Distracted - Week 5

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday: Psalm 51:1-9

Tuesday: Psalm 51:10-19

Wednesday: 1 Samuel 8:1-9

Thursday: 1 Samuel 8:10-22

Friday: 2 Samuel 11:1-5

Saturday: 2 Samuel 11:6-13

Sunday: 2 Samuel 11:14-27

Opening Prayer

Lord Jesus, Guide us with your word. Let us learn from the experience of your people. Challenge us! Lead us to the places we would not go without you. Shape our lives into the people you have called and created us for the sake of the world you love. Amen

DEVOTION:

This Devotion entitled, “Repentance and Restoration”, is taken from The Seedbed Daily Text, June 1st, 2025 By Timothy Tennent:

We are now entering another collection of the Psalms of David (Psalms 51–65, 68–70). The first ten of these psalms (51–60) contain superscriptions that often indicate the precise situation David was in when he wrote that particular psalm. When we enter these psalms, we are entering a very tumultuous, dark period in David’s life. He is caught in sin. He is fleeing from Saul. He is captured by the Philistines. He is in fear for his life. These are psalms written for turbulent times. At first, it may seem odd that these psalms are included in the Bible as acts of worship. However, once again, when reading or singing the psalms, one has to recognize the much wider scope of the psalms than any collection of hymns or choruses we have encountered. These are psalms for the whole of life. Psalms written in times of anguish, repentance, and grief are just as important as psalms written for moments of joy and celebration.

Psalm 51 is the fourth of the seven Penitential Psalms, and reflects David’s repentance after being confronted by the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12 for his adultery with Bathsheba. The depth of David’s repentance and his anguish before God make this one of the most poignant psalms in the book. What makes this prayer of repentance so powerful (and so important for us) is that David clearly understands that his sin is much more than breaking the seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exod. 20:14) or his violation of the dignity of Bathsheba. It is, of course, never less than these things, but David understands two foundational truths about sin, which remain true for all of us. First, David understands that he has sinned against God himself: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (v. 4). All sin, at its root, is a disregard for the holiness of God and is a sin against him. The gulf he is in is not between himself and a commandment, but between himself and a holy God, who is the giver of the commandments.

Second, David expresses in this psalm that he is a sinner. He does not see himself as a good man who has sinned, or as is often said today, “made a mistake.” Rather, David sees himself bound to a sinful nature. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. This is what Martin Luther called the bondage of the will. We are sinners, and therefore, no kind of inner resolve or self-help plan or resolutions can deliver us. Our only hope is in God’s action in our lives. He must cleanse us and make us white as snow (v. 7). He must create in us a pure heart (v. 10). He must draw us into his presence and empower us with his Holy Spirit (v. 11). (For more on the Holy Spirit in the Psalms, see the meditation on Psalm 143.)

This psalm underscores one of the great mysteries of the Christian message. On the one hand, the Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13). It does not say that sin has merely made us spiritually ill, or, like a ball and chain, merely impedes us in some way. The Bible says that we are spiritually dead. On the other hand, the Scriptures are filled with commands that call us to act or respond in some way. We are called to come, to repent, to believe, and to return, among other things. Yet, dead people cannot do any of these things. The Bible resolves this mystery through the meditation of God’s grace. In the midst of our spiritual death, God grants us sufficient grace, which enables us to respond to his call. At that point, we must take steps to come before God, confess our sins, and repent. None of this would be possible apart from his grace, but once enabled, we have real choices to make. David was dead in his sin. Yet, God sent the prophet Nathan as an extension of grace. David responded through an act of repentance, and God restored him. We, too, must repent of our sins, knowing that, in the end, only God can make us new and restore us before his holy presence.