David, the man God said was “after His own heart,” was a human
who sinned, as all do. He was a shepherd who stood up in faith and slew Goliath
with the power of God. David was the armor-bearer and soother of King Saul’s
heart. He was faithful to his best friend, Jonathan, and cared for his one
remaining family member, Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. Though he walked as a
man of God, he remained a sinful man. David recognized his sinfulness and
wrote/sang of it in many of his psalms. Psalm 51 teaches us how sinful
humankind can approach Elohiym God, the one true God. The first four verses
speak of sin and God’s righteousness.
David recognized righteous God cannot be in the presence of
sin. Solomon, Paul, James, Peter, Luke, and John understood this, too, and
wrote about it (Proverbs 15:29, 1 Timothy 2:8, James 4:3 & 5:15-17, 1 Peter
3:12, Acts 10:2, & 1John 5:14-15). God taught this to Job’s friends in Job
42:8. Besides this, Solomon, Jesus, and Peter each taught God considers
abominable and will not answer the prayers of an unrighteous person (Proverbs
28:9, Matthew 23:14, & 1 Peter 3:12).
David’s first statement in this prayer of Psalm 51 shows he
recognized God would only listen to and answer the prayer of a righteous person.
He noted he was not righteous; he rebelled and sinned against God. David’s
knowledge of his sinfulness brought guilt to his consciousness. Because of this
knowledge, he began his prayer seeking God’s forgiveness. When approaching God,
if we genuinely want to commune with Him – pray effectively, we must ask God to
show our sins to us and then with genuine confession and repentance seek His
forgiveness.
David pleaded with God to be gracious to him and show him
favor according to His lovingkindness (love and mercy) and compassion. He realized
God wanted to be in a relationship with Him because of his history with Him. God
wants to be in a relationship and share His love with every person.
David recognized his sin and guilt. He wanted a renewed
relationship with God and understood his sin kept him separated from Him. David
asked God with His lovingkindness and compassion to blot out his
transgressions. He entreated God to wipe out - completely obliterate - his
transgressions (rebellion) against Him, to wash the guilt of his sins
thoroughly (as much as needed and continually) from him, and to purify him
completely (physically and morally) from sin.
David realized he was unrighteous because of his sin and
guilt and knew God could not be where sin is. He wanted to be in God’s presence
and commune with Him so he began his prayer asking God to wash away his sins
and guilt of sins. David recognized his sin was against God; it was rebellion
against God and His righteousness. He knew sin is evil and because God is
Elohiym, the true God, the One who is righteous, He is blameless and justified to
pass judgment on a person because of his or her sin.
What can we learn from David in Psalm
51:1-4?
When we seek to be with God, to commune with Him through
prayer, we must realize God cannot be in the presence of sin and the guilt of
sin. The Bible says repeatedly God will not listen to the prayers of an
unrighteous - a sinful - person. Read the Bible verses noted in paragraph two. Because
of this, when a person seeks God in prayer and quiet, he or she must first
confess and repent of sin so God can thoroughly wash and blot out that person’s
sin. We must ask God to show to us the ways we have rebelled and sinned against
Him so we can confess and repent. John told us in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive all our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” Once God makes a person clean from his or her sin, He
will commune with the person – hear and answer his or her prayer.
How is your prayer
life? Are your prayers to God blocked by your sin?
Seek God’s Forgiveness First.
