Like Psalm 32, Psalm 51 was composed
by David. The backdrop can be found in 2 Sam 11 -12. These chapters tell the
story of his adultery and murder. He first took Bathsheba, the wife of his faithful
soldier, Uriah, and committed adultery with her. And as divine providence would
have it, she was pregnant by just that one wrong act. To cover up his adultery,
he schemed to have it looked as if the child Bathsheba had conceived was Uriah’s.
He summoned the latter from the battlefront, so that he could go home to his
wife and have intimacy with her. But Uriah was more honorable. His heart was with
his comrades in battle and his conscience would not allow him to indulge in any
pleasure while his fellow soldiers were hard at war. So David’s attempt failed.
Then he sent Uriah back to the battlefront, with a letter for his commander to
put him at the point where the battle would be the fiercest. And in the heat of
the battle to withdraw all soldiers leaving Uriah to fight the battle alone. Hoping
that he would be killed in that battle. And he succeeded to have Uriah murdered
by remote. David thought that his schemes were unknown to any. But David was
wrong. God saw everything and He sent Nathan, the prophet, to expose David’s
sins of adultery and murder. This Psalm contains David’s repentance from his
sins. It tell us perfectly why David was known as “a man after God’s own heart”
Imperfect as David was, the one thing
that had it going for Him in this Psalm was his honesty when facing his own sin
that were brought to light. He did not try to explain away his wrong. He called
a spade a spade, and plainly and honestly acknowledged his transgression, iniquity,
and sin and offence. The first three verses contain his sincere petition for forgiveness
for his sin. He acknowledged it was more than a wrong at the human level. It
was an offence against God. Like David, we need to know that all sin we commit
in life is not only a wrong to people affected by it, but against our God who expects
us to live a life to His honor. Any blot in conduct is a discredit to Him because
we are called by His name.
Like any wrong committed, it is
forever etched in the history of one’s life. So David rightly said that his sin
would ever be before him. Hence, confession would be the appropriate action to
take. It is the first needful part in the process of repentance. It is the part
that every offender had to do to start the process of healing and being made
right with God. The person that would be most offended in any wrong is God. And
it has to be dealt with first and foremost. David knew that nothing is hidden
from God. So he began to straighten the break in that relationship first. We
must be aware that God is offended every time we sin against anyone. David knew
he was dealing with a righteous God and had offended Him more than anyone else.
Remember that God is always right in His judgement because He is all-seeing and
all-knowing.
This Psalm supports the teaching of
original sin. We are all born in sin. Every human born after Adam’s fall inherits
his fallen nature. So David plainly said that he was born and brought forth in
iniquity and so acknowledged his propensity. David knew that God expects us to
be honest with our self and with Him. We can all lie to ourselves and explain
away any wrong. But no matter how we rationalize we can never explain a wrong
and make it look right. An evil act will always be an evil act no matter how
cleverly we try to disguise it with words. What we need to do before God is not
explanation but honest confession of our wrong. So that was what David did. .
The next part of the process would
be requesting for inner renewal. The worst punishment for any of us believers to
experience is for God to withdraw His presence from our life. The working of
the Holy Spirit in our life enables us to feel God’s presence. When David asked
God not to take His Holy Spirit from him, he was asking God not to take his
presence away from him. But he was aware that the coming of the Holy Spirit
upon his life was to anoint him as king. He was also asking that he be not
removed from his office. More than anything, David was asking for a renewal of
his status and relationship with God. Any sin not confessed always breaks our
ability to feel and touch God momentarily. It also removed us from functioning
rightly in our God-given position. Hence like David, we need to be restored to
fellowship with God. And confession and acknowledgment of our sin put us in the
right path to have God’s forgiveness and restoration.
Since sin always makes us lose our
steadfastness in the Lord’s way and also makes us lose the ability to feel the
presence of God, verses 10-12 suggest the remedy. Here David desired to return to his
past experience when there was not a breach in his relationship with God. He not
only asked for his situation to be reversed but also to be sustained, as he sought
to walk aright and anew with God. For us let’s be clear about two things: We
must regard sin seriously and deal with it immediately. We need to learn to
keep short accounts with God. Then we must remember that God is abounding in mercy.
Instead of running away and hiding from Him, we must confront our sin with God
and be restored in our relationship with Him. And allow Him to renew and sustain us in our
walk with Him. Remember where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. That is
when we honestly repent from them.
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