Then the angel of Yahweh commanded Gad to tell David, that David should go up, and raise an altar to Yahweh in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
So after having insisted overruling Joab, God was displeased. And David immediately confessed his sin unto God and his own folly. Now it is interesting that the Bible-and I'm glad that it does-relates to us the sins and the failure of the great men, as well as their successes. So often when we are telling stories about our accomplishments, we don't like to include in our stories our failures. We like to sort of tell of our successes, and make it appear that everything we do is successful. But if we were perfect, then how discouraging it would be for those who are not perfect.If David was a perfect man, if he never did anything wrong, then we would all of us be prone to say, "Yes, but David was perfect. I can see why God would use David. I could see why God blessed David, because he was such a perfect man. But God can't bless me and God can't use me, because I'm so imperfect." So God is very careful to record for us the mistakes and the sins of these men that He used in such a mighty way in order that we would not be excusing ourselves and saying, "Well, God can't use me." For God can use you and wants to use you in spite of the fact that you have failed, and in spite of the fact that you're far from perfect.Abraham, the man of faith, had great lapses of faith. There were times when he sought to take things into his own hand. Deceiving the kings concerning Sarah, his relationship. "She's my sister." He didn't trust in the Lord to be able to preserve him from Abimelech or from the Pharaoh. Taking things into his own hands as far as an heir because he didn't trust God to give him a son through Sarah. The man of faith.Elijah, the great prophet of God, the man of faith, hiding in a cave clear down in the Sinai, mount Horeb because Jezebel had threatened his life. Here is the guy that had upset all the prophets of Baal, took them down to the river and wiped them out, and now he's running because some woman is threatening to get him.And so the Bible records these for us so that you'll know that though Elijah was a man of great dynamic power, great faith, a prophet of God, yet he had these times where he ran and failed and was fearful and the whole thing. In order that, as James said, Elijah was a man of like passions, even like you and me. And yet, he prayed and it rained not for the space of three years. Now he wasn't some super saint. He wasn't some Clark Kent. He was a plain ordinary person just like you and me. And yet, God was able to use him because God uses plain, ordinary people. And God uses people who make mistakes, and God uses people who fail. And God uses people who sin. Because sin was not the chief characteristic of David's life; righteousness was the chief characteristic of his life, though he did sin.Now it is possible for us to love the Lord, to be living for the Lord, to serve the Lord, and still be guilty of sin. David was such a man. He loved the Lord. Now as soon as he realized God's displeasure, and though he had been warned by Joab, "Don't do this thing," as soon as he, it was brought to his attention, this has displeased God, David repented. He confessed. And that's what sets David apart. So many times when we are faced with our guilt, we try to justify it. We try to give the explanations. "Well, I did it because." We're so often like Adam. "Well, Lord, the woman that You gave me to be my wife, she did tempt me and I did eat." And I'm trying to explain to God my reason for doing it, rather than just confess and say, "God, I sinned. I was wrong."Now God doesn't want an explanation. God doesn't want you to justify your position. All God wants you to do is confess it so He can forgive it. As soon as you confess, then God has the grounds for forgiveness. And that's what He's seeking, just a confession of guilt. And so David confessed his sin. He said, "Lord, I've done foolishly in doing this thing." And David recognized and acknowledged his sin before God. That ugly, horrible sin of pride that all of us find so difficult to deal with in our own lives. The sin by which Satan fell. It was a Cromwell flee pride, for by this sin the angels fell. Flee ambition. The idea of pride.Thus, David was called the man after God's own heart, because he was a man, when he realized his guilt, was willing to confess and seek the forgiveness of his sin.