Restore

  • Mark Holmes
  • Jan 28, 2011

Restore

 

David made mistakes.  David made some really big mistakes.  Take a look at Psalm 51 that David wrote after committing multiple sins in association with his relationship with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11).

Psalm 51

 1 Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
   blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
   and cleanse me from my sin.

 3 For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
   and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
   and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
   sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
   you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
   wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
   and blot out all my iniquity.

 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
   and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
   or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
   and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
   you who are God my Savior,
   and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
   you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart
   you, God, will not despise.

 18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
   to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
   in burnt offerings offered whole;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.

As we sit here in the month of January people often think of fresh starts.  A new year filled with new hopes and plenty of optimism.  2010 has come and gone and its time to see what 2011 has to offer.  Most of us are pretty good about doing this to some degree in our lives but how good are you about doing those same things in your spiritual lives?

 In Psalm 51 we get to watch David go through that same process.  It would be fitting if David were writing this near the end of the year. Looking at the mess he got himself into and looking forward to turning the calendar over to the next year.  You can see that in the first few verses as you can sense the weight of David’s sin on his heart.  You can feel the heaviness and hurt as he describes his sin.  But in verse 7 David’s tone takes a turn.  In verses 7-12 David talks his way through the restoration process.  Cleanse me, wash me, blot out my iniquities.  Renew me, restore me, create in me a clean heart.  David knows that God is the only one who can accomplish this.  It can often be tempting to try to fix our own sin problems and then come to God.  David doesn’t waste his time trying to “clean up” before approaching God.  Why wash your car before you go to the car wash?

 And David doesn’t dwell there.  In verse 13 and on it almost reads like David is writing his new years resolutions.  Because of his thankfulness that God does cleanse and restore him, David is motivated to make changes.  To take what he has learned and help lead others to repentance.  David is not going to win back God’s favor.  God loves him and nothing can change that.  All David can bring is a broken heart.

 So where are you at as you look ahead to the rest of 2011?  I love the fact that God is a God of second chances.  And third, and fourth, and so on.  This wasn’t the first time that David had sinned and wasn’t his last.  So look back at the past year.  Take a look at the stuff that you really wish you could forget and make go away.  The things that make you happy to turn the calendar over.  Take it to God.  Let him deal with it.  You’ve been carrying it around for long enough.  Be like David in verse 12 and ask God to bring the joy back that you once had.  Bring to God a broken heart and let Him use what you’ve been through for His glory.