David’s remorse and lack of defensiveness when responding to the Lord in Psalm 51 smacks me out of my religious coma. Written after his confrontation with the prophet Nathan over the Bathsheba affair, David sought the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.

Unlike David, I tend to wheedle my way out of responsibility.

One of the most popular theories of the last hundred or so years frames people as basically good. Born with a pure nature, only a traumatic upbringing, or lack of education, or a warped society turns an innocent child into a sinful adult. We are all good at our core (but please lock the door on your way out).

David cut through all that pablum. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. David recognized his need for the Lord. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God.

David laid on his face without excuse. Have mercy on me, O God…you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Unvarnished truth helps me deal seriously with the sin in my life.

David’s uncompromising view of reality pushed him toward the only being in the universe who could make him whole. Create in my a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

David didn’t bargain or make excuses, but extended the only offering acceptable to the Lord. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. David hoped for the mercy of God.

Which is the best any of us can do.

Psalm 51 in Week twenty of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi