God, you know my foolishness, and my guilty acts are not hidden from you. Do not let those who put their hope in you be disgraced because of me, Lord God of Armies; do not let those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel. 69:5-6
Nobody is perfect and even believers stumble from time to time. This is no excuse and we should always be striving to be holy as He is holy. Yet, we know that there are times when we fall short. Thankfully we serve a God of second chances who reminds us of our failings, gives us hearts of repentance and who then picks us up and brushes us off so we can start walking with Him again. God always grants forgiveness for the penalty of sin for those who come to Him in repentance, but He doesn’t always protect us from facing the consequences of our sin.
That is what David is praying for here in these verses. God knew the times that David fell short and all of his guilty acts were not hidden from God. Our guilty acts are not hidden from Him either; God sees everything. Yet, David’s cry was that his shortcomings would not bring disgrace to those around him who hoped in God and that no one would be humiliated because of him. Your sins are never in secret, though you might think they are. Others around you suffer when you fall short; your church suffers, your family suffers and many others in the Christian community are embarrassed when you fail to be who God called you to be.
David’s cry was that his stumbling would not bring disgrace to others who are also walking with God. We all know of people who did bad things and God forgave them, but they still have to live daily with the earthly consequences of that sin. Will God forgive adultery? Yes, of course, but it doesn’t mean you won’t get HIV or lose your marriage or have children out of wedlock. Will God forgive a bout of drunkenness? Yes, of course, but it doesn’t mean you won’t lose your job or hurt someone else in your drunken state. We need to focus on holiness and faithfulness so that we can please God, BUT ALSO so that we can avoid bringing shame to those around us. One sin can lead to a lifetime of earthly pain and this is one reason why we must be so serious about holiness.
