1 "Have mercy on me, O God, because of Your unfailing love. Because of Your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.
4 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.
5 For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me--now let me rejoice.
9 Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from Your presence, and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You.
13 Then I will teach Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of Your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth my praise You.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit--with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will be sacrificed on Your altar." (Psalm 51 NLT)
2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.
4 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.
5 For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me--now let me rejoice.
9 Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from Your presence, and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You.
13 Then I will teach Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of Your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth my praise You.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit--with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will be sacrificed on Your altar." (Psalm 51 NLT)
Hello, Mrs. Kurtz.
The story of David you shared really shows God's mercy and redemption. At the end of 2 Samuel 11 it says, "But the thing David had done displeased the Lord," yet he goes on to be so much more than his mistakes. God redeemed him (paid the price for David's sins, enabling him to start fresh). Because of this, David is later described as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22) and becomes king.
In Psalm 51 David seeks God because of His mercy, not David's own merits. He came to God acknowledging his brokeness, and repenting, and God forgave him and used him later on, despite his past.
This story gave me a lot of comfort today, and I really thank you for that. If God was able to forgive David of his mistakes, He can do the same for me. David was not judged based on the sum of his sins, but because of his repentance, God paid for David's sins and used him to become king of Israel. I too have sinned, but God offers a second chance if I am willing.
Dear friend,
Where would we be without God's mercy and forgiveness?
Did you notice all the ways that David described his sin? Nowhere did he offer excuses; rather, he confessed his sin. And note, he understood the full impact of sin. Here are just a few of his comments:
The story of David you shared really shows God's mercy and redemption. At the end of 2 Samuel 11 it says, "But the thing David had done displeased the Lord," yet he goes on to be so much more than his mistakes. God redeemed him (paid the price for David's sins, enabling him to start fresh). Because of this, David is later described as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22) and becomes king.
In Psalm 51 David seeks God because of His mercy, not David's own merits. He came to God acknowledging his brokeness, and repenting, and God forgave him and used him later on, despite his past.
This story gave me a lot of comfort today, and I really thank you for that. If God was able to forgive David of his mistakes, He can do the same for me. David was not judged based on the sum of his sins, but because of his repentance, God paid for David's sins and used him to become king of Israel. I too have sinned, but God offers a second chance if I am willing.
Dear friend,
Where would we be without God's mercy and forgiveness?
Did you notice all the ways that David described his sin? Nowhere did he offer excuses; rather, he confessed his sin. And note, he understood the full impact of sin. Here are just a few of his comments:
- blot out the stain (vv1, 9)/wash me clean (2, 7, 10): David's sin had left its mark; he was unclean, and unable to clean himself. David cried to God for mercy.
- rebellion (v3): David understands that the root of his sin is rebellion against God: David knew right and wrong; David knew that he had been chosen by God to care for and lead the people of Israel; David knew that what he was doing was wrong. Yet, he sinned anyway.
- evil (v4): David called his sin "evil". This is a bold confession! We often want to minimize our sin--"white lie," "foolish mistake," "accident". David makes no such claim.
Did you notice that nowhere does David ask God to remove the consequences for his sin? WOW! I am guilty so often of asking God for forgiveness--not because I am grieved over my sin and rebellion--but because I don't want to pay the price for my sins. "Oh, God, please get me out of this!"
Let's not take this idea lightly. We have no right to ask for anything, not even forgiveness. We are guilty as charged. Sin is evil, and sin is rebellion.
Yet, we can cry to God for forgiveness, not because of our credit history, but because God is merciful, and He forgives.
"Yahweh! The LORD!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected--
- What does David ask God to give to him or do for him? What does this tell us about David?
- What does David plan to do, now that he has repented? What does this tell us about David?
Heavenly Father, We cannot stand before You, for we have sinned, we have rebelled against You. Yet You invite us to come to You and to seek forgiveness. We thank You for this forgiveness! With David we pray, "Create in me a clean heart, O God".
I've been anticipating sharing this song with you. The words come directly from Psalm 51. As I've said before, music helps us to remember, and I pray that you'll listen and learn, and that it will echo in your heart for a lifetime.
"Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me. For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me."
"Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me. For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me."
(Psalm 66:16-20 NLT)
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