DEVOTIONAL 04/07/2023
Psalm 51:
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Even a noble king like David fell into sin. In 2 Samuel 11, because of the lust of the eyes, he went into Bathsheba who was already married to Uriah. To conceal the illegitimate pregnancy, David called Uriah to send him home with the hope that he would sleep with his wife and people would not know that the child was from David. When Uriah decided not to go home and to stay back, David sent him to “the hottest battle” to die (2 Samuel 11: 15). We see that one sin leads to another sin. To hide the consequence of one sin, David had to commit another one which was so serious. What David did can be classified as adultery and murder of an innocent soul.
God, of course, was not happy with these actions. He could quickly destroy David, but because of His mercy, He forgave David.
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What can we do to receive forgiveness from God?
The first step is we need to sincerely recognize that we have sinned. We need to know that what we have done is wrong. We do not say it wrong so that we can receive blessing from God. A child can fake an apology to get candies from an adult. We must feel that what we have done is so wrong, so horrible, and so corrupt. We should feel disgusted for what we have committed.
The second step is we bow before God and acknowledge our sin as in Psalm (51: 3) “For I acknowledge my transgressions:”. When we sin, we cause harm for ourselves, another person, or other people. We may put our neighborhood, society, or even nation in danger. However, the One that we sin against is God. We break His principle.
Psalm 51:
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
God has the right to decide to punish the person or not. He is justified whether He forgives or punishes the person who sins.
Thanks for His goodness and mercy. If we ask Him, He will forgive the person completely.
Thus, the third step is we need to ask Him to forgive us, to sanctify us, and to cleanse us from that sin. He shall wash us and make us “whiter than snow” (Psalm 51: 7). However, please remember that with God the heart is more important.
Psalm 51:
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
He “desirest truth in the inward parts”. Is your repentance genuine? Will you ask for forgiveness and not go back to that sin? Or will you keep swinging back and forth between sinfulness and righteousness? Is this sin a recurrent sin?
God wants our heart to be clean and true. “The inward parts”, the heart and the thoughts, need to be pure.
If we commit to resist temptation every time it arises and stay clear from sin, His forgiveness shall be done in our lives.
The last step is we must do restitution for what we have done toward God and others. We must pay the price from harmful actions that we have committed.
If we pay attention, this process of repentance is not as easy as it seems. When we understand it, we will consciously avoid sin at all costs because we do not want to go through the pain, guilt, shame, and restitution process again. Sin damages our souls, prevents us from growth with God, and eventually brings eternal damnations for those who do not repent.
Sam Christian
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Vocabulary and grammar checks were done with the help of Collinsdictionary.com, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs.
The Bible used is the King James Version by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA (King James Version Bible Large Print Thinline Edition, 2016). Some texts were inspired by boldfaced words and reference texts from this Bible book and teachings from Deeper Life Bible Church.
Style of quotation followed partly the APA style-7th edition.
Photo is from Pexels.com, https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-an-open-bible-on-a-green-surface-8735584/.
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