Repentance and Lordship

Last week I talked about the difference between Saul and David. Both men had similar personalities including ruthlessness, lying, and other immoral traits. The difference between them was a matter of the heart. Saul refused to see God as preeminent while David recognized his own shortcomings and repented of them. Today, I’m going to do some more meditating on repentance.

In another Bible study I do with a different friend, we read an article by Robert Boyd Munger entitled My Heart – Christ’s Home. Basically this article is an allegory or a metaphor where each room in the house is given over to Jesus. Each room represents a different aspect of our personalities, hobbies, or concerns of our hearts. As we walk with Jesus through our hearts, we see where some of the things we value are not things we want Jesus to see or be exposed to. One room at a time is examined and changed by the influence of Christ in our lives. Not only is the room changed but our attitudes about our thoughts and behaviors change leading us to repent and turn things over to Jesus.

In the final section of the allegory, there’s a locked but stinky and small cupboard. Just when we think we’ve turned over everything to God, the smell from this room becomes unbearable and Jesus says if something’s not done about it, He’ll be forced to move to the porch or away altogether. In the allegory, the smells emanates from the stuff we want to take to our graves with us, often things dealing with some long past event or feeling or thought. Some strongly held belief, which we just don’t want to let go of. Yet Jesus stands outside this closet and asks us to get rid of the smell.

It’s not enough to ask for Jesus to forgive us for our sins. Yes, He will forgive us, but the quality of our relationship with Him will be hindered. In the allegory, the homeowner realizes that if he truly wants a great relationship with Jesus everything about his house needs Jesus to touch it – even those things we wish to keep hidden. Some of those things may require more strength than we possess to deal with. The closet holding our most stinky stuff torments us, yet we are unable to power our own way into making the necessary changes (even as we repent). So the homeowner realizes that the power to change is totally reliant on Jesus. However, Jesus tells the homeowner that He doesn’t have the authority to do whatever He wants with the house since He’s not the one who owns it.

So the homeowner decides he wants to give Jesus the house and gets the title and signs it all over to Jesus. Now everything part of the house is under Jesus’ control. I have given Jesus various rooms in my heart to sort through over the last 40 years, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I was willing to give Him everything – including the stinky cupboard. The thing I was holding onto of which I just couldn’t let go was the idea that if things got too depressing and hopeless, I could kill myself. Holding onto that belief hindered my relationship with Jesus. When I finally decided suicide was not an option and I was giving every aspect of my life over to God, my outlook on life and my relationship with Jesus became better. My relationship with God is more intimate because there’s not the underlying stink of thinking I was in control of my own life and death. I have given my heart to God fully. Repentance of the individual characteristics of the various rooms was good enough to maintain a static relationship with Jesus; however, I now experience a dynamic and peaceful relationship with Jesus knowing He’s in total control of my life.

Honorable and Dishonorable

We like to think about David as this great man of God who is constantly seeking God’s will and doing exactly what God wanted him to do. We focus on the part where God says that David is a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22). What we forget is that David was a man like any other man. This means he was also sinful (Jesus being the only man who never sinned).

We tell the story of David and Goliath and how great David’s faith was (laying aside that he was seeking something for himself in the process). We tell the story of David conquering his tens of thousands (assuming it was all credited to God’s power). We tell the story of David choosing not to kill Saul because he was God’s anointed (but fail to realize that it was for his own protection he didn’t violate God’s laws).

In 1 Samuel 27, David does act honorably in some ways, but he also acts dishonorably in others. He is a man like every other man. Not all we do is good and not all we do is bad. David was honorable in that he took care of his family. In verse 3 we find David caring for his family and the families of his followers: “And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each with his household, even David with his two wives . . .” He did not leave them defenseless in Judah with Saul on the prowl. Also, David moved his people away from the capital city of the Philistines to Ziklag where there was a greater propensity for the worship of the God of Israel (Ziklag had once been a part of the land God designated as Judah but the Israelites failed to conquer it). It was close to the boundaries of Judah and there were many Israelites living and worshiping there.

However, David was also ruthless and deceptive. He carried out raids on areas belonging to the Philistines yet told Achish (the Philistine king) that his raids were in the Negrev of Judah. David accumulated much wealth and prosperity through conducting these raids. David knew that Achish would approve of raids on Judah’s territories and highly disapproves of raids on his own people. Also, David didn’t just take the belongings of the towns he raided. He ruthlessly “would attack the land, leaving alive neither men nor women, but taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing” (verse 9). The reason he did this is clearly stated in verse 11:

The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gath is that he thought, ‘We don’t want them telling on us, saying, “David did so-and-so.”’

The key to this article is to highlight the fact that David was really not a better man than Saul (or us). However, there is a difference. It’s not David’s thorough goodness that separates him from Saul and others who are not approved by God; it’s his repentance before God. We also can be people approved by God by our repentance. That’s how we become honorable.