Psalm 51 - Ingrained Sin
- Chad Werkhoven
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
God's re-creating power sets you free from bone crushing sin.
Psalm 51
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 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.
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.
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 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.
Canons of Dordt
Article 3: Total Inability
All people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath,
unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil,
dead in their sins, and slaves to sin.
Without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit
they are neither willing nor able to return to God,
to reform their distorted nature,
or even to dispose themselves to such reform.
Summary
Psalm 51 grips our hearts as it exposes our need that results from our moral failures in life. Our moral failures are not simply a matter of what we do. They are a matter of what we do because of who we are. Our need is for something outside of ourselves to make a radical difference within ourselves. Our need is for God—but not for just any god. Our need is for the God who will speak in truth about our desperate condition and who will act in love for our salvation. Our need is twofold: We need reconciliation (51:1–9), and we need transformation (51:10–19). We need justification, and we need sanctification. To experience these, we need repentance, and the way of repentance is set forth clearly and eloquently in Psalm 51.
Dig Deeper
David understood well the doctrine of total depravity that we've been working our way through these last couple of weeks. His prayer of confession here in Psalm 51 serves as one of the foundational supporting texts for this doctrine, as he realizes that not only was he sinful at birth, but that he was sinful from the time his mother conceived him.
David realizes that his problem runs far deeper than just some bad habits he's picked up or misguided desires he has from time to time. As a son of Adam, David's entire being had been corrupted, just as it has for the rest of us. As such, David's life needs more than just a little tinkering or fine tuning to be fixed.
Futato writes, "We are perpetually confronted with the temptation to blame others or our circumstances for our troubles. So we frequently pray that God would change other people and change our circumstances. David resists this temptation here."
This is why David's key request is for God to create in me a pure heart, O God. David doesn't ask God to fix this or repair that; he doesn't blame others for his failures. Rather, he realizes that the only way he could ever find peace with God is for his heart - that is, his intellect, emotions and volition - to be made completely new again.
Make David's prayer your prayer as another week draws to a close and you prepare for God to continue renewing a steadfast spirit within you as you gather with His people in His house to worship Him.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is merciful according to His unfailing love;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God would continue to change you and to grow your re-created heart through His Word;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Luke 6
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