To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” Psalm 51:1
May 3, 2025
A wounded conscience is of its own kind of pain. King David suffered from a self-inflicted wound. Believers in Jesus Christ can sin and suffer its consequences. But there is healing medicine found in humbling ourselves and seeking God for forgiveness. The good news is that God can forgive any sin in response to repentance. The Psalms of the Old Testament show us how to confess our sins to God. Mark this down and meditate on it. We can go to God for forgiveness not because of who we are but because of who God is. God’s grace (He does not owe me anything), God’s lovingkindness (His love is unfailing), God’s mercy (He comes to the aid of the miserable). We must see sin for what it is, rebellion, perversion, hitting the wrong mark. God’s forgiveness deletes the offense, gets out the dirt and stain of it, and declares us clean.
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“O gracious God, how I thank you for the spiritual bath that I need when I have fallen in the mud of sin. And thank you for healing the wound sin inflicts.”