"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.” (v.1)
The background for today’s reading is King David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, Uriah (see 2 Sam. 11–12). His eventual confession, prompted by a confrontation with the prophet Nathan, is recorded in today’s psalm. It shows great faith in God’s character: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions” (v. 1), and also demonstrates trust in God’s power to forgive sin--to blot it out and wash the sinner clean (v. 7). David's prayer also demonstrates spiritual brokenness. He understood how much he offended God; in fact, he couldn’t forget it. He grieved deeply over what he’d done--it was as though his bones had been crushed. He acknowledged the justice of God’s punishment, which is no light statement considering that the penalty of his sin was the death of his baby son (2 Samuel 12:14).
This story reminds us of two facts concerning sin; 1) "If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness” and 2) though forgiven, sin still has consequences. Here in our text we see that David's forgiveness was not just a matter of patting David on the head and sending him on our way. There was a cost, the sickness and eventual death of the child born to David through Bathsheba, and later in life multiple family issues, which is another story for another time.
The important thing to take away from this Psalm is that sin is destructive, and carries with it an eternal death sentence. But, repentance is constructive, which comes out of Godly sorrow, and leads to salvation. Therefore, search your heart continually and confess your sin to Him who is able to forgive, cleans, and blot out your transgressions.
The Truth: “For Godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
