Sin, Ugliness, and Repentence - Broken and Contrite Heart
This psalm was written when after David committed adultery with Bathsheba. It's the "confession psalm". I think it's such a great psalm because we can use it as our own prayer and it is relevant to each of us. Sometimes we think our sins are so great that we feel inadequate to come to God. Or we're a leader, so how could we sin so much? But look at it! This is David, the man in the Bible known for his pure heart. He was anointed as king by God! And yet, he had this horrible, horrible sin where he slept with Bethsheba, had a child, and then sent her husband into the front lines of the war--basically sentencing him to death.
So I think no matter how great our sin, this psalm pertains to each one of us. Lastly, before I go into some more of this passage, I want to say that David had the right mindset. That is, our sin's greatest consequences are consequences in the spiritual realm. Oftentimes our sins also have natural consequences..some that are sadly even irreversible--broken friendships, STD's, health problems, lost jobs, bad reputation etc. etc.-- but even with these seemingly bad natural consequences which grab our attention, the spiritual consequences of feeling distant from God are far worse. It is a distraction of the enemy to make us constantly focused on the natural consequences and to not let us worried about the spiritual consequences. I think I'll eventually write some more of my thoughts about this--check Genesis 3.
As for this passage, David asks for forgiveness. He sees that all his sin in and of itself can be seen as morally bad, but more important that his sin is "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." We must come to realize that we shouldn't simply try to stop sinning because it's bad--that will oftentimes not be enough to carry us through for the long run--but rather, we always have a choice--God or the world/flesh. To sin is to sin and do evil against God.
David goes onto ask for forgiveness of his sins and also asks for forgiveness for his sinful nature--that was "sinful from the time my mother conceived me." I think sometimes we can see this almost as an excuse. That David was blaming his sinful nature. But I think being that this is a confessional, he isn't blaming his sinful nature, but he is sorry for his utter depravity as a man and he is humbly acknowledging that.
Next, he is asking for forgiveness because he knows that the sins are totally his fault. "hide Your face from MY sins and blot out all MY iniquity." We too often blame our sin on outside circumstances or others. We think things like, "I have the right to blow up because my life sucks right now and that guy is pissing me off." or "I have the right to have lustful thoughts because my life stinks." But in reality, when we do such things, we are simply blaming God because who created those circumstances for you in the first place? God does not tempt us to sin and He would not want us to sin, so we can clearly see we are just trying to blame something (just like Adam and Eve), when in reality, our sins are OUR sins. They are no one's faults but our own.
Lastly, David saw that what God desired was not more sacrifices or rituals--God doesn't want to see your confession through a sudden spurt of prayer, or reading the Bible more, or any other acts. But He desires the heart. A broken and contrite heart. He wants us to be humble and to recognize our sinful pride as humans. He does not NEED us to serve Him. He simply wants our hearts and for us to humbly bow before Him. Personally, I think when our hearts are in such a posture/stance, we will naturally sacrifice or pray or read the Bible or this or that...and that is when those sacrifices take on true meaning that God desires.
We all have sin. Some BIG. Some small. Will you humbly recognize your sin and confess it with a truly broken and contrite heart? (Remember brokenness is not seen on the outside, but it's a matter of our hearts. Only our own selves can tell if we are being broken or not). Will you stop blaming circumstance and recognize what you have done?
So I think no matter how great our sin, this psalm pertains to each one of us. Lastly, before I go into some more of this passage, I want to say that David had the right mindset. That is, our sin's greatest consequences are consequences in the spiritual realm. Oftentimes our sins also have natural consequences..some that are sadly even irreversible--broken friendships, STD's, health problems, lost jobs, bad reputation etc. etc.-- but even with these seemingly bad natural consequences which grab our attention, the spiritual consequences of feeling distant from God are far worse. It is a distraction of the enemy to make us constantly focused on the natural consequences and to not let us worried about the spiritual consequences. I think I'll eventually write some more of my thoughts about this--check Genesis 3.
As for this passage, David asks for forgiveness. He sees that all his sin in and of itself can be seen as morally bad, but more important that his sin is "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." We must come to realize that we shouldn't simply try to stop sinning because it's bad--that will oftentimes not be enough to carry us through for the long run--but rather, we always have a choice--God or the world/flesh. To sin is to sin and do evil against God.
David goes onto ask for forgiveness of his sins and also asks for forgiveness for his sinful nature--that was "sinful from the time my mother conceived me." I think sometimes we can see this almost as an excuse. That David was blaming his sinful nature. But I think being that this is a confessional, he isn't blaming his sinful nature, but he is sorry for his utter depravity as a man and he is humbly acknowledging that.
Next, he is asking for forgiveness because he knows that the sins are totally his fault. "hide Your face from MY sins and blot out all MY iniquity." We too often blame our sin on outside circumstances or others. We think things like, "I have the right to blow up because my life sucks right now and that guy is pissing me off." or "I have the right to have lustful thoughts because my life stinks." But in reality, when we do such things, we are simply blaming God because who created those circumstances for you in the first place? God does not tempt us to sin and He would not want us to sin, so we can clearly see we are just trying to blame something (just like Adam and Eve), when in reality, our sins are OUR sins. They are no one's faults but our own.
Lastly, David saw that what God desired was not more sacrifices or rituals--God doesn't want to see your confession through a sudden spurt of prayer, or reading the Bible more, or any other acts. But He desires the heart. A broken and contrite heart. He wants us to be humble and to recognize our sinful pride as humans. He does not NEED us to serve Him. He simply wants our hearts and for us to humbly bow before Him. Personally, I think when our hearts are in such a posture/stance, we will naturally sacrifice or pray or read the Bible or this or that...and that is when those sacrifices take on true meaning that God desires.
We all have sin. Some BIG. Some small. Will you humbly recognize your sin and confess it with a truly broken and contrite heart? (Remember brokenness is not seen on the outside, but it's a matter of our hearts. Only our own selves can tell if we are being broken or not). Will you stop blaming circumstance and recognize what you have done?
