“Then David confessed to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord'” (2 Samuel 12:13 NLT)

David was a sinner. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then conspired to have her husband murdered. Yet, God forgave him. How was David different than Saul? On one hand there is the mystery of God’s mercy. As the apostle Paul said, “God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy” (Romans 9:18). Then, on the other hand there is the different response to sin that David had. Saul made excuses, but David “confessed” and repented. Perhaps this is what made David a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). Not that he was without sin (he wasn’t). But that he was quick to confess and repent, asking God for forgiveness and mercy.