Then David arose from the earth, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. (2 Samuel 12:20, ESV)
Professional golf tours track player statistics. One of those stats is the Bounce Back. A Bounce Back is the number of times a player makes bogey or worse on a hole and then, on the next hole, makes a birdie or better. For example, on the PGA Tour, the current Bounce Back rate is 21%.
Thus, one in five holes following a bogey+ is a birdie or better. Although the LPGA Tour doesn’t publish this statistic, the top players undoubtedly have high bounce-back rates as well.
What does a statistic like this tell us about the player? Clearly, they can respond well to a bad hole. Even the best in the world play a hole terribly.
They’ve got a little fight in them, though. Unlike professional golfers, amateur golfers easily compound a bad hole into another bad one.
Just as a bad hole can disrupt a perfectly good day, a bad decision will disrupt our communion with God. For those who are in Christ, we know that God has forgiven us of all our sin (Colossians 2:13-14; Psalm 103:12).
We know we are prone to drift back into sin (Romans 7:15-20; Psalm 119:176). We know our sinfulness is an affront to God (Psalm 51:4), who sent His Son to pay our sin debt and to give us eternal life (Colossians 2:13-14).
Too often, when we sin, we convince ourselves that we are defeated and condemned, and that mindset leads to further sin and to a self-induced drifting from the Father.
In 2 Samuel 1, King David sins against Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. The scriptures outline the aftermath of David’s sin for us. It serves as one of the paramount texts for us regarding keeping watch and guarding our hearts against sin and the repercussions of our sin.
David finally cried out to God in confession and repentance (see Psalm 51) and was forgiven. He looked to God for mercy.
When we find ourselves in sin, we must be quick to look to Him for forgiveness rather than “handle it” ourselves. David tried this and ended up killing the innocent Uriah.
Through Nathan, the Prophet, David was convicted and trusted God’s word to forgive him.
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Exodus 34:6-7
David “bounced back” after his sins and looked to God for forgiveness and restoration. We know from the Bible that the consequences of his sins continued, but even in his final days, David trusted that God had restored him and forgiven him.
Even in his sorrow at losing his son, David arose from the earth, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.
If you are in Christ, you are no longer condemned. God has mercifully forgiven you. Confess the season of sin you may be in and repent. Turn back to your God and King.
Father, when I stumble into sin, may I quickly turn to you for your forgiveness and mercy. Amen