November 6, 2018

As a child, I didn’t necessarily get into too much trouble. I was pretty much a rule follower, and I still am to this day. However, in the rare occasion that I did break the rules, I was a hider. If I knew that I did something wrong and was going to pay the price for it, I would run to my room and hide in the closet or go and hide behind the living room couch. I essentially did not want to deal with the implications of the things I had done wrong. Unfortunately, I would react in exactly the same way with God. Instead of running to God and pleading for restoration in our fellowship, I would often draw away and “hide” from God (as if that was possible). I would shirk away from time in the Word, time in prayer, and definitely time in praise.

To elaborate on this further, whenever I committed a sin that my humanity determined was greater than other “regular” sins, the things I did in response only furthered the distance in my fellowship with God. David shows us the correct response in this passage. While his sins of numbering the people of Israel earlier in chapter 21 ultimately bring calamity upon Israel, David’s immediate response in seeing the error of his ways was to run to God, not away from him. His response was to humble himself and worship.

When we hide, when we resist, what are we are gaining by this resistance? The same God who sent the angel to consume the land of Israel is the same God who wants nothing more than to make your relationship with him right again. When we have committed “greater sins” than usual or when we have damaged our fellowship with God, let our response be to fall more fully and humbly in worship of the only one who deserves our praise. In the bad times and the good (verses 26 and 28, respectively), let us always run to God, for he will always welcome us with open arms. Resisting grace does not fix the problem, so let us be like David in this passage and be humble enough to worship to our King.