Psalm 51:1-17
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
In the small town high school that I was fortunate to attend, the Principal knew the mischief makers by their senior year. If either sent or called to the Principal’s office, I was normally in the company of one or two of my peers. Before the close of one week, Larry and I had been to “the office” on two occasions. In retrospect, we should have guessed that our math professor was having a subpar week. When she entered the class door to teach, Larry turned to me and announced in a voice loud enough to hear, “Well, Charles, we may as well go to the office.” Her short fuse was ignited and she said, “Go”. A short 15 feet later we were in the Principal’s office. After a brief interrogation, he announced, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you two. If you think you can run the school better than I, here are the keys.” He then laid them on the desk. Larry reached and got the keys. The Principal had temporarily been outwitted by a guilty student. His problem had suddenly evolved from judgment and punishment to saving face and regaining control. Years later this kind, capable man came under my medical care as a patient. We had both escaped judgment and punishment for our perceived crime. The same man would later grant us permission to use the gym to play basketball in the summer by allowing us to use his keys.
King David was the author for the 23rd Psalm. It is clearly known to us all with the ideas of “still water,” “valley of the shadow of death” and “house of the Lord forever.” It is natural to envision David as a young shepherd looking into the night sky and embracing God in worship through this song. It is of this same man that God declares that ‘he is after God’s own heart.’
From this you might reason that David was the perfect man, however, the 51st Psalm is also from the hand and mind of David guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit. This same David, as King of Israel, had taken another man’s wife and their brief sinning had resulted in a pregnancy. David then plotted the death of her husband to cover their adultery. After a few months, God sent the prophet Nathan to cleverly expose David’s sin. The 51st Psalm is a plea to God requesting compassion for David and forgiveness of his scarlet sins. David confesses his guilt. He acknowledges that his sin was against God. He professes that he is crushed by this sin. He assures God that his heart is broken and his spirit contrite for his sinful deeds. His pleading is for restoration in fellowship and this request is granted but the consequences for David’s family remain. Such is the nature of sin.
How are we to understand this? Does this imply that God shows favoritism to David that He would not show to us? No, God is not a respecter of persons. What God does respect is the image of His Son on the soul of the believer. But wait, King David lived 1000 years before the birth of Jesus and knows not the gospel. Key for us is God’s dealing with Abraham the ancestor of David and our spiritual father as well. How so? What does the Bible teach of this? Not the opinion of myself or any other pulpit speaker or teacher, but the Bible.
Key is Genesis 15:6 (Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.)Abram was granted fellowship based on faith in God following God’s witness to him. The Bible clearly informs us that God is wrathful against sin and we know that all sin was punished on Jesus 2000 years ago outside of the walls of Jerusalem on Good Friday. In essence, the sins of Abraham, David and all expressing true faith in God before Christ’s sacrifice were managed by forbearance. God showed forbearance of their sin, knowing that it would be paid for in full by the sacrifice of His Son at a specific point in time. This speaks to the issue of us being spiritual descendants of Abram. Simply we have faith in God just as they.
What other similarity must we share with Abram and David to be righteous (in fellowship with God)? The key is revealed in David’s 51st Psalm. Heart rending sorrow over sin. Sin must crush your pride in yourself and cause you to realize the enormity of all sin and who we have offended.
To repent is to turn from sin and its domination and seek God’s will. More simply, we recognize who we are in contrast to who God is. We are dust, God is eternal. We are finite, God is infinite. God is Creator we are created. God is all-knowing and we are profoundly limited in knowledge.
God has the upper hand in our relationship with Him. He controls the keys to His Kingdom. We must account for our sin either in judgment on ourselves or upon Christ, the perfect Sinbearer. Once we truly confess who we are, sinners, and are crushed by our sin, God will extend mercy to us to believe that Jesus is Savior and Lord and we are reborn in His image.
Does such make us perfect? The example of King David assures us that it doesn’t. But the blood of Christ is sufficient to cleanse the confessed sinner of his sin and restore fellowship with God.
What is the resulting benefit of this fellowship with God? Faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior results in God accepting the punishment of the believer’s sin on Jesus as adequate and final payment. We no longer bear the responsibility for the judgment of this confessed sin since it was punished on Jesus. God declares us justified, cleansed, and His adopted sons and daughters. Rather than future judgment before the Great White Throne, we are gifted grace and rescued from our sin just as was King David. This is a Hallelujah moment.
