David's sin

“Against You, You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge.” Psalm 51:4
This is an interesting verse. Psalm 51, as we know, is David’s psalm of repentance after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed, and had been confronted about it by the prophet Nathan (2 Sam. 11-12). But when it comes to acknowledging his sin, David says to God, “Against You, You only have I sinned”.
David realised that his sin was not just against Bathsheba, and it was not just against Uriah. But he had sinned against God – breaking two of the Ten Commandments (adultery and murder) – and he had forsaken Him in his position of king, being God’s instrument to lead the nation of Israel, a witness to the people.
The same is true when we sin against someone. Ultimately we are sinning against God. We need to repent and seek forgiveness both from God and from the other person. And like David, we may have to live with the consequences of that sin (although God is able to lessen their effect if we repent). When we realise just how bad our sin is in God’s sight, that is the driving force that leads us to repentance.