Psalm 51 - Repentance - 7 - Coming Full Circle

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)

Hello, Mrs. Kurtz. Here are some of my thoughts on Psalm 51 and David's requests:
      David asks for a clean heart. He wants forgiveness, and afterwards David seeks a changed attitude/spirit. "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me" (v12). He understands that first he must be forgiven by God, but then David expresses his desire for change. 
     David wants to leave his sin behind him and to move forward with God. He no longer wants anything to do with his old life, because to him God is more important. David plans on making a 180 change in order to live for God. This shows us that David's heart is in the right place; God is his priority now.
     I think it is also interesting how difficult it must have been for David to turn away from sin. He wanted things to work out his way and to do things he wanted, but once he repented, David knowingly and willingly left his selfish life to follow God. This shows that David has put his faith in God, trusting that he will help him through this process.

Dear friend,
     As you can see, there is more to repentance than simply saying "I am sorry". David's prayer demonstrates a repentant attitude, and indicates that repentance also leads to action. I would encourage you to continue to study and reflect on this passage, and to memorize it. What you build into your heart and mind will dwell there, will guide you, and will sculpt your viewpoints and attitudes.

"And so dear brothers and sisters, 

I plead with you to give your bodies to God 

because of all He has done for you. 

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice

--the kind He will find acceptable. 

This is truly the way to worship Him. 

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, 

but let God transform you into a new person 

by changing the way you think. 

Then you will learn to know God's will for you, 

which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)

     We have spent considerable time studying the components of Psalm 51, and through this we have been able to see the emotions, attitude, and actions of a truly repentant person, one who loves God and desires to walk in His ways--whatever the cost.

1. Sin is wrong. At its core, sin is rebellion against God, rejecting Him as Lord.
2. Sin separates us from God; we are guilty.
3. We are without excuse when we sin.
4. We cannot undo our sin by good deeds, sacrifices, or offerings. We can't "pay" God to look the other way.
5. God does not owe us forgiveness; however, He freely offers it to us.
6. Repentance involves admission of sin, sorrow over the sin, asking for forgiveness, turning away from sin, teaching others about sin's consequences. 
7. Repentance has no "conditions"; in other words, we do not have any right to expect that the consequences of our sin will be eliminated.
8. Repentance is a leap of faith. We launch ourselves onto God's mercy, turning away from the things that call to us. We ask Him to renew us, knowing that in ourselves we are powerless to gain victory over sin.

As we end our study of repentance through Psalm 51, I'm going to leave you with some questions that refer back to some of the questions you asked in the past regarding repentance:

"Repentance is not only asking for forgiveness, but also seeking a relationship with God so He can give you the power to turn from your sins." (from your email, 3/13) 

• As you are confronted with your sins, how do you respond? Do you draw nearer to Him, asking for help? Or, do you feel guilty and pull away from God?

"I found an interesting connection between something that happened to me and the Bible, and I thought I'd share it with you. Today I got a parking ticket for being in a spot (for months) without a pass. I was really annoyed about it, but then I realized that I didn't have the right to be upset. I kenw I wasn't supposed to park there, but I did it anyway because it was convenient and easier than my other options. I tend to think that I can get away with things; I don't think about the fact that there are consequences for my actions. This got me thinking: am I like this when it comes to my faith? Am I breaking commandments because it's convenient and easy without realizing there are consequences for my sin? Do I think that, like the parking ticket, just because I'm not getting in trouble for something now means that there won't be a punishment? I am worried that the answer to these questions might be yes. This brings me back to one of my earliest questions: does my continual sin and defiance mean that I am not saved? If I am not being punished for my sin right now, does that mean that I will face consequences later when I die, or just having something bad happen to me? If this is something I'm continually worried about, does that mean that I may not be on good terms with God/saved?" (3/22) 

• In what ways can you apply what you've learned to answer your own questions here?

"This really makes me consider what I'm going to DO about my stubbornness. I am honestly so tired of my own BS and just talking about my unwillingness and only praying--not listening and responding. I understand that it is important to pray "to be willing to be made willing" because it is only through God changing my heart that my actions will change. It isn't my own doing, but through God transforming me. Yet at the same time I want to DO something." (4/4)

• How can you respond to your own stubbornness?

"I've spent my evening taking some time to reflect on what God wants me to surrender for Him. I am really trying to be honest with myself and listen when God 'calls me out'; it's impossible to keep up a facade with an all-knowing God. I realized that the things I need to surrender to God fall under two categories of my flawed attitude: 1. I want to sin. I noticed that, when it comes down to it, I want to sin more than I want to do the right thing. Sinning is fun. This makes my 'want' to sin an even greater challenge, especially when I make split second decisions." (4/11)

• Sin, as we have discussed, is a natural tendency, yet it is not without remedy. What is the remedy?

     "I think that the reason I'm feeling so overwhelmed by sin right now is because God is showing me that the very things I enjoy and hold on to are what is preventing me from having a relationship with Him. God's goal is not to torment me, but rather to point me in the direction of bettering my relationship with Him. God is showing me that I need to repent.
     "I think I want to take steps towards repentance rather than the alternative. To do so, I'm considering taking some time to 'cleanse'. I think maybe tackling my smaller sins might be a good place to start. I'm thinking about getting rid of secular music/movies/YouTube and social media for a little bit. Although not all of it is problematic, it would definitely help to limit societal influences and even just distractions, and focus on prayer and reading the Bible and my relationship with God. I'm hoping if I decide to do this it will help give me direction for how to have a better attitude about being a Christian and making bigger changes in the future." (4/13)

• According to Psalm 51, how can you respond to what you are feeling?

<"BONUS FEATURE": Sometimes people "repent," but their repentance is not like that of David's. If you are interested, here are a couple accounts of other people "repenting". In each account, something (or more than one thing) is missing:

Saul, the first king of Israel: 1 Kings 15

Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt: Exodus 5-14 (this story extends over many chapters)>

Heavenly Father,  We thank You for loving us enough to confront us with our sin, and for granting us forgiveness through Your own Son, Jesus. We do not deserve Your mercy. Though we know that sin is wrong, we are attracted to it like a moth to a flame. Please fill us, dwell in us, help us to love You and to reject sin. 

"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)