David’s plea for mercy and purification is found in Psalm 51:1-7. He acknowledges his sin against God. He approaches confession by adopting God's perspective on sin. He sees his sins as transgressions, wrongdoing, and the result of his offensive nature throughout his life.
This passage is mirrored in 1 John 1:9-10, which instructs believers to confess their sins and to agree with God’s position regarding those sins with the assurance of God’s forgiveness and purification.
In Psalm 51:8-15, David’s request for a new spirit, a clean heart, and renewed joy is expressed. In the preceding passage, he confesses his sins.
Additionally, David begs the Lord to restore his testimony so that he can instruct sinners in God’s ways and bring sinners back to Him. David intends to joyfully praise the Lord.
Psalm 51:16-19 is the last segment of Psalm 51. These verses suggest that when someone sins, God does not primarily desire sacrifices. However, He accepts and longs for a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
David’s observation about what God values is supported by Isaiah 1:18. According to Isaiah, the Lord was getting sick of hypocritical sacrifices.
He had denied accepting them but urged them to have a personal relationship with Him and promised to cleanse their sins.
David closes his psalm with a request for Jerusalem. He perceives that when the Lord restores Jerusalem, He will acknowledge the individuals’ penances.
Why Is Our Restoration Needed?
David was genuinely contrite for his infidelity with Bathsheba and for killing her husband to hide it. He was aware that his actions had harmed a lot of people. God, however, graciously forgave David for those sins because he had confessed them.
Forgiveness is available for all sins. Have we ever had the impression that our bad deeds prevented us from ever getting any closer to God? God can forgive us of any sin and will.
Even though God forgives us, the natural consequences of our sins are not always removed. Because of his sin, David’s life and family were never the same again (2 Samuel 12:1-23).
David claimed that he had sinned against God even though he had sinned with Bathsheba. When someone steals, kills someone, or slanders someone, they are targeting a victim.
Extramarital sex between two consenting adults is acceptable by society’s standards as long as no one is harmed. But injuries do occur. A man was killed, and a baby died in David’s case.
Even though sin hurts us and other people, it also offends God because it is a rebellion against God’s way of life. When we are tempted to commit sin, we should bear in mind that we will be transgressing against God. This should assist us in staying on the right path.
“Purge me with hyssop.” According to Exodus 12:22, the Israelites used hyssop branches to apply lamb’s blood to the doorposts of their homes to protect them from death.
The Israelites displayed their faith in God and obtained their delivery from subjection in Egypt by performing this deed. In this verse, repentance and readiness to serve the Lord are urged.
David had lost his joy and gladness due to his sins. “Joy and gladness” imply profound joy. Sin steals joy: forgiveness restores it. He had been emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and even physically affected by his sin.
He had the impression that God’s conviction had a crushing effect on his bones and he desired relief from his suffering. He realized that he would be relieved and elated by his confession.
David requests two things from the Lord in verse nine. He first asks God to cover his face from David’s sins and then to erase his transgressions. David begs the Lord to turn away from his sins and stop looking at them.
Psalm 51:5 says that because we are born sinners, our natural tendency is to please ourselves rather than God. David followed that tendency when he took another man’s wife. We also follow that same inclination when we sin.
How Are We Restored?
According to Psalm 51:7, we must ask God to purify us internally, preparing our hearts and spirits for new thoughts and aspirations. Only a pure spirit and heart can lead to glorifying the Lord. We need God to cleanse our spirits and hearts.
David undoubtedly recalled that King Saul, David’s predecessor, had been stripped of the Lord’s Spirit (1 Samuel 16:14). He prayed because he did not want the same thing to happen to him.
David, the author of Psalm 23, known as the Shepherd Psalm, had been acutely aware of the Lord’s constant presence.
However, David pleaded with the Lord to keep him in His presence because sin had destroyed his assurance of the Lord’s presence.
David also asked God not to take away his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit frequently visited believers in the Old Testament and later left them.
In contrast, the New Testament states that believers have the assurance that the Holy Spirit will always be with them (John 14:15-18; 1 Corinthians 1:13-14).
However, it also states that believers may grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30-32), lie to Him (Acts 5:1-3), or even stifle His influence (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Have we ever felt like we were just going through the motions in our faith? Has sin separated us from God? David had this feeling. Nathan, the prophet, had just confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba.
He cried in his prayer to God, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” God wants us to be close to Him and to experience His full and complete life. Unconfessed sin, on the other hand, prevents such intimacy.
God must hear our confession of sin. As David did, we may still face some earthly consequences, but God will restore our joyous relationship with Him.
When God pardons our wrongdoing and establishes our relationship with Him, we need to tell others who need forgiveness. The more we experience God’s forgiveness, the more we need to share it with others.
David requests that the Lord forgive him of his “blood guiltiness,” a fancy way of saying murder. David was aware that he had Uriah’s blood on his hands.
He belonged to God even though he had committed adultery and murder. David refers to God as the One who saved him. David still belonged to God because he confessed his sin and felt so guilty about it.
David’s transgressions had sealed his lips and prevented him from truly praising God. He asked the Lord to open his lips and he promised to give Him praise. It is possible that he wrote Psalm 51 as a song he wanted to sing to sinners to teach them the ways of God.
David was aware of the significance of offering sacrifices in accordance with the scriptures. When the heart is in rebellion against God, offering sacrifices is pointless.
The mark that sin had left on David’s heart could not be erased by the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 10:4). He also knew that adultery and murder were not forgiven under the sacrificial system of the Law. The two offenses required capital punishment.
A broken and contrite heart is what God wants. Even if we do good things on the outside, we will never be able to please God with them if we have a bad attitude on the inside. Are we sorry for what we did? Are we really going to stop? This kind of humility is what pleases God.
David prays for Jerusalem in verse 18. Israel’s security was seriously impacted by his shameful behavior (Proverbs 14:34).
In the days when Israel conquered Canaan, Achan sinned, and the army of Israel was unable to conquer the small town of Ai until Achan’s sin was punished.
The nation’s effectiveness had been destroyed by a single man’s sin (Joshua 7). Then finally, in verse 19, David says that when the hearts of God’s people are right with Him, the Lord will accept their sacrifices and the whole and burnt offerings as well.
Why Does This Matter?
How would our nation be affected if every professing Christian truly prayed for forgiveness of any sin that they had committed? What does it mean to restore something?
The online Merriam-Webster dictionary gives a few meanings: give back, return; to put or to bring back into existence or use; to bring back to or put back into a former or original state; renew; to put again in possession of something.
Was something lost? If so, what was it? Joy. What is that? Why do we want or need it? Where do we get it? How do we obtain it? How do we keep it?
What is the significance of restoration? These are a few questions that every Christian should ask of themselves.
To put it simply, God wants every person’s heart to be in a right relationship with Him.
For further reading:
How Does the Lord Restore Our Souls?
How Does God Restore Your Soul When You Feel Broken?
What Are God’s Promises to David?
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