Thursday, August
2, 2018
Have mercy on
me, O God, because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash
me clean from my guilt. Purify me from
my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it
haunts me day and night. 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. For I was born a sinner—yes,
from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire
honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify
me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh,
give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:1-12(NLT)
you have broken me—now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:1-12(NLT)
If you want to know how big King
David’s sin was with Bathsheba you simply read the Prophet
Samuel’s journal. A quick survey of
the king’s attitude and actions include most of the seven deadly sins,
and breaking all of the commandments; his transgressions leap off the chart
like the Dow-Jones index gone mad on a Black-Market Monday. Just to name a few: sloth, lust, lying, adultery, murder,
conspiracy, and, perhaps worse than all, he drew others into his plots to save
his own political neck. If you looked up the word “sin” or “transgression” in
the dictionary, I’m pretty sure David’s picture is in on the page. During this
time King David was not acting like a man after God’s own heart!
Of course, Psalm 51 is the
account of David’s confession – a prayer filled with extreme contrition and
pathos. It is such a contrast from the
willful arrogance David had displayed in trying to cover his sinful tracks, it’s
hard to imagine he is the same person.
Yet, if there’s any one
thing that stands out to me this morning as I re-read this prayer, it is the
confidence David exudes as he begs God to forgive and restore him. David isn’t just asking for God to look the
other way and let him slide; David is acknowledging how deliberately malicious
he has been, and is asking God to restore him to innocence. That is one incredible asking!
But this goes beyond asking
for forgiveness; David opens his heart for God to do holy surgery that will
restore the lifeblood flow of joy between his life and God’s unfailing love. This isn’t David’s self-confidence, it’s his
confidence in God!
Many of you know my bride,
Elizabeth, recently had a heart catheterization. When the doctor saw the images of 70-80%
blockages he knew exactly what to do; he inserted stents, little tubes to push
back the blocking matter and open the pathway for life-giving blood to carry oxygen
and nutrients to the rest of the body.
This is a wonderful picture
of repentance and confession we see in David’s prayer. In confession the sinful king acknowledges he
has destroyed the relationship of trust between God and himself. In repentance, he asks for restoration of
that relationship, knowing that will mean two things:
1. Joy (like the flow of blood through
the heart) will once-again enliven his days.
2. Change (like the new
low-cholesterol diet, and time on the treadmill) will begin to be uppermost in
David’s heart and thoughts. He will
cooperate with this new stent of honesty that holds back his spiritual death.
Everything will turn upside
down (or rather right-side up). Where
there was the disease of sin, there will now be the gladness of a forgiven life
that serves. Where there was lust
(selfishness), there will now be genuine love (selflessness). Where there was lying, truth now reigns.
This is the joy of salvation
restored.
For You Today
Repentance isn’t very popular in
our culture. Mostly we’re into cover-up,
denial and deflect the blame onto others.
It’s not much different than our parents in Eden. Adam blamed Eve, Eve denied understanding and
blamed the serpent.
Repentance is the only true road to
recovery from a sin-destroyed break from God.
Go to VIDEO
[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
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