We are continuing our series on prayer. Remember, Humility + Faith + Intimacy with the Father equals Powerful Prayer. 

My wife and I met in college at the end of fall semester on the side of the road. When I tell this story, she is always quick to point out that it sounds more dramatic than it really was. It was December 2004 and most everyone had left for Christmas Break but we were both still on campus for different reasons. We bumped into one another as I was crossing campus and were introduced to one another through a mutual friend who was with her at the time. After our friend left, we stayed there on that street curb talking for a couple of hours just the two of us. 

I tell this story to bring up the topic of “regret.”

 Now before you jump the gun and assume I brought up this story to say that I regret we ever met, nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, one of the biggest regrets I have is not asking her to marry me that very day. I knew from that one conversation I wanted to marry her, but it took a few more months for me to pluck up the courage and ask her.

Do you have any regrets? One of the most common mottos people have is to live life with no regrets. I wish that were true of my life. Unfortunately, I have tons of regret – things I wish I hadn’t done, words I wish I hadn’t said, times I missed an opportunity to take the leap into the unknown. 

Some professional therapists think striving to live life without regrets is actually unhealthy. It is in our regrets that we learn from our mistakes. We can’t dwell on our regrets and we shouldn’t obsess about them. But they should cause us to reevaluate our life’s choices and trajectory. Without remorse for our mistakes, we can’t grow and mature. 

But what does this have to do with prayer? In Psalm 51, King David voices a prayer full of remorse over his sin. We’ll get to the psalm in just a few moments, but first let’s uncover what brought David to this point. Why was he so remorseful? We know David was a man after God’s own heart, but that doesn’t mean he never made mistakes. Instead, it means that when he did mess up, he would turn to God for forgiveness because he sought intimacy with God. He longed to be close to the Lord and he knew that his sin separated him from the Lord’s presence.

The same is true of us. Sin separates us from a holy God. But God desires a relationship with us. In order for that to be true, we must repent of our sins. David’s sin was great and you can read the story in 2 Samuel 11.  Not only was David in the wrong place at the wrong time, he lusted after Bathsheba, the wife of his servant Uriah. Knowing she was married to another man, he still slept with her then tried to cover his sin up. When his first plan didn’t work, he had Uriah killed along with some other soldiers. Then he took Bathsheba and married her. The last sentence of 2 Samuel 11 settles the matter. “However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.”

 It wasn’t until the prophet Nathan pointed out David’s sin to him that he repented. In the midst of David’s repentance comes Psalm 51. I leave it below for you to read in its entirety.

Psalm 51:1-19, “Be gracious to me, God,

according to your faithful love;

according to your abundant compassion,

blot out my rebellion.

2 Completely wash away my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I am conscious of my rebellion,

and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned

and done this evil in your sight.

So you are right when you pass sentence;

you are blameless when you judge.

5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;

I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self,

and you teach me wisdom deep within.

7 Purify 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 Turn your face away[a] from my sins

and blot out all my guilt.

10 God, create a clean heart for me

and renew a steadfast[b] spirit within me.

11 Do not banish me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me,

and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach the rebellious your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God—

God of my salvation—

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;

you are not pleased with a burnt offering.

17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is[c] a broken spirit.

You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

18 In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;

build the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,

whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.”

In this prayer of David’s, we see 3 things about repentance.

1. God takes sin seriously. So should we (verse 4). David was concerned about how the Lord.felt about his sin. Our sin affects us negatively. It affects others negatively. But how often do we consider how our sin affects God? Our sin grieves Him. 

2. God’s grace is powerful. We should lean into it. Repentance changes not only our behavior, but it changes our hearts. Repentance is a 180 degree turn in our behavior towards God. But that begins with a heart change. The Christian life is not just about behavior modification. It is about a heart that is submitted to the heart of the Father. We need to lean into the grace of God. He does a supernatural work in us. We cannot change on our own merit or in our own power. God literally changes us from the inside out. 

3. A broken heart leads to a restored soul. (verse 8) Why should broken bones rejoice? That’s painful. Joy and broken bones should not coincide. But remember before David was a king, he was a shepherd. So when David says “let the bones you have broken rejoice” he understands what that means as a shepherd to his sheep. When a sheep would stray from the shepherd, the shepherd would search and find the sheep and then actually break one of its legs and then carry it around on his shoulders. Eventually, the sheep would heal and become so attached to the shepherd, it would never stray again. 

Sometimes brokenness leads to our healing. Our father loves us and so he disciplines us. Our Good Shepherd is willing to seek us after we stray but he is willing to break our bones so that we cling to Him and heal closer to Him. Our brokenness leads to restoration.

Here is an excerpt from my book Love in the Breaking that sums up my point. 

My story follows the narrative of the Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration of this world.  My story is a reflection of the large tale that is to be told.  I am being changed from a man marked with inner turmoil and suffering to a man coming face to face with the Redeemer.  

As I finish my story, I must offer thanksgiving. I am thankful for God’s preservation of my life. I am thankful for His deep love for me and for His power to mold and reshape me.  And I am thankful for the brokenness because there was love in the breaking and love in the being remade.  

Yes, there was love in the breaking.  God broke my mind; he broke my heart; he broke my spirit.  But in the end, he restores my soul.

Are you broken over your sin? The Lord certainly is. And if you aren’t broken, be warned. You have a loving Father who is willing to break you so that you can be remade. And in the remaking, He molds you more into the image of Jesus. 

Repentance is not just about stopping the bad behaviors and sins and doing the right things. It is about turning our hearts back to the God who loves us. Spend some time in prayer repenting of your sins and drawing closer to the heart of God.