Year B Pentecost 10 – 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psalm 51:1-12; Ephesians 4:1-14; John 6:24-35
David’s confession to Nathan was simple but powerful: “I have sinned against the LORD.” Although David wronged Bathsheba, Urijah her husband, the servants forced to participate in the cover-up, and the nation he was meant to be protecting, David’s ultimate target was God. To his credit, he confessed his sin.
Psalm 51 is traditionally attributed to David’s confession of the 2 Samuel story. It speaks of a need to be cleansed. It sees oneself as someone aware of their shortcomings. It recognises the inner bent to a nature contrary to the Creator’s. It craves for a wisdom to educate the “secret heart” and truth for one’s “inner being.” It acknowledges confession as the path to restored joy, divine fellowship, and power to do what is right.
The early church confessed “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Encapsulating human nature illustrated in the Hebrew Bible, Christian Scripture acknowledges the needed connection to divinity. The church also recognised that no act is done in isolation. Community is key to ones mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Confession empowers unified relationships.
The Gospel recognises the blinkers we wear on our eyes. We seek for physical well-being. Jesus points to a greater level of fitness: spiritual contentment. He asks only that you confess a belief in Him as the bread and water of eternal life. Confession is good for the soul.
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