1 For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my shameful deeds — they haunt me day and night. 4 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. 5 For I was born a sinner — yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being. 7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me — now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that I may praise you. 16 You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it. 17The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.
In 2 Samuel we see a scene where a man after the heart of God, King David, sins and how responds to the sin and to His Father. After King David saw Bathsheba bathing on a roof he knew he had to have her. Whatever the cost was it wouldn’t be enough to stop him from fulfilling his fleshly desire to have her. Lust filled his eyes and pride filled his heart as the king believed that whatever was in the kingdom was his for the taking and his eyes saw a woman that he would stop at nothing to obtain. He called her over and slept with her and after hearing word later that she was pregnant, David sent her husband Uriah to the front lines of the army so that he would die. After his death, David wedded Bathsheba.
Upon seeing this play out the Lord set Nathan to rebuke David and open his eyes to the sin that he had caused because his actions were displeasing to the Lord. It was in this time of mourning of his sin that David wrote Psalm 51 and it is here that we catch a glimpse of a man who loves the Lord and where his heart now lie after sinning.
Reread Psalm 51, it is beautiful and it is a reminder where our heart should be in times when we are consumed by the sin in our own lives. As we see our own “Bathsheba’s” and are consumed with the sin in our lives, when our pride, lust, gluttony, greed, revenge, envy, or sloth get the best of us, when we fall to our desires where do we turn.
“1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”
David shows us through his cries to the Lord his response and shows us what ours should be too. We cried out for help to the Lord. We are overwhelmed with our sinful nature and we turn and hide from God; however, instead we should turn and face Him. We cry out to Him to have mercy on us. We ask Him to have mercy on us not because of anything we have done or will do, but because of his unfailing love. We beg for mercy knowing that Christ paid the price through love. We ask for God to look at us in love and compassion and with compassion forgive us of our sins. Drowning us in grace that will not only take away our sin but also remove the guilt that weighs heavy on our backs and in our souls. We ask him to purify us.
“3 For I recognize my shameful deeds — they haunt me day and night. 4 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. 5 For I was born a sinner — yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.”
In the midst of our sin we are reminded that our sin surrounds our life, even after our conversion to live for Christ, we will forever be consumed with sin until the moment we are taken into our heavenly home to be with him. The sin that surrounds us is a direct barrier between us and the Lord, and a direct offense in the eyes of the One True King; it serves as evil in the eyes of our God and in that moment of disobedience we looked at Him and said He was not enough and the sins we cling to was. The evilness of our sins proves that the Lord is just in His judgment. In this moment of despair we are reminded that our sin is forever around us, since the moment we were conceived we were full of sin. Plagued with sorrow we repent of our transgressions because the Lord desires a pure and honest heart within us, open and susceptible to the Truth that He wishes to fill us with.
” 7 Purify me from my sins and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me — now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.”
We look to the Lord and know that He alone can help us. He alone can purify us, save us, heal us, and forgiveness. Though the sin of our lives leaves a crimson stain through Jesus and Jesus only we can take the stain and be renewed and washed. We can be washed whiter than the whitest snow. As Jesus cleanses us and washes us it doesn’t only renew us from our sins but also the guilt that we bottle up inside. David, being a broken spirit in the moment, looks to God and pleads not only for forgiveness but also to have joy again. He begs God not to look at his sins. In the same way as we hang out heads we pray to God for repentance and for joy in Him. We ask Him to not look at us through our sin but instead through the lens of Christ and the cross.
“10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.”
David teaches us that we don’t dwell in the guilt of our sin after repentance and just as Paul will later tell us over and over again, we press on. We don’t stop at asking God to forgive us because we aren’t contempt with a life of sin. We want a life of Christ and a life with Christ so we press on and ask God to cleanse and purify our heart; we ask Him to renew the Holy Spirit within us to strengthen and guide us. We know that we have sinned against God and God alone, that He is just in his judgment and yet we want nothing more than to be with Him. David pleads with his Father, not to forsake him or leave him, because David knows that is literally hell. David wants to be restored to the joy he had when he was saved and the gratitude that lead to obedience and David knows his comes from the purified heart which he can only do with the guidance of Holy Spirit. In the same way, we press on in gratitude, in reverence, and in love to be one with Lord.
“13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that I may praise you. 16 You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it. 17The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise. “
As David follows the Lord so he helps others follow the Lord and he rejoices. In gratitude and obedience to God he sings songs of joy and praises. He wants to serve God and give the Lord what the Lord wants. He would give anything, but he knows what the Lord wants is broken heart to sin. A heart that is sorrowful when it falls to the fleshly desires of the world and one that repents and turns to the Lord.
As we lay in agony of our sins and transgressions we get a glimpse of what repentance looks like. We cry out to the Lord to forgive us and we are reminded of our true identity. Righteous, pure, and blameless in the eyes of God, because of the death of our wonderfully beautiful Savior Christ Jesus. Because of His love and compassion our sins have been forgotten, washed clean, and thrown into the deep abyss of the sea. (Micah) We reflect on our sinful nature and know that we won’t escape it here on earth but we cling to the truth that Christ wants us to be filled with. That we are clean, forgiven, and loved. We look to the Lord to not forsake us, but be with us in these moments and every moment. We look to Him to fill us with His Spirit so that He may mold us and shape us into His likeness and create in us a clean heart. We look to Him to remove our sins and guilt and take us back to the joys of our salvation. The joys and gratitude that lead us to follow Him, love Him, and seek Him. We look to Him for rejoice and we praise Him all the more because we are forgiven! Praise the Lord for He is good. We look to serve the Lord with all of our heart which exactly what He wants from us.
gsehlers 