Psalms 38-41&32
The Internal Aftermath
Though God had forgiven David of his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, God made it clear that David was not going to be free from the consequences of his actions in 2 Samuel 12:10-12. God also made it clear the consequences will be evident to all. However, there is another set of consequences that David will go through that will not be so evident. These are the internal emotional consequences of guilt, fear, doubt, insecurity, and the ever present accuser of the brethren. Revelation 12:10
These Psalms make it clear that the battle with sin is both internal as well as external. The internal battle can be very destructive because the enemy is taking aim at our faith. David describes the internal battle very well in Psalms 38&39. In Psalms 40&41 we can see him starting to have victory and declares victory in Psalm 32.
Someone once said, “Sin will keep you longer than you wanted to stay.” That is the case here. Though the incident is over and God has forgiven David, the internal battle continues. In these battles we are haunted by questions. Did God really forgive you? How could God forgive you? What is going to happen now? Does God still love me? How could God love me? What will people think? These questions and others like them are from the pit. Paul tells us in Romans 8:31-39 that God is for us and that He has forgiven us and yes, He still loves us. He also says that the accuser of the brethren, Satan, cannot condemn us nor bring a charge against us to God. Jesus paid for our sins and that is that. However, this does not mean that Satan will not try and convince us that we are condemned and that charges have been brought against us. This is the crux of the battle.
God has declared us not guilty because Jesus paid the price for our sin. Satan declares us not only guilty but rejected by God, unloved, heaping on the guilt and shame. This is the spiritual battle he wages in our mind and we have to decide which declaration we are going to put our faith in. Sometimes this involves time and pain while processing all of these feelings. That processing is the spiritual battle. David went through it and so will we. All have sinned and all will face the consequences of our sin, but God loves us and that will never change.
Paul describes the process of waging the spiritual battle in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” NASB
In this case our weapons are the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and prayer in the Spirit. Ephesians 6:17&18
So, avoid sin at all cost, but when these attacks come, put on the Helmet of Salvation and trust your weapons.
Be victorious!
Pastor Dave