Come Clean

Reflect:
Psalm 51:1-19

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” ~Psalm 51:10-12

It is hard to imagine the depth of David’s anguish as he came before the Lord carrying the guilt and shame of his unholy affair with Bathsheba. He had committed adultery, conspired to commit murder, executed a gifted and loyal soldier and manipulated people like pawns on a chess board to cover his tracks—but lived with an unbearable sickness of soul for the several months during which he managed to keep his dirty little secret hidden. (Psalm 32:3-4)

Then a courageous prophet named Nathan stood before David and stabbed the prophetic finger of truth into the king’s check. David was the most powerful man in the world, a man who held the power of life and death over people, even pesky little prophets, yet Nathan fearlessly confronted the king with this evil. And David repented. (II Samuel 12:13, Psalm 32:5) In David’s moving prayer of contrition before the Lord, which is what Psalm 51 really is, the broken king expressed to God a depth of shame and humility that revealed why, in spite of such a horrible sin, he was still a man after God’s heart.

This psalm provides a powerful case study in authentic repentance. David wasn’t wanting just to off-load his guilt by getting this sin off his chest. He wasn’t just attempting to get a pass by coming clean. He wasn’t just feeling sorry because he had finally been caught. Not at all! David recognized the utter horror of having offending a holy God. He realized the indescribable pain of having messed up the lives of people over whom he had just played God. He fully confessed his wicked act—and the wicked heart that had led to the act. (Psalm 51:5) By so doing, David cast himself upon God’s infinite mercy, recognizing that only then could he be granted a heart that was truly clean, tender to the Lord, and willing to do the things that God desired. (Psalm 51:10-13,17)

Yes, it’s hard to imagine David’s pain! Or is it? Have we not offended the Lord just as coldly and willingly as David? Have we not murdered, conspired, been willfully unfaithful and concealed sin before a holy God who demands holiness of us? Yes—we have! Not visibly, but certainly in our heart—in the inner, invisible, secret core of who we really are—which Jesus pointed out is just as offensive to a holy God and corrosive to our spirit as the physical act of sin. (Matthew 5:21-28)

This psalm of repentance isn’t really about David. It’s about you and me! Which means, in truth, we are in no less in need of the mercy and grace of Almighty God than this heartbroken king. And not only are we, too, in need of a God who will forgive all of our sins, but we are in desperate need of a merciful God who will create within us a clean heart and grant us a willingness to fully obey.

True repentance—what a grace! Only then can we know the deepest and best joy of all: The joy of our salvation! (Psalm 51:12, Psalm 32:1-2 NLT))

“Wherever there is a pulverized and penitent heart, there grace also is, and wherever there is a voluntary confession not gained by pressure, there love covereth a multitude of sins.” ~Menno Simons

Reflect and Apply: As you bring your sins before the Lord today, first reflect on I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Sweet Sorrow

Read II Corinthians 7

“I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
(II Corinthians 7:9-10)

Thoughts… Thank God for pain. If we didn’t have it, we’d be in a world of hurts!

Pain is a gift from God, a gift nobody wants, but a sweet gift nonetheless. Why, because as Paul says, it leads us to sorrow. And Godly sorrow leads to repentance, and true repentance leads us to life.

Years ago there used to be a corny TV program called “Hee Haw”. I hate to admit it, but it was a family favorite—which tells you a lot about my family of origin. One of the skits in this show had a person come into the doctor’s office and describe to the doctor a place on their body that was hurting. They would say, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” Then the doctor would whack them upside the head and say, “Well, don’t do that!”

Dumb skit, great point! That’s what God says, “Don’t do that!” God in his grace has allowed us to experience pain, and our pain is meant to bring us to God. It is meant to cause us to look within and see where we have made missteps. It is meant to cause us to look without and see where we need to initiate change in our circumstances. It is meant to lead us look ahead and evaluate how we can steer our life in a more God-honoring direction.

If you are going through a painful episode right now, I would suggest that you thank God for it. Famed Scottish theologian and hymn-writer George Matheson once prayed,

“My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorns. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross: but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross: teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.”

By the way, Matheson went totally blind when he was twenty years old.

Pain is the gift nobody wants, but it is still a gift. It will open your eyes to the real and lasting beauty that awaits you in God. So thank God for your pain, it may just turn out to be the best gift He has ever given you.

Prayer… Father, I have been guilty of rejecting the thorns in my life as contrary to your will for me. Sometimes I whine and complain about the discomfort they bring. Lord, help me to endure discipline as a soldier of the cross. Help me to embrace my enemies as gifts disguised. Use every discomfort, every blow, every disappointment, every difficult person as your divine chisel to make me into the image of your Son. There is no higher purpose for me than to be like Jesus. Do what it takes to conform me to his likeness.

One More Thing… “[Pain] plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul. —C.S. Lewis