King David is my favorite Bible character—not because he was perfect or spiritual—because he was honest.

Most of us have heard about the Bathsheba drama. King David should have been at war with his soldiers. Instead he was home looking out over his kingdom when he saw beautiful Bathsheba bathing. Though David knew she was married and her husband was a soldier in his army, he yielded to his lust by calling for her to come to his room.

As the story goes, she got pregnant with King David’s baby. In hopes of hiding his wrong, King David tried to trick her husband to take time from the war to be with his wife. Loyal to the king and dedicated to the soldiers, Uriah refused to enjoy his wife when his comrades were fighting. So, David had him placed on the front line in the heat of battle. Uriah was killed. Then, David took Bathsheba to be his wife. That was messed up!

Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance after he had been outed by the Prophet Nathan. Verse 12 says this, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

God sees everything. But sometimes, even the best of us need a Nathan to point out transgression. It’s never pretty, but I’m grateful for it and so was David.

The Prophet Nathan was a God-Send. King David’s sin had disconnected him from God and His joy. God knew what David had done yet He was still opened to hear his prayer of repentance, to forgive his sin, and to restore joy. So, God sent Nathan to help David acknowledge his sin. David confessed and repented.

No doubt—David was wrong for what he had done, but God never changed and he never will. He still hates sin. He still sends people and situations to open our eyes to our personal wrong-doing. He is still open to prayers of repentance. He still forgives. He still restores joy.

Honesty is God's best policy. Wash your hands. Come clean. Be honesty with God—honesty and repentance still yields joy.