4/20/2022
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, you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Psalm 51:1-4 (Psalm 51)
It is not unusual for God to take the opportunity to expose the hidden secrets of our heart in order to lovingly call us back to Himself. We see that in the life of King David. Nathan, the prophet, used a simple parable to reveal the sin David was concealing in his heart. That sin had become a stumbling block for David in his once close relationship with God. Reference: (2 Samuel 12)
No one wants their secret sins openly exposed. But who can truly hide anything from the Lord? He tells us in Jeremiah 23:24 “Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?”. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. David recognized God’s truth and the sting of conviction in Nathan’s words.
In Psalm 51, David unlocks the burdens of his heart which resulted from a period of moral defeat. His double life was openly laid bare exposing the man who boldly faced and slew giants as an adulterer and murderer. David was at a spiritual crossroad in his relationship with God; either harden his heart and turn from God or seek forgiveness. David knew his only recourse was to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. Without it, inner peace would always elude the man who was once known as “a man after God’s own heart”. In Psalm 86, David reflects on the character of God that would redeem him.
For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. Psalm 86:5
God does not want us to be crushed by the weight of sin. In His unbounded love, He will pursue us and beckon us to be restored to Him. There is no depth of sin too great to be forgiven except the rejection of Christ Himself. Jesus Christ who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood is always ready to receive anyone who calls upon Him. For we have a Savior who in every way can empathize with our every weakness.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one (Jesus Christ) who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
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