Read Dr. David Jeremiah Daily Devotional for today July 3 2023: Confession and Restoration
SCRIPTURE: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.-Psalm 51:1
People are often heard to exclaim, “Oh, that is just perfect!” when referring to a gorgeous vista in nature, a beautiful painted or photographed portrait, or a delicious dessert. But as often as we use the word perfect, we know there is no such thing. And that is definitely true of human beings. As Scripture says, “For all have sinned” (Romans 3:23).
Even godly characters like David—a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), a man who wrote numerous psalms of worship to God—failed to live a perfect life. His adulterous affair with Bathsheba, complicity in the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and concealing of his sins marred an otherwise imitable life. But the redeeming part of David’s imperfect life is the mercy and forgiveness he found when he confessed his sins to God. He wrote an entire psalm about his confession and restoration (Psalm 51). And therein lies the lesson from David’s imperfection for us.
First John 1:9 serves as a one-verse summary of Psalm 51: If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us. Don’t imitate David’s failures; do imitate his response.
The beginning of repentance is the confession of guilt.
John Calvin