This summer’s Encounter lessons revolve around the Psalms.  One of the Psalms that we studied was Psalm 51. It was the confession written by David after his great sin with Bathsheba. If you are like me you wonder how David, righteous David, the man after God’s own heart could be led from lust, to adultery, to murder, then to covering up all this sin. Yet, deep down in my heart, I know that I am not much different than David. Really, maybe, the only reason I have not sinned as great as David is because I simply don’t have the resources and power at my disposal as David did. 

I think about 1 Corinthians 6 and Paul’s list of sins. After listing the sins of the flesh, Paul continues, “And such were some of you.” Yep, I happen to be that “some.” I shudder to think of all the evil I might have, and still could accomplish without the grace of God in my life and a community of believers that keep holiness and godliness in the front of my mind.  Another old saying that was inspired by Paul’s “and such were some of you was spoken by John Bradford, is ” there but by the grace of God, go I.” He was watching a group of criminals being led away to execution.  

There should be a bit of humility in our lives when we read and see the sins of others, “There but by the grace of God, go we.”