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All Who Repent Will Be Forgiven and Accepted, December 31
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price.
Isaiah 55:1
, NKJV.
Though David had fallen, the Lord lifted him up. He was now more fully in
harmony with God and in sympathy with his fellow men than before he fell. In the
joy of his release he sang: “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity
have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou
forgavest the iniquity of my sin.... Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve
me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance” (
Psalm
32:5-7
).
Many have murmured at what they called God’s injustice in sparing David,
whose guilt was so great, after having rejected Saul for what appear to them to be
far less flagrant sins. But David humbled himself and confessed his sin, while Saul
despised reproof and hardened his heart in impenitence.
This passage in David’s history is full of significance to the repenting sinner. It
is one of the most forcible illustrations given us of the struggles and temptations of
humanity, and of genuine repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through all the ages it has proved a source of encouragement to souls that, having
fallen into sin, were struggling under the burden of their guilt. Thousands of the
children of God, who have been betrayed into sin, when ready to give up to despair
have remembered how David’s sincere repentance and confession were accepted
by God, notwithstanding he suffered for his transgression; and they also have taken
courage to repent and try again to walk in the way of God’s commandments.
Whoever under the reproof of God will humble the soul with confession and
repentance, as did David, may be sure that there is hope for him or her. Whoever
will in faith accept God’s promises will find pardon. The Lord will never cast
away one truly repentant soul. He has given this promise: “Let him take hold
of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with
me” (
Isaiah 27:5
). “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him;
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (
Isaiah 55:7
).—
Patriarchs and
Prophets, 726
.
388