To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken 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 right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
This is a beautiful psalm of repentance. David appeals to God’s unfailing love and mercy to be forgiven. He acknowledges his sin and that, even though he has sinned against man, his sin is always ultimately against God. David knows that he was born with a sinful nature but that God desires us to live in truth and wisdom—a constant struggle we have within us. David appeals to God to clean him from his core, in his heart, and to renew his spirit. Our sin comes from a heart that has grown cold and callous towards God and His ways and we need God to renew our spirit so that we are once again inclined to do things God’s way. David prays that God not cast him away from His presence, or take His Holy Spirit from him. As Christians, because of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit within us who will never leave us. But we still need to be restored in our relationship with God (1 John 1:8-10), restored to the joy of our salvation. David then turns to worship and delight in God once more. But worship cannot just be an outward action if the heart has not been cleansed. David knew he couldn’t just offer burned sacrifices as required in the Old Testament because that wouldn’t be acceptable to God if his spirit was not broken and contrite (repentant).
This is a wonderful psalm to return to when we find ourselves having fallen for temptation and in to sin. It is a reminder to come to God and confess our sins, to ask for forgiveness, and then, because we know that Jesus has paid the price for all our sins, to rejoice and praise God in the knowledge that he will always hear our prayers of true repentance and will forgive us our sins.
Because God can cleanse me from my sins, I need to be ready to confess my mistakes and not make excuses for my behaviour or blame others.