Home / Topics / Bible Verses for Drunk Driving and DUI
David did not minimize what he had done. Psalm 51:3–4 opens with full acknowledgment: "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." He was not performing humility — he had committed adultery and arranged the death of an innocent man. The prayer that followed is one of the most searching explorations of genuine repentance in the Bible. What makes it distinct is that David did not try to explain, justify, or minimize. He brought the full weight of what he had done into God's presence.
Get These Verses Daily — Free“For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”
David does not explain or mitigate. The Hebrew nakar — 'acknowledge' — means to recognize, to identify clearly. Full, unguarded recognition of what was done is the beginning of the path the rest of this psalm describes.
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”
The Greek metanoia — repentance — is a full turning. Worldly sorrow grieves the DUI, the record, the consequences. Godly sorrow grieves the act and the pattern. One leads somewhere. Paul says one leads toward death — the sorrow that stays self-focused.
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
The Hebrew azab — 'forsaketh' — means to abandon entirely, to leave behind. Mercy is connected not just to confession but to forsaking. The work of addressing the underlying pattern is part of what this verse calls for.
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
The Greek pronoia — 'provision' — means to think ahead and arrange for in advance. Recovery requires not just willpower in the moment but the structural removal of conditions that make failure likely. This is biblical wisdom, not just practical advice.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Scarlet and crimson were the most permanent dyes in the ancient world — they did not fade. God's offer addresses specifically the stains that do not wash out naturally. The DUI record, the damage to trust, the memory of what could have happened — these are the scarlet dyes this verse was written for.
2 Corinthians 7:10 distinguishes between two kinds of sorrow after failure: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." The Greek metanoia — repentance — means a turning, a reorientation of the whole person toward a different direction. Worldly sorrow is grief about consequences — the DUI, the legal record, the reputation. Godly sorrow is grief about the act itself and the person it reveals. The distinction is important because one leads somewhere and the other does not.
Proverbs 28:13 — "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" — connects mercy not just to confession but to forsaking. The Hebrew azab — forsaking — means to leave, to abandon entirely. Genuine accountability for drunk driving includes the honest work of addressing the underlying pattern, not just managing the legal fallout.
Commentary is from a charismatic Protestant perspective, drawing on KJV text and public-domain sources including Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Matthew Henry.
Romans 13:14 gives one of the most practical pieces of moral counsel in the New Testament: "make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." The Greek pronoia — 'provision' — means to think ahead, to make arrangements for in advance. Recovery from the pattern that led to a DUI often involves the structural removal of access — not relying on willpower in the moment, but removing the conditions that make the moment dangerous.
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