“But the person who does anything defiantly…that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off, his guilt shall be on him” (Nu 15:30). 

If that were the extent of God’s mercy, many of us…no, most of us, would be left with no place to turn. It’s no wonder people fled into the safety of rigid legalism. They were driven there by the fear that they might cross the line between intentional and unintentional sin and be left condemned. They concluded it would be better to live enslaved to rules, than to do something that might be unforgivable.

And then along came David who committed terrible sins, and did them deliberately. There was no atonement for adultery and murder, only justice. So what hope could there be for him? Yet God gave David a level of mercy deeper than anything the Law of Moses could offer. Instead of running away from God because of his shame, David ran to Him. He openly confessed his sins, he fully acknowledged the wicked motives in his heart, and he boldly asked that mercy be given to him because he trusted in God’s “loving kindness” (hesed: the mercy God promised to give His people). He stood before God and reminded Him that He had promised to love His people and be merciful to them (Dt 7:6-10). And God gave him mercy. He forgave him and created a clean heart in him, and did not take the Holy Spirit from him (Ps 51:10, 11).