There are two prayers that God always loves to answer with an enthusiastic “Yes!” on His part. They are found in Psalm 51, David’s heart-felt repentance psalm:
(a) “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me” (vs. 11), and
(b) “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation” (vs. 12).
King David was the greatest man in the world at that time—king of the greatest nation of the world—Israel. He was so high in prestige and honor that there was no one above him.
But he fell into the darkest pit that one can fall into: the guilt of adultery—robbing an innocent man of his wife; and as if that was not bad enough, the added crime of murdering her husband—Uriah the Hittite. To make matters worse (if they could be worse!), Uriah was the faithful servant of King David, risking his life in defense of David’s throne.
This double burden of guilt that King David now carried in his soul was hell itself. He describes it in Psalm 32:
“Day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (vss. 3, 4). It’s a vivid metaphor: a beautiful garden dead for lack of water.
But there was one good thing that David did: he “acknowledged” his sin. He opened up and confessed: “I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (vs. 5).
Then King David becomes an evangelist: “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found: ... in the floods of great waters” (vs. 6).
We may flatter ourselves that we could never fall into that deep pit that King David fell into.
But the dear Lord reminds us in Isaiah 54 that even if He does deliver us from evil so that “no weapon that is formed against [us] shall prosper,” still we have nothing of which to be proud, for He says, “Their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord” (vs.17).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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