Everyday, certainly every week we each do things we regret doing. Sometimes we do something for which we feel really really bad - guilty, ashamed, burdened, depressed. I wish it were not so, but I am sure that for every sensitive Christian soul, it is so.

In Psalm 51 David writes about one such experience in his life. The subtitle says this psalm was written after the prophet Nathan came to David and confronted him for committing adultery with Bathsheba.

You remember the story. From his palace rooftop one spring afternoon, David saw a beautiful woman name Bathsheba, desired her for himself, and committed adultery with her. He had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, sent into the hottest part of the battle with the Ammonites, where he certainly would be killed and where he was killed. David then proceeded to take her as his wife. Only when the prophet Nathan was sent by God to rebuke him did David confess his sin, and plead for mercy.

We may wonder why God would record such an event in the life of this "man after God’s own heart". And we may wonder how David who had been so blessed by God with godly parents and upbringing, with the ability to write poetry and play music, with great victories on the field of battle, with wives and children and a happy family, having been divinely chosen king of God’s people, being an inspired prophet, with all of this, how could David have committed such sin?

If there is one clear lesson from this event recorded in scripture for our learning, it is that we all partake of the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of David - and desperately need God’s mercy! If David could fall into grievous sin, we all can fall into grievous sin. Indeed, along with David we all are sometimes guilty of grievous sin and in need of God’s mercy. It was the great apostle Paul who warned us, "If any man thinks he stands, let him take heed, lest he fall." It was also the great apostle Paul who wrote that "Christ Jesus came to save sinners of whom I am chief." Ever notice that the greatest heroes in the Bible all realized the enormity of their own sin and turned to God for mercy?

Why does God reveal this moral lapse in the life of David? To warn the rest of us of our vulnerability and to encourage us with the knowledge that God delights in offering mercy to the chief of sinners.

Having established this fact, that we all are weak and too often guilty like David and in need of God’s abundant and available mercy, we can understand why God records David’s sin in the Bible as well as his response to that sin here in Psalm 51. Here is God’s message for us whenever we find ourselves guilty like David.

1

David begins by appealing to God’s mercy, unfailing love and great compassion. One of the most wonderful truths about the Christian God (all religions do not have the same God) is that He is a God, not only of justice and wrath, but gratefully one of mercy, unfailing love and great compassion. "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy." (Micah 7:18) God delights in showing mercy - even when we sin like David and feel as guilty as he. I am glad our God is like that, aren’t you?

When the Day of Judgment finally comes, I have often said that our only hope is that God will extend his mercy and grace. That is our confidence and hope when we stand before Him. I mean, who is going to stand before God and say, "God, I did better than the Baptists - Let me in"? No, the only plea that will work then and now is "God, be merciful to me a sinner." And whenever we find ourselves guilty of some sin, the proper thing right now is to also plead, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love..."

How can David be rid of his sin and the guilt of his sin? He realizes that this can happen only if God blots it out, washes it away and cleanses him from the sin. Of course, for some time he had been trying to cope with his sin in his own way. Whether he knows it or not, everyone pursues relief from his sin in one way or another. David’s method, at first, was to try to conceal it (with the convenient murder of Uriah) and to otherwise ignore it in the hopes that it would go away.

But now David realizes there is only one way to really get rid of sin. It is for God to blot out his sin from God’s book of remembrance, it is for God to wash and cleanse him from his sin.

But observe that David confesses his sin while appealing for such cleansing. Indeed, it is his confession and realization of his sin that prompts him to appeal for mercy. We appreciate our need of divine mercy only in proportion to our recognition of the gravity and enormity of our sin.

David doesn’t tippy toe around the confession. He doesn’t pretty up his sin. He uses three stark words to acknowledge in every respect the evil of what he has done. He confesses "my iniquity... my transgressions... my sin." The word transgression refers to a crossing of a boundary. The word sin refers to the missing of a mark. The word iniquity refers to depravity of nature."

Is this the way you would describe your sin? What words would you ues? And what does it mean to you that Christ died for your sins as well as David’s? Do you and I see the enormity and evil of our own sins?

In every respect, David confesses the ugliness and enormity of his own sin. The word confess means to agree with and when David so confesses, he agrees with God’s analysis of sin.

3-6

David not only realizes the evil of what he has done and confesses it, he understands that forgiveness will come only with such confession. "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." (Proverbs 28:13) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) In othe words, the scriptures teach that when we justify God, He justifies us. David understands this which is why we find him writing in a previous psalm, "... I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgression to the Lord’ - and you forgave the guilt of my sin."

Having confessed his sin, David is now prepared to continue his prayer for deliverance from his sin. First, he prays for deliverance from the guilt of his sin.

7-9

Few things are as white as the clean fallen snow, but when God washes us from our sins, he makes us whiter than snow. We are clean. We feel clean. And joy and gladness abound. "... what are you waiting for? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16) "...and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:38-39) Truly, there is no joy quite like the joy that comes when forgiven of the terrible burden of the guilt and enslavement to sin. Remember how you felt when the day you became a Christian?

The only way to rid ourselves of guilt and a guilty conscience is for God to wash and cleanse us through the blood of Christ. There is inexpressible joy when that first happens and every other time it happens. When we sin, we lose our joy and when we are forgiven we regain that joy.

But when guilty like David, it is proper to pray not only that God will deliver us from the guilt of sin but also that He will deliver us from the practice of sin, from committing the sin again. David knows that God demands truth in the inner parts...

10-12

Perhaps David remembers Adam and Eve who were cast from God’s presence. Because he has sinned, he feels a sense of distance from God, and he prays that God will not leave him and abandon him to his sin. He knows he needs God’s Spirit to empower him to overcome sin. So he prays...

"God, create in me a pure heart, the right stuff on the inside, a clean mind. Help me be steadfast, dependable, reliable in my obedience to you, willing to change my behavior through the power of the Holy Spirit." David seems to know even before the New Testament had been written that a clean heart and new spirit, inner renewal and power could come only from the Holy Spirit. We Christians can and ought to pray this prayer moreso than even David for it is we who have each been given the blessing of the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us overcome sin.

And when we are restored and changed, when we become victorious over the practice of sin, there is joy like when we are forgiven of the guilt of sin. It is the joy of salvation again, the same kind of joy again like we had when initially saved.

If God forgives and restores, then a certain response part is natural and proper.

13-14

With a conscience set free from guilt, with a heart renewed by the Spirit of God and full of thanksgiving, David cannot remain inactive or silent. Nor should we.

David will accept his responsibility to people. He has sinned against them, but now he will serve them. When his own transgressions have been forgiven, he will teach transgressors God’s way so they will return to him. The same ought to be true for us.

Sometimes we think that if someone does something really bad their usefulness to God is over. Not so. Charles Colson was convicted in the Watergate conspirace and sent to prison. While in prison, he converted and since his release he has given his life to turning other sinners in and out of prison back to the Lord. Today, there are few Christian evangelicals having a greater impact for the kingdom of God than Charles Colson. Truly, God can restore the years that the locusts have eaten.

And David will also fulfill his responsibility to God.

15-17

Not only will he witness to others. He will offer worship to God, especially the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, which God desires most of all. The Mosaic Law did not even allow sacrifices for the sins which David had committed. But God always accepted a broken and contrite heart. It is maybe the main thing He wants from us.

18-19

David realizes what leaders and citizens of any country should realize which is that the fortunes of the country are to a great extent determined by the behavior and integrity of the king! David knows that if God will forgive and restore him, then Zion will prosper!