Shepherd's Lighthouse Church

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.  James 2:8-10 

What is guilt? 

Guilt is a feeling, an emotional response to wrong-doing.   

The dictionary defines it as a remorseful awareness of having committed an offense.   

It is also a condition requiring a penalty - punishment. 

Fear of punishment can be what motivates an offender to seek forgiveness through confession and repentance - this is true of all who feel guilt. 

But one who truly loves the Lord loves goodness and righteousness.   

Therefore he feels guilt when he does something to deny the Lord – such was the case with King David. 

David had the mind of Christ – to do the will of the Father.   

This, as surely as His lineage, made Jesus the Son of David. 

Acts 13:22 declares that God, “... gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.'”   

David sought the Lord’s approval and council in all that he did – until the day he slipped from the presence of God and into adultery and murder. 

For about a year David suppressed his crimes and suffered a crushing guilt until Nathan skillfully brought them to his attention with a parable recorded in 2 Sam 12:1-7. 

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 

Then in 2 Sam 12:9 he asked David , “Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.” 

Then, not only was David convicted of his sins of adultery and murder, but he realized that he had been stubbornly refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing. 

For a year David had been guilty of adultery and murder.   

He was guilty, but without remorse (feeling sorrow).   

Until David acknowledged his wrongdoing he could not be forgiven. 

And the consequences of his sin did not end with him. 

In Exodus 34:7 God described Himself to Moses as, "... keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." 

In 2 Sam 12:14 the Lord told David, "… because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die." 

That was the immediate consequence but it was not the end of the matter. 

In 2 Sam 12:10 God said to David, “Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” 

Imagine how David must have felt.   

The condition of his guilt demanded a penalty; but the knowledge of his guilt drove him to confession. 

Let’s look at the effect David’s feeling of guilt had on him in Psa 51. 

In verses 1 and 2 he confesses his sin and his intense need for forgiveness. 

”Have mercy upon me, O God, 
According to Your lovingkindness; 
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, 
Blot out my transgressions. 
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 
And cleanse me from my sin.” 

In verse 4 he acknowledges God’s transcendence (that He is above all) by admitting that, as great as the hurt may have been to other people, his offense was ultimately against God and it was God who was grieved most by what David had done. 

”Against You, You only, have I sinned, 
And done this evil in Your sight— 
That You may be found just when You speak, 
And blameless when You judge.” 

In verse 6 he states that God looks on the heart (mind/conscience) and that is where His presence will impart wisdom. 

”Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, 
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” 

In verse 10 he asks God for a new heart and a stable spirit. (This is metanoia and it must come from God.) 

”Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” 

In verse 17 he offers God a broken will and a teachable mind rather than empty ceremony and ritual.  It must be thy will not my will - this is agreeing with God. 

”The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, 
A broken and a contrite heart— 
These, O God, You will not despise.” 

Luke 17:3 tells us that without repentance that is, without newness of mind, there is no forgiveness - and without agreement with God He is unable to give the new mind. 

As a result of his repentance (which comes with agreeing with God), David was restored to fellowship with God even though he continued to suffer the consequences of his sins for the rest of his life.   

Understand that David was condemned by his behavior rather than by God. 

So guilt can lead to confession (agreement) and repentance (new mind) – which will lead to restoration to fellowship with God. 

But guilt can also be a tool of the Devil to rob us of joy and destroy our witness. 

Most of us know of a person who has accepted the inner voice of accusation as if it was from God. 

But God is not an accuser. 

Satan means accurser. 

God simply states the truth and the Holy Spirit prompts (convicts) the believer to agree with God (HomoLegeo). 

The truth convicts (convinces of error) – which can produce the response of feeling guilt – but the Spirit’s purpose isn’t harm – He seeks to prompt confession – so God’s purpose is restoration. 

The Devil, on the other hand, is only interested in demoralizing us. 

What is our defense? 

First of all we must determine whether we have violated God’s will or our own value system. 

Or have we offended an organization or a tradition? 

Have we acted contrary to popular opinion or human viewpoint?   
Or is it God’s holy viewpoint that we have opposed? 

Remember that King David confessed that his offense was against God only.   

Why? 

Because he had knowingly committed two acts that God clearly states are wrong – adultery and murder. 

And when the Holy Spirit convicts us and we feel guilt, it is always unto confession and repentance – never to condemnation. 

This is a complicated subject and no doubt a great deal more could be said of it.   

But I want to reduce it to a simple statement that you may find helpful in discerning the source of any guilt you may have now or in the future. 

First of all, is your feeling of guilt the result of an offense against something that Scripture has clearly stated is wrong? 

If so, your guilt should drive you to confession and repentance. 

On the other hand, if you feel guilty for not doing something that you believe God would want you to do, it might be the enemy taking advantage of your oversight.   

In any case, whether you are guilty of an omission or a commission, condemnation is not from God. 

You see, God leaves us freedom to do many things. 

And not doing something that you are sure would please God should not cause a response of guilt. 

There are many accusers of the brethren but it is the work of the Holy Spirit to encourage the believer to right behavior – not to discourage him through condemnation. 

Accusation is one of the Devils most effective ways to discourage the believer. 

Remember, the very name, Satan, means accuser. 

Finally, ask yourself this question – Does your feeling of guilt drive you to confession or does it drive you to distraction. 

Even the Apostle Paul struggled with guilt. 

In Romans 7:19 he writes, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” 

But our merciful God comes to the rescue in Romans 8:1-2, “... there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”   

And in Hebrews 8:12 God says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 

Praise be to God that because of His willingness to forgive a repentant soul, we don’t have to live with the guilt of any transgression – We can confess it, and God will forget it. 



Amen.