A PRAYER OF CLEANSING

Proclamation:

“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.” Psalms 51:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of King David and the prayer that he prayed after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and had her husband Uriah killed, and after the prophet Nathan had confronted him and told him of his sin. (2 Samuel 12:1-13)

Application:

David was a man after God’s own heart, not because he didn’t sin, but because he confessed his sins and asked to be forgiven and then walked uprightly in the ways of The Lord.  Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of cleansing.  It is a prayer that we should model our prayer after.  We should pray and ask God to have mercy on us.  We should ask Him to cleanse us of our sins.  We should acknowledge that we know that we have sinned and that all sin is a sin against God. (Psalms 51:3-4)  We should also ask God to create within us a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within us. (Psalms 51:10)  We should ask God to restore unto us the joy of our salvation. (Psalms 51:12)  Then we should ask Him to open our lips and guide our tongue so that we may praise His holy name. (Psalms 51:15)  Since we are all sinners, (Romans 3:23) a similar prayer, if not this exact one, would be appropriate for each one of us.