THE TORMENT OF MURDER, THE AMAZEMENT OF GRACE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave; let no one hold them back.

Proverbs 28:17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

While on the way to the Promised Land after their escape from the clutches of Egypt and the Pharaoh, the Israelites, led by Moses, were give very specific commandments from God while at Mount Sinai. One of those commandments was as follows:

You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13

No one could possibly misinterpret this command. God told all His people that they were not to kill another. Ever.

Now, you would have thought that someone who God referred to as a man after His own heart would have never considered murder. You would never have thought that someone chosen by Jesus to be one of His twelve closest associates would have done anything to murder his Lord and Savior. And you would never have expected that God would have taken a murderer of Christians and used him to be the greatest Gospel messenger of all time.

You wouldn’t have expected any of these instances to take place but they did.  

First, consider David who God referred to as “after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).

David was going well in his leadership of Israel and living in ways that were pleasing to God until his sinful lust got the better of him. You’ll recall he fixed his eyes on a woman named Bathsheba. After watching her bathe from a rooftop, he sent someone to inquire who she was and learned that the beautiful woman he had seen was married. David, obviously ignoring another of God’s basic commandments to avoid adultery, used his authority to get Bathsheba into his chambers and then slept with her. She became pregnant.

Not wanting for anyone to discover his adulterous tryst with Bathsheba, David arranged for her husband, Uriah, to be killed in battle by being placed in a position where he would be most vulnerable. Through this, David could marry Bathsheba and assert that the baby was Uriah’s when it was really David’s. David thought he had dodged a bullet. The problem was that nothing can be concealed from God who brought the following judgment on David and Bathsheba for their sinful adultery saying through Nathan:

“I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”

“Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel” (2 Samuel 12:7-10).

To this, David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord” and his repentance may have saved his life but not the life of the yet unborn child who would be taken from David and Bathsheba because of the “utter contempt” shown to the Lord. And that’s exactly what happened. For after Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David and he became ill. Scripture tells us that David pleaded with God for the child, fasting and spending nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. David refused to get up and wouldn’t eat but his repentance could not save the child who died on the seventh day.

The outcome of his sinfulness tormented David as he sunk into the depths of guilt and despair. Look at his telling testimony in the 32nd Psalm:

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:3-5

David’s story is a perfect example of what can happen to even the most devout believer who allows sin to get a foothold. The long standing torment from sin isn’t worth the momentary pleasure or gratification.

Then there was Judas Iscariot.

You remember Judas right. He was one of the twelve disciples Jesus chose to be in His inner circle. They were to be the ones He could count on to help in His ministry. They were the ones that He should have been able to trust. But the opportunity to make some quick money resulted in Judas betraying Jesus into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities who wanted to kill Him. The price: 30 silver coins.

After Judas used a kiss to identify Jesus as the one to arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, he was stricken by torment and overcome with remorse over what he had done. Under the weight of guilt that set upon him, Judas returned the thirty silver coins to the “chief priests and elders” telling them:

“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” Matthew 27:4

He then went away and hanged himself.

The accounts of David and particularly Judas came to mind when I read the proverb today. Look at these words from Solomon:

Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave; let no one hold them back. Proverbs 28:17

More than a few murderers have turned around and taken their own lives, like Judas did, unable to deal with the torment of their sinful actions. We hear about it all the time. There is little doubt that there are severe consequences that come upon anyone who willingly disobeys the word and will of God.

But what if there wasn’t always bad news when it comes to the matter of murder? Does it always need to end up in the grave?

Not if you consider the story of Paul. You may say, well, I don’t remember Paul murdering anyone and you would be right. For his name wasn’t Paul when he was a persecutor and murderer of Christians but rather Saul. Go to the story of Stephen’s execution by stoning in Acts 7 and you will find Saul there presiding over the murder (Acts 8:1).

Stephen wasn’t the only Christian martyred for his faith by Saul. He did it regularly and while on his way to Damascus to do more of the same, Saul had an encounter with Jesus who struck him blind after asking Saul why he had chosen to persecute Him. On that Damascus road, Jesus chose to take a Christian murderer and turn him into a Christian apostle and servant – and in doing so, showed us the amazement of His grace.

For Jesus could have just as easily struck Saul dead as He struck him blind but Jesus saw worth in the man who would change his name to Paul and Paul did not let His Savior down in the way he carried himself in ministry, saving far more souls than he had ever killed prior to his conversion during the remainder of his life.

Friends, we need to keep this in mind when we start to judge people who have committed crimes we see as unforgiveable. For we never know what the Lord is up to and there have been many more people since Paul that have been pardoned from terribly wicked actions and used for divine purposes.

Yes, there is deep torment with sins like murder and adultery but there is also an amazing, saving, life restoring grace and mercy that our Lord exercises with power in accordance with His will and way. Let us not forget this.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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