The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 16 August 2025: God Forgives
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TOPIC: God Forgives
READ: 2 Samuel 12:13-23 (NKJV)
- So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
- “However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also [who is] born to you shall surely die.”
- Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.
- David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
- So the elders of his house arose [and went] to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
- Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
- When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
- So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.
- Then his servants said to him, “What [is] this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child [while he was] alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
- And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell [whether] the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
- “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
THE MESSAGE:
As soon as David was confronted with his sins by Prophet Nathan, he broke down in repentance without further pretense. The bible says that a broken and a contrite heart will not be despised by God (Psalm 51:17). Although the judgments pronounced against him – the sword not departing from his house, the death of the baby that came from the immoral relationship, a member of his household sleeping with his wives in the open – all still came to pass, yet God forgave his sins. God’s forgiveness would not have reached him if he had remained adamant in his sins. Forgiveness begins from repentance.
As humans, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and this brought eternal separation between God and man. Hence, anyone whose sins are yet to be forgiven remains separated from God – in this life and in the world to come. Forgiveness of sin comes by believing and trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary as enough payment for our sins. When a man’s sins are forgiven, God looks at him as righteous. God desires everyone to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth, and He will not fail to judge anyone who continues in his sins, and sees no value in the death and resurrection of Christ.
PRAYER: Thank You Father for forgiving my sins in Jesus’ name, Amen!
