The Posture of Reconciliation

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

“Sit up straight!” Many a parent has issued this order at the meal table. Indeed, studies have shown that one’s posture directly affects a person’s health. However, posture is not only about body position, but also the particular way or approach in dealing with the realities of life. Psalm 51 gives a picture of the posture of reconciliation.

The psalm is King David’s prayer of confession and repentance after being forced to confront a series of compounding sins recorded in 1 Samuel 11. The tragic events that spiraled out of control included lust, adultery, murder, and conspiracy. When the prophet Nathan confronted David with the whole sorry mess, he broke down, repented, and wrote the heartfelt prayer that is Psalm 51.

The psalm reveals at least three aspects of David’s posture. First, David cries to God for mercy and help, and recognizes that only God can deal with his sin. His pleas for God to deal with his sin suggest three Hebrew word pictures for forgiveness: (1) washing (vv. 2, 7), as one might scrub dirty clothes; (2) cleansing (vv. 2, 7), the picture of washing clothes in a river; and (3) blotting out (v. 1), the idea of wiping a dirty dish. These powerful images suggest something only God can do.

Second, David admits that his evil deeds toward others were also sins against God rising out of his own sinful nature. Charles Spurgeon once said, “The virus of sin lies in its opposition to God.” David recognized this. He knew that his deeds emerged from his sinful nature.

Finally, David desired a new beginning (vv. 8-12). All too often we lack the humility and moral courage to face our sins and sinful nature. As a result, we drift in a sea of fractured human relationships and alienation from God. David cries: “create in me a pure heart.” This Hebrew word, create, is always used for an act of God in which God brings about something new. David is praying for a new beginning as well as for renewal of what has been broken.

David’s prayer is a personal and poignant lament showing the posture of his heart as he sought reconciliation with God. Psalm 51 is one of the seven “penitential psalms” used in daily church services since the early church, to help God’s people to “sit up straight.”

Tom Keppeler

PONDER: Read and reflect on the entire psalm and ask God to speak to you.

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[Special extra: audio of song, Psalm 51]

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

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