The devil hates confession. It breaks his power over us. He would rather have us confine ourselves behind the bars of  our own private Sheols than get right with God.

Why is confession so powerful? Because it is judicial. It is an application of the knowledge of good and evil. James Jordan writes:

“…Adam and Eve were supposed to be patient. They were to feed on the Tree of Life, and become gradually built up in wisdom and understanding. Then, when they were strong enough and wise enough, God would let them eat of the Tree of Knowledge, and would invest them with authority.

Adam fell, however, into the “dominion trap.” He assumed that because he was a child of God he was ready to take on mature responsibilities. He was unwilling to wait for the prerogatives of age. He was unwilling to remain passive and wait on the Lord, but instead seized the throne.

God elected to honor man’s decision. Immediately Adam and Eve found out that the devil had lied about wisdom. They had the office, but they lacked the wisdom, the psychological heaviness, to bear it. They were embarrassed. What they had expected to be robes of office — garments they made for themselves —now had to do double duty as a means of concealing their inadequacy. With a sinking feeling in their bellies, they realised that had gotten themselves into a position they could not handle. They did not have wisdom, but now they had to judge.

Right away, God called on them to exercise their new office by evaluating their own actions. “Judge righteous judgment,” said God. Did they do so? No, they called evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20). They did not each blame himself or herself, but they tried to shift the blame to each other and even to God.” [1]

After their sin, the Lord called on the sinners to be judges of their own actions. “Whose side are you on?” They had wanted to be gods, kings, so now they were required to execute judgment. They failed again.

This was the chasm of difference between Saul and David. David’s sins were actually worse than Saul’s, but the aftermath–at least concerning the king’s continued dynasty–was the exact opposite. Peter Leithart writes:

“Modern commentators are wrong to find excuses for Saul; he was plenty good at finding excuses for himself.”[2]

Psalm 51 is David’s confession, but it is also his judgment upon himself. He demonstrated that he no longer had any controversy with God over what he had done. He agreed with the Lord against himself. He and the Lord were two witnesses against the sin of David, and the actions were judicially put to death. The child of David’s sin was made the scapegoat. This was God’s judgment, and it was true and righteous. Regardless of how we feel about it, it was just. [3]

Dominion commanded over Ammon – David stays home

ARK
False Sabbath (Disobedience) – David rebels against his anointing and 
remains in Jerusalem instead of going to “holy war”

…..VEIL
…..False Passover (Union) – David seizes Bathsheba and sleeps with her. 
…..As a false prophet, he tries to cover his sin by calling Uriah home to his
…..wife, breaking his own Nazirite vow (no circumcision of heart – death)

……….ALTAR AND SHOWBREAD
……….False Firstfruits (Betrayal) – As a false priest, David offers Uriah’s
……….blood (the Gentile convert) instead of his own

……………LAMPSTAND
……………True Pentecost (Serpent) – Nathan, as the seven eyes of the Lamb,
……………challenges the deceiver

……….INCENSE ALTAR
……….True Trumpets - David repents and retains the throne

…..SACRIFICES & HIGH PRIEST
…..True Atonement - The son dies in David’s place. David stops 
…..mourning and washes and anoints himself (baptism – resurrection)

SHEKINAH
True Tabernacles - Solomon, the “resurrected” son of Bathsheba,
is born to build God’s house [4]

Dominion achieved over Ammon – David wears Ammon’s crown

God’s Word to David, the story of the beloved lamb slain by the wicked ruler, is the hero of the story. ”True and righteous altogether” is something we should be able to say of our Lord’s judgments even when we are the guilty party. Only after self-examination and the judicial death of our sin can there truly be resurrection life. We can punish ourselves, or we can put ourselves into the hands of a merciful God, as David did more than once (2 Sam. 24) and stop the mouth of the accuser.

Confession is a righteous judgment that sets the captive free, with Jesus as the mourned and resurrected son. Through Him, the kingdom we sold is given back to us in the judicial wisdom of Solomon—every time we confess our sin.

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[1] See James B. Jordan, The Dominion Trap. I also highly recommend Rich Bledsoe’s essay, On Becoming A True Judge. A wealth of uncommon sense here.

[2] See discussion in Peter J. Leithart, A Son to Me—An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 203-204.

[3] David had failed as mediator, so the Lord intervened. We accuse when He does, and we accuse Him when He doesn’t. See The Go-Betweens.

[4] Notice that again this last step concerns succession.