Psalm 51

A COMMON STRUGGLE

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Over the past several months I’ve been pondering the basic struggle we believers face, the same ones all serious seekers of Jesus contend with daily: The disparity between what we profess and how we actually live.

All the Bible “greats” wrestled with this same tension, super-saints like David and Paul. Then it hit me: “Hey, at least I’m trying; at least I want to be a man well-pleasing to God (of course we know that by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone we have been freely justified, declared righteous in God’s sight and are therefore perfectly pleasing to Him positionally — yippy and hallelujah!).

This heart-desire to be well-pleasing to the Lord is something God sees. I believe this is what David had and hence God’s declaration, despite many heinous shortcomings, that David was a man after His own heart (Psalms 32 and 51 are examples of why God thought this way of David).

I think intentions, transparency, and desire goes a long way in God’s eyes. He is aware of how difficult this life of faith is!

In his song “Hand of Kindness” Bob Bennett reminds us that God’s benevolent Hand is leading and blessing us all the time. He knows ours is a life of faith from beginning to end! In fact, I just recently came across a very candid statement made by Martin Luther which was quite encouraging: “Our faith is an astounding thing — astounding that I should believe him to be the Son of God who is suspended on the cross, whom I have never seen, with whom I have never become acquainted.”All this to say: Let’s take our walk with Jesus one day at a time, confessing our sins as we go, and silencing Satan’s accusing voice with the commands and promises of Scripture.

A Prayer of Atonement

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Psalm 51 (NLT)
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 shameful deeds–they haunt 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 heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.
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 right spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach your ways to sinners, 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 I may praise you.
You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them.
If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit.
A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.
Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with worthy sacrifices and with our whole burnt offerings; and bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

A Theme to Remember:
Sometimes a terrible sin, like the adultery and murder David committed so he could be with Bathsheba, seems unpardonable. The only offense that will continue to stain our lives, however, is the one we fail to confess with a repentant heart so that it can be covered by the cleansing blood of the Savior.

Words to Remember:
In the cross, God descends to bear in his own heart the sins of the world. In Jesus, he atones at unimaginable cost to himself.
–Woodrow A. Geier