MEDITATIONS ON BIBLICAL PRAYERS #7

A Prayer of repentance

 February 8, 2012                             Reading:  Psalm 51:1-13

“Renew a steadfast spirit within me” Psalm 51:10

    Under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit scripture has recorded a detailed account of David’s life—his good times and his bad times. We are blessed when we read of his life because it is a reflection of every believer’s life.

    We know so little of the lives of many of the kings and prophets, but we can join with David when he praises God for His enduring mercy (Psalm 136), when he thanks Him for delivering him from the hands of his enemies (Psalm 18:46-50), when he acknowledges his sins before God (Psalm 51:3), and when he meditates on the works of God in his life (Psalm 77:6,12).

    Here in Psalm 51, the Holy Spirit reaches into the depths of David’s heart and restores him from the “guilt of bloodshed” to the “joy of Your salvation” (vss 12,14).

    Few will be convicted of murder, but we are all guilty of sin in one form or another—“For all have sinned and fall{en} short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). This is sadly true of us all even after we have been born again by the Spirit of God. We are all guilty of backsliding to some degree. Would to God it were not so.

    Psalm 51 was written after David had arranged for the death of Uriah so he could have Bathsheba (Uriah’s spouse) as his wife. God sent Nathan, the prophet, to David, who confronted him of his sin.

    “When the divine message had aroused his dormant conscience and made him see the greatness of his guilt, he wrote this Psalm. He had forgotten his psalmody while he was indulging his flesh, but he returned to his harp when his spiritual nature was awakened, and he poured out his song to the accompaniment of sighs and tears” C.H. Spurgeon.

    That is exactly what happened, “his spiritual nature was awakened.” This was nothing less than the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. To those who have sunk into the swamp of backsliding, when the Spirit of God sets out to restore such a person, it will break their heart. The consciousness that you have sinned against Him who died on the cross for you, who loves you even when you stopped loving Him, will break your heart.

    Psalm 51 is not an exaggeration. It is the truth, as anyone will attest who has experienced such a work of God. David’s confession, “I have sinned against the LORD" (2 Sam 12:13), resulted in him writing this Psalm. No act of penance could bring him relief or restore him to a close walk with God, but only a broken, contrite heart:

“For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart -- these, O God, You will not despise” Psalm 51:16-17.

    No matter the depth of sin that caused us to stray from the fold, God will not, neither will He, reject the cry of a broken heart. The prodigal son will always be greeted with his Father’s open arms when he returns with a penitent heart:

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry” Luke 15:20-24.

    Is there a more precious portion of scripture for any prodigal who needs to return to his Heavenly Father?

    Behold, I fall before Thy face,

    My only refuge is Thy grace.

    No outward forms can make me clean;

    The leprosy lies deep within.

Listen to the cry of a convicted backslider:

     “Have mercy upon me, O God” (vs 1)

     “I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me” (vs 3)

     “Purge me … wash me” (vs 7)

     “Blot out all my iniquities” (vs 9)

     “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (vs 10)

     “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (vs 12)

     “Uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (vs 12)

     “Deliver me from the guilt” (vs 14).

    Such is the cry of any repentant believer. God cannot resist the plea of a broken and contrite heart. He is a God of mercy and is always waiting with open arms for the return of His prodigal son.

    The restoration of a backslidden soul cannot be achieved by him who is backslidden. It has to be the work of God, therefore David begins, “Have mercy upon me, O God.” It is against You I have sinned, therefore it is to You I plead for mercy.

    There is no greater relief or joy than when the Spirit of God leads us from the pig-pen of a backslidden life into the arms of our Heavenly Father.

Puritan Quote:

    “This is the holy contrition that the Spirit of God works in the heart of the restored believer. Brought beneath the cross, insight of the crucified Savior, the heart is broken, the spirit is melted, the eye weeps, the tongue confesses, the bones that were broken rejoice, and the contrite child is clasped in his Father’s forgiving, reconciled embrace once more” Octavius Winslow, 1808 – 1878.