Those who live in the Sacramento area were shocked to hear of the tragic deaths of a mother and her juvenile son in Cameron Park on Thursday evening. They had been living with a member of the Amador-El Dorado unit of CalFire who has since been arrested on homicide charges. What makes this really difficult is knowing that a person who has taken an oath to protect life ends up taking life, and in fact, two lives. Crimes such as this always tug at our hearts and consciences. Interestingly, Peggy and I remember briefly meeting the accused at a social gathering many years ago, and so this crime seems a bit closer to home for us.

Throughout the Old Testament, God condemned the evil that emerged from the twin nations of Israel and Judah. I have often referred to their sins as the “4-I’s,” namely: Idolatry; injustice; indifference toward God; and immorality (in all of its various aspects). There was a time in Israel when evil struck close to home, and it happened in the capitol city of Jerusalem where David reigned as king.

As most of you know from reading your Bibles, it began with an adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and then David conveniently arranging for the death of her husband Uriah on the battlefield. The cover-up lasted for many months but was eventually uncovered by Nathan the Prophet, who called David out on his many sins, including his attempt to cover them up through lying and deceit. Later, David described his desperation during the season when he tried to conceal his affair with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband:

When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer (Ps 32:3-4).

Have you ever felt like that? Maybe it was a calculated lie in an attempt to conceal a sin that you wanted no one to know about. I remember as a young boy I was throwing rocks over my brother’s head far out into a dry wash bed near our home in southern California. Unfortunately, one of the rocks didn’t ascend as I had expected, and it hit my brother in the back of the head. Our dad heard Dale crying, and he asked me if I had thrown the rock, and I said, “Dad, I have no idea where that rock came from!”

After lying to our dad, guilt began to overwhelm me. I knew, like King David, that God’s hand was heavy upon me. And so, ten minutes later, as my brother was being treated for his wound, I confessed to our father saying just a few brief words, “Dad, I did it! I’m the one who threw the rock!” Oh, what relief it was to confess my ill-fated throw and attempted cover-up to our father. I couldn’t repair what I did to Dale’s head (it was a minor wound and healed after a few days), but I could repair my relationship with our father — immediately.

But now listen to how David began the Psalm in the first two verses:

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no deceit (Ps 32:1-2).

And then in the verses following David’s description of how he felt during the “cover-up:”

I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Ps 32:5-6).

Oh, the blessed peace of confession. And it all begins with the conviction of sin in our hearts which is a work of the Holy Spirit. But then comes confession, and that’s the gate through which we must walk in order to received God’s forgiveness. And oh, how sweet it is to confess and then know that God has forgiven our sin, and David calls those who do so, “BLESSED.”

If there is any unconfessed sin in your life, take a moment to get things right with God, just as David did, and then, if and when appropriate, get things right with others whom you have offended. May the Lord bless each of you for doing so, knowing that He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.