Wasting Away In Sinville
Nothing robs you of a sense of contentment more than ignoring or trying to hide sin from God and others. As I continue the series of blogs, “The Search for Contentment,” I want to look into a life-altering event in King David’s life. It shows the darkness of the human heart, the damage sin causes personal well-being and relationships, and how God reaches out and in to restore peace.
DANGERS OF IGNORING SIN
In Psalm 32:3, David warns us about the dangers of trying to hide sin or ignoring its effect upon us. He writes of the powerful strain of ignoring sin…
“When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.”
What happens if you decide not to be honest with God? If you refuse to confess your wrongs before God? The human heart is designed by God to be in a loving relationship with him. The insidious result of unconfessed, lingering, immoral thoughts and actions is emotionally devastating. Genesis 3 gives the account of Adam and Eve's guilt and shame after they sinned against God. It says in v. 8…
“…in the cool of the evening, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden…so they hid from the Lord.”
Years ago Jimmy Buffet had the hit song, “Wastin Away in
Margaritaville.” It’s a song about a guy in some tropical setting who was shunned by a girl. Instead of moving on, he drowns his sorrow in booze. Buffet sings...
“There's booze in the blender and soon it will render that frozen concoction that helps me hang on…Wastin away again in Margaritaville…”
Sin is like that for the human heart. Nurse it, stir it, keep drinking it and you’ll find yourself wasting away in Sinville. Instead of hiding your wrongdoing from God, admit it, face it, confess it to him.
So, what misdeed, what moral offense is in your blender? Are you treating it as a concoction that helps you hang on or an offense against God that you need to face and confess?
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
When David wrote “I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned,” it wasn’t speculation, it was firsthand experience. The backdrop of Psalm 32 is David’s own tale of deceit; the story of when he kept silent about his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. Read all about it in 2 Samuel 11
In 2 Samuel 11:27, it simply says…
“But the Lord was displeased with what David had done.”
David reveals a shady side to his character—he’s David the Lustful, David the Deceiver, David the Truth Suppresser. As a result, he knew misery, inner turmoil; a persistent, pestering, restlessness of the soul. He was wastin away in his concealed sin. As David suppressed the truth, he couldn’t escape the consequences of the deceit. He writes this in Psalm 32:4…
“Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.”
David was wasting away in the summer heat of Sinville. After his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the cover-up of her husband's murder, David lived a double life. Instead of admitting his sin, he “refused to confess.” He hid his guilt. He thought he could do it. Get away with it. Most of us do.
This time of the year we get outside and work hard at landscaping the front-yard; getting that good-looking curb appeal! You want people driving into your driveway impressed with what they see. You want them coming to your front door and entering your home thinking, “Wow, he or she has it all put together.” The reality is, you have certain rooms you would be ashamed to show your guests—like the closets full of junk that if opened, would all come spilling out!
Sin is like that. You have inner rooms; parts of your life you don’t want anyone to see. You’re ashamed of your iniquitous clutter, your messy choices, and the darkness of your soul. Vulnerability scares you. You would rather keep your sin hidden from God and those people closest to you. But ultimately it doesn’t work. If you refuse to face your sin, you’ll waste away—depression, guilt, regret—you’ll groan all day long. Your emotional strength evaporates like water in the summer heat.
CONSEQUENCES TO SIN
Try to run from God and he’ll pursue you. His love compels him to knock on the door of your heart. You can either open the door to him or keep it closed and suffer separation from him. What does it feel like? “Day and night his hand of discipline is heavy on me.” You’re wasting away in Sinville! That’s where David was at. In 2 Samuel 12, God’s pursuit catches up with David. He is confronted by Nathan, God’s Prophet. Through Nathan, God says to David…
“Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you.”
Two actions are taking place here. 1) David’s sin is brought out in the open. Let’s be clear about this, most sin is found out in one form or another. Sometimes it all comes spilling out and sometimes it takes such a personal, emotional and spiritual toll that others can see there’s a problem. For David, it all came spilling out. Instead of confessing, his sin found him out. 2) The damage of David’s sin was done. David did harm to his family because of his choices. Sin is rarely contained. It affects others.
So, let me ask you, where do you spend your time? Are you landscaping by planting flowers around your sin? Are you stuffing your moral failures in the closet? Sin will catch up to your life—emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. It’s the inner rooms, the dark chambers of your heart where the Lord would have you clean out. That’s what happened to David.
CRY OUT TO GOD
We're given a window into David’s broken heart after he was confronted in his sin. He cries out to God in Psalm 51:1-4…
“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.”
Take a moment and read all of Psalm 51. Feel the brokenness of David. His faith was in a God who would forgive, restore, and return joy to life. God will do the same for you!
He desires truth in the inner parts because he knows that’s where sin resides and misery lives. God directs you and me to confront our sin because he loves us and wants what's best for us. We see this when the Lord would not let David go. In the same way, the Lord will show you specific sin through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and people who love you. Listen to God's voice! His desire is to reveal the true condition of your heart so you can exchange it for his heart. To do that, he will run after you; pursue you; even hound you! God wants a guilt-free relationship with you.
In 1893, Francis Thompson wrote a poem called The Hound of Heaven, the first lines say this:
“I fled Him down the nights and down the days. I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him down the intricate ways of my own mind, and in the mist of tears, I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vaulted hopes, I sped. And shot, precipitated, down Titanic glooms of deep fears. Those strong Feet followed, followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, majestic instancy, they beat. Fear not to evade, as Love will pursue.”
The Holy Spirit is God’s Hound of Heaven. God’s love is pursuing you. Don’t run. Don’t fight it. Drink it in. Let it do its work in revealing your sin. God’s pursuit will bring conviction of sin as an act of grace—grace because God’s discipline is an act of kindness, not punishment—it results in conviction, restoration and in getting right with God. Back in Psalm 32, we read the very climax of David’s confession. He writes this in v. 5…
“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”
Where David once covered his sin and hid from God, he now expresses joy. He writes in v. 8 of Psalm 32…
“God, you are my hiding place; I rejoice in you; I’m glad because I now obey you! I shout for joy because you have made my heart pure and you are guiding my life!”
How different that is from wasting away in Sinville! Thank God for the Hound of Heaven who pursues you in your sin in order to bring forgiveness and peace.
NEXT STEP
1. If you are feeling guilty, feeling depressed, at odds with others, look first to the deep and inner places of your heart. Is there moral corruption there? Is there sin, rebellion, wrongdoing? Sweep those rooms clean!
2. Remember, healthy relationships with people begin with a healthy relationship with God—don’t buy the lie that happiness consists of looking good on the outside while you neglect your spirit. Today, acknowledge and confess any hidden sin and seek God’s forgiveness and restoration.
3. If someone has wronged you, don’t make it difficult for him or her to confess and reconcile with God and with you. Put away anger or silent treatment or judgment; instead, forgive and keep the door open for them to confess and reconcile.
