I did something stupid. It wasn’t a life changing level of stupidity, just not life giving. It didn’t hit me until the words were out of my mouth and then it took me another 18 hours of pondering and feeling the nudge of the Holy Spirit to confess and ask my friends’ forgiveness.

Here’s the thing. We ALL do and say unnecessary things. Sometimes they are hurtful and sometimes just not life giving. In this, we are all on a level playing field.

It isn’t that we do/say the thing. It is what we do afterwards that matters the most. I had to think of King Saul and King David today as I thought about what I had done.

They both made mistakes. They both disobeyed God’s commands to them. They both chose themselves and their own way. But when confronted, their responses were completely different.

Read: 1 Samuel 10:8; 13; 13:8-14; 15:3, 15-20, 30

You really should read the whole chapter of 1 Samuel 15, but I know that is fairly long. Notice how Saul responds to Samuel when he is confronted. He makes excuses, blames others, says he has no choice and then pleads with Samuel saying, “I know I have sinned. But please, as least honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me so that I may worship your God.” His concern was not that he had disobeyed but that he would be dishonored in front of others. And he doesn’t even claim God as his own.

Read: 2 Samuel 12:7-13; Psalm 51:4

David’s response is so different. Immediately he acknowledges that he had sinned against the Lord. He didn’t offer an excuse. He didn’t try to persuade Nathan that his deed was necessary. He just admits he did it.

David is called a man after God’s own heart. It certainly isn’t because David was perfect. But his heart was perfectly attuned to God’s. He knew that God desired a broken and repentant heart, a spirit of humility that quickly acknowledged guilt and turned from sin.

Who do you emulate – Saul or David? When you feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit do you acknowledge the misdeed and confess or make excuses and point fingers. One leads to life and the other leads to death. You choose.