SUNDAY SCRIPTURE (PSALMS 51)

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

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.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;

build up the walls of Jerusalem;

then will you delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psalms 51 (ESV)

King David wrote this after Nathan had confronted him with his sin. He had committed adultery with Uriah the Hittite's wife. He then orchestrated Uriah's death to cover up his sin. David was a liar, adulterer and murderer. Yet God chose him and filled him with His Holy Spirit.

David knew he could not stand on his own. His iniquity was too great. While his sins affected many people around him, he knew that it was God who he had really sinned against. When he lied, he lied to God. When he committed adultery, he cheated on God. When he murdered, his violence was directed at God.

This is the way it is with all sin. All our transgressions are against our Creator God. We take His good and right ways and throw them into the trash. We then spit in His face and walk away from Him. Yet God is patient towards us. He will create for us a path of salvation.

He does this through Jesus. Jesus cleanses us with His blood that was shed on the cross. He was the offering that fulfilled God's justice. This is God's gift to us. Only through faith in this can your sins be blotted out. Only by trusting in Jesus will God create in you a clean heart.

God desires a broken and contrite heart. This comes by recognizing our sins and confessing them to God. This comes by understanding how helpless you are and relying on the salvation that God has provided through the cross. Jesus is your only hope for forgiveness. He is your only hope for reconciliation with your Creator. Trust in Him today and be delivered from your bloodguilt.