Focus Passage: Psalm 51:1-13
Pam got an “A” on the final project for an important class, but she couldn’t share it with her family. She had stolen her sister’s project written it for a different university. Now the professor had come to her and asked to publish the paper in a professional journal. How could she say no, but surely someone would figure out what she had done. No one could know what Pam had done. It had to be a secret and that made her feel isolated. Her guilt started on the inside, but it soon tore her whole life apart. Such is the story behind this psalm for King David. He had committed adultery and for a whole year thought that he had gotten away with it. Then the prophet Nathan comes and accuses him of adultery and murder. He had been exposed. The sin that he thought was secret was out in the open. Adultery and murder were punishable by death. As king, he might escape the punishment by asserting his royal rights, yet he could not undo the damage to his relationship with God. This psalm is his plea with God to make things right.
Take full responsibility v.2 Healing begins with owning up to our sin. Confronted by Nathan the prophet, David admitted that it was his iniquity and his sin. He made no attempt to deny the sin or excuse it. He did not use his kingly powers to silence the prophet. Admitting the sin is always the starting point for restoration. We can’t deny the sin or claim that others are more sinful. Real healing begins when we admit that we did something wrong.
Recognize the damage v.4 David recognized how his sin impacted others. He had caused Bathsheba a lot of pain. He had killed the innocent Uriah. He had done a lot of damage to the kingdom. He also knew that his relationship with the Lord was damaged. David had damaged the bond that he had with God. No sin is without its victims or its hurt. Sin affects the people around us and leaves victims in its wake.
Ask for His forgiveness and cleansing v.7 David throws himself on the mercy of a God who loves him. He throws himself on God’s grace and asks for what only God can do. In the temple, God took the sin of the people and put it on the lamb. David was asking that God would wash him with the blood of the lamb so that his sin was totally gone. You cannot take your sin away, only God can. Having admitted your sin, ask forgiveness from those who you have hurt and from God himself.
Ask for a new heart v.10 The past would be forgiven, but David knew that he needed one more thing. David asked God to give him a new start. Teach me. Lord so that I may never make this mistake again. He did not want to disappoint God or lose the future that the Lord had promised him and his descendants. Why be forgiven if you are going to do the same sin over and over? True repentance is not just the desire for the penalty to be gone, but for the chance for things to be different.
With the guilt gone and forgiveness given, David could recapture the joy that he had lost with the sin. He had watched his life wilt away over the last twelve months. He hadn’t lost his salvation, but he had lost his self-worth and his dignity. He had been God’s man before and he would be again. He had felt anything but a child of God. His life had been overwhelmed by guilt. Now he would feel joy again and would come to the Lord for help with the consequences of his sin. God would triumph and make the future sure. Happy is the man or woman who is forgiven. God has taken away their sin and recaptured their future. Guilt is not just fear of penalty. It is fear of having messed up our future and the future of others. Thanks be to God that he forgives and restores. He brings sin out into the open so it can heal.
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