Psalm 55:1-8 Restless Prayer Syndrome

James J. Tissot,
'David Quits Jerusalem' (1898-1902),
The Jewish Museum, New York.

This psalm contains David’s lament at the betrayal he suffered at the hands of his closest counselor. Previously, I have focused my comments mostly on verses from the middle part of the psalm (e.g., 9-11, 12-14, 16-18). So, for this post, I will do something new and focus on the first eight verses while not ignoring the rest of the psalm.

Give ear to my prayer, O God,
    and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
Attend to me, and answer me;
    I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
because of the noise of the enemy,
    because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
    and in anger they bear a grudge against me. (v.1-3)

Perhaps you have seen the endless commercials for prescription drugs for an array of ailments including “restless leg syndrome.” While I don’t suffer from such an ailment, there are times when I can’t get comfortable sitting still. Recently, this happened when a headache kept me from a good night’s sleep. When thinking about these experiences and reading Psalm 55, I wonder if David suffered from a “restless prayer syndrome” where he couldn’t stop pouring out his complaints and prayers for God’s delivering mercy. I wonder if our focus is on our complaint or our plea for mercy in times like that. We all could name people who are heavy on the complaint and light on asking for mercy… because we don’t want to admit that we need it. While David had legitimate personal and corporate complaints, he knew all too well that he constantly needed divine mercy. Also in David’s favor was that “he knew a guy” upon whom he should cast his burdens… the Lord Himself!

My current office is in a building shared with a large Christian preschool. Every morning I hear a cacophony of crying and some pretty regular tantrums that pierce the wall and assault my ears. While those children are not enemies, I sometimes feel restless and even groan a bit because the noise is exhausting. However, some people experience far worse and face debilitating pain, either physically, or relationally. Still, others are persecuted by those in power because of their faith, moral stands, or political beliefs, and they take those situations to God in prayer.

At the time this psalm was written, David had not only been betrayed by his closest counselor (Ahithophel) but also by his own son (Absalom). Rather than fight for his life and rights, David fled for his life out of Jerusalem (See the narrative in 2 Samuel 15-16). Yet, in his heart, he didn’t go so far that he couldn’t hear their shouting and crude behavior from the city walls (v. 9-11). Such wanton hate manifested in violence and immorality grieved David and had him looking for an exit strategy to fly away and find peace.

Mourning Dove. Photo: Cliff Fahey Sr.

My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
I would hurry to find a shelter
    from the raging wind and tempest.” (v.4-8)

Yet, he was not a dove who could fly away. He was responsible for the people with him and was about to be pursued. I can picture every step he took being punctuated with prayer for mercy and longing for God to bring the counsel of the wicked to an end.

Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
    ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace. (v. 9-11)

David poetically observes seven wrong things among those who didn't fear God and betrayed their friends. Can you find them all? [*See answer below] This description in v. 10-11 reminds me of Habakkuk’s complaint to the Lord (Hab. 1:2-4) which was answered by the revelation that righteous judgment would come swiftly at the hands of the Babylonian army.

David mourns the loss of his former friend and counselor. Sometimes people will fail us even when they don’t mean to. Others will intentionally betray their friends when they see some profit in doing so. David experienced it 3500 years ago. Such behavior is still present today. Paul warned Timothy,

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.  (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

There are plenty of problems for us to pray about, and plenty of areas in our hearts we need to surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We should not love ourselves more than we love God and others. If we love Jesus, and we know that he loves us, we want to talk to him about most everything. Our prayer life can develop into a running conversation where we talk to the Lord and then listen for how he will answer not in a transactional way but in a relational sense. We will enjoy sheltering in his presence.

The world around us is often unsafe because it is filled with people with evil in their hearts. David minces no words in trusting that the Lord will bring justice upon the betrayers and verses 15 and 23 are especially intense and even prophetic.

Not only was David restlessly consistent and even relentless in calling on the Lord God but toward the end of the psalm, he encourages the readers/hearers to cast their burden on the Lord who will never betray.

Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved." (v.22)

Prayer doesn’t need to be a duty or a discipline when we are in need. In those times we will pray restless prayers like David longing for the comfort and deliverance found in God. In times of joy and abundance, we will pray out of an overflow of gratitude.

I hope that we never get comfortable with a prayer-less life. May the Spirit use either need or joy to make us restless to speak to our Savior! Flying away like a dove rarely brings true rest. Instead, lasting peace comes from running to the Lord who rewards those who seek him (Heb. 11:6).

What a precious truth it is that he is with us no matter where we are or what we face.

 

*Answer: In verses 10-11 David poetically observes seven wrong things when the city was in the hands of those faithless betrayers. Violence, strife, iniquity, trouble, ruin, oppression, and fraud.

 

Psalm 54 David's Data Breach in Ziph

Photo by Arif Riyanto on Unsplash

After the epigraph, which helps to set the specific context of this psalm, this short, seven-verse psalm gets right after it. There is no gradual build-up, no extended metaphors or subtle poetry. David had a problem and was quite direct in his prayer to the only one who could save him.

The initial epigram reminds us that the Ziphites took David’s personal information and sold it on the dark web to the bad actor, King Saul. They did it twice! The first time was recorded in 1 Samuel 23.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.” (1 Sam. 23:19-20)

A Ziph-like shot of the Judean Mts. Photo: Greg K. Dueker2011

King Saul commended them for this breach and asked them to keep spying on David (v.22-24). This information dump allowed Saul to hotly pursue David ‘round the mountain until reports of a Philistine raid arrived and Saul had to break off the chase. David named that place seh'-lah hammakh-lek-oth' or “The rock of escape.”

Later, in 1 Samuel 26, the Ziphites informed Saul about David again.

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. (1 Sam. 26:1-3)

The Ziphites, by their treachery, violated the universal law of hospitality they should have kept toward the anointed one who lived in their midst. Understandably, David felt utterly betrayed, yet his focus was on the help of the Lord being better than the help of humanity.

From the beginning of this psalm, he mentions “your name” in parallel with “your might” as the answer to his cry for salvation and longing to be heard.

Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

If God doesn’t do anything in answer to our prayers, then why would David pray so fervently that God would hear his prayer? He prayed that God would “hear” his prayer and give ear to his words because he fully believed that when God hears us, he acts as is natural for him to act—by saving his people, sharing his goodness, and bringing justice down upon the wicked! As I was thinking about the parallel structure of David’s request in v.2, “Hear my prayer/ give ear to the words of my mouth” it caused me to wonder how much of what we say is prayer and even how much of what we say do we want the Lord to hear? Ouch! Instead of ignoring God in my speech, what if “all the words of my mouth” were a prayer?

In v.3 the psalmist refers to “strangers/ ruthless men” … not so much foreign adversaries but those in Israel who did not practice the protective hospitality of God. Instead, they seek to kill the supplicant, which in this case was the young pre-king David. Why would they be so unneighborly? I would say it was the natural result of their selfishness… “They do not set God before themselves.”

Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash

Will we struggle alone trusting our own strength and wisdom to contend for our rights, the respect we feel we deserve, and even a good return on our retirement accounts? Or will we like David trust God to be our “helper/upholder” (v.4)?

Behold, God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Being a helper is not just women’s work (as some misinterpret Gen 2:18,20) it is the faithful work of God! We need more warrior-helpers today! We can all appreciate those who encourage us in our difficulties with their words and actions. What if we, as the body of Christ, were more concerned about upholding others than knocking them down?

Some people are evil and thus unjust. Some show themselves to be our enemies, but it is not our job to destroy them, God will bring their wicked plans back upon them. Their evil intentions will come back to bite them... hard! This is less a Davidic imprecation than a statement of fact about how God works in the lives of his people.

He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your faithfulness put an end to them. (v.5)

I am reminded of a verse in Proverbs that says, “Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.” (Prov. 26:2) In their case there is cause in abundance!

The psalmist confidently declares that he will worship the Lord in an overflow of gratitude for deliverance… even though the deliverance has not happened yet. Let us not miss the “freewill offering” aspect of v. 6. The psalmist sees such sacrificial giving as joyful worship, not a begrudgingly compliant obligation.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. (v.6)

If we wait for everything to be perfect before we worship with our giving, it will likely never happen. There will always be one more problem to face, one more crisis to conquer, one more debt to pay, one more day to wait. The blessing available to us is that we can enter into victorious living even amid hardship if we choose a life of generous gratitude! We can enter the joy of the Lord right now! To this point, Paul commended the glad generosity of the Philippian church in Macedonia who gave despite severe circumstances.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord… (2 Cor. 8:1-3)

In concluding my comments on this psalm, I would say that once we confess, pray, put our trust in the Lord, gratefully worship, and by faith see the future victory we should not forget our testimony. We should be bold in telling the good things that God has done for us. Even if today’s issue has not yet been resolved in our experience, we can testify to how God has delivered us in the past.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. (v.7)

What the enemy intends for evil, God in his amazing love can coopt and use for good. Waiting is hardly ever enjoyable, but trusting the Lord can smuggle contentment into almost any difficulty... even this election season. 

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

How will we prepare for the coming week? 

Will we proactively ask for God’s help? 

Will we talk to the Lord about all that is happening in our lives? 

Will we respond to the challenges we face this week by committing them to the Lord’s justice and mercy? 

I hope so.

 

Psalm 53 Hearing the Word

Photo: Greg K. Dueker

This psalm is nearly identical to Psalm 14 which I covered a decade ago in a well-read post entitled, Wise Up! However, Psalm 53 has a different target audience. This version may be speaking the words of Psalm 14 to the nations outside Israel rather than the unbelievers within the nation. 

It has often been said that this is the verse to read on April 1 (since in the US, it is known as April Fool’s Day). However, it is too easy to relegate the message of this short psalm to “those other people”, the professed atheists, those who vehemently deny the existence and goodness of God. However, verse 5 suggests that while this psalm originally addressed those who were the enemies of God’s people, and promised not only that they would be utterly destroyed but that history would hold no honor for them as well (God will scatter their bones), the flavor of the psalm as a whole shows the pervasive corruption of humanity (v. 2-3). It should also be said that a "fool" in the biblical sense is not someone who is unintelligent but someone who rejects God and trusts in his own riches (see how this psalm follows 51 and 52).

This reminds me that both insiders and outsiders are in desperate need of God’s mercy and his grace.

In this reflection, I would like to bring verse 1 a little closer to each of us.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
    there is none who does good.

Author Unknown

Now as believers in the triune God through faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ, we would never say that there is no God. Or would we? I find that whenever it is easy to point the finger at others I am in a dangerous position. When we read a Bible passage or hear a sermon preached, and our first thought is about how another person needs to hear and heed that message, then we have become self-deceived. Instead, in the spirit of ophthalmic log removal (Matt. 7:3-5; Luke 6:41-42), we should internalize the application before projecting it on others. If it is the Holy Spirit’s job to bring a conviction of sin, then we should listen to what he is saying about the condition of our hearts instead of quickly trying to take the devil’s job and accuse others.

What is good and pure in us comes from God not out of our inherent virtue. When we deny the existence of God, or at least the authority of God over our life we cut ourselves off from the great good, understanding, and lovingly wise plan God has in His heart for us. In verse one, we see that the fool denies the existence of God and also find a description of behavior that takes place when humanity denies the existence, power, presence, and goodness of God.

If I were to “bring this verse home,” letting it read my life, instead of projecting its message onto others, I would say that when I sin, it is in moments of practical atheism. When I don’t take the powerfully wise and loving presence of the One True God into consideration I fall into the gravitational pull of self and begin to sin in my attitudes, actions, and inactions. Further, despite my amazing ability to downplay the intensity of my iniquity, my sin brings death and contagious corruption on so many levels. When I don’t walk in relationship with Jesus Christ I quickly fall to the place where the psalmist’s words describe me, and in truth all of us, “They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.”

Anytime that we sin, we are either practical atheists or we are denying the omni-s of his divine nature.

• Omniscient—God is all-knowing. There is no subject in which he needs us to educate him. No area of our lives is hidden from his sight—and yet he still loves us. We don’t need to make excuses because they would never work since He knows our motivation better than we do. Yet, all this knowledge is not abstract and distanced but relational and tender. That leads us to the next point.
• Omnipresent—God is present everywhere. There is nowhere we can go without him being there ahead of us (Psalm 139). We can’t hide from his care, nor are we ever alone and unnoticed. Because He is there all the time, He sees and remembers every kind word we have said, or loving service done for others, even when it seems that no one noticed.
• Omnipotent—God is all-powerful. There is nothing too hard for him. He is no genie in a bottle following rules for wishes. He created everything that exists and holds the nations in the palm of his hands like so much dust on a scale (Isa. 40:12-17). What is our need when compared to his greatness? He is the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17)!

Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash

When tempted to sin, we make God small and distant in our perception. We try to keep him at a safe distance. That allows us to rationalize that he doesn’t know everything and doesn’t understand our situation, or that He isn’t present here and now in our circumstances, and that he either doesn’t have the power to fix our situation or doesn’t care to do so. And above all these misperceptions is the one that denies that we are loved, cherished, and valued by the Father, Son, and Spirit.

We do not need to make a name for ourselves, for any effort at self-glory damages everything it touches. We do not need to maintain our own “kingdoms” of perceived control for it is only the kingdom of God that is of lasting value. The good news is that deliverance, lasting liberty, and pervasive peace come from the Lord, in whom the psalmist put his hope in verse 6,

"Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

 When God restores the fortunes of his people,

                              let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."

They longed for salvation and trusted that it would come. This salvation to which the psalmist's community looked forward was fulfilled in Jesus... just not necessarily the way they might have thought.

Jesus, the Messiah of God, came and brought salvation that was deeper and wider than expected. It was not for one nation or ethnicity only but for the whole world (Isa. 49:5-6).

In my opinion, the fool of Psalms 14 and 53 is the person who trusts in themselves and refuses to allow their eyes to be opened to the brilliant work of God on their behalf. I am reminded of a passage in the New Testament that connects with this sentiment and offers an invitation.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:8-10)

Only when we can confess our inability to be all that we should be and when we can sorrowfully see the pain our actions have caused (to others and ourselves) will we draw near to God in desperate humble faith and hear him welcome us home, forgiven, in overflowing love.

I could say that this is a message that others need to hear, but I am thankful that the Spirit knows what I need to hear as he searches my heart, honest to God! Join me as we listen together! 

 

Psalm 52 Don't Be A Doeg!

Doeg, slaying the priests at Nob
Public Domain,
https://en.wikipedia.org
/w/index.php?curid=4275500

This psalm is one of the few written in which we know the specific context that provoked its writing. This psalm is David’s poetic response, where he processed the betrayal and horrific actions of Saul’s head herdsman, Doeg the Edomite. Not only did Doeg rat out David’s location to the increasingly paranoid Saul but he murdered eighty-five innocent priests serving at the Tabernacle. The sad narrative of betrayal, misplaced retribution and a significant slaughter is found in 1 Samuel 22:6-23. It is a narrative all too common down through history. Times when those in power, fearing the loss of that power, act unjustly towards those they perceive as enemies. Some balk at carrying such orders as Saul gave that day (22:17) but there are always wicked people with no such qualms. Not only were eighty-five priests killed at Doeg’s hand but all but one in Nob, their priestly city were slain. “Both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.” (22:19).

Against this backdrop, David writes the words of this short psalm. The opening verses poetically describe Doeg the worker of destruction, particularly focusing on what he had said. The description indicates that Doeg said more than the brief report of 1 Sam. 22:9-10.

“I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

These words sound like a simple report of the facts. However, David’s description suggests that much more was involved—either in its content or its intent.

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
Your tongue plots destruction,
    like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
    and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue. (Psalm 52:1-4)

Doeg loved evil and lying more than good. Upon such a genuinely wicked man, David pronounced God’s coming judgment.

But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah (v.5)

I am impressed with the parade of parallel imprecatory verbs associated with what God would do to Doeg and those like him.

• 

  Photo by Zhang Kenny on Unsplash

  Break you down: This word communicates a repeated beat down, pulling down and breaking off as of branches from a tree, stones from a wall (2 Kings 25:10), or beams from a house. Another interesting use of this term is regarding the contamination of a house by dread disease/toxic mold (Lev. 14:45). Could we connect Doeg’s inner contagion and the rules for cleansing a house? It sounds like David might have done just that.
• Snatch you up: the picture of being seized quickly for destruction and then dropped like a fiery coal. One moment it was business as usual and the next everything changed for the worse. Judgment is often postponed, but when it comes it snatches suddenly and irrevocably.
• Tear you away: used of being plucked out of one’s house, tent, or land. While God prefers to plant and sow, he also will pluck up and tear down the wicked and treacherous (àProv. 2:22; 15:25; Deut. 28:63)
• Uproot you from: God will pull you out roots and all. No trace will be left in “the land of the living” (àIsa 40:23-24). Where else is such imagery for the traceless demise of the wicked found? Psalm 1:4 may have been in David’s mind since a couple of verses later he refers to himself as a green olive tree (v.8) which correlates with the tree metaphor used for the righteous man in Psalm 1:3.

The folly of wickedness and shortsightedness in trusting our wealth and power instead of making God our refuge becomes evident. It is a pattern from which we should learn to go the other way. Esau despised his birthright for a bowl of soup (Gen. 25). Nabal trusted his wealth and despised David’s request (1 Sam. 25). Many kings sought worldly wealth and power instead of the peace and eternal life found in the One True God. Jesus told the story about the rich fool who built bigger barns without consulting the Lord’s counsel for his selfish indulgence instead of graciously sharing his abundance with others (Luke 12:13-21). In the early church, there was the episode with Ananias and Saphira who made a show of giving but still held back wealth for themselves (Acts 5:1-10). This is only a small sample from an extensive list.

These things were written for our instruction… but will we learn the lesson? Will we be servants of Christ, who though shrewd as serpents are innocent as doves (Mt. 10:16) loving one another and working for the common good? Or will we be like Doeg, excusing our evil desires and shockingly brutal actions as faithful service to an unjust political or economic power? Saying, “I was just following orders,” is no longer an adequate defense. Perhaps it never was.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Later, David’s son Solomon understood how important it was to remove the infection of wicked men from those who govern the people and not allow evil to lobby for injustice. He included it in his collection of proverbs.

Take away the dross from the silver,
    and the smith has material for a vessel;
take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness. (Prov. 25:4-5)

Notice that not only are there parallels between dross/the wicked, and between the smith/the king, but a righteous throne is like a silver vessel, a serving tool to share with others.

Here, in the situation addressed by Psalm 52  David saw himself like the one described in Psalm 1:1-3 who does not learn the ways of the wicked or participate with sinners and scoffers in their ways and works. Again, his son Solomon would later say something similar in Prov. 24:1-2

Be not envious of evil men,
    nor desire to be with them,
for their hearts devise violence,
    and their lips talk of trouble.

Olives in Jerusalem. Photo: Greg K. Dueker

Instead of emulating wicked men, David’s delight was in the Lord and thus could use the well-watered tree metaphor.

But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever. (v.8) 

Remember, the psalms give us the vocabulary to express our feelings honestly to the Lord. This one is no different. Here David processes his anger, outrage, and dismay, at what Doeg had done. Yet, instead of taking vengeance into his own hands, he trusted God to handle the situation. He wrote with the confidence of one who has already seen it happen, though it had not. David’s early years are challenging to our culture of self-advancement and demanding our rights. David, though anointed to be king, never took the timing of the fulfillment of that anointing into his own hands.

I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly. (v.9)

Filled with gratitude and goodness, not hate, let us wait for the Lord Jesus Christ along with the community of faith! And while we are waiting, maybe we should cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he cleans our hearts, our words, and our ways… today. 

Psalm 51 Take Not Your Holy Spirit From Me

Photo by Sean Robertson on Unsplash

This famous psalm contains the penitential prayer of David after his sin with Bathsheba became known. In 2 Samuel 12, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront David for his sin. To understand the depth of grief in David’s prayer here in Psalm 51, it is helpful to reread how God delivered the message to David that prompted the prayer.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Allow me to interject here that this is a great metaphor for what sin does… it is the taking, killing, and consuming of another person’s pet lamb or something even more dear. Like any normal person, David was angered by the injustice in Nathan’s report. But there was more to the story.

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. (2 Samuel 12:1-9)

Nathan came to the king with a compelling word picture that allowed David to emotionally pronounce judgment on another person over the hypothetical taking and killing of a poor man’s pet lamb. Perhaps we would like to judge David for this outburst, however, is this not what we all tend to do? Instead of confessing and repenting of our own sins, we often project our guilt onto others. We have created an entire media culture that facilitates this cursed coping mechanism. There is so much we can learn from the Lord and Nathan’s approach, but that is not the focus of this post.

Instead, from Psalm 51, I want to consider how we respond when conviction for our sins comes upon us.

“You are that man!” Oh no!

How do we respond when we become aware of our failure to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and have failed to love our neighbors as ourselves? Will we deny doing anything wrong and embrace a lie, or will we contritely admit the truth and run to our merciful God, our Heavenly Father who loves us?

As the narrative reveals, King David was far from perfect, and he did some horrific things.[1] Yet when he realized that he had sinned, he repented wholeheartedly... with no denials, no excuses, no minimization, and no blaming. He didn't go all "Saul" on the corrective message or the messenger. How do we respond when the Holy Spirit convicts us that we have sinned? Psalm 51 is a great primer on how to confess and repent.

How do we handle guilt over our actions, inactions, attitudes, and thoughts? Do we cover it up or switch to a fight or flight reaction? Or do we realize that God knows the deep truth about us and that the best response is to confess? The reality of our failures is that there will come a time when they can be denied no longer. It is far better to be a quick confessor!

Confession (v. 3-4)

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash

When we confess, we are saying, “Yep, I did it (i.e., ‘I know my transgressions…’v.3) and you are completely right to judge me” (v.4). David’s conscience had been activated by conviction and now he couldn’t unsee his sin. Further, he recognizes that all sin ultimately was against the Lord. He was not denying that he hurt people but recognizing that the Lord was the ultimate recipient of that hurt… not just the poor man whose lamb was taken but the one who is the Lamb of God as seen in type through the OT sacrificial system.

In verses 5-6, David owned up to his systemic fallenness. Allow me to paraphrase, “I have a sinful nature; it seems that even as an infant I was not sinless, yet you teach me wisdom in my heart/inward being (v.5-6). He knew that God doesn’t wait for perfection before he gets involved in our lives but walks with us and teaches us along the way… if we have ears to hear.

David knew that he had sinned against the heart of God and taken from others that which he could not give back. Yet, because he valued his walk with God he came to God in this prayer of faith and deep humility and asked some honest requests.

Petition: Requests he asked of God…

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Have mercy on me (v.1) and not just any run-of-the-mill mercy but mercy that is “according to your steadfast love.” Mercy is not getting the dreadful thing that you deserve. David knew he deserved death and pleaded for that mercy sourced in and suited for God’s steadfast love (Heb. hesed). And just as that hesed abounds in God’s nature, so David asked for abundant mercy so that his second round of requests might be accomplished. 

     Blot out my transgressions (v.1d,9)

         Wash me thoroughly (v. 2, 7)

               Purge and cleanse me (v.7)

These three requests are all in one accord, asking for the same thing. David wanted to be clean inside and out. While used in parallel, we might see subtle variations on a theme. He wanted to be set free from the guilt of what he had done, washed from all the lingering external residue, and even deep-cleaned on the inside cutting off sin at its root, a prideful heart.

All he experienced until the Lord forgave and restored him was the opposite of joy, but in hope, he prayed, “Let me hear joy and gladness” (for I am consumed with sorrow and regret). David knew something about a right relationship with God—it is the source of joy. As people who have received forgiveness through Jesus Christ, we too should lean into the joy and gladness of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, David humbly asked for healing as he confessed his brokenness (v.8) As a shepherd, David knew that sometimes a shepherd must break the leg of a wandering sheep of its own good. During the recovery time, they are always in the presence of the shepherd and learn that life is better there than wandering among wolves and lions.

Then David wrote/prayed the well-known words that many of us have fervently sung as well as prayed down through the centuries,

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit. (v.10-12)

These three short verses encapsulate the cries of the hearts of all who not only know and mourn their sins but who also know the God who is “slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness.” What might seem at first to be six densely packed requests are three pairings of parallel requests.

In the first pairing, David asked God to create and renew a clean heart/right spirit “within me” where he only knew the stain of his sins and the wrong thinking and sorrow they produced. In the third pairing, we see that the restoration of the joy of salvation (echoing v. 8) is tied to a willing spirit that upholds us in difficulty.

While I can personally relate to David repeatedly asking for cleansing, and renewed joy, it is the relational request of the middle pairing (v.11) that captures my heart this week.

Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me. (v.11)

I propose that neither of the other pairings are possible without the Lord granting this request. Even if we were cleansed, we could not hope to remain so if God removed his presence from us. Not only that but what enduring joy could we have apart from the Spirit? This might not seem important to us because we often undervalue the Holy Spirit. However, David knew what happened to his predecessor—Saul—when because of his stubborn heart and refusal to confess his sin, God had removed his Spirit from him (1 Sam. 16:14). David had witnessed Saul’s torment, jealousy, and fits of homicidal madness all too often. He would not have wanted to be like Saul, and I am sure that such memories added to the intensity of his plea. Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t merely dole out heavenly currency to meet our needs, he gives us his very self! The presence of the Lord is life (1 John 5:11-12).

This psalm is a blessing for those who know they have sinned and long to be right with God. It not only gives us the language to bare our soul before the Lord, but it is also a prayer that God answered for David (the psalmist) and will answer for us today through Jesus Christ! But having been forgiven, will we teach others God's ways, or will we return to our own?

Declaration

Right after this prayer of petition, there is a pledge of faithful living from then on. David declared what he would do upon being cleansed, kept close, and restored to the joy of salvation. He would be an example for others to follow. Something he could not be without the inclusion of both his failures and his repentant faithfulness. He planned to sing aloud and declare God’s praise. Recently on a church worship and prayer night, we sang Cody Carnes’ song Bless God, which includes these lyrics,

Come on and bring your offering
Sing if you've known His grace
Come on and lift up your holy hands
He's worthy of all our praise.

Bless God in the sanctuary
Bless God in the fields of plenty
Bless God in the darkest valley
Every chance I get
I bless Your name.

This is exactly what David said he would do upon experiencing such desperately needed grace. The Lord doesn’t long to smell more burning meat on the sacrificial altar’s grill. He desires a different type of sacrifice—that of “a broken and contrite heart” (v.17).

What is the sign of such a sacrificial heart? It is confession. Instead of walking the path of rationalization, minimization, and deflection, a contrite heart admits its moments of weakness, acts of disobedience, and attitudes of independence and rebellion.

A dozen years ago I commented on this psalm, “In this great psalm of repentance, David acknowledged the kind of sacrifice God accepts...a broken and contrite heart. Such hearts like his are in short supply these days having lost their shelf space to more popular and less helpful indulgences like denial, pride, excuses, pride, technical confession without remorse, and did I mention pride?”

The Holy Spirit Draws Us Back to Jesus

If we have not grown hard of heart and calloused of conscience when we become aware of our sin, our guilty hearts often hear two voices speak—one condemns and the other convicts. We do well to learn the difference.

Condemnation is the voice of the accuser speaking to our fears and shame warning us to get as far away from the angry, judgmental, punitive God as we can, for we no longer deserve his love, and he doesn’t want anything to do with us. Remember that the accuser—Satan—is the father of lies.

The other voice is that of conviction. Conviction is the voice of the Holy Spirit reminding us that we can’t save ourselves and that we need to get to Jesus Christ, the lover of our soul, as quickly as we can, for Jesus is our light, life, and everlasting hope! John tells it straight,

Come unto me...

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 ESV)

If we are sorry for our sin, and don’t merely turn away from a harmful attitude or behavior but
return to our merciful Lord Jesus we should have no fear that the Holy Spirit will be taken from us.

Remember that God is greater than our hearts (1 John 3:20), so today, instead of self-condemnation, take time to thank the Lord for the forgiveness and cleansing he has given to us! David did.

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[1] [Note: the regular inclusion of the faults and sins of “heroic” biblical characters is solid evidence that the Bible is not propaganda but a true historical narrative.]