David: Finding renewal through confession Meditation #35

The Bible Says:

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow, Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice,.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

Psalm 51:7-10

 ^1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.

   Scrub away my guilt,

      soak out my sins in your laundry.

   I know how bad I've been;

      my sins are staring me down.

 ^4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen

      it all, seen the full extent of my evil.

   You have all the facts before you;

      whatever you decide about me is fair.

   I've been out of step with you for a long time,

      in the wrong since before I was born.

   What you're after is truth from the inside out.

      Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

 ^7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,

      scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.

   Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,

      set these once-broken bones to dancing.

   Don't look too close for blemishes,

      give me a clean bill of health.

   God, make a fresh start in me,

      shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

   Don't throw me out with the trash,

      or fail to breathe holiness in me.

   Bring me back from gray exile,

      put a fresh wind in my sails!

   Give me a job teaching rebels your ways

      so the lost can find their way home.

   Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,

      and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

   Unbutton my lips, dear God;

      I'll let loose with your praise.

 ^16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you,

      a flawless performance is nothing to you.

   I learned God-worship

      when my pride was shattered.

   Heart-shattered lives ready for love

      don't for a moment escape God's notice.

 ^18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,

      repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls.

   Then you'll get real worship from us,

      acts of worship small and large,

   Including all the bulls

      they can heave onto your altar! 

 (Psalm 51, The Message)

There are 5(five) key points to be made concerning this prayer of confession:

• Sin Causes us to feel guilty
• The guilt a believer feels will drive him/her to prayer
• Having sinned, David found his way back to God through prayer
• More important than his sin, is the fact that he found his way back to God
• True confession leads to full forgiveness