2018 Devotional - Week 1

Week 1

Psalm 51
Have mercy on me,[a] O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right[b] spirit within me. 
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, 
and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, 
O God of my salvation, 
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, 
and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; 
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; 
build up the walls of Jerusalem; 
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, 
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. 


Whenever I read God’s word I am often thankful for its bluntness. It truly pulls no punches when it comes to dealing with mankind’s problems. I am also thankful that it is not my sins recorded for all of perpetuity! David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet had confronted him. This psalm is a beautiful record of David’s heart response to the Lord. When we approach the Lord we must begin from a position of humility. To be sure, David had been caught in his sin with Bathsheba. However, this confession goes deeper than one sin. David understood that he was a sinner by nature (notice the plurals used by David), and stood in need of forgiveness. Therefore, David appealed to God’s grace (v.1). David also understood that when the Lord cleansed him of sin he would be truly clean rather than merely having a salved conscience or a self-justified mind (v.2; 7). We also see that David was not just concerned with what God needed to take from him but also what the Lord needed to add to him (v.10). All of this was preparation for service to the Lord (v.13). The Lord is the one who initiates spiritual renewal for service.
As we begin 2018, may we admit our sin to the Lord and appeal to his grace? Let us by faith receive the Lord’s cleansing at the very core of our being. Let us ask the Lord to fill us with his Holy Spirit so that we are ready for service to him and his kingdom. May the Lord bless you as you seek him with your whole heart.
In Christ,

John