A Sinner's Repentant Heart

Psalm 51

Who was he hiding it from? Was anyone in the dark about what had happened? Did God know what David had done?

No, David’s sin was not hidden from anyone, especially not God. But David was doing a great job of justifying his actions to himself.

And then the prophet Nathan stepped in and opened David’s eyes to the depth of his transgression.

The king was truly repentant and he appeals to God’s merciful lovingkindness.

“From your unfailing, covenant love, Lord, forgive my sin. Act in accordance to your nature and be gracious to me, O Lord.” (verse 1-2)

David uses three different terms for taking away his sin and three different terms for sin. He is sick of his sin and he seeks complete and restorative forgiveness.

“Blot out” my “transgressions.” (vs. 1b)

Transgressions here indicate acts of disobedience or rebellion. David wants them “blotted out”.

What does blot out bring to mind? To wipe clean, wipe out, off or away, to rub over, abolish, destroy or erase.

Ancient ink would just lay on the surface of paper because it didn’t have any acid in it to make it sink in. So when a mistake was made the writer would simply take a sponge and wipe the writing off revealing a blank paper. This is what David wanted - a blank slate.

“Wipe away my disobedience, Lord.”

2. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.” (vs. 2a)

This term for sin, iniquity is the perversion or distortion of right, or to engage in wrongdoing.

It is not enough to just blot out his sin, David desires to be washed and washed again. To be beaten or trampled on in the washing process to clean thoroughly. He doesn’t just want the outside shell to be clean, HE wants to be clean!

“Completely and utterly scrub me clean of my wrongdoing, Lord.”

3. “Cleanse me from my sin.” (vs. 3a)

Sin is defined as going astray or missing the mark. But David was thinking of it as a defilement which would make a person ritually unclean.

When a person had a skin disorder like leprosy they were ritually unclean until (and if) they were healed, and washed and pronounced clean by the priest. Cleansing meant to be clean, bright, or morally pure. Again, David desired to be clean and pure.

“Purify me of defilement, Lord.”

David realizes that, in the end he has ultimately sinned against God alone and God is justified in His judgement. (vs. 4)

In the depths of his sin, David can truly see himself as a sinner from birth (vs 5)!

When was the last time you experienced the wretchedness of your own sin and pleaded with God to cleanse you?

From where does God want to erase or cleanse us of our sin?

God is not in the business of keeping heavenly ledger books. He is instead interested in our minds and hearts and characters. He wants to erase the sinfulness from our inner most being.

David once again asked God for forgiveness in verses 7-9. He uses the same terms (as verses 1-2) but in reverse order.

“Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean” Psalm 51:7a

“Wash me and I shall be whiter that snow.” Psalm 51:7b

“…blot out all my iniquities.” Psalm 51:9b

David knew his sin truly needed to be removed in his inner most being. This is why he cries out to God to

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10