Mercy!

Mercy!

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. Psalms 51:1‭-‬2 NLT

Today's extract has a lot of possessive pronouns. David the writer wasn't someone who would hide once he had been found out. As long as what he did was not known, he was fine keeping up appearances, but as soon as the prophet Nathan reprimanded him, he owned up to his sin and asked for mercy from God. Great lessons to learn from David.

We stand because of God's mercy. We live because His grace lives. His love is the reason the devil has not taken over our lives. His compassion has been found out never to fail, and it is the reason why man sometimes takes life for granted. We treat sin with levity, and because punishment is 'delayed', we think we are smart. However, today's extract lays down a truth: if I will last the distance and land safely, I need to avoid sin. There is a guilt and stain that sin has; and as long as these are weights on my heart, my life cannot be acceptable before God.

God alone can blot out sin and give a fresh start; He's the only one who can wipe the slate clean, because his blood is the only accepted medium to accomplish this. It is when I am free of guilt that I can stand without condemnation and point others to Christ. It is when I have been forgiven that I can stand confident in God that anything I ask Him for, according to His will, is granted. Anything else is playing with eternal loss. Have you been to Jesus to take advantage of the blood? His time of favour is here.