Psalm 51:1-19 (ESV)
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, 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.

For the next two weeks, we are talking about renewing our walk with God. From David’s prayer in Psalm 51, we can learn many things about what it means to renew our walk with God.

I. RENEWAL COMES WHEN WE CONFESS OUR SIN TO GOD (1-3)
Never once did David blame his sin on Bathsheba. The transgressions, iniquities, and sins to which David referred in this psalm are “MY” transgressions, iniquities, and sins.

II. RENEWAL COMES WHEN WE CONFESS THAT WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST GOD (v. 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.”

III. RENEWAL COMES WHEN WE ADMIT THAT OUR SIN HAS SEPARATED US FROM GOD (v. 3).
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”

David began to realize the seriousness of his sin, so he prayed, “My sin is always before me” (NIV).

He could not enjoy the sweet fellowship and communion with God that he once did.

His brief moments of misdirected pleasure and his previous unwillingness to confess had in effect separated him from the sweet communion with God that he had so richly enjoyed.

The Scriptures are explicit In describing THE EFFECTS OF UNCONFESSED SIN.

1. A troubled, unsettled, disquieted spirit.
Psalms 38:18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

2. A disconnection from the attentive ear of God.
Psalms 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

3. A sense of separation from the fellowship of God’s presence.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

4. A wasting away of meaningfulness out of our separation from the heart of God
Isaiah 64:7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.

David deepens the reality of his sin by acknowledging that he was born with the very nature of sin at the very point of his conception. ”Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (verse 5)

Yet David does not use his sinful nature as an excuse. “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” (verse 6). David knows that it is not just doing the right things that matter to God, but living out of a pure heart in the wisdom that comes from God.

Someone once suggested in a group discussion that perhaps the “hell” of hell will be the knowledge that one is eternally separated from the meaningful presence of God.

Once a Christian sins, he does not become “unborn.” He is still a child of God. But as long as that sin is unconfessed, he is cut off from the privileges and riches rightfully his as a child of the king.

To receive a renewal of his relationship with his Father, the Christian must confess, “My sins have separated me from God.”