Whomever the Lord loves, he chastens and we see this vividly in David’s life. The illegitimate baby he sired with Bathsheba died. Thousands of Israelite soldiers were killed in battle. He brought scandal to his country, making Israel a laughingstock in the eyes of its enemies. David endured endless personal pain because of his sin. He lost the throne to a rebellious son, Absolom, and he was hunted down like an animal. He then wept uncontrollably when Absolom was killed. Every painful event David experienced was an agonizing reminder of the consequences of his sin. He expressed his pain in Psalms, writing that his soul was in constant torment, he was cast down in confusion, and his couch was a bed of tears. He cried out, “God, why have you forsaken me?” And he wept in fear, “Holy Spirit, don’t depart from me.” This Godly fear is designed to produce obedience through surrender not discipline. So if we continue in sin…we will experience a constant drain of peace and strength. David confessed in Psalm 31:10, “…my strength failed because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed.” David also said in Psalm 38:3, “…neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.” David was experiencing God’s piercing arrows when he wrote in Psalm 38:2, “For your arrows pierce me deeply, and your hand presses me down.” David was being taught the fear of God and part of his painful lesson was that he had lost the peace of the Lord. Now he cried out in Psalm 102:23, “He weakened my strength…” The church today is full of these Christians who live in confusion because they continue to indulge in their sin. They are always downcast, weak, and continually struggling but getting nowhere. If you harbor a secret sin, you’ll experience continual disturbances in your life, your home, your family, and work. Everything you touch will be out of kilter. You’ll become restless, confused, and burdened by endless worries and fears. All your peace and strength will be drained from you. One the most grievous consequences of continuing in sin is the loss of usefulness to God’s kingdom. To me this is one of the worst that can happen. It happened to King Saul, the king of Israel. The Bible tells us in 1 Samuel 13:13-14, “…you have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” God told King Saul, “You could have had my blessing in your life continually. I was on the verge of establishing your kingdom in Israel forever. I had great plans for you, plans to use you mightily. But you wouldn’t deal with your sin. Instead, you became even more bitter and hardhearted. So, now, I’m through with you.” Immediately, God’s Spirit left the king—and in that moment, Saul was no longer of use to the kingdom. Scripture reveals that from that point on, everything Saul did was in the flesh and he ended up confiding in a witch just hours before his death. That’s where it all ends when you continue in sin: You become absolutely barren and fruitless. Proverbs 14:27 declares that “the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.” In Prov. 3:7 we read, “…fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 13:08:24 +0000
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