Forgiven

By James Hoffman

Psalm 51:2-3 (NASB)

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Devotional

King David is generally considered a good man, he is elsewhere defined as "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam 13:14). Yet the fact remains that David was the same man who committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed. It is after this sin that the Prophet Nathan confronts David with his sin and David repents. It is in this dark place that David writes Psalm 51. It is a Psalm of deep repentance where David is relenting over his sins and seeking redemption from God.

In David's repentance, we get a very deep look at just what pleases God in v. 16-17 "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." God doesn't want a tax for sin, rather He desires us to have a heart broken over our sins. In reality this connects to Jesus' sermon on the mount where He fusses at the "hypocrites" who have become legalistic. Jesus' main message in Mt 5-7 is that the law needs to be internalized like it was for David. Much like David we shouldn't seek to just pay a price for our sin, rather we should be deeply moved because of our failings.

Christianity should never be centered around obeying laws, but rather it needs to be centered around a relationship with our Creator. Christ came and surrendered Himself to death in order to reconcile us to Himself, not merely to satisfy some arbitrary rules. In fact if God was solely worried about strict adherence to law, He would have just been content with us facing judgement as is instead of seeking to give us grace. Let us be glad for God's desire to reconcile with us.

Prayer

Lord our God, thank you for your grace. We are purely at Your mercy and we bring to you our wicked hearts filled with regret. Change us Lord, make us new and guide us towards salvation and sanctification. In Jesus' name, Amen.