Daily Devotional

“Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:4). 

Repeated warnings had been given about the safety of the dam, but they were ignored. The large lake it created made a luxurious vacation retreat that was the exclusive property of rich nineteenth century industrial barons. On May 31, 1889, after heavy rains fell, the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water toward the unsuspecting town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 

A surge of water, over 30 feet high, slammed into 1,600 homes, killing 2,209 people and demolishing four square miles of the town. Victims were found more than 100 miles away in Ohio. One mother was trapped in a home with her seven children. She alone survived. The Johnstown flood was the largest catastrophic U.S. disaster up to that time. Over 120 women and 198 men were left widowed. 

A greater devastation is caused by the flood of infidelity in our world. The damage of unfaithfulness is hard to measure, but we know that most marriages do not survive affairs. About 65 percent of couples in which infidelity is discovered end up in divorce. Even if spouses go through counselling, about 35 percent still split up. Those who stay together still suffer considerable distress. But cold statistics don’t quantify the pain and trauma from the aftermath of marital betrayal. 

King David never planned to sleep with another man’s wife and then have her husband murdered. He often turned to God for help in his time of need. This time he didn’t. When confronted with temptation, he did not call for heaven’s resources. In self-confidence, he went forward and created a catastrophe, not just for himself, but for the nation of Israel. God’s appointed leader knew of the destructive nature of sin, but when the dam broke, it wounded far more people in its pathway that he thought it would. 

Ultimately, when we sin, we break God’s heart. The Lord is the Creator of all humanity and when we wound our spouses, our children, another person’s spouse, the church community, and potentially hundreds of others, the disaster is a sin against our Maker. 

Lord, forgive me for every evil thought and action against myself, others, and ultimately against You.