Psalm 51:13
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
Now that David has confessed his sin and asked for
forgiveness, this next section (verses 13-17) shows us how a forgiven sinner responds to their forgiveness.
Firstly, here in verse 13, he commits himself to sharing
what he knows of God with others, so that they too can turn away from sin and be forgiven. So often when we think about evangelism, it's as something we OUGHT to do, to please God (or, perhaps, to stop other Christians nagging us about it!) Whereas here we see evangelism as the natural reaction of someone who is so aware of what he has been saved from, and so grateful for that
rescue, that he longs to see others rescued and forgiven as he has been. It's not just that David thinks that their life might be a little bit richer if they knew God ... he sees that they have done evil in God's sight just as David has.
And so he knows that their only hope is to have their sins washed away, as his have been.
Is that how we see our unbelieving family, friends and
neighbours? Do we long to see them turn back to God not simply so they'd stop thinking we were weird(!) but so that they can have their sins washed away by Jesus. If I'm honest, I don't think I share David's priority here. But rather than needing a course of evangelism training, I think I need to remember again just what a blessing it is for me to be forgiven. So I'm praying that God would
make me so grateful for my salvation that I would really want to share it with others. Perhaps you might want to pray the same?
