GRACE THAT IS GREATER

"Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin." (Julia Harriette Johnston)

King David gives us an excellent insight into this grace that is greater…  You remember that terrible episode in his life when one thing led to another in a downward spiral of sinfulness.  Sloth turned to lust, which it so often does.  Lust became adultery.  Adultery led to deceit, which it always does.  And, in David’s case, deceit culminated in murder.  David had grown cold and hard and distant from God, until the prophet Nathan came to David with a message that pierced his hardened heart and convicted his dulled conscience.  David repented of his sins, and we have a copy of the prayer of confession that he prayed.  It is Psalm 51, and it begins like this:  “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy steadfast love; according to Thy abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.” 

“According to THY steadfast love… According to THY abundant mercy…”

Do you see what David is saying here?  David is recognizing that his forgiveness is not ultimately about him: it’s about God.

Now this cuts across the grain of our natural inclination -- as well as so much of our experience in human relationships -- but it must be how you and I deal with God.

David does not claim his own merit, and he does not ask according to his great need.  Instead, the rationale behind David’s prayer for forgiveness is nothing about David, but rather is entirely about God and what God has to offer.

-- Rev. David Kalas, from his sermon "Amazing Grace: The Grace That Is Greater"


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