Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
From the beginning of the account of David’s tryst with Bathsheba there was abuse of power – “In the spring time when kings go to war” (but David did not, instead sending his army without him). He summoned Bathsheba into his bed, schemed and conspired to cover up his actions and finally had Joab arrange for Uriah’s death on the battlefield so he could lie about whose baby Bathsheba would bear. In short, David sinned against a LOT of people.
Psalm 51 was written after David’s sins were spelled out publicly by Nathan the prophet. The song was his confessing lament, and he spells out his sorrow and profound sinfulness (i.e. “from birth”). The verse above points to the core of the matter though – “Against you, you only” – when it was against many others as well.
The notion is that all sin flows from sin against God. A soul’s intents, when yielding to the blessed and bountiful purposes of God, will by nature run from sin. David would go to war with his army, would look away from Bathsheba and would confess sins rather than covering them up. That didn’t happen, says David, because of rebellion against God. All the years of seeing God’s faithfulness, deliverance and goodness displayed vividly in remote and desolate places, seemingly were for naught. When the right temptation came, David took the bait and fell.
Inasmuch as Psalm 51 provides a warning, I can see the eternal value of paying attention to all God would say and direct me toward in life. If I never listen and drink in the Word, I will by necessity see my faith erode and begin opening up to my most attractive form of iniquity – something the Bible calls “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). For that which attracts me is that which fills a space made for God and his purposes. There is purity and there is right motive.
In David’s song, there is a recollection of a dry spiritual time in his life. Blessed beyond all counting, he ceased to seek God like he did earlier. He let his guard down.
Let that not happen to me, or to us.
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