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.”

IV. RENEWAL COMES WHEN WE ADMIT THAT GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FORGIVE US OF OUR SIN (vv.1-2)

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!

David’s plea for forgiveness was grounded in the CHARACTER OF GOD. He describes God’s love as a “steadfast love.” The love of God has no single word to describe it. Other translations call it, “unfailing,” “lovingkindness,” “faithful,” “loyal.” The Hebrew word is similar to the New Testament concept of unmerited, undeserved grace.

The second word to describe God’s character is translated “abundant mercy.” Others translate it as “great compassion.” This word is derived from another Hebrew word, which means “womb.” This is a vivid description of the loving forgiveness of our Heavenly Father. His compassion or mercy comes from deep within His very character. In other words, a steadfast, unfailing, faithful God of great compassion and mercy is who He is.

When coming to God with our sins, how wonderful it is to know that our God wants and longs for His love, mercy and compassion to flow to us.

Based on these characteristics of God, David asked God to “blot out” his transgressions. This accounting term pictures God erasing the tally of wrongdoing from David’s account.

David’s plea in verse 2 is that God would “wash” him from his iniquity. This Hebrew term describes a woman on wash day grinding the clothes on the rocks at the river bank to remove even the stains which had soaked into the fibers of the cloth.

In the same verse, David prayed that God would “cleanse” him from his sin, picturing the process of melting silver or gold to remove the impurities.

In admitting that God was the only One who could forgive him for what he had done, David prayed that God would erase the charges, beat him against the rocks, purify him with fire-that God would do anything necessary to remove the fault and stain of sin.

David’s heart’s desire was that he would come through this horrible time in his life renewed and made clean. But, he’s not finished. Tomorrow, we will see even more vivid descriptions of what he aspires for God to do to him and through him.