Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalms 51:4 (New Living Translation)

Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just

This is from David’s famous prayer asking for forgiveness. He sinned by cheating with Bathsheba and having her husband die in battle.

Against whom did David sin? Uriah? The army? Bathsheba?

No, only against God did David sin. Sin is going against God. I can to terrible things to other people, terrible wrongs. Those wrongs, however, are not sins against those other people. Those wrongs are sins against God. According to this verse, I only sin against God. Sins are not labeled to anyone or anything else.