April 4 - Psalm 51

(submitted by Barbara Staley)

Journeying with the psalms this Lenten season has been rewarding. I traveled more slowly than I thought I would. Instead of covering a lot of territory, I was more fully present in every step. Psalm 51 stands out. It bites. It is David “coming clean” with God. Nathan, the prophet, has called David out after he committed adultery with Bathsheba. David confesses to God in verses three and four: “For I know my transgression, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done evil in your sight.” We can read this psalm and focus on David and his sin and hear his repentance without being personally affected. When we read the psalms as a poetic adventure we are uplifted. But when we read the psalms as God speaking to our very beings we are made new.

Psalm 51 is God calling us out. Taking what we want and disregarding everyone else is accepted in the secular, but God does not accept this type of behavior. God will not let us forget our sin. God’s intent was not to make David miserable. God’s intent was to transform David that David would trust God enough to admit his sin. Confession of sin is not an end for God. God wants the very substance of who we are to be transformed. God longs for us to be made whole. Admitting who we truly are and confessing sin opens us to God’s mercy.

An image of a fearful, punishing God leads us to run from God’s due punishment. Nathan came as a gift to David. David would have lived his entire life running from the forgiveness of God. Instead, David accepted his guilt and pleaded “no contest” to the judge of all judges. David knew God was a just God. It is fearful when we realize that we are going to receive the punishment we deserve. If we could just pay some form of retribution for our sins and not receive punishment that would be great. David knew that with all his wealth he had no way to pay for his sin. David trusted God. He confessed. He was repentant and prayed this revelation from God in verses 16 and 17: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,”

The truth is that when God speaks conviction of sin to us, God is holding out mercy to us. Mercy is God not punishing us for our sin but rather forgiving us. This is the middle of Easter week and Jesus walked on the earth to give us mercy. The cross was that gift of forgiveness. Our sins are forgiven and we do not get what we deserve.

If we live in the joy of the resurrection and the forgiveness of the cross we can trust God to confess as David did. When we surrender our egos and trust God to transform us, we can plead “no contest” with a broken spirit and contrite heart.
May you have a transformed Easter!

Love in Christ,
Barbara