning around and denying him so dreadfully (Matthew 26:72–74). But through repentance, they are restored sweetly to a deeper, richer communion with God.
Many people fall into deep, dark sins and never repent like these great men of faith, so they suffer the consequences forever. These men of God did not make a habit of sin. Although they fell hard, they made powerful comebacks through repentance and walked closer to God.
The faithful sin accidentally and with much reluctance.
If someone accidentally drinks poison and narrowly escapes with their life, it is natural to assume they will do everything possible to steer clear of poison for the rest of their lives. But if someone made a habit of drinking poison every day, it is reasonable to suppose they probably would not survive very long, and if so, there would be serious repercussions.
God does not disinherit His children for their sins, yet He does lovingly discipline us so as to remove the cup of poison out of our hands before we destroy ourselves. After David fell into sin, he wrote about how God lovingly crushed him in Psalm 51:8 (NLT), “Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.”
Those of us who have sinned would be wise to take a moment to reflect on the fact that God has written about the transgressions of His saints in the Bible in order to encourage us and strengthen us against the temptation to give in to the crushing weight of our guilt. Just as Paul recorded in Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." The fact that even the greatest saints of the Bible experienced moments of weakness gives us hope.
Through our reading from the Scriptures of the faithful who stumbled, we should recognize our need to draw even closer to Christ and do everything we can to guard ourselves against temptation. We must keep in mind the biblical warning from James 1:14–15 (CSB), "But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death." If we choose to allow temptation to go unchecked, its natural progression ends in a bad place. Although we can be restored through the grace of God, we may suffer the consequences of our sins for the rest of our lives. It's important that we're aware of our enemy's strategies and not fall prey to despair, but take heart from our biblical heroes who fell yet got back up through the power of repentance. These stories serve as warning markers to caution us about the rocks and snares as we navigate through the waters of life in this broken, sin-filled world.
So, dear reader, remember that living the Kingdom life is like a marathon, not a sprint. Even the most faithful among us stumble and fall, as Proverbs 24:16 (CSB) says, "Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin." They get back up and discover the strength of God in their weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). These biblical figures are not defined by their failures but by their Kingdom purposes. The same is true for all Kingdom citizens; all who are in Christ Jesus are not identified by their failures but by His great victory.
Romans 6:4 (CSB)
Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.