The Problem With Pointing Fingers [Psalm 51]
Racism is evil; Jesus died for the whole world, and he invites all people into his church.
Here’s the problem:
When I say that kind of thing in church, everyone nods and agrees. We want to believe that those nasty racists over there are the problem.
One of the problems with finger-pointing is that I always place myself in the company of the righteous and good while I tell other people they are the problem.
True confession, however, is only about me and only about us.
This is why the 51st Psalm is such a powerful psalm of confession. In the psalm, David makes it clear:
I am the problem!
Psalm 51
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
The superscription gives us the background to this psalm: David’s adultery with Bathsheba. When the prophet Nathan confronts him, to his credit David immediately takes responsibility for his actions.
How can you and I take responsibility for our actions today?
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Note that David asks for “mercy.” Mercy—by definition—isn’t owed; rather, mercy is unmerited favor. But, David asks for it because he knows that God is merciful by nature.
We don’t deserve it, but we need it—pray for mercy today.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
David doesn’t just want to be forgiven, he wants to be CLEAN.
God doesn’t just forgive sinners, but he makes them into saints.
Too many of us accept the first part of the gospel—forgiveness—but reject the second—sanctification.
Pray for God to remake your character today.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
See, this is the truth about sin: all sin is ultimately against God.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
No excuses here, just the truth:
David admits that he has been sinful since the beginning.
Can you imagine if we admitted the same thing today? It’s not anyone else—I am the sinner.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
I love this verse and often pray it over my own life:
“Lord, make me truthful from the inside out, and make me wise.”
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Hyssop is a plant, and among its other uses, the Israelites used it to smear blood on their doorframes in preparation for the Passover. (See Exodus 12:21-23.)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
David wants God to remake him from the inside out, and he desperately wants God to stay close. Hell is separation from God, and for God to remove his Spirit would be like dying before you die.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
God doesn’t want sacrifices but honesty from us, and honestly requires that we own our sin, confess it, and ask for mercy.
Don’t point the finger at someone else today.
YOU are the problem.
Or, to be more accurate:
I am.