Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
King David had committed adultery with a married woman (Basheba) and commanded the murder of her husband to cover it up. It was not until the prophet Nathan, confronted David with his sin that David came to God in his brokenness and honesty. In 2 Samuel 12:13 – David confesses to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” He does this in humility without excuses or justification. He does not blame anyone else but himself. The guilt of David’s sin had not left him and it stayed with him. He acknowledges nothing can be hidden from God and that God saw the evil David had done.
Many grieve over the consequences of sin but not the sin itself.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
David saw God as his high priest and asked God to clean him with Hyssop which was used by priests back in those times to sprinkle purifying water to cleanse people of their sins. This shows we can come to God in the same way. David was asking God to remove his sins because only God can do this for us. David acknowledges the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the anguish he felt because what he had done had caused him pain and the pain he felt was like that of broken bones.
David remembers Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. God is our creator and only He can create a new heart within us. David had lost his willing spirit and his joy. He was no longer the fearless young boy with a steadfast spirit who faced Goliath the giant. He no longer felt confidence that God was in his presence. He no longer felt that closeness. His spirit had been defeated or in a sense died and was no longer sustaining him, he was living in misery. He knew now what it was like to live in sin and what he had lost because of it. David knew that only God’s mercy could rescue him.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
David was truly repenting and bringing his broken heart and spirit as a sacrifice to God. So much so that he wanted to teach others the costs of sin so that they also would turn away from it and be converted and restored. He didn’t want others to feel the darkness he felt because of sin. David wanted to lead others to God as he did before when he danced before God. David knew the difference now of a life with God and one without God. David knew he failed as a husband, a father, and as a king. As king he had responsibility over his people. He not only asks God to restore him but to restore his kingdom! HIS HOUSE! God, if it pleases you to prosper Zion.