God’s Comeback >Your Setback
Have you ever messed up so bad in a relationship that you felt that there’s no way you could go back? The shame, the embarrassment, the hurt and pain, the ugly things that you can’t erase from your memory. But if you believed that the other person loved you enough to forgive you and look beyond your painful past, then there is a way back. If you confess your failings and profess a repentant desire to restore the relationship, it is possible. In Psalm 51:1-4; 10-12; 15-17, David reveals a repentant heart and confession in his desire to restore relationship with God. I pray that you would know without a doubt that you are never so far away and deep in sin that you can’t cry out to God and ask Him to restore you to fellowship with Him. Amen
Worship with Maranda Curtis singing “Nobody Like You Lord/Who Wouldn’t Serve A God Like This”
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. (Psalm 51:1-4)
David asked for God to have mercy on him for his transgressions against God. He asked God to blot these things out, (i.e. not be counted against him). David’s appeal to God for mercy was based on God’s great covenant love and compassion for His people. Beyond just blotting out his transgressions, David asked God to wash away his iniquities and cleanse him from his sin. David rightly understood that inasmuch as he had done these things, he had done them against God. And God was righteous and just to judge him. We too should realize that when we sin, it isn’t against our fellow man, it’s against God. And He is just and righteous to judge us. But we can ask God to forgive us, cleanse us and restore us back into fellowship with Him.
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)
David’s prayer should be our prayer. We should ask continually for God to rid our hearts of impurities that could draw us away from Him. We should ask God to put the right spirit in us so that we don’t sin against Him. When we walk in unrighteousness, we can not stand in God’s presence because He is holy. So our prayer to God should be that He would give us a willing spirit so that when we go astray, we may be restored back into fellowship with Him. The Holy Spirit, who resides in us, produces joy in us (one of the fruit of the Spirit) and leads us in the continued path of salvation.
Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:15-17)
David recognized that God is not interested ultimately in sacrifices or offerings. What God truly wants is for us to have a heart that is committed in obedience to Him. When we make mistakes and find ourselves outside of fellowship with God, He wants us to repent and come back to Him. David stood ready to praise God whenever God gave him the strength to part his lips and open his mouth! Are you praising God whenever you have the chance (like David)?
You may believe that they are utterly unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness because of the depth of the sins you have committed. You may feel that sin has stained you so deeply and so permanently that they will never be accepted by God. That is the fear that drives David’s prayer of confession and repentance in Psalm 51. He knows that he has sinned deeply against God. But David puts his trust in God’s covenant love and he pleads for God to blot out, wash away and cleanse him from his sin and restore his fellowship with God. He prays to God to restore the joy of his salvation.
When you have reached the point where the egregiousness and depth of your sin causes you to question whether you can ever be loved by God again, Psalm 51 was written for you. It is a prayer that demonstrates the repentance and confession that God desires of us in order to restore relationship with us. We worship a God that loves us and is fighting for a relationship with us. But He wants us to choose Him and turn away from our sin. Then, He stands ready to blot out and cleanse us from the stain of our sin so that we can be with Him and experience the joy of our salvation. We are never too far gone to cry out and come back to Him. And out of His great love for us He is faithful to forgive and restore full relationship with us… no matter how deep the stain that sin has left on us. Now who wouldn’t want to praise, worship and serve a God like that!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ~ 1 John 1:9
