The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases!

Reflection: Today, in Psalm 51, we have the classic confession of King David, when he sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba.  He is confronted by Nathan the Prophet, and here is his confession.  In this confession, which is often repeated as part of the liturgical service, we see many aspects of true confession before God.

It starts with appealing to God’s mercy.  Mercy is not getting what we deserve.  When we sin, we sin first against God, who is holy.  When we sin, God is justified to punish us according to our sins, or He can withhold that punishment in the character of His mercy.  His mercy flows from his unfailing or steadfast love.  The Hebrew word for this kind of love is “hesed”, and it is one of the most important words for understanding the nature of God.  As the old hymn goes, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end they are new every morning, new every morning Great is Thy Faithfulness O God.”

Second, is a petition to wash away or blot out David’s transgression.  Since God is the one David sinned against first, only God can wipe away or clean the slate of what David has done.  David uses the metaphor of “washing” and “cleansing” to indicate how by his sin he has become dirty and unclean, and needs to be made clean. 

David acknowledges that his sinful condition has been a part of him from birth.  He was born of fallen humanity, and he knows that only God can redeem his native condition.  David goes as far as to say that he was this way in his mother’s womb, and God could even desire faithfulness in that prenatal state.  As we can see David has a pretty good handle on what he has done, how that affects his relationship with God, and how God is the only one who can provide the solution necessary for David to become clean again. 

Then, we can juxtapose this teaching from Psalm 51 with the passage from 1 Corinthians, where Paul tells the church that they are “temple of God”, and God’s Spirit dwells in their midst, which makes them holy. Holiness was not prompted by holy living. The Corinthians were every bit born of sin, as was King David.  But God has provided His Son, Jesus, to become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Through Jesus they were made clean and they were given the Holy Spirit to set them apart and make them holy. 

So therefore getting back to yesterday when the Corinthians began to act in worldly ways by following human personalities rather than Christ, Paul urges them to reconsider how they have been made holy, and how God’s Spirit is the only way they can live a life worthy of their calling.  This is also the judgment of God that Job felt so acutely and longed for redemption from his sinful nature and that his friends failed to recognize. 

When is the last time you have entered into a time of confession like King David.  The bible teaches us to continue to confess our sins to God and one another, for while we have been set apart, we are not yet freed from our sinful nature.  Part of the Lord’s Prayer is “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.”  Take a moment today to ask God for forgiveness for your sins in thought, word and deed and the good things you have not done.  Then, hear the Good News that for Jesus sake your sins are not accounted against you as God is rich in mercy and steadfast love.  Go in peace and serve the Lord!

Psalm 51:1-6

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

    blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,

    and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

    and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

    and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Job 24

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?

    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

2 There are those who move boundary stones;

    they pasture flocks they have stolen.

3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey

    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

4 They thrust the needy from the path

    and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

5 Like wild donkeys in the desert,

    the poor go about their labor of foraging food;

    the wasteland provides food for their children.

6 They gather fodder in the fields

    and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.

7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;

    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.

8 They are drenched by mountain rains

    and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.

9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;

    the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.

10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;

    they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

11 They crush olives among the terraces[a];

    they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,

    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.

    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

13 “There are those who rebel against the light,

    who do not know its ways

    or stay in its paths.

14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,

    kills the poor and needy,

    and in the night steals forth like a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;

    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’

    and he keeps his face concealed.

16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,

    but by day they shut themselves in;

    they want nothing to do with the light.

17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;

    they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

18 “Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;

    their portion of the land is cursed,

    so that no one goes to the vineyards.

19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,

    so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.

20 The womb forgets them,

    the worm feasts on them;

the wicked are no longer remembered

    but are broken like a tree.

21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,

    and to the widow they show no kindness.

22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;

    though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,

    but his eyes are on their ways.

24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;

    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

    they are cut off like heads of grain.

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false

    and reduce my words to nothing?”

1 Corinthians 3:12-23

12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling-block before the blind; you shall fear your God. Leviticus 19:14

God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

Lord, sometimes we separate belief from works, love for you from love for others, good news as spiritual path from good news as transformed society. End this schism: lead us to inner holiness and outer service, professions of faith and protections for the least in our society, and reverence of you and love for others. Amen.