“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”
As time passed it affected him physically (Ps. 32:3-4), emotionally (Ps. 51:8, 12), spiritually (Ps. 51:3-4, 11), psychologically (Ps. 51:5), domestically (2 Sam. 12:11-12) and vocationally (2 Sam. 12:17-18). It was an acid eating his soul. Eventually it all came out (2 Sam 12:1-13). Only then could the healing begin.
David’s world needed rebuilding. The initial site for that renovation was his “inmost place”. It is the same for you and for me.
Journey to Your Centre
Travelling inward can be a frightening experience. If you do not go there often enough the stuff you find will be unpleasant. It’s like cleaning the fridge at work and finding year old egg salad sandwiches and mould infested pies. Gross!
David’s inner world was mouldy, infested and dark. It was sick to the point that he prayed to God: “do not cast me from your presence”. He felt worthless and even wondered if God might take the Holy Spirit away from him (Ps. 51:11). Many of us have experienced this same inner darkness.
David and each of us need help.
Own Your Darkness
Before help comes there is a hard truth. You have to take the gross stuff (your spiritual equivalent of year old egg salad sandwiches) and bring it out into the open before God. David did this. “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity” (Ps. 32:5). He confessed to God and to Nathan the prophet.
Confession is inviting God to listen in while you tell yourself the truth. And “truth” is exactly what God desires in your “inner parts” (Ps. 51:6).
David’s experience of confessing was so releasing that he invites everyone to pray the same way he did. If you do, he promises that “when the mighty waters” of judgement rise, they will not reach you (Ps. 32:6-7). Strange as it may seem the way to find God is to go inward and downward (to quote Parker Palmer).
Bring Your Smelly Offering
David’s poetry makes a shocking claim. Every orthodox worshipper in David’s world knew that God wanted unblemished sacrifices for worship. He required new born lambs, never-yoked Oxen, healthy blue-ribbon livestock. The demand was always for the freshest and the best. But suddenly David changes the rules. When it comes to human hearts, it is different!
“The sacrifices of God are a BROKEN spirit, a broken and CONTRITE heart” (Ps. 51:17).
Amazing! God wants me to bring my mouldy spirit and my maggot infested heart and give them to him in worship. He accepts this as an offering when I bring it with a deeply sorry attitude.
This is incredible good news because I have nothing else to bring really!
Welcome God’s Renewal
This journey inward to the dark centre and the hard work of bringing a smelly offering may take weeks and months. It may prove harder than we think. But it leads to a new and beautiful place. It is here, at the “inmost place”, that God teaches us wisdom (Ps. 51:6).
And with that wisdom, if we are willing to receive it, comes purity, security, joy, community, vocation and celebration – all of them abundantly restored (Ps. 51:11-15; 32:5-7).
Is it any wonder David says: “Blessed is the person whose sins the Lord does not count against him” (Ps. 32:2). Here is HOPE!
Questions
Have you experienced the release of confession?
How often do you take the journey to your "inmost place"? What practices help you do this?
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A pastor in Haiti once told the following parable to his congregation to illustrate a point in his sermon from Mark 5:1-5
ReplyDelete"A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.
"After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail."
The pastor made a point to his people-if we give even the smallest of footholds to the devil, he will find a way to destroy our lives and make it ineffective for the Lord's work. His story also reminds us of a principle Jesus taught in Mark 5.
Thanks for this Allan - I shared it on fb with a Christian Mums group - it really touched a couple of them. You never know how what you write on God's word is challenging people you don't even know! Blessings P
ReplyDeleteI believe you wrote this one with me in mind. I told you to give me a hard time and you had already started.
ReplyDeleteI think it's wonderful that David is portrayed as one of God's favourites and yet he failed so catastrophically. As with much of the Bible there is wonderful paradox here.
Great parable from PWA.
- Your Breakfast date.