The God of Second Chances

“And he sent, and brought him in.  Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.  And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.”  I Samuel 16:12

Sometimes we get the notion that God only chooses the best and brightest, the most moral and upstanding man or woman to fulfill important roles in His overall plan for the redemption of mankind.  However, almost everyone that God selected would not have been voted the “Most Likely to Succeed” of his or her high school class.  Quite the contrary.  King David was no exception.  It is true that he was described as a rather handsome young man when God chose him to be the future king of Israel, but he didn’t exactly have the best reputation.  He lied to the priest Ahimelech telling him that he was on the king’s mission in order to get food for his men, but he really wasn’t on King Saul’s mission (I Samuel 21:2).  He faked insanity before Achish the king of Gath to protect himself (I Samuel 21:12-13).  He became enraged when a man named Nabal refused to give David’s men food, and thus David set out to kill Nabal and his servants, but was stopped by the pleadings of Nabal’s wife Abigail (I Samuel 25:33).  The most memorable sin that David committed was adultery with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, whom he sent into battle to be killed so that Uriah would not find out that Bathsheba was pregnant by the king (II Samuel 11:1-17).

We wonder why God called David “a man after God’s own heart”.  You see, none of these sins that David committed, even the adultery and indirect murder of Uriah, were the “unforgiveable sin”.  David did repent and was forgiven, but he still suffered the consequences of his sins, and he lost out on blessings that he could have received.  However, because he never became an idolater, following after false gods, he never broke the first commandment, “Thou shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3).  David’s heart was always focused on the LORD.

And then there’s the apostle Paul, who, before he became a follower of Christ was pursuing, arresting, and sometimes executing believers, thinking that he was doing God a favor.  Paul, originally named Saul, had a real zeal for the honor of God and viewed these Christ followers as some sort of cult who were turning their backs upon Jehovah God.  When Jesus appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, a journey in which Paul was pursuing more of these Christian “fugitives”, Paul realized that Jesus truly was the Son of God and believed on Him.  Again, we wonder why God would choose a man who was “gung ho” to purge believers out of Israel rather than being like Daniel who had not the slightest hint of scandal or pride in his life.  I think God chose Paul because of Paul’s zeal.  He would be able to use that same energy and exuberance to win believers to Christ rather than drive them away from Him.

Here’s some food for thought:  what if David had not messed up?  What if Paul had been the “perfect” Christian from the time when Jesus was crucified and rose again?  What if they were both wonderful role models for God’s servants from the “get-go”?  I think that would dishearten and discourage most of us.  We would look at the two of them, as always going exactly by the book, crossing every T and dotting every I, and knowing we could never live up to those standards.  What if all the other Bible characters started out as the “cream of the crop” as far as integrity, faith, righteousness, and holiness?  We might think, “What could I do?  I’ve messed up so much, God could never use me.”  Actually, though, it’s imperfect people whom God delights in remolding and reshaping into vessels for His glory.  He is the One who deserves the credit.  He is the God of second chances.