Scripture:
Psalms 51:1-19 NKJV
[1] Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. [3] For I acknowledge my transgressions And my sin is always before me. [4] Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. [5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin, my mother conceived me. [6] Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part, You will make me to know wisdom. [7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. [8] Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. [9] Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. [10] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. [11] Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. [13] Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. [14] Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. [15] O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. [16] For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. [18] Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. [19] Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
Observation:
I know there is a little bit of scripture this morning to read. I’m honestly not trying to be long-winded. I just feel like it’s important to look at the whole picture. I very large portion of the book of Psalms was written by 1 man. A man who would be called a man after GOD’S own heart. Although that’s how he was identified. I would like to tell you he was not a man without mistakes that he had made. His name was King David, and now that his name has been put out there one of two things more than likely came to your mind. Either you thought about his show of courage as a young boy stepping up to the battle with a fully grown bully named Goliath, or the woman that has saw on the rooftop that he just had to have at all cost. That honestly almost cost him everything. Well, I believe there is a Psalm written for both. This one just so happens to be written for that rooftop rather than the battlefield. Sin has a way of deceiving those who commit it, and I’m not removing myself from that equation. David thought he had gotten away with it. He thought he was in the clear. Uriah was dead. The baby was on the way, and no one was the wiser… or so he thought… until Nathan, the prophet, came to him and told him a story about a lamb, which brought David to say some things that, in a sense, exposed his sin to Nathan and broke his heart. That’s that David we read here in this Psalm. A man with a broken and contrite heart asking the LORD’S forgiveness. From the beginning of these 19 verses to the end of these 19 verses, King David, a man after GOD’S own heart, is asking GOD to forgive his sins. Starting with the phrase, have mercy on me, oh GOD according to your loving kindness. So what I see in this Psalm is that there are 2 things exposed. Not only is King David’s sin exposed but the heart of GOD as well. Mercy and loving kindness are just 2 of the many characteristics that bring us a picture of who GOD is and bring us a little closer to understanding why David would be concerned a man after HIS own heart. Reading down through this prayer that David speaks, we see that once he knew that hus sin was not as private as he had thought, his heart was broken. GOD’S mercy was his desire. Phrases such as blotting out my transgressions and hiding your face from my sins became part of his vocabulary. His heart was broken. He knew he had messed up. Now, I think it’s important to say I believe this is before the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the heart of man. In that time in scripture, we hear phrases such as ” the Spirit of the LORD came upon him.” So David’s sin being exposed by the prophet Nathan was necessary, and David’s response was the only way to correct it. He fell on his face before GOD, the one who created him and knew his most intimate parts and begged for forgiveness. Painting a picture for us of repentance and redemption. A picture of not only GOD’S heart but what it looks like to be chasing after it. Do we see that?
Application:
I believe that sin is so prevalent in today’s society that when we see it or even commit it. It’s just the normalcy of life. We look at others and point out all their stuff, but we never take a good look at our own heart. I don’t know about you, but I want the conviction of the Holy Spirit. HE is my advocate, my counselor, my ever-present help in time of need, bringing to mind the things that Christ taught while HE was here on earth. What I’m saying to you is this I want my sin to break my heart. Because I don’t want to live like that, and the only way to do anything about it is to ask for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. HE is the one the helper that was sent by the Father, sent to live inside of us, but if we refuse to listen to HIM, HE is not going to shout. Honestly, what will happen is that HE will get quieter and quieter until you can’t hear HIM at all. Then, some earth shaking experiences will have to happen in order for us to hear HIM again. I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I have honestly had enough of that kind of stuff. I believe that keeping my side of the street clean is important. Having a broken heart over the sin in my life is as well. The sanctification process is something that takes time, but the presence of the Holy Spirit is what helps that along. So let me tell you about my experience and maybe it will help. What I have noticed is that when I obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit. HE sees that I want to hear HIS voice, and so I believe HE speaks more regularly as I train my ear to hear HIM. But if I tend to ignore HIM, HE shuts down until I get to a put where desperation sets in again, and I am willing to listen. What I am saying is this… is it not easier to listen and obey?? Or do we like the pain?? If we would just set down our pride and say something like… Father, I can’t, but I know that you can, so I’m going to let you, and than take the time to listen. I believe that the Holy Spirit would guide our steps, and we may not be sinless, but I believe the results would be that we sin less. I want to chase after the heart of GOD. HIS mercy and loving kindness. Taking a daily inventory of how my day went helps me to keep my side of the street clean and keeps me in tune with the Holy Spirit. Listen for the still small voice. Tune your ear to hear it. Ask GOD to bear your heart for the sin in your life. Do not be conformed to the ways of this world, but let your mind be transformed, but GOD’S word and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Confess your sins one to another so that you may be healed.
Prayer:
Father, we want our heart to be chasing after you. Much like King David’s. Help us to hear your voice preferably before we mess up. This morning, we know that your mercy is new, and we are starting off with a clean slate. Please allow us to hear the prompting of your Holy Spirit. We know that it has been given to us as a seal of our salvation. We also know that your word tells us to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We want to hear you speak into our Spirit what you would have us do and give us what is needed to be obedient to what you say. We love you, and we want that to show in how we live so that others will want to know you as well. Allow us to be the salt of the earth, making others thirsty for the living water. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen