Psalm 51: repentance AND mercy

Friday, October 21, 2016

Psalm study today: Psalm 51, a psalm of repentance and a psalm of mercy.

Psalm 51 is known as a psalm of repentence. It is the psalm David wrote after the prophet Nathan had confronted him about the great sin of adultery he had commited with Bathsheba and the sin of conspiring to have Bathsheba’s husband killed on the battlefield because he had gotten Bathsheba pregnant. It’s a pretty sleazy story, of the caliber of a daily soap opera. You can review by reading II Samuel, chapter 11.

Nathan confronted David and by means of a parable (chapter 12), he opened David’s eyes to the horror and ugliness of the sin he had committed. Perhaps we can relate to that when at times, we think of something we had done in the past and with new eyes realize how wrong it had been and why, and we writhe in psychic misery because there is nothing we could possibly do to mend what we had broken.

David expresses this grief in his poetry:

My transgressions truly I know them;

my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned;

what is evil in your sight I have done.

So you are just in your sentence,

without reproach in your judgment. (vv 5-6)

What I would like to emphasize today, however, is not the experience of confession and repentance, but rather on the great wealth of the power of God’s mercy. Even in his anguish, David relies on his great faith that God is merciful, and his psalm of lament actually begins by calling upon that mercy:

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your merciful love;

according to your great compassion,

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me completely from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin. (vv 3-4)

Some might see this as arrogant. At the instance when he becomes aware of how great a sinner he is, David goes to God and calls upon himself God’s blessings. There is no immediate apology here (That comes in the verses we have already cited). Instead, David invokes what he knows is God’s to give:

·         his mercy

·         his merciful love

·         his compassion

·         his ability to blot out sins (even when in our memories we ourselves cannot do the same)

·         his ability to wash completely (notice that there is no limit to God’s power)

·         his ability to cleanse

We, too, should ask for an increase of faith; faith that the expanse of the mercy of God is far beyond anything we could logically or practically consider. Is it true, perhaps, that some times we want to confine the power of God’s mercy within limits that make more sense to us? Do we, at times, think that God’s mercy will not make up for a particular sin or transgression of ours?

These are good verses to memorize and to use frequently in our prayer, and again to realize that they are all contained in the Jesus Prayer when we, like David, pray: have mercy on me, a sinner.

God bless you.