10/02/2026 – “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9) / “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” Psalm 32: 3-4 / Pray Psalm 51!
“Those who work in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and social services are often confronted with a strong correlation between what is happening in a person’s heart and mind and what is being displayed in that persons’s body. God’s word speaks into this connection and then goes deeper, for it tells us that there is a connection between the state of our body and the state of our soul.”
“In Psalm 32, David speaks very personally to God, acknowledging the heaviness he experienced when he hid in the shadows and refused to confess his sin against Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah (see Samuel 11). And through David, the Spirit teaches us that there is a link between a tortured conscience and lack of repentance, and our physical wellbeing. Those who were in David’s immediate company may not have been aware of what was going on inside him spiritually, but they could not have avoided the indications of what was happening to him physically.
David recognized his condition for what is was: a punishment. the Bible makes it clear that there is a natural outcome to lust, excess, and a disregard for the commands of God (see Romans 1:24-25) — all of which David was guilty of. Frailty, weight loss, sleeplessness, a sense of rejection, melancholy, anxiety, and despair often haunts individuals who is seeking to hide their sin from God and deny it to themselves.
What restored David was not a healthy kick or getting to bed earlier but rather dealing with the root cause — his sin: “I acknowledged my sin to you… and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32;5). God kept His hand heavy upon David until David placed his sin into God’s hands and asked Him to deal with it. It is a blessing to us when God does not allow us to forget our sin — when we feel physical heaviness because of our spiritual sickness. It is his means of bringing us to do what we most need: to confess it and ask for forgiveness for it.
Are you harboring sin? Do not cloak it; confess it. David experienced liberating relief from his pain and distress when he sought God’s forgiveness. You too can know that joy, for the promise of God’s word is that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1:9).”
Psalm 51
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Soli Deo Gloria!
Comment:
FYI: This is the October 1st devotional in Alistair’s 365 Daily Devotions.
God’s Word is infallible. It gives us all we need in this life. But I submit once again, it is good thing that I will have all eternity to fully comprehend the Lord our God, for that is how long it will take me. I am compelled to include verse commentary in Psalm 51, most if not all in “The Apologetics Study Bible”:
“51:4 David has sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba, but the confession acknowledged that sin is, first of all, against God; the expression “You alone” simply intensifies the thought.”
“51:10 The heart is the spiritual nature of a person, the center of the will, the capacity for making choices. The prayer is for God to re-create (renew, as the parallelism in the verse shows) that spiritual side, let he continue to make wrong choices. Forgiveness may not be enough to solve the problem (*A); there must be a complete spiritual renewal. The forgiven worshiper is not the old person cleaned up; he is a new person (Ezekiel 18:31; 1 Corinthians 5:17).”
(*A) – Comment – Perhaps this provides a clear distinction between: ‘Venial” sin and “Mortal” sin.
“51:11. At Pentecost, the risen and ascended Christ sent His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:32-33) to abide with every believer. But before the incarnation and resurrection of the Son of God, the Spirit appears to function differently in the life of the people of God. The Spirit “came upon” or “in-dwelt” people responsible for administering the rule of God: prophets, priests, kings. The presence of God’s Spirit set them apart and enable them to lead (see Isaiah 61:1), but His indwelling was not always permanent as it is in the NT. Thus, when Saul sinned against the Lord and was rejected from kingship, the Spirit left him (1 Samuel 16:14). David the king probably had this possibility in mind. His prayer is a typical Old Testament petition that he not be removed from service because of his sin. Christians would not express this thought in the same way; since Jesus Christ lives and reigns. His Holy Spirit indwells them permanently as the seal of eternal life. (*B-below). Still New Testament believers can pray the same thing David meant: “Do not remove me from service.” (On the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, see Judges 3:10; 1 Samuel 18:12)”
(*B) – Comment – With serious sin or prolonged running away from God, I don’t expect the indwelling Holy Spirit leaves that person, He just goes “silent” so to speak. He didn’t move, I did so to speak. Taking it the other direction, when I am more grounded in His Word and praying more, the Holy Spirit “seems” closer to me, even to the point I am much less likely to pray: “Lord, what would you have me do right now, which direction should I take.” Instead, I just know so to speak.
Last note, a reflection: In Barna’s surveys of Christians, I was saddened by the percentage of Christians who do not even believe the Holy Spirit is a “person”. That is a clear rejection of the Trinity, no?
“51: 16-17 The psalm is not repudiating sacrifice; the rites of the altar were the heart of Israel’s corporate worship. Because of the nature of David’s sins, there was no sin offering he could bring – those offerings were for sins of ignorance. Without a sin offerng, he could not offer the atoning whole burnt offering. And he certainly could not offer a peace offering because his peace with God had been compromised. He could only plead for mercy with a broken spirit – that is a will that had been stripped of all rebellion and pride.”
Soli Deo Gloria!