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Thursday, October 07, 2004
Continuing in our discussion of David's sin with Bathsheba/Uriah and the subsequent confrontation by Nathan, resulting in this Psalm of repentance...
After describing the pain of his sin against God as similar to broken bones and emotionally draining (the thought popped into my brain, "How often does my realization of sin cause THAT kind of reaction?"), David prays for an all-encompassing solution to get the joy back and to eliminate the pain in verse 10:
My Bible reads, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me...restore to me, the joy of my salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit." (Yes, I left out verse 11 because of David's Old Testament understanding of how God dealt with sinners and an equally Old Testament understanding of the nature of the Holy Spirit...both of which have changed with the New Covenant--that's an entirely different journal entry)
David understands that it is only God who can create that clean heart. The Message reads, "God, make a fresh start in me, and shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life." He simply asks God to do it, implicitly understanding that God CAN do it, and WILL do it, if only David would allow it to happen (which is easier said than done).
David understands that God can renew a steadfast spirit. Firmly fixed and immovable. Imagine what our lives would be like if our spirit was steadfast.
Once David has these thing, he can then teach sinners what he's learned. That he can lead others to a saving relationship with the God of the universe by teaching them about the grace of God. His compassion. His loyal love and other verse 1 stuff.
All too often, we think we've become useless for God when we've blown it. Can you imagine our president having an affair, his married mistress getting pregnant, and him having her husband killed in wartime on a dangerous assignment? Then this hitting the news? And then can you imagine that same president trying to teach others what he's learned?
But that's what David asks for. The right to glorify God somehow, someway, through all this.
And it's pretty obvious David did that. He taught his son these lessons he learned. Ever read the Proverbs of his son, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived or will live (read the promise God made to him if you don't believe me)? The first few chapters are loaded with Solomon's advice on the nature of men to fall to beautiful, seductive women. So's the last chapter of the book...except focusing more on the positives to look for in women light.
David wants to be delivered from the killing he did. It's keeping him from joy. And this joy is expressed in singing about God, talking about Him and praising Him.
And, here's something we can all learn in verses 16-17: God isn't "delighted" with sacrifices or "pleased" with the burnt offerings that were the nature of Old Testament cleanliness before God. David knew that, too. There's really no sacrifice prescribed that would cover MURDER. This was only covered by God's mercy, and the only sacrifice that would work was a brokenness before God and a contrite heart.
It's really the same way for us. We tend to think that if we clean up our act then God will like us better and then He'll be nicer to us and then we'll have this joy thing again.
But it doesn't work that way. God is loyal to His end of the bargain no matter what our behavior. When Jesus said, "It is finished," it really was finished. See, when He said that, all of our sins were in the future. The work to forgive them was finished at that point.
So, confession isn't the art of telling God our sins and then being good enough with our behavior so God will listen to us. He's not sitting up in heaven, and when we sin, starting to cover up His ears and saying "la la la not listening la la la" over and over until we confess. Not at all. He's already wanting us to admit that we're tired of trying to live life with ourselves at the helm.
He really only wants us to admit that He's God and we're not, and He's capable of restoring those things like joy to our lives if we'll submit and let Him.
Really.
All we have to do is ask.
So...the application today is easy: Have we asked?
Brent 4:55 AM
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