Fall 2018, 40 Days of Prayer, Day 36
“Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:1-2
The Prophetic Voice and the Plea for Mercy
“Be gracious to me…” with these words David began pouring out his heart to God. We don’t know how much time had elapsed between Nathan’s confrontational visit to David’s palace and the crafting of this psalm. The title of the psalm, which many believe dates back to the time of the original writing, says, “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” This psalm may have been an immediate reaction to that encounter, written that very day by David. During the confrontation Nathan told David a story, the account of a wealthy man who had stolen the family pet of one of his neighbors. He stole the neighbor’s one and only pet lamb in order to serve lamb chops to an out of town guest. The wealthy man had plenty of lambs in his own herd from which to choose, but instead committed a theft that left his poor neighbor devastated. Nathan was a known prophetic voice in Israel at the time. David may have assumed that this “pet theft” account was what prompted Nathan’s visit to the palace. Nathan, as a voice of righteousness may have advised David on God’s standards of righteousness within the nation of Israel on several prior occasions. With the trap set, David took the bait. Incensed at such a callous disregard for another citizen of the kingdom of Israel, King David declared, “Surely this man must die.” Nathan, in one of the most dramatic moments in human history, pointed his finger at David. He revealed the true identity of the villain of the story with these words. “You are the man.”
With a flood of emotions, David’s heart must have nearly stopped. “I’ve been found out.” “What have I done?” “Who else knows?” “God knows!” “What was I thinking to get myself in this mess?” “What happens when my family finds out?” “What happens when nation finds out?” “I am guilty of adultery and murder.” David must have also realized the significance of the condemnation he pronounced at the end of Nathan’s story of the wealthy sheep stealer. “That man must die!” If the unconscionable violation of a neighbor’s human/pet relationship warranted a death sentence, how much more did the theft of a neighbor’s wife followed by the murder of the faithful husband warrant a death sentence? I can imagine that during those sleepless nights or maybe during one of those fretful days following Nathan’s visit that David sat down with a pen in hand to put into words the volume of emotion in his heart. Guilt, shame, embarrassment, fear, despair, helplessness, and a host of other emotions surely dominated David’s thoughts as he wrote this psalm.
As serious as David’s violation of God’s standard for righteousness was, in some ways, David speaks for the needs of all of us. All of us need the grace of God. All of us must come to realize that God is absolutely holy and we are not.
The Character of God and the Confidence of the Sinner
David opened this psalm by begging for grace. “Be gracious to me, O God…” The first line was the request, but in the next line David appealed to the character of God, “according to Your lovingkindness.” The very God whose holiness and righteousness established the law, is also the same God whose character of love and grace gave David a glimmer of hope. David had violated the law of God in several ways throughout his life. However, this moment of sin, the committing of adultery and murder, gave clarity to the seriousness of David’s rebellion against God. God is a God of relationships. God’s holy character is now on a collision course with God’s grace. This collision comes to infinite horror and beauty in the cross of Jesus Christ. In the cross of Christ, the justice of God for David’s rebellion comes into a head on collision with the grace of God. Christ bore David’s sin on the cross, preserving the justice of God. God in Christ offered the forgiveness of sins, preserving the grace of God. Though Christ had not yet come when David committed adultery and murder, according to Romans 3, God looked ahead to the cross of Christ for the sins committed by individuals like Abraham, Moses and David. For us, God looks back to the cross of Christ for our sins. In Christ our sins are forgiven by our righteous and gracious God. In Christ, just as David, we too appeal to the character of God. He is holy and thus we are accountable for our sins. He is also gracious and offers freely to us the forgiveness of sins.
It was the character of God that drove David to the feet of God. Grace and mercy were surely undeserved for David but he flung Himself on the love and kindness of God. He clung to the compassion of God. The seriousness of David’s sin in his adultery and murder provided clarity for David. The egregious nature of his sin clarified for David his desperate need for the compassion of God. However, in reality, all of us have this same need. Since God is holy and just, He must hold us accountable for our sin, even the sins that we perceive to be “less serious sins.” This truth applies to the King of Israel caught in adultery. This truth applies to the church going, Bible reading, teenage caught with a bad attitude toward their parent. This truth applies to the one caught in the conspiracy to commit murder. This truth applies to the grandmother who regularly attends Sunday School but struggles with jealousy or pride. Sin separates us from God. Sin separates us from Him because He is holy. But just as David, we throw ourselves on the grace of God. God is a God of relationships and He longs to forgive the contrite hearted person.
Prayer Focus
God, I confess that you are absolutely holy. You are justified when You hold me to a standard of righteousness. Oh God, I read in the Bible that You are also a God of great mercy, grace, compassion and kindness. I confess that I am in need of Your mercy. There are sins I have committed against You that come to my mind. But I also know that many of my sins against You I have committed without even stopping long enough to see my actions as sin. I throw myself on Your mercy. Thank you for taking my sin away through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon by John Wesley, The New Birth
“Ye must be born again.” John 3:7
From here it appears, what is the nature of the new birth. It is that great change which God works in the soul when he brings it to life; when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God when it is “created anew in Christ Jesus;” when it is “renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness;” when the love of the world is changed into the love of God; pride into humility; passion into meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind. In a word, it is that change whereby the earthly, sensual, devilish mind is turned into the “mind which was made in Christ Jesus.” This is the nature of the new birth: “So is every one that is born of the again….every who is born of the Spirit.”