(Psalm 51:10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
The text from the Psalm is rich with repentance and when examined we are able to glean an abundance of fruit from the tree of truth, this verse in the Psalm’s give us insight into two amazing truth’s, both true repentance and the loving kindness of a God who is full of mercy and forgiveness.
Let us consider our lives and forgetting those things that are behind, let us consider today because today is the day is the day of salvation. We can do nothing for what has passed, it has already happened, but today we have the future in front of us to put anything that is out of kilter back in line. Let us reflect and let us use the mirror of truth which will help us to see those hidden chinks in our armour and then when we perceive them let us fall to our knees and repent. In so doing we will find live, we will bring glory to God, we will exalt His name and we will restore our joy. If we find true repentance today, I assure you and not as one who beats his chest in frustration but rather as one who himself has believe His God and called out to the only one who has the power to forgive and restore one’s joy, God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and when the call went out from these my lips, He was quick to respond and forgive. How great is my God, how majestic His wonderful name. I now declare with complete confidence His brilliance.
You may feel that you have spent all you have to give to the call to of righteousness, and I say no you have not. Life is filled with daily choices and how often we make the wrong ones. Nevertheless our God is able, a bruised reed He will not break, the smoking flax He will not quench. So fall to your knees cry out to Him for He will not turn one away. Your sin may be a heavy burden and so it should be, but repent and let Him, the only man who ever lived like we live, being tempted in all points just like we are tempted but yet without sin. He never broke one of God’s laws. Yes this is true he never broke a single command from God’s lips! He understands what we all go through here on earth with trials and the consequences we now need to live through because of so many bad choices in our lives.
You are not alone, let us consider king David the writer of this Psalm; he penned this Psalm after Nathan the prophet exposed sin in his life, and this was sin personified; let us unpack the events.
Israel was at war and had just ravaged the Ammonites but David was at home in his castle relaxing and not at war. His life was somewhat idle and we know that an idle mind is the playground of the devil.
(Proverbs 19:15) Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger (that hunger refers to both natural famine as well as spiritual starvation). So we are to “give no opportunity to the devil.” When we are unused or idle our natural tendency is find something to do and if we are not captivated with a godly purpose then we find ourselves in dangerous territory. This is where David now found himself.
Let us pickup the story; late one afternoon David got up from his afternoon nap and walked on his roof, possibly enjoying the sunset, his eyes move from the beauty of creation into a neighbours bathroom where his eyes beheld a beautiful woman bathing. Instead of resisting the temptation, he now invites it in and sends for her. Bystander’s witnesses the event and it surprised them as they recognised this woman as the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Nevertheless David still sent for her and he slept with her resulting in her falling pregnant. She then informs David that she is with child. Now panic was the order of the day for David and he began to scheme and plot a course to free himself from the mess he was now in. So he sends for Uriah, firstly befriending him and showing him favour. David gets Uriah drunk hoping that he will then go and sleep with his wife and hide his sin. This man Uriah was such a team player, a man of such integrity and valour that because his compatriots where fighting a war, he could not bring himself to any home comforts while his friends slugged it out with the enemy. So he did not go home to his wife.
This now is tragic, what David now does would be almost unforgivable. Here was a man fighting for his king, remembering his friends at war, denying himself the lap of luxury when they were available to him. But King David overlooks all of that and plots a plan to cover up his sin by planning Uriah’s death. He gets his general Joab to sent Uriah into the heat of the battle where death would be eminent. Uriah is killed. The woman Bathsheba mourned for her husband; this tells me that she loved him. What a terrible selfish story but let us not miss the point as it is huge, and if we do not get it, then we will overlook the hidden beauty in this account. Solomon was born to David and Bathsheba and from his lineage was born our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.
David does not see his sin at first but when Nathan the profit confronts him and exposes it to him, how does he react, how will you react when God the Holy Spirit points out sin in your life? David falls to his knees and repents with tears and vehemently prays for the life of his soon to be born son. The child dies and David learns a lot through this saga.
This leaves David penning these words; “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Even through this whole fiasco what must we understand about God, is our God is slow anger, He is long suffering, and full of love?
Repent and call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved.
How does God view David’s sin? The child died and there were consequences that affected him later on in life with his family. Our sins may leave scars but remember that Jesus is greater that any stronghold they may have on our lives.
Let me leave you with this thought and what God had to say about David, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.”
Signing off
Tyrone
2 comments:
Amen!!
Amen
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