Monday, October 9, 2023

EmmDev 2023-10-09 [Five Keys to Discipleship] Confession

Confession

This week we consider the second key of Discipleship: PRAYER
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The background to our text is David's sin when he slept with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. Nathan confronts him and this leads to David's confession.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
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.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity. (Psalms51:1-9)

David begins by pleading with God. In Verses 1-2, David uses very powerful words as he sought to have his inquity and sins cleansed. He says "have mercy," "blot out," "wash me," and "cleanse me." The words show us how David was desperately seeking forgiveness of his sins.

As we read through the text, we learn the following:

  1. When we sin against humanity, we sin against God.
    David, after Nathan confronted him, acknowledged that he had sinned against God. In Genesis 39:3, we are told that sins that are committed against fellow human beings are considered to have been committed against God. This is the reason why David in 2 Samuel 12:13 says that "I have sinned against the Lord."
  2. We are all in danger of sinning.
    In Acts 13:22, David is described as a man after God's own heart, yet he sinned. He broke the commandments of God. David coveted, then he committed adultery and then murder. One sin leads to another. Knowing that we are all sinners should help us humbly approach God in prayer. David poured out his heart in prayer to God. He realized that sin is always there and that he cannot hide away from it. He knew the only way to be right with God is by crying to God so that God will have mercy with him, so that God will blot out his iniquity and his sin.
  3. We also learn the Character of God.
    David poured out his heart to God, and he knew his cry would be heard because of the steadfast love of God as well as the abundant mercy of God. Jeremiah is hopeful in God because of these two aspects of God's. The steadfast love of God refers to the covenantal relationship that falls between God and His people. God vowed to be with His people forever and this is what gave David hope knowing that God would not forsake him.

Sin is very dangerous - most of all, it can keep us from prayer.
David's failure and faith-filled prayer teach us to come to Him even when we have sinned.
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Rev Andrew Makunda
Married to Tendai, and am currently serving within the bounds of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe at Rugare Uniting Presbyterian Church in Harare.


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