God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. ~Psalm 51:10–12
The story of Richard Nixon’s presidency may be one of the most pitiable in American history. Nixon, a congressman from California in the late 1940s and early 1950s, was selected by General Dwight Eisenhower to be his presidential running mate in 1952. Eisenhower won the White House. Then in 1960, Richard Nixon made his own run for the presidency against a dashing senator from Massachusetts, John Kennedy.
But Nixon, the California congressman, was no match for this handsome and well-spoken senator. “You don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore,” was his parting remark to the press after his defeat and his decision to enter the private sector. But as happens so often in public life, you can take the man out of politics, but you can’t take the politician out of the man. Richard Nixon returned to the campaign for the presidency in 1968, soundly defeating Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey. In 1972, he won a second term by an even greater margin of victory. Things were going well for this once-bitter man.
Unfortunately, during the 1972 campaign, Richard Nixon’s associates broke the law. And according to nearly every journalist and biographer since, Nixon knew all about it and tried to cover it up. A hearing followed. White House staffers and cabinet secretaries were brought before Senate committees investigating the allegations. Ultimately, Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency in shame.
Richard Nixon may have been legally pardoned for his crime by his successor, Gerald Ford, but most of the American people weren’t ready to wipe the slate clean. Some twenty years later, this former president, a brilliant statesman and world-class diplomat in his own right, went to his grave in disgrace.
Do you want to know why the world did not forgive Richard Nixon? Do you remember why they held his crime against him until his death? The answer is unbelievably simple. Please do not miss this.
Richard Nixon never asked for forgiveness. Never. In his final two decades, filled with myriad opportunities to make his offense right, not once did this proud man face the camera, the microphone, or even the printed page and admit and confess. So, because he didn’t apologize, we didn’t forgive him. It was as simple as that.
King David’s crime made Richard Nixon’s offense look like driving sixty in a fifty-five-mph zone. This powerful king committed adultery and then tried to cover it up with the murder of an innocent and loyal soldier. But the prophet Nathan secured a meeting with David, complete with copies of the surveillance video. David was driven to his knees in confession and remorse. This psalm is the result of that meeting. And miraculously, David was forgiven first by his heavenly Father, then by his people. Imagine the incredible release this sinful man must have felt to put this iniquity behind him.
What if, in the mid-1970s, Richard Nixon had invited you to visit with him? And what if he had asked you for your advice? You would have suggested—perhaps even begged—that he ask the world to forgive him. If he had, he likely would have been forgiven.
Does a friend need to have a meeting with you? Are you foolishly holding back from confessing something? Then why would you wait? Why would you suffer unnecessarily under the weight of what you’ve done?
Consider this moment that meeting with your friend. God will give you the strength to confess what you’ve done. The chances are good that your sincerity and humility will win your friend’s pardon.