The story of David and Bathsheba is the stuff movies are made of—lust, adultery, premarital pregnancy, murder, and cover-up. And it looked like David was home free, except for one important detail: ‘The thing that David had done displeased the Lord.’ (2 Samuel 11:27 NKJV) In the Bible, God refers to David as ‘a man after His own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14 NLT), but the same Bible says, ‘Be sure your sin will find you out.’ (Numbers 32:23 KJV)

So God sent the prophet Nathan to tell David, ‘I anointed you king… Why then have you despised the Word of the Lord?’ (2 Samuel 12:7–9 NLT) Then God passed sentence: ‘I am going to bring calamity on you… before all Israel.’ (2 Samuel 12:11–12 NIV)

From that day on, tragedy and turmoil plagued David’s family. On many levels, ‘the way of transgressors is hard’ (Proverbs 13:15 KJV), not the least of which is that sometimes God takes away your peace so that you will acknowledge your sin. It took an unplanned pregnancy, the murder of an innocent man, a child’s death, a prophet’s persuasion, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit before David’s heart softened and he admitted, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ (2 Samuel 12:13 NIV)

And when he prayed those words, God treated David’s sin the same way He treats ours: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9 KJV) As long as you keep excusing, defending, and rationalising your sin, God can do nothing for you. But the minute you confess it to Him, He will forgive you. Isn’t that wonderful?