Psalm 51

So, first post in a while. I'll have to update on everything soon, but today I just wanted to post something about a chapter in Psalms that I have really been trying to apply to my life lately. Psalm 51 is about a repentant heart. It is "A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." David was a man after God's own heart. However, he had gone astray. He had had a woman's husband killed in battle to cover up the fact that he had slept with his wife and was not the father of the child she was going to have. How could this happen to the man after God's own heart. The emphasis should on MAN after God's own heart. David was still a man. He was a sinner. He needed grace. He needed the Lord. This Psalm begins with such a poignant line,
" Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions." (verse 1)
This verse reveals David's status before the Lord and the Lord's character. David has transgressed against the Lord. He has broken God's commands. He has rebelled against God's will. He appeals to God through His character. He knows God's love is steadfast. He knows God's mercy is abundant. He would not appeal to God unless he knew He was a merciful God who would hear his cry. This should encourage us to do the same. God is beyond our comprehension. He holds mercy and love and is the only one who can blot out our sin.
" Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment." (verse 4)
David realizes that His sin opposes God. His sin is against his Lord. He knows that God is holy and therefore sets the standard. It is God's standard that was broken not man's. He realizes that his state is before the Lord. His sinful state separates him from the Lord. He must rely on God's mercy for him. That is the only way he can escape destruction.
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (verse 7)
"Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities." (verse 9)
He knows that his sin is against God, so it is God he must appeal to for a reprieve. Man cannot set him free from his sin,and David can not set himself free from his own sin.
" Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit." (verses 10-12)
David knows that God must create a clean spirit in him. He must depend on the Lord to change Him. Only Christ can cause true change in the sinful heart of man. He knows he needs the presence and Spirit of the Lord in him. Only God can restore his joy and sustain him. We are all dependent on God whether we acknowledge it or not. He has created our bodies to work and sustain our lives. Every breath is from Him. Every function of out body is enabled by Him. He sovereignly holds us together. Beyond this He also sustains our souls. He enables us to fight sin and the fruits of this world. We can endure the evil we must endure because of the fall of man through His Spirit and grace. We can only have this through Christ's saving work on the cross. Praise the Lord He has made this available! What can we do in return? What can we offer to the Lord God, creator of heaven and earth and source of all created things? He gives us all, so what is left for us to give?
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (verse 17)
We should fight to offer a repentant heart to our Lord and Savior. It pleases Him when we by His grace turn from our sin and realize its true nature opposed to God. We can turn from sin and turn to God through Christ, our mediator and through His gift of His Holy Spirit we can truly change and fight sin and have some victory over sin in this life. How amazing! What grace that we can fight sin as mortal men in this fallen world. This should motivate us to fight. We have been set free and given such a gift. I pray that I would press on and work toward this goal. I pray that the Lord would motivate your heart today to do the same. Cry out in dependence on the Lord as David did. Read through Psalm 51. Pray through it. http://www.esvstudybible.org/search?q=Psalms+51