Psalm 51:13-19 - The Force of Forgiveness

Chad Werkhoven
Dec 22, 2023
2 min read

The force of forgiveness is designed to break and reform you.

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Read Psalm 51

NOTE: We're working our way through Psalm 51 all week.

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

Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A ball that's dropped to the floor will likely bounce right back into your hand.

David shows us here in this final passage of his confession of sin that this law of physics applies to theology as well. The force of God's forgiveness rebounds in David's life as he "opens his mouth to declare God's praise" so that "his tongue will sing of God's righteousness."

As is often the case when heavy physical force is applied, damage occurs. This is the case spirtually as well. When a person confess his sins, and God echoes back with overwhelming grace, it results in a "broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart."

But the spiritual 'damage' forgiveness results in does slightly differ from what might be expected in the physical world. A ball will continue to bounce in the same direction until it finally runs out of energy. But God wants more than just a formulaic, mechanical response to the force His forgiveness brings. David realizes this as he writes that God "does not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it."

In other words, God's not interested in a perpetual pattern of sin which leads to sacrifice/confession leading to forgiveness leading to diminishing thanksgiving which brings you right back to sin again... Instead, God wants Zion - His people/Church - to be built up and strong. So He applies the force of His forgiveness to change the direction of the lives of His people.

Dig Deeper

After experiencing the force of God's forgiveness in his own life, it drives David in a new direction. He writes, "Then I will teach transgessors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you (v13)."

Teaching sinners God's ways certainly includes teaching them His law so they no longer transgress it, but primarily it means helping them understand God's ways of grace and forgiveness. This can be demonstrated on a much smaller scale when you show them forgiveness for the ways they've hurt you.

This is exactly why Jesus teaches you to couch your requests for forgiveness with evidence of your ability to forgive others. It's not at all that God's grace is conditioned upon your actions, rather your actions in forgiving others evidence that you're being shaped by God's forgiveness rather than just mechanically expecting it.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: "O God, you who are God my Savior; my tongue will sing of your righteousness."
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Confess your sins, and pray that the force of God's resulting forgiveness will break your sinful spirit and then build you back up;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: