August 24 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Psalm 51:

¹Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
²Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
¹⁶For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Devotional:

David says to his God, 'Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight' (51:4). Sin is not only manward, it is Godward! God identifies Himself with His people. Sin against God's people is sin against God Himself.

However, even sin against unbelievers is sin against God, because God has told us to be holy. He desires our sanctification, He requires obedience to His law. So no matter whom we wrong, we sin against God and are guilty before Him.

When as parents we sin against each other or against our children we need to acknowledge this sin. We need to ask forgiveness of the offended one. But we need to go further and ask forgiveness of God Himself.

Guilt is blamed for all sorts of ill-effects upon the mind and personality. We read of persons who all their lives have been tortured by guilt feelings over a deed committed in youth, a deed which may or may not have been serious and may or may not have been really the fault of the person in question. So guilt is sometimes represented as being bad, something to be avoided.

But we need not be afraid of true guilt which springs from a knowledge of the holiness of God and His law. This guilt may and should issue in repentance as a man confesses his sin and comes to God through Christ. Guilt thus brought to God will be buried in the depths of the sea, along with the sin which occasioned it. A true sense of guilt is really the first step toward the liberation of the spirit!

The nature of guilt and the handling of guilt are two of the most significant lessons we have to teach our children. And all we need to know about this is in God's Word. Psalm 51 is an excellent place to begin to understand these truths and the way God graciously enables us to handle them.