|
              
              
         
"For the message
of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.”
~ 1 Corinthians
1:18
The Power of
the Cross heals my heavy heart.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit
within me.” ~Psalm 51:10
David, a man after God’s own heart, was no foreigner to a heart
filled with guilt. David, a man after God’s own heart knew what it
meant to swim in a sea of shame. David had sin in his heart. He had
committed adultery and he knew it. He had lied and tried to deceive
and he knew it. He had gone all the way to cover up his sin with
murder and he knew it. And his heart was filled with guilt and
shame. Perhaps some of our most troubling times come when we are
faced with the realization that we have sinned. We have committed
spiritual adultery--in a relationship with God but sleeping with the
world (see James 4:4) and we know it. We have lied and deceived and
tried to cover it up but its reality haunts our heart.
Psalm 51 is David’s Psalm of repentance after his affair with
Bathsheba and his encounter with a godly friend Nathan (2 Sam 12).
In this Psalm he recognizes his sin and cries out for mercy.
It is only by the great mercy of God that we don’t get what we
deserve. Grace is getting something we don’t deserve whereas mercy
is not getting something we do deserve. It is only by God’s great
mercy and His unfailing love and His great compassion that He blots
out our transgressions, washes away all our iniquities and cleanses
us from our sin.
This comes after we recognize our transgressions and acknowledge our
sin and cry out for a clean heart.
Question: Can you relate to
David? Do you have a heart that is heavy with sin and guilt? Do you
long for God to have mercy on you? Do you long for God to cleanse
you? Do you long for God to create in you a pure heart and renew a
steadfast spirit within you? Do you long to once again experience
the joy of His salvation?
Prayer: Today may be a good day
to confess your sin to God and pray this prayer of repentance and
experience the power of the Cross of Christ. Christ died to heal our
heavy hearts--hearts burdened with a load of sin.
|
