Okay, so maybe "Repentance" is not going to be the best on-going title for this series of posts. It definitely is the theme of David's prayer. However, there is also hope, rejoicing, deliverance, and victory over temptation.
In the Model Prayer, any reference to seeking forgiveness is preceded by praise and adoration of the Father, an appeal that His kingdom come, His will be done, and our daily needs be met. Sometimes in the course of our praying, as we look at the holiness and the provision of our loving Father, we are confronted with our own sin. There are other times, however, when all we can see is the blackness of our hearts, and the only response we seem able to voice is a crying out for forgiveness and mercy.
Several years ago, as I was involved in an intercessory prayer ministry, I found myself spending a lot of time in Psalm 51. I found that I often needed to include repentance early in the process of intercession. Although I had always thought of this Psalm as dealing with repentance for "extreme" immorality, since it was written in response to David's sin with Bathsheba, it became an integral part of my prayer life. Even if your sin seems nowhere as dark as that for which David was repenting, this is a wonderful passage to guide you in repentance, and to open your eyes to the depth of love revealed in God's provision for our salvation.
In verse 1, David begins by acknowledging the absolute sufficiency of God as the source for his forgiveness. At the same time he was seeking God's forgiveness, David was acknowledging God's greatness. He had long walked in a knowledge of the deep lovingkindness of God, of His never-ending/always new compassion. Even though the depth of his sin forced him to forego his often eloquent words of praise, it was David's deep awareness of the goodness of God which was the basis for his confidence in coming to God in repentance. He didn't approach God flippantly presuming upon God's willingness to forgive. He was painfully aware of the seriousness of his sin. We shouldn't take our sin lightly either. Nonetheless, do not doubt the willingness of God to forgive, not only as the basis of His lovingkindness and compassion, but also in direct proportion to the abundance of His lovingkindness and compassion. What matters is not how bad you are, but how good God is.
David proclaimed in Psalm 103:10-12: "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." How much more real this truth should be to us who can say with Paul, "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7).
I was saved at a young age. I knew little of sin, grace, or righteousness. I only knew I was a sinner, could not save myself, and needed to accept what Christ had done for my salvation by opening my heart to Him. However, He knew me well. He knew not only the sins of a small child, but also of an adolescent, and a grown man. In His mercy - His great and marvelous mercy - He saved me anyway.
Ps.51:1 (from my heart): O God, I was without hope because of my sin, yet in Your holiness You saved me. By Your grace, You gave me hope and eternal life. Now, again, Lord, be gracious to me in proportion to Your lovingkindness. In proportion to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out (soak up, eliminate) my transgressions (all the ways I have broken, and do break, Your law and fall short of Your will for me). Lord, I know so little of Your love, for I spend so little time with You. Yet I do know You love me. You have given me life and breath. You have forgiven me so much already. In proportion to my sin, and compared to Your holiness, I deserve to be a charred pile of ashes on the floor before You. Yet through the blood of Jesus, my High Priest, You invite me to enter boldly before Your throne to receive mercy and find grace to help in this time of need. And God, I need You now more than ever.
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