Psalm 51:3-6 - Guilty As Charged

Chad Werkhoven
Dec 19, 2023
2 min read

The guilt you feel is actually a good thing, but don't feel it for too long!

Read / Listen

Read Psalm 51

NOTE: We read Psalm 51 earlier this summer, but we're going to spend this entire week going through it again section by section.

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

you who are God my Savior,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart

you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Listen to passage & devotional:

Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126

Q. What does the fifth request mean?

A. “Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors” means,

Because of Christ’s blood,

do not hold against us,

poor sinners that we are,

any of the sins we do

or the evil that constantly clings to us.

Forgive us just as we are fully determined,

as evidence of your grace in us,

to forgive our neighbors

Summary

Is guilt a good or bad thing? Nobody really likes experiencing the pain of guilt. You've likely envied people just a bit who seem able to float through life guilt free, even after doing really awful things. But David here in Psalm 51 reminds you once again that guilt, as painful as it can be, is actually a good thing, in that it brings us to confess our sin before our gracious Father.

David expresses the inescapable nature of guilt that covenant people experience when he writes that his sin is "always before him." Know that you'll never be able to outrun or hide from your guilt; the only solution is to confess it here as David does and then experience the unfailing, forgiving love and compassion we read about yesterday.

While there certainly are lots of people that get hurt when we sin, the primary offense is against God Himself. Yet David isn't bitter about God, even after receiving God's righteous verdict and justified judgment. David knows God isn't being arbitrary or capricious, because David's conscience had already made him quite aware of his guilt.

Sin and guilt is so intertwined with you that it's wrapped up in your DNA. Not only were you born into sin, you were conceived in it! This is why the New Testament emphasizes your need to not just change your behavior, but to change you very nature; you need to go from being in Adam and his sin to being grafted into Christ and His righteousness.

Dig Deeper

Maybe you've heard the analogy that if you had a treatable cancer in you, it would be much better if it generated a symptom that made you feel miserable than if it just grew undetected. In seeking relief from the symtoms, the cancer could be treated and removed.

So it is with your sin. Life might seem to be much better for people who are able to mask their guilt or even ignore it all together, but the true advantage comes to those like David, whose guilt enables them to recognize their transgression and sin so they can remove it by confessing it to God.

Sin infected you the moment you were conceived. Be grateful for the guilt that makes you aware of its presence in your life, and then follow Jesus' command to pray that your guilt-inducing debts will be forgiven.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father; against you, you only, have we sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will, through Christ, forgive your debts and alleviate your guilt;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: