You desire truth in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6)

There seem to be two traps that we can fall into, that are relevant to the this morning’s Scripture. The first is to be so discouraged with the wickedness of our hearts, that we despair. The second it is to be totally convinced that we are good, and do indeed have truth in our innermost beings. In the first case we are likely to beat ourselves up with destructive negative self talk. In the second we are likely to fail to see our desperate need to be rescued from the wrath that is to come (Matthew 3:7). Part of having truth in the inward parts, is holding in tension the truth on the one hand, that all my self righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). And on the other, that I am loved by Almighty God, I am of infinite value to Him, and that when I fully surrender, He cloths me in His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Also He has fully provided all I need to please Him (2 Peter 1:3), and standing in His righteousness, I am able to feel good about myself!

It seems to me that David had gone from one extreme to the other. Being close to God and feeling that he could not fall, he did not take care lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). Psalm 51 then, is David praying back to God what the Lord had told him concerning his guilt and shame. David declares “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (verse 5). The sin of his adultery with Bathsheba and, trying to cover it up, the subsequent murder of her husband, was no momentary slip. It flowed out of his previously unacknowledged sin nature. It flowed out of what he had always been. Likewise, it is not sinful actions that makes us a sinner, rather it that our sinful actions flow out of an un-regenerate nature.

Until we know and acknowledge the darkness that resides in each and every one of us, we will not live in reality, we will not live in the truth. And until we know this truth we will likely look down on, and judge others, even judging them harshly. Please don’t do this, because when we do, we accumulate the same measure of judgement for ourselves (Matthew 7:2). But, and I speak for myself here, we will not likely be able to live in the reality of the darkness within, without a simultaneous experience both of the assurance of our acceptance by God, and of the beauty of His ongoing work in us. So David cries out for God to create a clean heart within him, he asks that he not be cast away from the experience of His presence, and he asks for the restoration of his joy (verses 10-12).

Father, to think in the natural for a minute, it is amazing to see that You speak of David is a man after your own heart (acts 13:22). It is also amazing to see that You really mean it when you say “I have cast your sins into the deepest see, and I will remember them no more (Micah 7:19; Isaiah 43:25). And I declare with Micah this morning who asks rhetorically “Who is a God like you pardoning our offences and delighting in mercy” (verse 18). Truly Lord, there is not like You, and I want to thank You this morning that You did not leave me in my sin, but pursued me with an everlasting love. Thank You Lord that You quiet me with that love, and that You rejoice over me with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Thank You Lord, thank You Lord, thank You Lord in Jesus Name Amen