Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.     Psalm 51:9-12 HCSB

This Psalm was written by David after his sin with Bathsheba. David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22). He was committed to God’s ways. But he let sin get the best of him. David was where he shouldn’t have been, he saw something he shouldn’t have seen and did something he shouldn’t have done. In 2 Samuel, chapter 11 David should have been off to war. He’s got all he could ever ask for. He is the king; he is in the palace. He has many wives and concubines. He lets his soldiers handle the war and he stays at home. He is walking out on his rooftop at night and sees a young woman bathing. He should have walked away, but he didn’t. Instead, he inquired about her, brought her into his home and slept with her. She conceived a son. She is married to one of his soldiers. He arranges to have him killed in the war. He commits adultery and murder as if it were nothing. Then in 2 Samuel chapter 12, the prophet Nathan rebukes him by using a story to demonstrate what he has done. David, not realizing Nathan is talking about him, says the man who did this must die.

This is a prime example of the saying that sin will take us farther than we want to go, keep us longer than we want to stay and cost us more than we want to pay. David paid for his sin the rest of his life. He lost the son born to him and Bathsheba. Nathan had told him that the sword would never leave his house. David’s children fought against each other and against him for the rest of his days.

David begins Psalm 51 by asking God to have mercy upon him, according to God’s steadfast love and to blot out his transgressions according to God’s abundant mercy. This is a beautiful Psalm of repentance.

God spared David’s life, but David still had a price to pay. His sin affected his entire household. In verse 17, David says that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, and that God will not despise these.

My friend if you may have fallen into sin without even paying attention to what you were doing. You may have been like David and thought you had it all under control. But sin takes on a life of its own. If we give the devil just a tiny crack, he will bust right on in and take the whole thing over. Just a little bit of sin can be disastrous.

So, what are we to do? Romans 3:23 tells us that we all sin and fall short of God. We are caught up daily in a war between the flesh and the Spirit. But we must draw close to God. He will fight our battles for us. We must daily ask Him to forgive us of our sins even if we are unaware of sins we have committed. We must resist the devil when he entices us to sin by telling us that it will be okay. Just this once won’t hurt. No one else will get hurt by what we are doing. He has a whole stack of lies that he uses. And when we fall, we must reach out to God. Isaiah 41:10 is one of my favorites, it says, “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. God is only a cry away. He will reach out to you and pull you out of the pit you have fallen into.

We must repent. We must ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit. We must draw near to Him through prayer and Bible study so that we can resist the devil. We must not continue in our sin. We are told in Romans 1:24 that we could pass the point of no return and God could give us over to our sin. Hebrews 10:26-27 tells us that if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. When we sin, we are God’s adversary.

When your sin fails you and it will, turn to God. Repent and trust in Him. Only Jesus’ blood can save us from our sin. Cry out to Him and He will save you. Psalm 34:17-18 says, “When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

If your sin has failed you, trust in God. Turn to Him and give it all over to Him.

Have a great day!