Psalm 51:13-17
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.
Reflect
It seems strange that, having found life’s greatest treasure, so many of us Christ-followers prefer to remain silent about our discovery. Imagine if Alexander Fleming had decided to remain silent about his discovery of penicillin. Would he have stood by and watched multitudes suffering and dying of pneumonia, blood poisoning, and a host of other infections and been able to hold his tongue? His discovery, once declared, brought life to untold millions.
I never cease to be amazed at David’s final words in his consecration of Psalm 51. David understood that if God was ever going to restore him, he would have a story to tell—a testimony of God’s goodness and grace that people needed to hear. What he could not have known is that we would be still reading his story in every part of the world and in every generation up to today. That is an illustration of how our Master works miracles out of our messes. This bring us today to the last of the three unavoidable prerequisites that must take place when we travel right through the middle of the valley of repentance.
Prerequisite Three: There must be a desire that reaches for victory
I sincerely love this part. David does not quit with asking for God’s forgiveness. David knew that if he was to be forgiven from his unrighteous heart, that a new heart would desire to tell the story of God’s redemptive love, forgiveness, and restoration.
David could have prayed like some people, “God, I have done all this evil, and I am sorry and of no account. God, I know I do not deserve to be forgiven, but if you will just please forgive me in your grace, then I will stay out of your way. I will never amount to anything for the rest of my life, and I will wait quietly until the day I die and hope I go to Heaven. But at least I will not mess up your work again. I will keep my hands off of what you are trying to accomplish and I will stay out of your way.” You will not find that prayer in your Bible.
On the contrary, David said, “God, I do not want to be cleansed just so that I feel good. I do not want to be forgiven just so that I get out of this despair.” David said, “God, the biggest desire of my life is that I might honor you and serve you; and God, I know what is going to happen when revival comes. I know what is going to happen when you touch me, God” (paraphrase).
Look again at Psalm 51:13-15. David is basically saying, “I have confidence that God is going to forgive me, and when he does, he is going to give me a purpose again. I will teach transgressors, and sinners will be converted to the Lord. And God, the music that was in my life is gone right now, but when you bring the music back, I will sing with joy! I will worship you! I will serve you!” (paraphrase)
That is how it happens; that is the result of traveling through the middle of the valley of repentance. When real repentance comes, on the other side of the valley, there is victory. The road may be bumpy for a while and there may be no detour around it. But the road to forgiveness and restoration runs through the middle of the valley of repentance. Glancing back through the rear-view mirror at all the hard bumps in the road, you will remember the struggles. But looking forward as you are moving out of the back side of the valley, you will see ahead of you that there is joy, triumph, and victory. There is exhilaration in being in the service of the Lord once again. David says, “I know I will be an effective witness. I know I will be able to sing again! I know there is joy on the other side of the valley” (paraphrase).
Many years ago, Time Magazine put out an article. It was about the American Medical Association and a special seminar that was held for cardiologists. One of the outstanding physicians in that field was speaking and decided to test his audience of about 1,100 in number. He said to the heart surgeons in the arena, “How many of you have had a cardiovascular checkup in the last 12 months?” Time Magazine reported that, amazingly, not one single surgeon could lift his/her hand.[1]
Repentance works like that. Unfortunately, those of us who are Christ-followers, when we finally decide to share our story to a lost world, are prone to say, “You need to repent of your sin and receive Jesus.” And we are telling them the truth, but they cannot hear what we are saying because we have not had a check-up lately. We must understand that we do not do all the repenting that we are ever going to need to do just when we get saved. It is to be the pattern for our lives on a daily basis until Jesus returns. Have you had a checkup lately?
King David had a checkup, and God unclogged the arteries where sin had stopped the flow of God’s love and grace. Consequently, David was not only forgiven, he was a changed man. The testimony of his life would forever be that traveling through the middle of the valley of repentance is well worth the trip. There must be a despair that requests forgiveness, there must be a disgust that requires change, and there must be a desire that reaches for victory.
[1] Irvine H. Page “Cardiology: The Doctor’s Heart Attack” Time Magazine, 03 Nov 1967. Accessed 31 May 2020. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837466,00.html
Respond
David really believed that he was going to be forgiven. Was that arrogance or was David given some insight into the truth that he would be forgiven?
Why was David not content with just being forgiven?