psalm 51: the reluctance to accept sin - 18th week tuesday

Psalm 51 is a prayer of a sincere person who committed sin and in the presence of God with a broken and contrite heart the first thing that he did was to call sin a sin.  He did not use euphemisms like "O sorry, a wrong was done and mistakes were made." Instead he simply said, "I have sinned." 

The reluctance to accept sin is not a new problem.  It is as old as Adam and Eve.  When Adam was confronted by God, he rationalized saying the woman that you gave me, gave me the fruit and so I ate it.  He wanted to lessen his culpability.  When the woman was confronted by God she also pointed to another culprit, the snake, thinking that again she can lessen her guilt.

But in Psalm 51 there is no finger pointing, no rationalization, not justification, no blaming of others in order to lessen the weight of responsibility or accountability.  It was just a simple but sincere admission, "I have sinned."  To be contrite and sorry demands first and foremost, honesty, honest admission of guilt.

Sin is always against God.  It is not bad behavior, it is not stupid judgement, it is not psychological disorder.  Psalm 51 says, "against you, you alone I have sinned."  Sin is always against a person, the person of God.  It a failure to love God enough and to follow his will.

This psalm has a lot to teach us about sin and how we should feel about our sins.