16th
April 2020
Psalm
51
King David wrote this psalm after
the prophet Nathan rebuked him with a message from God because David had
committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11:1-26).
David had messed up spectacularly. How had he got to this low point? He was the
boy who had defeated Goliath and risen to become King David. He had been
anointed by God and called a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). How
did he become an adulterer, schemer and murderer? It is not clear, but 2 Samuel
11:1-2 tells us that David was in his bed one evening at the time he had sent
his army off to war. Why did he remain in Jerusalem? What was he doing in bed?
Perhaps he was tired, bored or perhaps he had lost his focus. Whatever the
reason, David was not where he was supposed to be. He saw Bathsheba having a
bath on her rooftop, sent for her, slept with her, got her pregnant and found
himself with a problem. He tried to cover up his wrongdoing by sending for her
husband Uriah and trying to get him to sleep with Bathsheba so there would be
no suspicion about her pregnancy. Unfortunately for David, Uriah was a
righteous and loyal man who steadfastly refused to sleep with his wife whilst
his fellow soldiers were still fighting in battle. In this way, Uriah did the
exact opposite of what David himself had done. Finally, David sent Uriah back
to fight in the battle and instructed Joab, the head of the army, to place
Uriah within the fiercest fighting and then withdraw from him so he would be
struck down (2 Samuel 11:15). In 2 Samuel 12:1-14, the Lord sends Nathan to
rebuke David and David finally realises he has gone too far. The Lord forgives
David, but his firstborn child with Bathsheba dies because he has “shown utter
contempt to the Lord”. There is further trouble and bloodshed in David’s
family. In the rest of 2 Samuel, we read about the far-reaching consequences of
David’s sin.
Psalm 51 is essentially a lesson in
how to say sorry and repent properly. David starts by asking God for mercy and
cleansing from sin (v1-2). He believes in God’s unfailing love and compassion.
He acknowledges his transgressions and realises that he has done evil in God’s
sight and that God’s verdict is just (v3-4). He acknowledges his sinfulness
from birth (v5). He knows that despite this, God wants him to be faithful (v6).
He asks God to cleanse him from sin (v7) and knows that God is able to do this.
He asks God to give him joy and gladness and to teach him to rejoice despite
his situation (v8). Then he asks for restoration (v10-12). He asks that God
will create in him a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit within him. He
begs God not to cast him from His presence or take His Holy Spirit from him. He
asks for restoration to the joy of salvation and for a willing spirit to
sustain his faith. Then he pledges to teach others from his own experience. He
vows to tell others of God’s righteousness and he asks God to help him to give
praise (v13-16). He offers God his broken and repentant heart (v17) because he
knows that no other offering will make up for his sin. Finally, he realises
that his actions also have consequences for Israel and asks for God’s blessing
on his people. He promises that the people in Israel will worship Him and offer
righteous offerings.
These passages show us how easily we
can fall into sin when we are not careful, when we have lost our focus, or when
we are not in the right place. We can fall into temptation, lies and deception.
It will never end until we acknowledge our sinful nature and repent. God may
send people like Nathan into our lives to advise us and we need to choose to
listen to wise counsel. When we choose to repent, we can be assured that God’s
love is unfailing and his compassion is great. God wants us to be fully
restored to Him and He will give us what we need to be able to do this. We can
be confident that we will have the fullness of joy and when we acknowledge that
He is our salvation. We can use the verses in Psalm 51 to guide us when we need
to seek God’s forgiveness and restoration.