Exhortation, October 10

?Walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness.?E Thus the Lord speaks to Solomon. And we respond, ?Say what? Walk like David?? Wasn?t David an adulterer and a murderer? Wasn?t his family an absolute mess? Wasn?t he a poor father, who spent the last years of his reign suffering the consequences of his passivity and sin??E

The answer to all these questions is Yes. And yet, Solomon is told: ?Walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness.?E How are we to understand this? Are God?s standards so relaxed that we can literally get away with murder, and not only be saved but also be commended as a model of righteousness?

The key to understanding this is to recognize a difference between ?sinning?Eand ?turning away.?E In the sermon text, Yahweh warns Solomon not to ?turn away,?Eand presents David as a model in that regard. Turning away means going after other gods, serving them, and bowing before them. This is what David never did. He sinned, and he sinned grievously, and he suffered terribly for his sins. But he never turned away to other gods. Instead, when he sinned he turned back to Yahweh.

God does not wink at sin, but he does forgive abundantly and completely. And what he demands of us is, we might say, a simple matter of orientation. All he demands of us is that we face in the right direction, and bow in the right direction. When you are tempted to sin, turn to God. When you have sinned, turn to God. When you are faced with challenges that you cannot overcome, turn to God. Practically, this may mean turning to God in prayer; it may mean turning to the Word for encouragement and rebuke; it may mean coming to church on Sunday, sincerely confessing your sins, and seeking God?s face in Word and at the Table; it may be turning to another believer to confess sin or ask for counsel.

In whatever form, God requires that we turn to Him. Keep your face toward Him, and He will keep His face toward you, for He is the Father of the Prodigal Son who is always watching the road for our return.