God has loved us from our very beginning; knowing and seeking after us even from the womb. He has desired our faithfulness even before we were born. So, when we confess and ask God to forgive our sins He joyfully brings us into a relationship with Him. It becomes a love relationship where our desire is to give Him what He desires; and what He desires is our faithfulness.
Yet there may be times in our life when we sin, and sometimes the guilt of our failure to follow God seems overwhelming. When we are overcome by our failures we often cry out to God, as did David: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” (1-3 NIV)
In an effort to renew our relationship with God, we sometimes try to hide our sin in a corner in an attempt to purify our own hearts, and hope that is enough. We try to negate the sin in our life by doing “good.” But it is impossible for us to purify our own hearts. David writes, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” (16-17 NIV)
We can’t get away from our sin, but when we, without excuses, admit we have failed, He extends His hand of mercy, and renews us with a clean heart. All God requires of us is a contrite heart; one that acknowledges the truth about our sin. God does not look skeptically at a truly repentant heart. Instead, by our sincere remorse of our sin, we allow Him and His grace to change us and make us whole. It becomes less about failing and sin, and more about a continual pursuit of a relationship with Him.
David knew that God is the only way to a pure heart, and just like David, we need to ask God to create in us a new heart by confessing our failures, our sin, and trust in His mercy. In humbleness we must pray as did David:
“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
(10-12 NIV)
How can we help but rejoice in His mercy? His loves knows no bounds! We are sinners from birth, but it is even before birth that His mercy is present. He simply waits for us to accept His mercy and grace. And what is even more amazing and wonderful is that when we fall back into sin, He is there, ready to grant His mercy once again. Even as we acknowledge it is only God that we have sinned against.
David does not stop there. He realizes the mercy of God, and understands he must reveal God’s mercy to others. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.” (v.13). He knows the powerfullness, the joy, and the extent of God’s mercy and love, and cannot help but share it with others, so they too can be delivered from guilt and sin.