Psalm 51:1-2
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
So far in these psalms we've thought a lot about how God's unfailing love is a help to us in times of trouble. We've seen psalmists facing direct assault from armed enemies, and the treachery of deceitful accusations.
But Psalm 51 reminds us that our greatest danger comes to us not from the world outside but from within. It is our sin, our transgressions, our iniquity, from which we most need to be rescued.
Perhaps we especially need to remember this at the moment, when we are so busy 'staying alert' to danger from 'out there'. Yes, Covid-19 is a danger, especially to those who are more physically vulnerable among us.
But it's only a possible danger ... Something we MIGHT catch. Sin has infected us already. Every single one of us. There's no 'if I sin' or 'just in case I transgress' in these verses. David knows that his sin is a terrible, present
reality, not just a vague future possibility.
This psalm is David's prayer after being confronted by the
prophet Nathan, who rebuked him for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and for arranging the murder of Bathsheba's husband in an attempted cover-up. Bad
enough for anyone to have done this, but David is the leader of God's people. He’s not only guilty of personal immorality but also of abuse of power and a failure
of leadership. No wonder he's conscious of his sin!
Our experience won't be identical to David's, but we are
still in the same boat. We need God to have mercy on us. We are sinners who need to be cleansed. Right now, I
imagine that some of us are really conscious of our sin, some of us are weighed down by guilt for things that aren't actually sinful at all, and some of us are
unaware of our guilt, wondering why we can't read a more encouraging psalm instead!
Let's pray that as we work our way through this psalm, God would be at work in each of us, opening our eyes to see clearly both the reality of our sin and the reality of his unfailing love and great compassion.
