Cleanse Me From My Sin

Are you still looking for a New Year’s resolution? That’s a good one; cleanse me from my sin. And unlike sticking to a diet or maintaining a regular fitness program, confessing sin and seeking Jesus’ forgiveness is actually much easier. Unless you’re unwilling to admit you’re a sinner.

King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, whom he impregnated. King David sent for Bathsheba’s husband Uriah who was on the frontlines fighting for David and Israel (where David should have been), and unlike David Uriah refused to sleep with his wife while the other men fought. Since David’s sinful plan was falling apart (they always do), David sent Uriah on a suicide mission. Real nice.

David’s little diabolical scheme was working just fine until his close adviser Nathan came along:

    “Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: ‘There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.’ So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.’ Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.”’ So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’ Then Nathan departed to his house.” (2 Samuel 12:1-15)

I have sinned against the LORD. No matter how hard we try our sins will always find us out. Unlike David when our sin finds us out we usually try to make excuses for it. Not David. He sinned against Uriah, against Bathsheba, against his wife, and against Israel; but ultimately and in his eyes, he sinned against the Lord. No doubt David sought forgiveness from these others but utmost in his mind he needed to get right with Jesus. That is what caused him to write:

    “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:1-2)

If we do not repent of our sin and seek restoration with God through the Lord Jesus Christ we will be a miserable lot. John Calvin said:

    “The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.”

Is your soul being tortured by a bad conscience? Confess your sin! The Apostle John reminds us:

    “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9-10)

Beloved if our nation’s revival is to come and restore us to our founding principles it must come one heart at a time. I must turn to the Truth of God’s Word and realize that I need to call upon the Lord’s mercy that comes not from anything I do but from His lovingkindness because of the multitude of His tender mercies. That and that alone is what will blot out my transgressions; my sins. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51:1-2 is my prayer Jesus. Wash me anew Heavenly Father as only you can. Because in the end I have sinned against You and You alone.

More on that tomorrow.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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