To understand the significance of governmental forgiveness, we must consider the example of David in the Old Testament. No portion of the Bible speaks of God’s governmental forgiveness as clearly as the story of David with Uriah’s wife. David committed two sins: adultery and murder. His adultery was a sin against Uriah’s wife, and his murder was a sin against Uriah himself. If you read Psalm 51 and a few other psalms, you will see how David confessed his sins after his mistakes. He felt the shame, the defilement, and the offense that he had committed against God. He was sincere in his confession to God. This shows us clearly that his fellowship with God was restored after his confession in Psalm 51. This restoration of fellowship is analogous to that which is spoken of in 1 John 1.
What did God say to David? He sent Nathan to speak to David. I want you to pay special attention to what Nathan said in 2 Samuel 12:13 after David said, “I have sinned against Jehovah.” Nathan said to David, “Jehovah has also put away your sin; you will not die.” David said, “I have sinned against Jehovah.” He confessed his sins and admitted his guilt. He confessed that he was defiled and had sinned against Jehovah. In return God said through Nathan, “Jehovah has also put away your sin; you will not die.” Clearly David’s sins were forgiven; God had put away his sins. What did God say to David after that? He said, “Nevertheless, because you have given the enemies of Jehovah much occasion to blaspheme Him because of this thing, the son who is born to you shall also surely die” (v. 14). He also said, “Now therefore the sword will not depart from your house forever because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife” (v. 10). Finally, He said, “I will now raise up trouble against you from within your house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and will give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and even before the sun” (vv.11-12). God had already put away David’s sins, but He would cause the son born to Uriah’s wife to die and the sword not to depart from his house. God had already put away David’s sins, but He would allow Absalom to rebel and defile David’s wives. In other words, sins may be forgiven but the discipline does not go away immediately.
Let me say a frank word to you. You may go to God and ask for forgiveness for any sin, and God will forgive you. The restoring of fellowship can be quick. David restored his fellowship with God very quickly, but God’s discipline continued even after his death. God’s government would not depart from him as long as His discipline was upon him. Not long after this episode, his son became sick. Even though David fasted and laid on the floor the whole night, it was useless. God’s disciplinary hand fell upon David and his son died. Following this, his eldest son Amnon was murdered, and then Absalom rebelled. The sword never departed from David’s house! Yet God said to David, “I have forgiven your sins!” Brothers, God may have forgiven your sins, but even though He has forgiven you, you cannot stop His chastisement on you and His governmental hand upon you.
Our God is a God of government. He will not move His governmental hand immediately away from those who have sinned against Him. Often, God does not do anything; He lets you go. But as soon as He stretches forth His governmental hand, you can do nothing except humble yourself under His mighty hand. You have no escape! God is not like man; He is not sloppy and will not let you go! A sin which damages one’s fellowship with God can easily be forgiven, and a person can easily be recovered. But no one can run away from God’s discipline in the environment, the home, one’s career, and his physical body. The only thing we can do is to learn to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. The more we humble ourselves under His mighty hand and give up all resistance, the easier it is for God to lift His governmental hand. The more we refuse to humble ourselves, and the more angry, vocal, or indignant we become, the more difficult it is for God to lift His governmental hand. This is a very serious matter! Twenty years ago we might have done something according to our own will. Today we still have to face the same thing. We still have to suffer the consequences. It will come back to haunt us. When such a thing catches up with us, we should bow our head and say, “Lord, it is all my fault!” We must humble ourselves under God’s hand. Do not resist. The more we resist, the heavier God’s hand will become. Let me repeat: Let us humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand. The more we reject God’s governmental hand, the more problems we will encounter. When God’s governmental hand is upon us, we must humble ourselves and say, “Lord, You have done no wrong! I deserve this.” We must humble ourselves. We must not only remove all rebellious thoughts but also take away all reasonings and murmurings.
It is not easy to be rebellious and to try to escape God’s hand. Who can escape His hand? You must realize that you have fallen into your present state through what you did before. Suppose a brother loved sugar too much as a youth, and his teeth have decayed from the overconsumption of sweets. One day he feels that he has eaten too many sweets. These sweets have brought about his toothaches. He asks God to forgive his sin of indulgence in eating. God can easily forgive such a sin. But it does not mean that his teeth will recover from their decay. His teeth will still be bad; that is God’s government. If you eat sweets, your teeth will decay. If you confess your weakness, the fellowship will be restored, but it does not mean that good teeth will grow back after your confession. Once you recognize God’s government, you have to learn to humble yourself under it. One can never recover a tooth from decay, but there are matters concerning God’s governmental hand which can be removed, and the person involved can be recovered.