“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalm 101:3
One of the things that made David great was that he was clear in his convictions, and wholehearted in their applications to his life. For example, with regard to his lamentable sin with Bathesheba, and the corresponding murder of Uriah, her husband, he sought the Lord for forgiveness, repentance, restoration, cleansing, deliverance and a thorough washing of his being from any trace of the sin. This does not mean that there were not consequences for his sin, nor does it mean that the scars left as a result of his sin did not remain. We see this in David’s testimony in Scripture which has continued until this day. However that which we also see is that David knew he could not live without fellowship, or communion with God. He had tasted of the heavenly, the goodness of God, and his mercy. And that taste would never go away. But the conditions laid out by God for this to occur were absolute. There had to be a thorough cleansing, pardon, restoration in mind and heart to Christ. Nothing less than a whole-hearted, complete return to God would suffice, if he was to know again blessed fellowship with God. So the great man humbles himself to the greatest extent, and pleads with God with his whole heart to have mercy on him, then to restore him. This God did. And this He will do for every child of God who for some reason or another turns aside, falls, is misguided or loses his way. The God of David is the same today, who will restore and bless. Why do we consider David’s attitude towards sin, towards life, when we are dealing with the great truth of being raised with Christ, and seated with Him in heavenly places, at the right hand of the Father? It has to do not only with a knowledgeo of the work of Christ on Calvary, and the subsequent working of the Father to put the believer “in Christ,” being baptized into Him, but also, with the believer’s attitude in appropriating the blessing of God. Just as there were conditions of fellowship for David, so there are conditions for the believer today. If there is not the willingness to be whole-hearted in the pursuit of this fellowship, and a willingness to face the facts of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection to the right hand of the Father, then there will be no fathomless fellowship with Christ. So, how does the great truth of being raised up with Christ, and seated at the Father’s right hand, apply to the life of the believer?
The first thing to lay hold of our hope in Christ. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:4) The Lord is revealing to us the fact by this wonderful hope that we are not “perfected” in our walk with Christ yet, but there is coming a day, a moment when Christ’s perfection will be fully realized in us. Secondly, Scripture tells us that we are to “…mortify…our members which are upon the earth: fornications, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col. 3:5) The believer is called upon, as was David, to have a categorical, clear and concise attitude towards sin and those things which pertain to that which is not of God in Christ. For David, he would declare: “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.” For the believer today, the attitude is to be that of being dead to fornication, uncleanness, etc. David would not even entertain having the effects of sins cling to him by those who would turn aside. In other words, David was clear and concise when dealing with that which obstructed his fellowship with God, and the honoring of God. So must be the believer: “…crucified with Christ” must be embraced in order to live by Christ’s life.
Dear Father, Give us clean, devoted hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.