On one occasion King David of Israel had a census of the nation taken. The Bible describes David’s reaction when he realized that he had sinned. Showing the operation of conscience, the Bible says that “David’s heart began to beat him.” (2 Sam. 24:1-10)

Likely the most commonly-thought-of operation of conscience is that of looking back and judging one’s past moral performance. We noted this function in the case of Adam’s sin and the experience of David after he had acted improperly. Their consciences smote them.

David wrote: “When I kept silent my bones wore out through my groaning all day long. My sin I finally confessed to you, and my error I did not cover. I said: ‘I shall make confession over my transgressions to Jehovah.’ And you yourself pardoned the error of my sins.” (Ps. 32:3, 5) Thus, your functioning conscience can bring you back to God, aiding you to recognize the need to have his forgiveness and to follow his ways in the future.​—Ps. 51:1-4, 9, 13-15.