Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article What God wants Wednesday, March 4, 2009 Psalm 51:3-6, 15-17 I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight ... Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place ... O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. David had a self-righteous streak. Just look at his confrontation with Goliath. He didn't seem to think twice about his own ability to defeat the giant. Sometimes this self-confidence was a blessing, sometimes a curse. When he wrote Psalm 51 David was in the midst of self-loathing. His secret adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent abandonment of her husband to the enemy had been rubbed in his face by his friend Nathan. God did not take these betrayals lightly. David understood one thing clearly; his sins against his brother and sister reflected an even deeper breech in his relationship with God. Keeping these secrets from God was disrespectful and rebellious. No matter that David might have been motivated by fear. God did not deserve what David did. What does God want from his son? He wants David's praise. And he wants David's honesty, which this time involves a broken heart. The society in which David lives might require some kind of sacrifice or punishment, but God does not. As it says in one of the smaller books of the Bible, God wants David to "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with his God" (Micah 6:8). When my actions are not just or my love merciful, then more than ever must I walk in humility before God. He will meet me in my broken-ness, not in any act of sacrifice that I might think redeems my sin. He wants to forgive me, and for that He needs my remorse and my willingness to shut up and let him do what He does. When you cleanse me with hyssop, Lord, then I will be clean. When you wash me, I will be whiter than snow. "; Add      Edit    Delete