We serve a God who knows our sinfulness and desires to free us from it. But often when we come to him for forgiveness, we want him to rescue us from the consequences of our sin, rather than from the sinfulness inside of us that is the cause of our sinful acts. Only brokenness over our sin will move us from looking to excuse our sinful acts to desiring a cure for our sinful nature.
Psalm 51 is written from such a state of brokenness. The heading says it was written after Nathan the prophet had confronted David about the Bathsheba affair. It reflects the Biblical process of repentance and longing for God to fix what is broken inside. It shows us that before we can be used by God to transform the world, we first have to experience that transformation ourselves.
In Psalm 51 the enemy is ourselves. Psalm 51 is an appeal to God to fight the sin that is at war in ourselves.
Breakdown of Psalm
Appeal to God for Help v1-2
Confession of Sin v3-5
Desire to Be What God Wants v7-12
Desire to Do What God Wants 13-19
