Psalm 51:2-3
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
One of the psalms of David, this was written right after the prophet Nathan confronts David about his adultery with Bathsheba. David, now king of Israel, has been “walking with God” for a while, always stopping his work to “inquire of the Lord” (pray) about his decisions and his problems. In this instance, however, David reveals himself to be utterly human, available to temptation; now, as he writes this psalm, he is contrite and vulnerable.
David can’t stop thinking about how he’s failed God throughout the whole of Psalm 51, but especially in verses 2 and 3, he is calling out to God to help him feel clean again, to help him get over this. He feels terrible about betraying God in this way, and he seeks the closeness he once felt with God. I would guess (and be fairly confident in guessing) that every Christian who’s honest with himself or herself can remember a time like this in their lives, when they felt far from God because of sin, and sought that closeness again.
Personally, I think this small bit of Scripture should be part of my daily prayer–or even my constant prayer, whenever I find myself thinking terrible thoughts or about to do something not-so-awesome. Whenever I find myself cussing at the driver ahead of me who didn’t even bother looking before cutting me off, I should think of this Scripture. Whenever I’m angry about what somebody posted on a website or what somebody said on TV, I should think of this. Would what I’m about to say or do really honor God, or will I just feel terribly guilty about it later?
Stopping and thinking before speaking or acting is generally a good practice, but this adds the necessary Christian dimension to it. If we call ourselves Christians, we have to become habited to acting and speaking as Christians, and this is a daily struggle, a constant process. David’s story reminds us that even the most holy-acting humans among us still have to pray about temptations and failures of their own, and it makes us stronger Christians when we can come back to God rather than running away from Him because we failed Him one time.