Prayer and the PsalmsНамуна

Psalm 51 – Repentance

This Psalm is most likely the response of David to the visit of the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 11 – 12:15. David was caught out by a clever trap the prophet set, a trap that exposed David.  A sad indictment on people (us) who sin is that we rarely confess before being confronted – the King was no different.  

But David knew two things: he was sinful, and God was merciful. Mercy is only available if we admit to sin. If we don’t confess, we aren’t cleansed. 1 John 1:9 clearly encapsulates this. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”  The paradox in this is that we are in the truth if we confess we have sinned.  Facing up is the way to the mercy and kindness of God; but hiding keeps us in the shadows.

David was only too aware of the implications of his sin – “my sin is ever before me.”  And he is aware that sin is concomitant with being human.  He isn’t saying his mother sinned when he refers to being conceived in sin, but that sin is an unescapable fact of the human condition.  Even people who don’t believe in some form of original sin instinctively know that humans are master sinners, and always have been.  It is a romantic and dangerous ideology that believes otherwise.

David says something that we tend to react to in that he states it was God and God only he sinned against and did evil.  What of Uriah, Bathsheba, their family, and David’s responsibility as King to do right and not abuse his power against the powerless?  He certainly sinned and did evil against others – clearly. He was certainly cognisant of this.  But finally, ultimately, he was accountable to God – which has much worse potential consequences.  David’s family and honour were never the same again after this, because sin isn’t always erased by mercy in its outworking – it can continue its effects.  A child died, and yet to this union was also born Solomon.  God is the master of redemption.

David is desperate to feel again the closeness of God’s Spirit, to have freedom in his heart, to be restored. He knew (internally) that things weren’t right, that joy had departed from him.  He was daily reminded of his folly and carried it festering on the inside.  Nobody needed tell him, but until someone told him he was trapped, and no doubt not fully aware of why things weren’t right.  Sometimes we need to be told the truth before we see the truth.

David wanted a clean heart and a renewed spirit – because he had neither.  He knew if he could learn he could also teach others, from a position of humility, not from a position of power.

This Psalm tells us God wants a heart that worships, that is in right relationship, that is broken and contrite. He doesn’t want mindless sacrifices, as they don’t necessarily indicate what is really happening, as, in fact, they can mask the truth.