THINK TOGETHER.
Do you know what repentance is? Have you ever repented of a sin?
READ TOGETHER.
Psalm 51:10-11. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
David wrote these words after he had committed some pretty big sins. David stole the wife of one of his best friends and then he murdered his friend. It doesn’t get much more sinful than that, does it?
David had broken the Ten Commandments, and according to the Old Testament Law he deserved to be put to death. But God, in his great mercy did not require that David be executed for his sin. But surely God won’t let David continue to be the king, will he? Surely God won’t let David continue to have the Holy Spirit…will he?
Saul was the first King of Israel. When Saul became king, the Holy Spirit came upon him and he did amazing things. But then Saul sinned. He started to do what he wanted instead of what God wanted. So, what did God do? God took away the Holy Spirit from King Saul. Eventually God would choose David to be the new king with the Holy Spirit (see Day 6).
David was a great king. He was committed to God and to his people. He brought peace to the land and took care of the people, teaching them how to worship God. The Bible says that David was a “man after God’s heart.” He loved God and he loved what God loved. But now that David has sinned like Saul, God will take away the kingdom from David, won’t he? And God will take away the Holy Spirit also? Right?
Except that there is one big difference between David and Saul – repentance. Do you know what repentance is? Repentance is realizing that you did something bad, a sin, and seeing how your sin hurt God and other people. Then, most importantly, it is turning away from that sin, trusting that you are forgiven by God and empowered by his love to reject that sin and embrace God instead.
Everyone sins, but not everyone repents.
Saul didn’t repent. Saul made excuses for his sin. Saul hated God’s discipline. Saul literally went to a witch for help instead of to God – yikes. But David recognized his sin as a sin against God. David welcomed God’s discipline. David wanted God more than anything else; he said, Do not banish me from your presence. David repented. David didn’t fear losing his kingdom, he feared losing God. But that didn’t happen. God forgave David and the Holy Spirit stayed with David.
And the Holy Spirit will stay with us too. Because Jesus has died for our sins, we ARE forgiven! We have Jesus’ clean heart. That means that we will never lose the Holy Spirit. We are God’s children forever. But we should still repent when we sin. Not so that the Holy Spirit stays with us, but so that we “stay” with the Holy Spirit. Listening to him. Obeying him. And trusting his love for us. God’s love IN us through Jesus.
Because of Jesus we can have the punishment for all our sins taken away.
With Jesus we can know for sure that we are forgiven.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Read all of Psalm 51 together as a family. Talk about what true repentance looks like.
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, teach me how to repent and turn away from sin, trusting your love for me instead. Amen.
TLICfamily 