Fallen and Restored Devotion: Part II
The two sins which David was clearly guilty of were adultery and murder. There was no provision nor sacrifice for those who intentionally committed those sins in the Old Testament. The only course of action was death! Lev. 20:10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” Num 35:16 – “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.”
David knew that he was good as dead if God were to enact true justice. In light of this, David did the only thing that he could do, he pleaded for God to be merciful. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:1-2) God must do the saving, and God must do the washing.
David believed that God could in fact do this as He is merciful and gracious by nature! He said elsewhere in this prayer. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. “(v .7) He even called God, “The God of his salvation.” Here we see that David actively trusting in God, and His ability to save. His devotion to God was being restored through the painful experience of the revelation of his own sin. If David had no devotion, he would have never prayed to God for mercy at all!
If a sacrifice could be made, it must come from God Himself. God has indeed provided a sacrifice and became the sacrifice. That sacrifice was the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ! His sacrifice would be able to cover even the sins of murder and adultery. Although Christ had yet to come, David was looking forward in faith trusting that the true Savior would come and make atonement for his sin. He asked for God to blot out his transgressions from heaven’s record book and that is exactly what Christ has done.
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)
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