Abiding in the PsalmsSample

Brokenness Have you ever messed up really badly? Like, really badly? We all have. We have all made mistakes. Maybe you spoke terribly about a friend, or your selfishness broke a friendship. Maybe you cheated on a test – or maybe even your boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe you said something horrible to a family member’s face or spoke to a teacher disrespectfully? In this psalm, David has messed up. He not only slept with somebody else’s wife, but after doing so he sent her husband to the front lines of battle – he sent her husband to his death. This psalm has David realising his immense mistakes and pleading with God to forgive him. David knew God well; we see this through the numerous psalms before this moment, yet he is still a sinner, an imperfect man. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love” (v1a). David knew God’s unfailing, never-ceasing love. David clings onto this hope as he pleads with God, “blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (v1-2). David uses these words because he knows that when he sins there is a record of it. The sin hurts God deeply (“against you .. have I sinned”), and sin creates a record, a debt, and it calls for a punishment, to be paid back. Romans 6:23a says “For the wages of sin is death”. How could God forgive David without killing him there and then? In the New Testament we see the answer to this when Jesus comes down to us, into our mess, into our sin, and He saves us. He pays the debt that we should have paid ourselves. The second half of Romans 6:23 says “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. What an incredible gift. No matter what we have done, no matter what we have become, God calls us to come home. Questions Have you asked God for forgiveness? Why is this important to do? Pray Spend a moment with God, sharing with Him how you feel about this gift of grace and freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. Be real with Him!