Psalm 51

MOST DOWNLOADED PSALMS: Psalm 51.

Read Psalm 51.

“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.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you” Psalm 51:10-13.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” Psalm 51:1

Psalm 51 was a psalm written by David. David was a man of God, anointed king of Israel. God blessed him in everything that he did. But David was not a perfect man. David wrote Psalm 51 in repentance for having failed God and was seeking His forgiveness.

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem” 2 Samuel 11:1.

Instead of going to war when he should have, David decided to stay behind. One evening, while he was walking around the roof, he saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his best soldiers, bathing. Attracted, hcde summoned for her. Bathsheba became pregnant with David’s child.

Instead of repenting of his ways, David schemed to escape his sin.

• David called Uriah home so he can sleep with his wife. But Uriah was a good soldier and stayed at the palace entrance with all his master’s servants (2 Samuel 11:6-11).
  
  
• David got Uriah drunk, still, Uriah stayed at the palace entrance and did not go home (2 Samuel 11:12-13).
  
  
• David set Uriah up to be killed. He, then, married Bathsheba after Uriah was killed in war and the period of mourning was over (2 Samuel 11:14-17; 26-27).

A mistake cannot be corrected by another mistake. People tend to think of ways to make wrong things seem right.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” Proverbs 14:12.

LESSONS TO LEARN FROM DAVID’S EXPERIENCE.

1. If we are not where God wants us to be, we are falling into the enemy’s trap to sin. Sin has its grave repercussions. (2 Samuel 11:24; 2 Samuel 12:14-15).
   
   
2. God sets up relationships in our lives to correct us, rebuke us, and put us back in line. David was the highest man in the land and yet he chose to listen to Nathan, the prophet (2 Samuel 12:1-13; Ecclesiastes 4:10).
   
   
3. When David repented, he confessed to God.

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge” Psalm 51:4.

David did not want God’s presence to be away from him. We repent because we don’t want to be away from God. Repentance brings restoration and reconciliation. God knows that we will fail. From time to time, we may fail, but it is not about us. It is about God’s love for us that provides for us the way to reconcile with Him through repentance and His forgiveness.

THE PATH TO WHOLENESS IS BROKENNESS.
David broke 5 out of 10 of the Commandments of God: He lied, he stole, he coveted his neighbor’s wife, he committed murder and he committed adultery, and yet in the book of Acts, he was mentioned as “a man after God’s own heart” and one who served his purpose in his generation (Acts 13:22; 26). David’s repentance and seeking of God’s forgiveness allowed God’s reversal in his life. Our moments of weakness may become the source of strength for other people.

“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD .’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die’” 2 Samuel 12:13.

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you” Psalm 51:13.**