Shalom, I’m Wayne Hilsden and welcome to God Today. I’ve been serving in Israel for 34 years, and what a privilege that’s been. I want to share with you a thought today: let failure be a comma, not a period. God is in the business of making comebacks. I think of King David. What an amazing man. He was a shepherd and out there in the fields with the sheep, he would write songs of worship to God. The Bible tells us he had a heart after God. David slew Goliath. That was amazing. God used him in such a way that one day he would become king. He wasn’t king immediately. He was anointed to be king at Hebron, but Saul was still in leadership at that time. And David waited until it was God’s timing. He was patient.
David did something later, however, that was tragic. You remember the story of him looking over at a rooftop and there was a beautiful lady named Bethsheba, and he saw her in her nakedness. He lusted after her, he committed adultery with her, and to hide that sin, he actually had her husband killed on the battlefield. That was a huge failure. That could have been the end of David. He deserved to be removed as king and the anointed one of Israel, but God loves to save. He loves to restore those who are repentant and who confess their sins. In fact, 1 John says, “If we will confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
God gave David another chance, and David became a great king. Even Jesus, when He came as the Messiah, was known as the Son of David. He came from the same tribe and the same family as David. It’s amazing to think that God would even identify Himself and His Son with David, the one who failed in such a huge way. Don’t let failure in your life be a period. Make it a comma. Yes, you have to pause. You have to say, “God, forgive me” with the sincerity of your heart, but if you will pray this prayer as David prayed, God will forgive you. He’ll give you another chance. You can get back up on your feet and serve God.
Let me just read some of David’s prayer. He said in verse seven of Psalm 51, “Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don’t throw me from Your presence and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation.” And later he says, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
It doesn’t matter how awful your sin has been, how you’ve rebelled against Him, how you’ve violated a trust with another person, or committed adultery, or committed murder. You might be in prison today watching this. I can tell you this, that God forgives, and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness and He will renew in you what you can be. You can make a big comeback today if you’ll do that.
Let’s pray together. Father, thank You that You love sinners. Thank You that You’ve saved me and many times, Lord, as I’ve sinned and I’ve turned my heart towards You, I’ve sensed that cleansing, washing, and renewing of my spirit, knowing that you’re a loving, forgiving, and merciful God. I pray for those who are watching me right now and hearing these words that that fall will not be a period in their life, but that their standing up again will be a comma in their life. Yes, a pause, but a pause to get strengthened and renewed to go forward. Bless them today and use them in a powerful way, in Jesus’ name.