1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
...
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
...
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
...
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise. Psalms51:1-19
David, the man after God's own heart, has sinned. It is disastrous, scandalous, horrific, and cataclysmic. Surely this is the end?
But David's closeness to God has taught him that God is slow to anger and abounding in love. So David rushes to confession and repentance. He knows he needs to begin again.
We know Psalm 51 so well that we have let it become a cliche.
There is even a danger that this beautiful psalm could be considered "cheap grace" - you sin, you say sorry, and then everything's ok and you can sin again.
But a careful reading of this Psalm reveals something different. David isn't merely rebooting his operating system - he is doing a complete reinstall. He isn't simply going through the motions, he really is beginning again.
Let's look at some key features of the Psalm...
* He knows that forgiveness is not a right, but something that is a pure gift out of God's abundant goodness.
* He knows that his sin is serious and terminal. He can't explain it away, sweep it under the carpet or make up for it. He has no leg to stand on.
* He knows that he needs more than forgiveness. He needs a new beginning and he can't make that happen by himself. It is God who creates pure hearts,renews steadfast spirits and restores joy. It is a work of grace. It is God who gives us willing spirits.
* A new beginning can only come from a death to selfish pride and arrogance. It needs contrite brokenness (not hopeless brokenness but contrition)
--> Lord. Sometimes I hide my sins away because I am scared of the new start that you have in mind for me. Help me to be like David - courageous enough to see that when you fix us, you do full and beautiful work.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
