David’s Story: Steps to True Repentance (Part 3)

Psalm 51

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
Creation. Abraham. Moses. DAVID. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to-Come.

What is true repentance? We are continuing our study of Psalm 51, the prayer for forgiveness that David wrote after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed. Last time we learned the first two steps.

1. True repentance is based on the character of God (Ps. 51:1-2).
2. True repentance sees God as just (Ps. 51:3-6).        

Let’s consider four additional steps.

3. True repentance desires an obedient spirit.

Psalm 51:7-12 (NIV)
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 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.

The conviction of sin weighs heavily on David, making him feel as though his bones have been crushed. In seeking restoration, he asks God to cleanse and wash him so that he may “be whiter than snow” (see Isa. 1:18). He also pleads with God not to look upon his sin, revealing his deep longing for spiritual renewal.  

Today, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells every believer. In the Old Testament, however, God’s Spirit came upon people at certain times and then departed. Having witnessed what happened to Saul when God took his Spirit from the king, David pleads, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” 

Sin often begins its spiral when we become spiritually stagnant. Recognizing his need for renewal, David asks God to create in him a pure heart and restore a “steadfast spirit” within him. He longs to regain the joy he once experienced and move forward in obedience. 

4. True repentance desires to pay it forward.

Psalm 51:13-15 (NIV)
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.  Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 

David does not want to remain silent about forgiveness. If God graciously forgives him, he promises to teach others about God’s grace, forgiveness, and the dangers of sin, “so that sinners will turn back to you.” He also vows to sing of God’s righteousness and praise him for his mercy. This passage reminds us that true repentance wants to pay God’s goodness forward. 

5. True repentance comes with a broken spirit.

Psalm 51:16-17 (NIV)
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. 

David expresses that if bringing a sacrifice to the altar could produce true repentance, he would do it. However, he knows that God looks at the heart. True repentance produces a “broken and contrite heart.” As we noted earlier, attrition is sorrow for getting caught—the public embarrassment and the fear of what might happen once others find out. Contrition, by contrast, is genuine sorrow over having sinned against God. This is what David desires. When we come to God with a contrite heart, he is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 

6. True repentance develops true worshipers.

Psalm 51:18-19
May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.  

True repentance shapes us into genuine worshipers, strengthens our homes, and inspires others to worship the living God. 

Psalm 51 shares this message loud and clear: when we disobey, God offers forgiveness through his grace and mercy if we come to him with a contrite heart, a desire to turn from our sin, and a longing to restore the joy of our salvation. 

What a gracious and merciful God we have who forgives our sins!

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on Psalm 51.  In what ways is God calling you to move from outward religion to a truly broken and contrite heart?

Talking to God: Ask God to give you clarity to see your need for repentance.

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