READ Psalm 51:5–9. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
SIN CREATES A RECORD. In verses 1 and 9 David asks that his sins be “blotted out.” This means literally to wipe the writing out of a book. Sin creates an objective record—a debt, an offense against justice—that calls for punishment. If someone is found guilty, a judge cannot ignore the record. A criminal’s record can be wiped clean only if he or she pays the penalty. How, then, can God blot out David’s sin without striking him dead—the just penalty for all he has done? Only in the New Testament do we learn what it cost Jesus to “cancel the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us” (Colossians 2:14).
Prayer: Father, you can hide your face from my sins because you hid your face from Jesus on the cross. Yet I despise his sacrifice when I try to add to his work by beating myself up. Help me to honor you by believing in my forgiveness. Amen.