10/12/2020
Is redemption simply a matter of spouting off a few words? Is contrition no more than asking for forgiveness, or does the sorrow we feel in having sinned, and the absolute longing of our soul for forgiveness reach deep within us, and bring us to the verge of heartbreak and beneath the lentel of death’s door to the promise of forgiveness?
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Psalm 51:3 ESV
In Psalm 51, and 32, we see David learning what it means to be penitent, and we hear him pleading for forgiveness. He feels the separation from God that his sin with Bathsheba has brought, and is lost. Have you ever felt this way about a sin you have committed? Has sin in your life pressed it’s blade deep into you, and severely wounded your relationship with God? If so then you know what David is going through in these Psalms.
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
Psalm 32:3-5 ESV
David realized that the forgiveness he desired was beyond his own ability to achieve. In these two chapters we see that he didn’t promise God that he would give Him this, or that, to obtain forgiveness, no, he always knew that God, by His mercy and grace, had to help him in this regard... there was nothing he had that could be bartered for his forgiveness... no amount of grief, or well constructed prayer, that could earn his redemption.
“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!”
Psalm 51:1-2 ESV
Over and over again David pleads that God cleanse him, and make him worthy of forgiveness. He can’t bathe himself, nor purify himself... in his words we see the fullness of God’s mercy and grace in action...
“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.”
Psalm 51:7-12 ESV
So how do we seek forgiveness for our sin today? Do we simply sin, and then ask God to forgive us? Do we promise Him something in return, or promise that we will wash ourselves clean to obtain His forgiveness? No, even today we can’t cleanse ourselves, we remain unable to purify ourselves... we need God’s Spirt to wash us with the blood of Jesus, because our filthy hands are insufficient to accomplish such a thorough cleansing. We beg, plead, and weep in contrition, but only by the mercy and grace of God are we forgiven. When we sin it takes more than words to restore us to God...
”And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your mercy and grace that, by your hand, becomes the hyssop branch that is dipped in the blood of your Son Jesus. In this way we thank you for washing us clean of sin, and marking the lentels of our lives. Thank you for His sacrifice that we might be saved, and restored to you. We thank you for his saving blood just as the offspring of your children in Egypt thank you for the hyssop branch, and blood of the lamb that saved them on the night of the first Passover. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who makes provision for our forgiveness by your mercy and grace. Praised be your name for applying the purifying blood of your Son to us, and restoring us to you, not by our words, or efforts, but by your grace. Hear our prayers Father, and taste the saltiness of our tears, as we humble ourselves before you and beg for your forgiveness. Lift us up in your arms once more, and on the day of your judgement we pray that you will find us acceptable before you, and worthy in Christ, to sit at your table forevermore.
”In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ”
Ephesians 1:7-9 ESV
Rich Forbes