Grace That Outruns Failure

Guilt has a way of making God feel distant, even when we know the right words to say. We sit with Psalm 26 and David’s blunt honesty, where he can pray, “Examine me,” not because he’s perfect, but because he’s living in the open with his Father. That single shift changes everything: prayer stops being a performance and becomes a child coming home.

We talk through David’s integrity, his real sin nature, and the hard truth that forgiveness does not erase consequences. Then we get practical about confession of sin and why hidden, unrepented patterns can quietly kill your prayer life and your joy. We also draw the line between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10): one is mainly fear of getting caught, the other is grief that we hurt the heart of a loving Father. Real Christian repentance shows up in real change, including new habits, different influences, and accountability that protects you in lean seasons.

We also tackle a struggle many believers carry for years: “Why don’t I feel forgiven?” Feelings can be loud and misleading, but salvation rests on what God has said, not what we feel. That’s why the conversation keeps coming back to the goodness of God, the righteousness of Christ counted for us, and the steady hope that you’re not too far gone if the Lord is drawing your heart.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you can start over, pray again, or believe God’s mercy is still for you, listen all the way through. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, leave a review, and tell us: what helps you move from guilt to genuine repentance?

Transcript

Welcome And A Week In Psalms

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, and welcome back to the Faith Works Podcast, where we believe we have a biblically informed faith that works every day for everyday believers like you and I. I am one of your hosts, Jonathan Locklear.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And I'm the other one, Tyler Edge. Hey buddy. It's good to be here with you, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Likewise. You have a good week? Man, it's been wonderful. It's been a wonderful week in the Word, beginning in Psalm 26 on Sunday, and then we had Psalm 13, midweek Bible study. And so we've just been some spending some time in these Psalms.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Yeah. So we were talking about David, and something we see with David is we see him go from the highest of highs to the very lowest of lows, right? Yeah. We see Bathsheba, we see Uriah, that tends to be his lowest of lows. One of the things that you focused on, though, in these in yesterday on Sunday was this grace, this grace that is poured out upon David, right? Yeah. This grace that a lot of people, and we feel this, I think ourselves, would feel as though we are undeserving of, right? And the truth is we are undeserving of it, right? But God is still very gracious to us regardless.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

So it's a very Christian response to feel undeserving. Yeah. Yeah, because you are and you have truth. So you know you are.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And so what can, I mean, what is it that made you want to focus on this? I know for me when I heard it, it's it it constantly speaks to my heart when I hear this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

These psalms are so raw and they're written in such a real way. That's why they're so applicable for today. And we have a congregation full of people who think that possibly there might be more for them, although they know they don't deserve it.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

And Sunday we really focused on a grace and a mercy that God provides that we don't deserve. And David has it here. David's not perfect, but he calls out to God in a really bold way, in a really bold way, and asks the Lord for his help. And he does it like a child to a father. He does it in a way that he feels like I'm allowed because this is my dad.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

And then at the end of the service, we really had a very serious prayer for some healing over several people and for some breakthroughs in some people's lives. And we do that boldly because, well, he's our dad. And that's the value we find in these psalms.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Yeah, he's he's a loving father. Uh it makes me think of it, and I know this all just intertwines, but the Romans 10:13, for whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,

Why David’s Story Still Hits Hard

SPEAKER_01 2:20

right? And and there's that's not really complicated. It's simple, right? It's a father saying, Call upon me and I will save you.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

It is simple. It is simple, it's simple to grasp, and I'm thankful for guys like me that it's simple. If it were complicated, I'd be in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

But it is simply that God is good. In fact, I said this Sunday, and I'll say this again now: God's better than you. He's better, he's nicer, definitely, he's he's more just, yeah, but he's also more merciful, yeah, and genuinely kind. And I think that a lot of people don't see that. They can't even imagine that because they're not kind and they're not merciful, and they have a hard time forgiving, and they know the people that they've written off in their lives. Sure. So they're pretty sure that God is like them and he's written them off, and he can't forgive them, and he won't have mercy on their sins. You know, why? Well, because when they grew up, you did bad things, you got whipped. And if you did good things, you got ice cream. And to be honest, they've not been doing good things. Right. Therefore, they're pretty sure God's upset with them. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

And so one of the big things that you were kind of focusing on, I mean, as you said, it was Psalm 26 yesterday. But we see with David in speaking of this integrity in Psalm 26, these things that he wants to be, right? These aspirations that he has, of who he wants to be as a Christian, and he wants to be a man of integrity. Now, what's interesting about that is we see obviously later on with Bathsheba and Uriah that he fails to be that man of integrity. That's what we know him for.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Yeah, his main failures. And so, how is it that David is able to speak of integrity in Psalm 26 when we know what he does later on?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

In the same way that all of us should speak of integrity and can speak of integrity because we know what it is, it's in the Bible, we see it.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

However, at the same time, I mean simultaneously, we are all capable of great tragedy. Right. We are great of capable of great betrayal, and it's in all of us. It's in all of us. I mean, you want to look back at history and see some of the monsters of history and see the Hitlers and the Stalins and the Maus and and and right on down. And you go, oh gosh, look at those. I'm going, I want you to know there's nothing in those men that's not also in you. Yeah. Amen. Okay. So David has a real sin nature here. And there's a glorious time early in David's life when he walks with God in a beautiful way where he trusts the Lord and the community suite. And he blows it. In fact, the sins of his life are gonna follow him consequentially the rest of his days. And that's true. He's gonna pay the piper and he's going to pay for those awful sins. Right. Because though God forgives David, the consequences remain. However,

Bold Prayer Comes From Sonship

SPEAKER_00 4:55

God never leaves, the favor of God never leaves. And it's because of David's mode of relationship with the Lord. Like David knows who he is. Right. I don't think David snowed in any way, thinking that he's he's not holier than thou. I mean, he's a man of bloodshed, he's a man of war, he's a man of lust, he's a man of great appetite in every capacity.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

However, he knows that God is good and he also knows that he obeys the Lord. I'm gonna ask our listeners do you obey the Lord? And are you pleased with the way in which you obey the Lord? Because in this psalm, David is. David is he's glad to say, No, no, no, no, no. I have tried my best to be a man of integrity.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Let me read you the verse one. Please. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, I have trusted in the Lord, therefore I will not slide. Go ahead, Lord, verse two, examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my reins and my heart. So he's like an open book. Right. Like so many people are walking around waiting for the other shoe to fall because they've not repented of their sins. They've not confessed their sins. Right. And they know that it is hanging over their head. They know it.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

They know it. I know it. You know it. And they're waiting. Man alive. Can I just tell our listeners? There is the most immense freedom in confession of sin. And so God doesn't know, right? As though he doesn't already know. He knows. And so it would behoove us all to say, Lord, you know who I am. He knew who you were before he went to the cross and died for you. He died for you anyways. He knew the knucklehead that you'd be before the foundation of the world. However, David, man, he's honest with God. And he goes, God, you can look at me and you know my thoughts, you know my heart. This is the same guy who wrote Psalm 19. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. I believe it's the last verse of that psalm. Well, he wants the meditation of his mind to be pleasing in God's sight. And he's intentionally walking in a way that he's not ashamed of. I tell you what, there are some people who can't pray, Tyler. They can't pray because they've not confessed. They've not confessed and they sit in their sins. I mean, they can't pray, they can't prepare sermons, they can't lead their family in devotions. And it's not until they confess their sins and absolutely then we can say it like David.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Lord, look at me. You you know I'm not doing wrong on purpose. Yeah, keep me back. Another Psalm of David, keep me from presumptuous sins

Integrity And The Reality Of Sin

SPEAKER_00 7:45

that they would not have control over me. But Lord, you know there's nothing, no open sin in my life. There's no open sin that I am doing as a hypocrite that I know about, that I'm not confronting. And so David is able to say, Look, I know who I was, but I now have a new position in God. He's my father. I'm not just a guilty enemy of God. I am a child of the king. And he says, Look, Lord, everyone else is accusing me. So this psalm takes place, we think, during his run from Saul. Saul's a lunatic, loses his mind, trying to kill David, gathers an entire army, runs David out of town. David has these mighty men that are, you know, fighting with him and defending him. And, you know, of course, all the politics that go along with it. They're not just trying to destroy David physically, they're trying to destroy David reputationally, right? And his image. And he just is crying out to God, going, Look, God, you know that I'm not who they say I am. And he's able to, he's able to say it honestly. Is he perfect? No. And he knows that. But he also knows that he's a man of integrity. As I know you are, Tyler. And I know that I am.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

I'm I'm not what I ought to be.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

But I tell you what, I'm not ashamed to stand before the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Amen. Right. Yeah. One of the things I'd like to focus on for a minute is the true repentance, right? We spoke of that. You spoke of that, this idea of just true repentance. As opposed as opposed to kind of a vain repentance that I feel a lot of us do. When you just hear the casual, like, oh Lord forgive me, and thing of those sorts, right? Yeah. There's a genuine repentance. And so what does that mean as a Christian? What is a genuine repentance for a believer?

SPEAKER_00 9:33

The Bible speaks of two different kinds of repentance. One, a worldly repentance, which is an I'm sorry that I got caught. Yeah. Right. Yeah. As every child has ever done with their hand in the cookie jar. They're not sorry that they disobeyed, they're sorry that they got caught. And that's where the tears come from. Right. There's another kind of sorrow called godly sorrow, where I'm not sad that I got caught. I'm sad that I hurt his heart.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

I'm sad that I did this. And now I realize he saw me.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

And he told me not to. And I did it anyways. I deliberately disobeyed. And it breaks my heart.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Like the disappointment of a father, right? Disappointing a father.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah, exactly right. It's not that I'm afraid my father's gonna whip me and hurt me. Yeah. I'm afraid I'm gonna hurt him. You've hurt him. Right. And that's where that's where David is. The reason he's able to pray like this in Psalm 26 is because he has really repented of his sins. Right. Right. He's not asking God something that God's going, I'm not helping you because, you know, you don't honor me. David said in another place, if I regard sin in my heart, God will not hear me. And so he knows that. He's able to pray boldly and say, Lord, examine me, look, try me. Like you see everything for what it is. All of Israel thinks that I am a traitor and that I am trying to overthrow the king. And they think that I am, you know, a terrorist. And all the things that Saul and his, you know, media companies were fabricating about David. And David goes, No, no, I'm not who they say. I'm a new man in God. And you know, if no one else knows it, he says, God, you know it.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Yeah. Did you say, I'm sorry, uh, back a few moments, did you say it was a it was a worldly repentance versus a godly repentance? Is that what you said? I I know for me, and and maybe this is different for everybody, and maybe it just comes with a maturity of understanding scripture, understanding God a little bit more. We talk about that all the time, how of the uttermost importance it is to know who God is. For me, I know that in my early Christian walk, it started out very much as a worldly repentance. I would fail and I would be what it was is I'd be terrified of hell. I'd be terrified of the discipline of my father. I don't face that at all anymore. I'm very confident I'm not going to hell. I've been saved by what Christ has done, right? But it's shifted now to where I am in tears. I am heartbroken over the disappointment of a father whom I love. Yeah. So my prayers have shifted. My heart has shifted in that to uh God, I'm terrified of you and I'm sorry that I've wronged you. To Lord, I love you, and I'm sorry that I've hurt you, right? I'm sorry that I've wronged you. Right. And and and truly that second one hurts so much more than the first one did.

Confession Brings Real Freedom

SPEAKER_00 12:15

That's true. But also, it brings life. It does. So the the scripture is 2 Corinthians 7 10. Godly sorrow brings repentance. It leads to salvation.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Without regret. That's what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

But worldly sorrow brings death. Yeah. Just very simple, brings death. Everything. Emotionally, physically, mentally, right? It brings death. Yeah. And David has here a real repentance, a serious Lord, you know me. Search me. Try me. Know my ways. Prove me. And you see his real repentance in the sense that it leads to new practices, right? There's new ways that he's living. So a husband cannot hit his wife and say, Oh, I'm so sorry, honey, I'll never do it again. And he continues to drink and he continues to abuse. That's not repentance. Right? Repentance is confessing it to your D group of men in the church and saying, Hold me accountable to this because this can never happen again. I repent. This is never going to happen again, ever. But if he keeps doing it, he's not repentant at all. And we know that, obviously, right? A person can't apologize to you without making those changes. Must be a change. David does make those changes. And this is how we must be able to look in our own lives. Ask yourself this listener, ask her yourself, have you really repented? And the the proof's going to be in the pudding. Well, has anything changed? What has changed? David lists it here of the things that have changed. He said, verse three, for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in your truth. That's what he does. Right? So I was walking in lies, but now I'm walking in truth. Verse 4, I have not sat with vain people, neither go I with dissemblers. So he changes his company. There's some relationships that were broken, right? He actually doesn't go to the bar with the boys anymore. Is it harmless? Yeah, could be. But he goes, look, I'm not doing it anymore. I'm not going places. They're going to tempt me to go back on the promise that I made to God. I have repented of this. He goes on, I have hated the congregation of evildoers. I'm going to ask our listeners that. Can you repent from your sin and still love it? And still love everything about it? Right. The answer is no. If we don't, if we don't walk away from this and walk away from the people that are leading us to this sin, then well, it's not it's not a godly repentance. It's a worldly sorrow. It's not a godly sorrow. David brings us a great example of godly sorrow, godly repentance. He changes his behavior here. He um goes to verse 6 I will wash my hands in innocency, so I will compass the altar, O Lord, that it may, I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of thy wondrous works. So he goes all the way from, Lord, I have walked away from the sinning, I have walked away from the people of the sinning, I have washed myself of this sinning, and now I'm on the other end, and I am preaching truth, I'm preaching goodness, I'm preaching gladness. And well, David's a new man. David is a new man. Yeah. He has some do's and some don'ts. He does walk in truth, he does hate evildoers, and he hates the evil that the doers are doing. He does wash his hands, he does pray at the altar of God, he does praise the Lord out loud. Verse

Worldly Sorrow Versus Godly Sorrow

SPEAKER_00 15:55

7, that I may publish with a voice of thanksgiving and tell of your wondrous works. And he does not keep doing the things that have caused him to sin, namely the relationships that led him to it, and the activities that led him to it, and the lack of accountability from it. So listen to this. So think about this in context. If this is before Bathsheba, which I think it is, David knows right and wrong, right? Yeah. He knows he knows what he's doing. That's exactly right. Let me ask you this, Tyler. What about a Christian man who knows right from wrong but doesn't care? Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

What about that? I I mean, I would question if they're a Christian, if you know right and wrong but don't care. That's a tough one.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Yeah. There's gonna be seasons, good and better. There are. And better and worse of a Christian life. Let me just tell our listeners, you may be going, look, I know. I've I went to you know vacation Bible school. Like I know this stuff. I was in Sunday school. I know. I've heard a million sermons. You may have preached a million sermons. But maybe you come to a place where there is cold and callousness in your heart where you know right and wrong, but you don't care. And you know there's consequences for your sin, but it doesn't, I mean, doesn't crush you. Right. Listen, maybe that's concerning to you. Can I say it should be concerning to you? Can I say I have been there? Can I say that Tyler has been there? There have been times that I have cared more and cared less. That's the place where we have got to be careful because there are consequences for our sins. And if nothing else, dear friend, just know some of the secondary consequences are some of the most motivating. Like the primary consequence of our sin, God will be upset, God will be hurt. God says don't, and we do. The secondary consequence is you maybe be removed from your pulpit. Your wife might leave you. Okay? So you know right and wrong. And I'm just saying, dear brothers. In those lean times, like when men are supposed to be godly men, or aka, it was the time when kings go out to war. David stays home. Knowing right and wrong doesn't care. And I'm telling you, this was premeditated. He was thinking, I'll send them out and I'll stay here with the women. Okay? That was his gray downfall. So what do we do when we uh know right and wrong, but we don't care?

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

I want to just encourage you to to consider the two ramifications. The primary of the Lord, the secondary of your job, of your reputation, of your family, how this would destroy your well, your children, your church, your brotherhood. Even if you find yourself in a lean and a low place, you have to ask God to give you godly sorrow over your sin. Godly sorrow. Lord, help me to see my sin the way that you see my sin. Lord, help me to see it. Help me to feel about it the way that you feel about it. David here is right in this psalm. He wants to stand for the Lord, he wants to do what is right. But I want to remind our listeners, I want to remind myself. It's not too far of a distance from Psalm 26 to Psalm 51. And it can happen to anybody.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Yeah, one of one of the questions I just kind of think of when you're saying this, there's so much to think of here, but why is it difficult for many Christians to fully believe they're forgiven after failure? And and for me, and I'll just tell you kind of I suppose what it is that I do, what what's helped me to this, and then you can tell me if I'm completely wrong or if I'm right here.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

I will I take great delight in telling you how wrong you are.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

One of the things is, and and I feel like I talk about this every time that we that we meet and we talk like this, but kind of first off understanding who God is, right? Kind of having a good to the best of my ability, understanding who God is. And then also that that childlike faith, right, that he tells us to have there. And and think of the Psalm 103, uh, where he says your sins are as far as the east is from the west, right? And I kind of just take God's word at face value. There's a, if I can, I suppose, insult kind of a cultural thing here, uh certainly not a Christian entity, but there's a there's a character in Star Wars. And I know this sounds silly, but bear with me. And what he does is he talks and he'll make a statement, okay? He'll say something like this is what we're gonna do. And he immediately follows it up with, I

When You Know Right But Don’t Care

SPEAKER_01 20:35

have spoken. And what he's doing is everybody they'll be like, well, what about this? And they go, I've spoken. And that in in my head, God tells me that he's forgiven me of my sins, and then there's that I have spoken that follows up, right? And so I go, okay, Lord, perhaps I don't fully understand it, but you've told me it's true, and I'm just gonna rest on the truth of that. And that's what encourages me when I mess up. That's what encourages me when I go to him with genuine repentance, right? Yeah, so please take it over. I mean, is that is that healthy? Am I wrong in that? What is super healthy? Okay, well, thank goodness.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

The reason we the reason we struggle with it is because what is actual doesn't always match our feelings.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

You know, our feelings are sometimes very misleading. Yes, amen. Right? Which I have told uh many people that women struggle with this more, sure, right? They're very emotional, much more. Yes, and sometimes I feel, I feel, I feel doesn't necessarily match what actually is. What do I know? Yeah, right. And so the scriptures say whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, I have called upon the name of the Lord, I've confessed my sins, and I've I've prayed and I've asked God to save me, but I don't feel saved. Well, okay. Your feelings are are not the primary concern here.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

You're not saved by your feelings.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

That's exactly right. We can't trust our feelings in that regard. No, not at all. In fact, some people are addicted to their guilt, it's part of their identity. And if God washes that away, what do they have? Then then then who am I?

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

I've seen people, and they it comes up in every testimony, you know, about the terrible, wicked, awful sins they've committed. And it's like, dude, you gotta let this go. You gotta, right? At least you can't keep bringing it up in conversation.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Has he washed it away? Has he forgiven it or not?

SPEAKER_02 22:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

And they go, Well, I just I still feel well, okay. We can't go on what we feel, we have to go on what God has said. Right. And that's why David finishes up here in this psalm. He said to other people, you know, their hands are led to mischief and they are bloody men. He goes, but I am not so. Verse 11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me and be merciful unto me. My foot stands in an even place in the congregation while I bless the Lord. That's so very Davidic. You know, he starts off in grief and ends with glory. He starts off with problem and ends in praise. So many of his psalms do that. And I wonder if there's not weeks and months in between the first half and the second half. You know, a lot of these psalms, I doubt that they happen all in one session where the coin is flipped and he goes from, you know, grief nigh unto death, and then he's like, Praise the Lord. You know, it rarely happens that that quick. But he does come around to it eventually. Yeah. And I think that it's a great understanding of, yeah, he feels that way in the first half. Yeah. But then he comes to understand it's not how he feels by the second half. And therefore, he is counting not his goodness necessarily, but God's goodness. He goes, Lord, I'm gonna keep walking in my integrity. Yeah. I know you've forgiven me for all the sins I committed, but I'm gonna keep walking in my integrity.

Forgiven Even When You Don’t Feel It

SPEAKER_00 23:40

And then how does he finish? As for me, I will walk in my integrity, redeem me. That's awesome. Are you if you're walking in your integrity, what do you need to be redeemed from? Oh, well, I'm still a sinner. Yeah, right. I'm still a sinner. I still mess up. Redeem me and be merciful. Why do you need mercy if you're walking in your integrity? Because my integrity bites. Yeah, like it's not good. It's not great. Right. Even my best is not very good. What does the Bible say? Your righteousness. Oh, it says filthy rags. That is so disgusting. Yes, it is. Literal menstrual rags. You know, before the invention of the tampon, women just sat on rags to mop up blood and it goes, you see that? You want to grab it? I don't want to grab it really. And goes, Okay, in God's eyes, that's the very best you have to offer. Yeah. Okay, so we should we should focus not on John's righteousness but on God's. Yeah. That's the idea. Yeah. That's it right there. But I don't feel very righteous. Okay. Well, he's righteous on your behalf. Amen. Is he righteous? Well, yeah. Okay, well, then you're righteous. Yeah. Does he impute it unto you? Does he count his righteousness for you? Amen. Well, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

That's why he's able to finish with, My foot stands in an even place in the congregation. That means in the church with other people, other believers, will I bless the Lord?

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

You know, in a sense, you could come to any one of us if you knew us, and you could say, You're such a sinner, you don't, you don't deserve to preach, you don't deserve to sing, you don't deserve to even walk in the doors. Well, none of us do. Yeah, amen. None of us do, right? And in fact, if we knew the stories of a lot of people, we might be sort of appalled. Well, here's the thing: God knows all the stories of all the people, and he's not appalled. His righteousness is enough for us. Now, what does that mean? Does it mean that we can, you know, sin all the more? Right. Paul would say, Ume oye genoi ta, you know, God forbid, you know, Maranatha. No, we live in integrity all the while, dear brothers and sisters. We're trusting in God's righteousness.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

We're trusting in God's righteousness. And it is the forgiveness of God for our unrighteousness that causes us to want to be right. It causes us to want to do what is correct. Why? Well, we love him because he first loved us. And this is where David finds himself, imperfect, but he is in the presence of a perfect heavenly father.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Amen. So I think just in closing here, buddy, I mean, the this should be, as most scripture should be, but this should be an immense encouragement to the Christian, everything that we're reading about here, right? Because you're constantly seeing, as you're talking about this roller coaster, the ups and downs of David just on the highest of highs and on the in the lowest of lows.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

And he went through some really, I mean, if I try and compare it to my life, he went through some really horrendous stuff, right? His mentor trying to kill him for years, then eventually his son trying to kill him for years, and the death of his son, then all these mistakes he makes. Oh, yeah. But as you said, he constantly has, I think, just such a beautiful heart because as you said, he he says, This is how I'm feeling right now. And then he reminds himself of what he knows to be true, right? And I just, I can't, I can't say it enough. It it came from him knowing who God was, right? He knew who his father was. That's right. And I think it's of the utmost importance for us to understand who our father is.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

There was a lot of times out there in the field with those sheep as a young boy, yeah, playing his guitar, just spending time with the Lord. And that even after Samuel came and anointed him to be king, he's still out there by himself, feeding sheep. Like I'm supposed to be king, apparently. And God's just doing a work in his life to developing him, and God's developing him through all of these psalms, and God's developing you, dear listener, in the quiet times,

You’re Not Too Far Gone

SPEAKER_00 27:25

in the mundane, out there tending the sheep, doing your responsibilities, as you learn to talk to the Lord and hear from the Lord and sing to the Lord, as you learn to desire him. You know, I'm I'm talking like thirsty for righteousness because you just had a bag of potato chips and you need something to drink. Like, that's what we need to do. Crave the Lord. And David learns that in his early years, and it serves him well in his later years.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

I want to ask you just two practical questions, then you can close us in prayer here. I just kind of want to, I think, step into the shoes of perhaps somebody who's not a believer or perhaps a new believer and ask you this practical question. So, are you telling me that from this that I am not too far gone to be saved?

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Yeah. If God'll speak to your heart, you're not too far gone. If God will draw you to himself, you can be restored to him, re-regenerated. Uh, I do want to say it sort of conditionally. No one is too far gone. But unless the Lord draws you, a man cannot be saved. So we respond to the wooing of God's spirit. Amen. And people have asked me before, they said, I'm concerned that I'm not a Christian. I'm concerned, I'm concerned, I'm concerned. Well, that concern is a great evidence that you are a Christian, that you do want him, that you desire him, that your carnality is repulsive to you and and you want to be right in his eyes. That's a that's a wonderful evidence, actually.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

If if I feel the Lord is calling me, if I feel that he's calling on my heart right now, perhaps somebody listening to this is what do I do?

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Call out to the Lord. And I'm talking about not like a one-time over a burrito at Chipotle, you know, not not even you know, by your bedside. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Isn't that like a Metallica lyric? I don't know. I'm talking about praying until you can pray. And then once you can pray, pray until you have prayed. That's good. Isn't that good? That is good. I didn't make it. It's not a John Cloak. It's not. I don't know. I want to say I got it from Terry Forrest at Bible College, but that is so important. We live in a fast food vending machine world where we think we're just gonna pull up, you know, slap the button, make our order, and then it's at the window. David was out there in the field knowing the Lord for 15 years before he became king. It's a long

Simple Practices That Shape A Life

SPEAKER_00 29:55

time to wait. I want to just say if God's calling on your life, what do you do now? Never, ever, ever, never, never, ever miss your morning devotions. Nothing's more important than praying and spending time with the Lord. And that may sound you know a little bit of anticlimactic there. That's that's the gist of it. Read the Bible, yeah, not just academically, read it as the love letter that it is. Yeah, read it knowing from Genesis to Revelation, God and His great sovereign, unbeatable plan, his will will be done. He is unstoppable. And I'm telling you, you you you want to get on his side. You don't want to get him on your side, you want to get on his side, know the Lord, call out to him, seek his face, go to church, listen to sermons, sit under the authoritative preaching of God's word, submit yourself to pastoral authority and to accountability of brothers and sisters in Christ. These these things, these practices, these these basic general graces of God are what it's all about. Know the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Amen. Buddy, would you close us in prayer?

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Let's pray.

Closing Prayer For Sweetness In Christ

SPEAKER_00 31:13

Father, who are we that you would be mindful of us? You made yourself a little lower than the angels, Hebrews says, Coming down into our world. Save sinners like me. And though it's as simple as that, I still can't get over it. I pray our listeners can't get over it today. I pray that they can't get beyond it. I pray that it rests heavy on their minds and on their hearts, and it would resound to the praise and the glory of our great King. Lord, I pray today, in closing, that the Savior would become sweet and that sin would become sour, that it would become bitter, that it would become repulsive, that we would come to a place where we would say, How did I ever find joy in that when I've got a Jesus like this? I pray, Father, show us yourself, teach us the beauty of who you are, and Lord, may we come to know you and love you appropriately, repenting of our sins, trusting in your grace, preaching your gospel, and waiting one day for your blessed return. I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.