Recently, during a sermon in the The Life You Want series, Pastor Brian challenged us with the idea of sharing the last 2%. He talked about how we can be comfortable sharing 98% of the information about our life or a particular situation, but there’s 2% we usually want to keep to ourselves. It’s often because of shame over the ugly parts. That’s where confession comes in. True confession requires 100% honesty.  

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David models this radically vulnerable type of confession in our key passage today. David is called “a man after God’s own heart” in Scripture (1 Sam. 13:14), which can seem surprising when you know David’s whole story. At one point, David neglects his duty to be at war with his men, and while home, he takes another man’s wife to the palace to sleep with her. He then attempts to cover his tracks through deception and eventually has the man killed by sending him to the front lines (2 Sam. 11).  

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David thinks he is getting away with it until he realizes that God has revealed what he has done through the prophet Nathan. Psalm 51 was written in the aftermath of these events as David walks through the process of confession. One of the most interesting elements of David’s confession is his focus on how he has sinned against God. There were many people David could have apologized to for the harm his sin caused.  

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However, David recognizes that his greatest need is to confess and repent before the Lord. Even beyond that, we see a remarkable confidence in God’s goodness and mercy. God is the one who had every right to be most offended by David’s sin, yet that does not deter David from seeking Him for deliverance from the self-made mess he is in.

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Did God remove all the consequences of David’s sin after that? No. But God was present with him through the painful parts. At this point, we do not see a David who is trying to save face. We see David on his face before the Lord. This is where he finally gives up his last 2%.

Where does shame try to convince us to hold on to the last 2% of the hard and ugly parts of our story? Maybe we believe we will be judged, or that the other person will not understand. I promise you, friend, we have all felt it. But you do not have to stay in that place spiritually, emotionally, or mentally. God already knows and sees everything. And He loves you deeply. You cannot fool Him. So why not bring Him the last 2%?

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If there are places where you have not given an honest and vulnerable confession to the Lord, do it today. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36), and confession is one of the ways God brings us into that freedom and keeps our hearts walking in it.