“I’m sorry!” These are words we often hear. We hear them from public figures, from friends and acquaintances, and from family. Sometimes when we hear the apology we might wonder if the person really means what they are saying. Are they truly sorry for what they did, or are they just sorry that they were caught? That is a good question, and many times what they are really sorry for is that their sin became public knowledge, that they were found out, and not truly sorry for what they did. Our psalm for this week is a psalm of repentance, of one man’s true and deep sorrow for the sins he had committed against others, and most importantly, against God.
The background of Psalm 51 is King David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba. In addition to his role as king of Israel, David was also the commander in chief of his army. However, during one period of time when he should have been out leading his troops, David remained behind in Jerusalem. It was then that he fell into sin by having an affair with the wife of one of his top soldiers named Uriah. When he found out that Bathsheba became pregnant, David at first brought Uriah back from battle, so that the child might be mistaken as his. When that failed, David had Uriah put on the frontlines, and ordered him abandoned by his fellow soldiers, so that he would die (II Samuel 11).
Adultery and murder. These were the sins that David had committed. For a year David ignored his sins. He had taken Bathsheba as another wife, and he carried on as if nothing had happened. Finally the prophet Nathan, who basically served as David’s chaplain, confronted him about his sin, and David confessed and repented. As we see in the Scriptures, David’s confession was genuine, not one where he was just sorry he got caught.
As we go through this psalm of repentance, we see that David realized that, even though he knew he had wronged Bathsheba and Uriah, along with his own family, his ultimate sin was against God and His holy law (vs. 4). Sin hurts us and others, but it chiefly offends God because sin in any form is a rebellion against God. David knew his sin was not God’s fault in any way (vs. 5). The source of his sin was his fallen nature, which all mankind has.
Hyssop (vs. 7) is a leafy plant that priests used. They dipped it in either blood or water to sprinkle on people to ceremoniously cleanse them. David wanted to be cleansed from his sin and forgiven. There is only one way to deal with sin, and that is through the Blood of Jesus. Believers may, and will, fall into sin. However, if they turn sincerely to Jesus for forgiveness, He will forgive (vs. 9).
We can never lose our salvation if we genuinely came to Jesus by faith. However, we can lose the joy of our salvation because of sin (vs. 12). Confession and reliance on the Holy Spirit can return His peace to our lives. God wants us to be close to Him, and to experience His full and complete life. Sin that remains unconfessed makes that impossible. Confessed sin will bring back the joy our our relationship with Jesus. And then when forgiveness and restoration with God happens in our life, we need to reach out to others who also need forgiveness and reconciliation (vs. 13).
Ritual without genuine repentance is useless. Sacrifices without a right heart attitude were not acceptable to God (vs. 16). If our heart attitude is not right, outward actions will never please Him. We must be truly sorry for our sins, and genuinely intend to stop. God desires a broken and contrite heart above and beyond any sacrifices (vs. 17).
No sin is too great to be forgiven. God can, and will, forgive any sin. When we are at our lowest point, God is very close to us, and promises to save those who are crushed in spirit. He does not abandon us in our time of crisis, or in our darkest times.
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