Prayer: Father, I have felt the despair of David when he realized he couldn’t live without Your presence. Thank You for Your irresistible grace and loving mercy. Amen.
Reading: Psalm 51 key: vs. 12-15
12 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
13 Do not cast me from Your presence—
take not Your Ruach ha-Kodesh from me.
14 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
15 Then will I teach transgressors Your ways
and sinners will return to You.
Attention: In Luke 7, Jesus poses a question to Simon (Peter) about a money lender and two debtors. “One owed him five hundred denarii, but the other fifty. When neither could repay him, he canceled both debts. So, which of them will love him more? Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled. You have judged correctly, Yeshua said.”
For King David, Psalm 51 is his response to Adonai when the gravity of his sin overwhelms him. David was found out because Adonai told Nathan the prophet, who then revealed to him his secret sin. I admire David’s response because he did not deny his sin, but he repented with heartfelt sorrow. He pleads with God for forgiveness and for cleansing. He admits that his sin is eating him up inside. The turmoil of being forsaken and cast aside is more than he can bear. He knows he has blown it and he prays that God will be merciful and renew a “steadfast spirit within me.”
I like how David adds a compassionate promise to God onto his prayer, “Then will I teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will return to You.” David is saying, I have learned a lesson which I am willing to pass on to others. May my example keep others from falling in the same way!
I used to think to myself, “Thank God I didn’t live during the time of the writings of the Bible because I would not want my poor decisions to be recorded in Scripture to be scrutinized forever.” However, when I read David’s testimony and read James (Jacob) 5:16, I realized that I have a responsibility to share (“confess your offenses to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed”), my sin with others. This is not meant to minimize our sin before others, but it does humble ourselves to admit our sinful ways and may help someone else to turn from their sin and seek forgiveness.
Action: I want to act like David and quickly repent to restore relationship with God.
Yield: I destroy the power of sin and its shame when I repent and not repeat.
Engage: I am engaged in restoring relationship with God when I repent.
Relationship: I value my relationship with God and man when I repent.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the example of David’s life, a man after Your heart. How he fell and repented. How he was restored to relationship with You, while living through the consequences of his sin. Amen.
Memory Verse: Psalm 51:19
19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise.
Music Video: Create In Me A Clean Heart – Keith Green
Remember, “Abide in Jesus, today!”