The penitential psalms focus on the need for our repentance in approaching a holy God. So often, we like to rush in to the blessings found in following God, but without a true understanding of the enormity of sin, we will likely have a shallow understanding of the riches of God’s blessings and salvation and certainly will not appreciate the cost of Christ’s sacrifice for us. These psalms are full of anguished emotion (talking of sorrow, anguish, groanings, tears, brokenness and pain), indicating the psalmists’ awareness of the gulf separating them from a holy, pure, perfect God.
In the case of Ps 51, we are given the backdrop to David’s anguish, and it is perhaps a surprise to us to realise that it took many months of apparent oblivion to sin and Nathan’s incisive, prophetic story to awaken David’s conscience. How can this king, who had once been so sensitive to God’s promptings, have fallen so far from grace and been so blind? The sobering fact about sin is that it is often insidious, a ‘slow fade’ as Casting Crowns remind us: ‘it’s a slow fade when you give yourself away; it’s a slow fade when black and white turn to grey. Thoughts invade. Choices are made; a price will be paid. People never crumble in a day; it’s a slow fade.’ We are blinded to sin by our own self-righteousness (as the Pharisee in Luke 18:11-12 reminds us) and our capacity for self-deception (Jer 17:9), hence the need to pray for cleansing, restoration and purity. (Ps 51:7, 10-12)
The penitential psalms are not just laments over sin, however. They are rich mines into forgiveness, blessing and hope. Perhaps one reason we are not so aware of the blessings of forgiveness as the psalmists is that we have not felt the guilt and burden of our sin. (Ps 32:5) It’s only when we have stumbled and fallen, bucking God’s control like a rebellious mule or horse (Ps 32:9), that we can taste the full flavour of God’s forgiveness and know how truly blessed we are: ‘What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.’ (Ps 32:1-2, The Living Bible) Or, as Paul put it, ‘where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom 5:20-21) May we be unafraid to repent, secure that God’s grace, unfailing love and great compassion will be enough to welcome us:
‘And if I stand, let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through,
And if I can’t, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You.’ (Rich Mullins, ‘If I Stand’)