Where Are You?

Psalm 51 and You

So here's one of my favourite Psalms, and I'll tell you why.

Psalm 51
A Contrite Sinner's Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

So David wrote this Psalm after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet had told him that he had messed up big time. I read this Psalm many times because just like David, I am sinner. But not only am I sinner, but sometimes I even find myself in a point in life where I feel like the chief of sinners. This was probably David's lowest and farthest point away from God and righteousness. Do you ever feel that way?

He begins with such humility and pleading for God's mercy upon him, recognizing the sin in his life. And his guilt comes mainly from the fact that his sin is against God. As David asks God to cleanse him, he makes a bold statement in verse 6. "You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom." David also understood an important truth, is that his sin (and our sin) reaches to most inner parts of our soul. He looked like a King and probably most people still thought he was a righteous God-fearing man. But on the inside this sin he had committed made its home.

You know, in our lives we are the same way. Sometimes the evil in my heart just creeps in slowly and eventually I am so far away from righteousness and God's will that I feel empty on the inside. And while this is going on I still have this nice exterior where everything looks fine. It's all such a lie. God desires for us to be right all the way to our core.

Where are you in your life right now? Have spent days, months, or years away from being right with God? Do you feel so far gone that no one could bring you back? David was there, and this is how GOD brought him out of it. The great part of the story of David's sin was that the more he tried to get out of what he did, the deeper he fell into the grave he was digging. But because of God's mercy and compassion, the LORD reached down and pulled him up out of the pit.

You are not too far away, and you have not done too many things for God to forget about you. We just need to cry out to God and ask Him for make us right again. I love the phrase used in verse 10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." The key word is CREATE. It means new, not clean up the old one.

The awesomeness of the end of the Psalmn is that after David is restored by God, he begins to praise the Lord and seeks to tell others about it too. That's what God's forgiveness and grace is all about.

May you seek God's compassion, kindness, and mercy as you seek righteousness. And may the mercy of God bring praise to your heart as your praise Him and teach others the same.

Grace and peace,

Doug - John 15:13