Confessions: Phone Booth Series

That’s not an attitude of contrition! A contrite heart does not seek to blame circumstances or other people or God for our own failure. And in the Biblical account, David doesn’t blame God or Bathsheba. He doesn’t say, “Lord, if you hadn’t made me king I wouldn’t be walking on this palace roof in the first place. And besides, did you see what she wasn’t wearing?”

In Las Vegas, there is a call-in ‘confession line’ which you can ring to confess your sins to a recording. It costs $9 for three minutes to record your sin; but if you want to pay $18, you can listen to other people’s confessions. One of the phone line’s directors has commented: “It’s a technological way to get something off your chest without the embarrassment that comes from confessing one-on-one.” But do you know what it really is (besides a nice little earner for some entrepreneurial spirit)? It’s confession without accountability.

If we ever hope to have a clean heart, we must experience contrition. And then, just as with King David and Stu Sheppard, we must confess what we’ve done. The reason most people don’t find God is the same reason that most criminals don’t find a policeman.

The Two Sides of Confession

There is a part of us that finds it very difficult to go to God and honestly admit doing wrong. In fact, we can be freed by confession or locked in by denial. The choice is ours. It’s been that way since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. They tried to hide from God and when that didn’t work they tried to shift some of the blame for their sin on to someone else. And that’s exactly what continues today. We see it throughout our society, whether it’s in politics, sport, education, the BBC...

In Psalm 51 (verses 3-4a), David writes, “For I recognise my shameful deeds - against you, and you alone have I sinned. I have done what is evil in your sight.” There are two sides to his confession. First of all, he confesses to himself. He acknowledges his guilt: “I realise that I have sinned. I can’t deny it or escape it or forget it. I recognise what I’ve done.” Then he confesses his sin to God: “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”

Along with his admission of guilt is a confession of God’s justice, and God’s right to judge him for what he has done. David makes no plea for lenience, no claim that God is being too hard on him, no appeal for a lighter sentence. Simply put, he says, “You’re right, I’m wrong.” Genuine confession demands that we take sin as seriously as God takes it.

It’s not about excusing ourselves; about thinking it’s just a slip-up, a mistake. It’s about us developing the right attitude towards sin; we need to loathe it, to find it disgusting. Just like Stu and the sniper, this is deadly serious. And armed with disgust for sin, we must determine to turn away from our sin. The Bible says, ‘If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us’’ (I John 1.9).

David was contrite and confessed his sins, so God cleansed him. And wonderfully, God is willing to do the same for any of us. We don’t have to be a king. We don’t even have to have committed adultery, or killed a man, to experience the amazing sense of forgiveness, which comes with confession. God delights in having the opportunity to forgive us all, for whatever we have done, whether big or small. And when he forgives, he doesn’t continue to hold it over our heads. Sometimes we have a harder time forgiving ourselves than God does.