Psalm 51 (Day 20): Against You Only

"Spirit of God, descend upon my heart

Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move

Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art

And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies

No sudden rending of the veil of clay

No angel visitant, no opening skies

But take the dimness of my soul away."

-- George Croly (1780-1860)

On this twentieth day of my 50 days of waiting for Pentecost Sunday (June 8), I am ever more grateful that the Holy Spirit did indeed come to individual followers of Christ. I am humbled that the King of glory saw it fit to send the Counselor to you and me -- as long as we recognize Christ Jesus as Messiah and Lord.

This necessitates our acknowledgment of sin.

It is that specific frame of mind -- acknowledgment of sin -- that drew King David to write Psalm 51. For all fifty (50) days of waiting, I am staying my mind upon this passage of Scripture to glean nuggets of wisdom from the Holy Spirit of God.

So far, the Holy Spirit has led me to cover the heading and the first three verses of the psalm, reading:

For the director of music.

A psalm of David.

When the prophet Nathan came to him

after David committed adultery with Bathsheba.

"Have mercy on me, O God,

according to Your unfailing love;

according to Your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions
and my sin is always before me."

Psalm 51:1-3, NIV

Today, I get to verse 4, which reads,

"Against You, You only

have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight,

so that You are proved right when You speak

and justified when You judge."

Holy Spirit, please speak to me and through me today. 

In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen!

The first part of verse 4 is not intended as a denial of David's obvious, sinful, and wrongful actions against Bathsheba, Uriah, and everyone within his circle of influence; it is, rather, a poetic amplification of David's deep regret over breaking God's principles. His attack against Uriah's life and his abuse of Bathsheba's personhood were both heinous sins against God because the Creator made all people in His likeness.

Against You.

Against You, O Father.

Against You, O Son of God.

Against You, O Holy Spirit.

My sin . . .

Your sin . . .

. . . is an act of rebellion

AGAINST

God.

Oh, forgive us, Lord!

Thank You for the Cross!

The second part of the verse points me to Romans 1:20, teaching that mankind is without excuse because "God's invisible qualities -- His eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made." In other words, by simply looking at and lusting after Bathsheba, and by merely thinking of Uriah, David was graciously given enough insight to know and understand God's power and nature (for all Creation plainly bears the mark of the Father). That alone should have been enough to stop David from planning adultery and premeditating murder. Consequently, when God's word came through the prophet Nathan, the Father was proved right and just.

Today, tomorrow, next month, whenever you and I read or hear God's Word, the Father is proved right and just.

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." -- Romans 3:23
You are proved right, O Father.

"All are justified freely by His grace 
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." -- Romans 3:24 
You are proved just, O Father.

The gracious takeaway for each of us is two-fold:

One the one hand, you and I have learned that any sin -- no matter how it seems to us -- is a capital offense against God, whether it directly involves others or not. It convicts our hearts to regard sin as a declaration of war to God.

On the other, we have learned that, since God's invisible qualities are inherent in all of Creation, allowing our senses to wrongly partake of anything or anyone through sound, sight, smell, taste, touch, and/or feeling renders us guilty before God's perfect and powerful holiness.

Gratefully, Christ came to seek us (so lost and far are we from the righteous path) and save us (so unable are we to walk righteously).

Praise Your glorious name, 

O Holy Spirit of the living God!