#DailyDevotion Only God Can Forgive Sins, Make Us Alive & Renew Our Hearts
Psalm 51 7Cleanse me from sin with hyssop and I’ll be clean;wash me and I’ll be whiter than snow. 8Make me to hear joy and gladness; then the limbs You crushed will be glad again. 9Hide Your face from my sins, and wipe out all my wrongs. 10Create a clean heart for me, O God and give me a steady new spirit.
David uses some elements from the Day of Atonement rituals when He’s asking God to do these things to him. Who alone can cleanse us from sins but God alone. Yet it is necessary for a man to die for this to happen. As such God becomes man, the God-man, Christ Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice that can cleanse us from our sins. He applies that atonement to us when we are baptized. God washes us there of our sin and makes us whiter than snow in the blood of Christ.
If we are cleansed from our sins and we have then we can hear joy and gladness. Our bodies no longer are oppressed by our sin and can feel glad when we go to confession and do not try to hide our sins from God and men. Interestingly enough, when we no longer try to hide our sins like Adam when we go to confession, the LORD hides His face from our sins and all our wrongs are wiped out on account of Jesus Christ’s innocent suffering and death.
If we are to be pleasing to God, He and He alone needs to give us, create in us a new heart. He does this by making our heart alive again because sin has caused it to be dead and stony. He gives us a heart of flesh. God must cleanse our hearts. God must give us steady spirit that does not hide from Him but comes before Him confidently and boldly to do His will.
11Don’t banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
When we refuse to repent and confess our sins, when we stubbornly want our sins to be approved of as good, then we enter a state of mortal sin. We are banished from the presence of God as Adam and Eve were from the Garden when they sinned. Just as they died when they were deceived and rebelled against the LORD, when we commit mortal sin, the Holy Spirit departs from us. When the pastor absolves us of our sins, the blood of Christ is applied to us. The Holy Spirit makes us His residence, His temple again. With the blood of Christ sprinkled on us we can again come before the throne of grace and boldly brink our requests to the Father.
12Give me again the joy of Your salvation and a willing spirit to strengthen me. 13Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will come back to You.
Jesus provided for us His Supper, where He gives us His true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, the strengthening of our faith and perseverance of the same. He brings us into this new covenant where He declares Himself to be our God and we His people. He forgives us our sins and remembers them no more. Having received this He gives us the joy of His salvation and a willing spirit to hear, listen, believe and obey. The LORD’s Supper is often called the Eucharist, which means thanksgiving. Having received the goodness of the LORD we offer up spiritual sacrifices of thanksgiving. We want to teach other rebels the LORD’s ways so they may return to You and know this joy He has given us. We do not want to keep this good news of the Father accepting us on account of Jesus. We want others to know this joy and strength we have in the LORD.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for providing us the atoning sacrifice we needed in Jesus Christ to be cleansed and washed of our sins. We give You thanks for making available the means of grace so we may receive from You life and salvation. Open our lips that we may offer up praise and thanksgiving so others too may avail themselves of this grace in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.