Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may 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 steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
By Mike Chaffin
King David loved the Lord, grew up worshipping Him, and was called a man after God’s own heart. Reliance on the Lord in battle was his trademark. He stayed close to God when in flight from King Saul. He knew the tenants of the law and had a desire to serve the Lord. He wrote songs, prayers, and poems about God’s greatness. But King David let sin separate him from God.
David was bored. He hadn’t gone out with the troops to fight so he was wandering around the roof of his house. He sees a woman named Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop. She is married but that does not stop David from sending for her. His lust now acted on he added to that sin by having sex with this married woman. She got pregnant. David dug deeper into the depths of depravity by trying to hide his sin. He sent for her husband, a soldier on the battlefield, to come into Jerusalem and give a report on the fighting. Then he sends him home to his wife so everyone will think the baby is the husband’s.
However, Uriah, the husband, throws a kink into David’s deviousness. He decides if his fellow soldiers are still sleeping on the ground, he has no right to sleep in his soft bed with his wife, so he sleeps on the palace steps. David is determined to cover up his sin, so he sends Uriah back to the fighting with a note to the commander to get Uriah killed before coming back from war. Uriah dies and David thinks he has won. But God knew what David did.
David’s sins are manifold. Did he go looking for all this trouble or did it come from being bored and idle? Since David is a man after God’s own heart we have to assume the latter. Lust, adultery, and murder top the list. One might think this is too much for God to forgive. David knew better, but let his flesh get its way, forgetting God and forging on in his own foolish folly. But God wouldn’t let this life of sin fester. He sent Nathan to confront David. David repents of his sins and writes the prayer he prayed to God. Psalm 51 became the blueprint for asking forgiveness of God.
Read Psalm 51 again. Notice how his prayer mirrors the truth proclaimed in Psalm 50. Who ever organized the psalms new the similarities in thought and theology to drive home the teaching.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
I have prayed David’s prayer. In our walk with God we, like David, tend to stray. Like any good father, God will chasten and correct His children. He will make known our sins and let us know we need to repent. If you are harboring hidden sin pray this prayer before God uses the rod of correction. God forgave David’s sins and restored the relationship with Him. But David’s sin had consequences that were not taken away. However, David served God with a renewed fervor. God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west when we ask for forgiveness and a renewal of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Idle hands are the devil’s playground. Nothing could be truer. Boredom isn’t itself a sin, but it gives an opportunity for our thoughts to wander from God. Which in turn takes us further than we want to go and keeps us there longer than it should. In times like this turn to prayer, the Bible, or some worship to remain in communion with Christ.
If you are not a Christian and want a relationship with God pray this prayer of David. At the bottom, or in the middle, ask Jesus to come and dwell in your heart. God will forgive all your sins, you will be a new person, reborn in the spirit.
