It's what God does when we confess our sin;
he doesn't just wipe us clean He recreates and renews us.
David was called a man after God’s own heart, but it wasn’t because of his lack of sin.
He isn’t unique in this. Many of the men and women God has used have had their share of sins. What makes David unique is his response to sin. When confronted with his sin, he didn’t try to hide or make excuses. Instead he dealt with it immediately.
Go check out 2 Samuel 12:1-9.
Psalm 51 was written right after Nathan the prophet came to convict David of his sin with Bathsheba, and the murder of her husband.
7Cleanse 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.
In verse 8 he asks that the bones God has broken would rejoice. According to Jon Courson’s Application Commentary, “This verse is a reference to what a shepherd does when a sheep strays. The shepherd breaks its legs and carries the lamb on his shoulders. As the weeks go by, the lamb develops such a close bond with the shepherd that, when its legs are healed, it never strays from the shepherd again.” David needed to be broken so that humility could work in him. God’s discipline of David was his mercy and steadfast love toward David. God’s discipline is His mercy toward us because it saves us from ourselves. We need the discipline of God to keep us where we belong, by His side. We need to cry out with David, “…let the bones you have broken rejoice…create in me a clean heart …renew a steadfast spirit in me” (verses 8&10). We need to rejoice in God’s discipline and His steadfast love for us. It is our constant, and it is all that keeps us from ourselves and certain failure.
In the same way, we are responsible to discipline our children. It is a mercy to them. It is our God given job to save them from themselves. When we do not discipline, we reap what we sow in an unruly household, but they also suffer the consequences. They will follow an undisciplined path and life will be harder for them in the long run. That is the reason we have so many undisciplined adults, our society has bought into the lie that childhood is a time to just have fun and be a kid instead of a time to grow in knowledge and character. No wonder we have so many adults who don’t understand there are consequences for their actions!
Steal this prayer :
God I ask that you discipline me in your mercy and steadfast love. Teach me to rejoice in not just my healing but also my brokenness because it brings me close to the shepherd. Let my brokenness be a sacrifice that you do not despise. Renew in me a steadfast spirit. Restore the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit to choose what is right.
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