A Contrite Heart…………

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
 Wash me clean from my guilt.
 Purify me from my sin.  

 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.
 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.

 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.
 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”   Psalm 51:1-17 NLT

Being king must have gone to David’s head.  He may have thought himself above even the Law of God.  He set aside all his morals, scruples, and ethics to follow the way of his selfish desire.

He looked with lust at Bathsheba as she bathed; he had her brought to his palace and engaged in an adulterous alliance with her.   Then when she told him she was pregnant, he tried to cover his sin by having her husband, Uriah, brought home from battle.   He refused the luxury of sleeping at home so David had him abandoned on the front lines of battle where he was slain.

This was no sin of impulse! David was not just caught up in circumstances beyond his control.   He planned and plotted to carry out his sin and he put great effort into concealing it. 

One of the sad truths is that we Christians will sin.   No matter how diligently we devote ourselves to practicing righteousness and striving to perfect holiness --- from time to time---we are going to miss the mark and sin.

Occasionally, we are going to disobey God’s commandments and sin.  When we realize that we have disobeyed God, what should our response be?

God’s Word basically tells us we have two options in responding to sin in our lives. We find those options in Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.”

The concealing option is when we choose not to acknowledge our sin to God and we go about life as if nothing happened.

The confession option is when we choose to acknowledge our sin and ask God to forgive us and help us change.

Psalm 51 reveals David’s sin and restoration.  It is the Psalm that changed his heart.