Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 51. 2-3 and following. Indeed, Psalm 51 was written by David in a very humiliating circumstance (2 Sam 12:1-25). He reveals to us the feelings produced in the soul by a real conviction of sin, as well as the path traced by the Holy Spirit to find communion. Let us consider the painful steps: the confession of the fault committed (verse 5); the thought that God has been offended, and not just this or that person (verse 6); the reminder of our evil nature (verse 7); the feeling of God’s requirements for “the truth in the inner man” (let’s never forget this verse 8); the desire for a pure conscience and right (verse 12); finally the need for a return to practical holiness (verse 13), joy and devoted service (verses 10, 14). Once restored, the believer will be able to share with others the grace that has forgiven him (verse 15; Luke 22:31-34). All this work does not involve the offering of any sacrifice (verse 18), of any work of “penance.” A broken mind, a truly humbled heart, is what God can receive through the effectiveness of Christ’s work (verses 18,19). Dear onesput, if we have allowed ourselves to be surprised by some fault, let us reread this psalm in the presence of God, not as the confession of David, but as our own prayer.
It’s quite remarkable to find this psalm following the previous one: it’s the picture of a soul receiving instruction from the doctrine and warning given in Psalm 50. It is a call to the Lord (50:15) on the day of distress – of the deepest distress – a distress of soul. Here the poor sinner seeks refuge in grace, takes refuge in God alone, with his burden. This is also what would be justified and what would lead to the reproach made to the legal religion of Israel in the previous psalm. These are not only the words of David repenting of his sin in Uriah and Bathsheba, but the words of the repentant residue on the last day (see Ps. 38). The penitent brings God a broken heart – the only sacrifice God can accept at this time. But once the sinner himself is accepted and forgiven, his thanksgiving and holocaust will be offered and approved. It is in God alone that the afflicted soul seeks relief from its sorrow. She does not want to confide in anyone else. Even prescriptions are not a refuge for her. She renounces the sacrifices and offerings she could bring as a remedy for her guilt. It invokes and expects nothing but God’s washing, salvation and righteousness.
And that’s a valuable attitude. For often it is to ordinances that a worked soul turns, just as an honest heart or an honest life would be the foundation of the trust of a simple moralist. But this is just another, albeit more subtle, form of justice of one’s own. Just as David found in God alone his consolation and rest, so God was David’s only object: “Against you, against you alone I have sinned.” He likewise said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” This was – and must always be – the thought of a sincere penitent. And we know from his story that Jehovah truly became the object of David’s heart. All his conduct after his conviction of sin shows this; for he was willing to let Jehovah act toward him as he pleased His eyes, to restore joy to Him as and when He would (2 Sam. 15:25), and finally to defend Himself against the one who insulted and persecuted Him (2 Sam. 16:12).
He had no place in Judas’ heart, but he had one in Peter’s. He didn’t have one in Saul’s heart, but he did have one in David’s heart. And likewise he will soon have a place in the affections of Israel according to his heart when they are led to recognize that they have sinned against Him, according to the language of this psalm, while the apostate nation will say, “God is served in vain” (Malachi 3). In the two preceding Psalms, we have found the separative judgment in Israel in relation to wickedness, sin against Jehovah, a judgment that is the true deliverance for the residue; and then (when He appeared) full confession, the very confession of being guilty of the Savior’s blood. As for the circumstances, these two Psalms complete the exposition of the entire scene that we have before us, and which form the basis of the whole book.
O God have mercy on me. David begins by praying for forgiveness; and his sin having been of an aggravated description, he prays with unheard-of seriousness. He is not satisfied with a single petition. Having mentioned the goodness of the Lord’s heart, he adds the multitude of his compassions, to insinuate this ordinary mercy, would not be enough for such a great sinner. If he had prayed to God to be supportive, simply on the basis of his mercy or goodness, even that would have amounted to a confession that his case was wrong; but when he speaks of his sin as reprehensible, only through the innumerable multitude of God’s compassions, he represents him as particularly atrocious. There is an implicit antithesis between the greatness of the mercies sought and the greatness of the transgression that required them. Sin resembles filth or impurity, for it pollutes us and makes us repugnant in God’s eyes, and its remission is therefore rightly compared to washing a truth that must both commend God’s grace to us and fill us with hatred of sin. Insensitive, in fact, must be that heart that is not affected!
I have sinned against you alone. It is the opinion of some that he announces here the circumstance of his sin, although it was committed against man, being hidden from every eye except that of God. No one was aware of the double wrong he had inflicted on Uriah, nor of the senseless way in which he had exposed his army to danger; and his crime thus being unknown to men, one could say that it was committed exclusively against God. Do good to Zion according to your good pleasure: build the walls of Jerusalem. From prayer in his own name, he now proceeds to offer supplications for the collective Church of God, a duty which he perhaps felt was the most incumbent of the circumstance that he had done what he could by his fall to ruin it, Raised to the throne, and originally anointed to be king for the very purpose of favoring the Church of God, he had almost accomplished his destruction by his shameful conduct.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Prayer for forgiveness:
- God’s forgiveness, procured
Ex 32:32 Forgive their sin now! If not, delete me from your book you wrote. Ps 25:11 It is because of your name, O Lord! That you will forgive my iniquity, for it is great. Ps 51:3 O God, have mercy on me in your goodness; According to your great mercy, erase my transgressions; Dn 9:19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, be attentive! act and do not delay, out of love for you, O my God! For your name is invoked on your city and on your people.
- Spiritual desire, general references
Ps 38:10 Lord! all my desires are before you, and my sighs are not hidden from you. Ps 73:25 What else do I have in heaven than you! And on earth I take pleasure only in you. Lk 6:21 Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satiated! Happy you who cry now, for you will be in joy! 1 Pet 2:2 He who has not committed sin, and in whose mouth there has been no fraud;
- Our inequities
Ps 40:13 For countless evils surround me; The punishments of my iniquities reach me, and I cannot bear the sight of them; They are more numerous than the hair of my head, and my courage abandons me. Ps 90:8 You put before you our iniquities, and in the light of your face our hidden faults. Ps 130:3 If you kept the memory of iniquities, Jehovah, Lord, who could subsist? Jer 2:22 When you wash yourself with nitre, When you use a lot of potash, Your iniquity will remain marked before me, says the Lord, the Lord.
- Joy restored
-At the restoration of divine grace Ps 30:12 And you have changed my lamentations into joy, You have untied my bag, and you have girded me with joy,
-To those who are in mourning Isa 61:3 To grant the afflicted of Zion, To give them a tiara instead of ashes, An oil of joy instead of mourning, A garment of praise instead of a dejected spirit, That they may be called terebinths of righteousness, A plantation of the Lord, to serve for his glory.
-At the deliverance of the nation Jr 30:19 From the midst of them will rise thanksgiving and cries of rejoicing; I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will honor them, and they will not be despised. Jer 31:13 Then the young women will rejoice in the dance, the young men and the old men will also rejoice; I will change their mourning into joy, and I will console them; I will give them joy after their sorrows.
Lord of the opening of the door of hope Hos 2:17 There I will give her her vineyards and the valley of Acor, as a door of hope, and there she will sing as in the time of her youth, and as on the day when she ascended from the land of Egypt.
-Thanks to the Savior’s vision of ascension Jn 16:20 Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and lament, and the world will rejoice: you will be in sorrow, but your sorrow will change into joy.
From all the above, we note thatPs 51 is the true confession of the faithful of the residue: they have entered fully into the thought of God (verse 16). There is a true and complete humiliation before God for sin, and yet trust in Him. The true faith of God’s people expects them to purify and deliver. The whole sin of heart and nature is recognized and the horrible crime of Christ’s death confessed (v. 14); humiliation is accepted, but with the feeling that God’s purification is perfect. It also creates a pure heart. The residue asks God that the spirit of his holiness, which Haggai says dwelt with them after all their sins (Haggai 2:5), and in spite of the captivity of Babylon, not be removed from his midst, and that he does not lose the feeling of the presence of his God. A few people find here a difficulty that I do not see. The Saints of the Old Testament could do no good except through the Holy Spirit; and if this Spirit were taken away from them, all their joy and happiness would vanish and give way to darkness: this is what the faithful apprehend here. There can be no doubt that the Spirit was with the saints of the Old Testament; the only question is whether He was present with them in the same way and whether He dwelt in them by virtue of the work and glory of Christ, uniting them with a Leader (Head) resurrected in heaven. This, of course, could not be. The work was not yet done, the man Jesus had not yet entered into glory. The New Testament is very explicit in this regard. The Holy Spirit was not yet (John 7:39), but He had to operate in them and with them, for all that is good comes from Him. All of God’s activity in the creature is through the Spirit, as at creation He moved on the surface of the waters (Gen. 1:2). Now he operates especially in the hearts of men to be the source and power of all activity and joy, as we see in the prophets and in others. A saint who has the intelligence of his position could not now hold the language of verseand 11; he knows that God will not take away his Spirit from him. Perhaps, in his anguish, he will express himself in this way, and with a true heart; – and God in his mercy will hear it. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and for centuries of ages. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Prayer of the faithful for his deliverance (Ps 54).”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.