What God Requires

Psalm 51:14-17

We saw in our previous article that David was desperate for the supernatural joy that exists only when we are walking with God. We now turn back to David’s repentance over his sin. This time he gets specific into what he is requesting forgiveness for, and he helps teach us what God desires when we confess our sins.

First, we see David get specific about what he needs forgiveness for. In verse fourteen he says, “Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.” The bloodshed he is referring to is Uriah the Hittite, the man he murdered after he slept with his wife (we read about this in 2 Samuel 11 and in our introductory article).

We have seen that David has confessed, repented, and asked for forgiveness throughout this chapter. He knew he had sinned and he was finally willing to admit his wickedness before God. He had murdered one of his closest friends to cover up for sleeping with his wife.

When David tells God that he will “sing aloud of Your righteousness” and then in verse fifteen, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise,” he is not trying to make a deal with God. He is not telling God, “If you forgive me, I will glorify You.” We just saw that David had no joy because of his sin. He needed God to give him supernatural joy which is only possible when we are obedient to Him (read the previous article on Supernatural Joy for better understanding).       

We also know this could not be what David is trying to say because we can only glorify God when we are obedient. We cannot glorify God when we are filled with sin. We cannot come to a reciprocal agreement with God when we are disobedient. We need Him, but He does not need us. He would have been fully justified in killing David. We have no power in being restored. We are fully reliant on Him, a holy God full of grace and truth, who cannot ignore our sin.

Moving on now to verse sixteen, David states, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it: you do not delight in burnt offering.” What is David saying here? Wasn’t the burnt offering supposed to make atonement for his sin according to the Levitical law (Leviticus 1:4)? Wasn’t it established by God? Doesn’t Leviticus 1:17 say that the burnt offering is a “sweet aroma to the Lord”? Why does David say that God does not require a sacrifice or a burnt offering?

Initially, when writing my thoughts on this verse, I believed David recognized that these were impersonal. Much like David requesting that God purge him with hyssop rather than the priest (51:7), David sees the sacrifice of an unblemished bull as impersonal. Anyone can (and at that time should) offer a burnt offering. The shedding of blood of the unblemished animal paid for the sin of he who brought the offering. This may still be true. But after reading to the end of the psalm, I think it was more than just David believing this was impersonal. He also recognizes that this could have been done out of duty and not repentance. He could have just brought the burnt offering because it was required by the law while still planning on committing the same sins.

That is not to discredit the importance and legitimacy of burnt offerings, they certainly had their value. They were required by God for a reason. But David recognized what God truly wanted. We see in the next verse.

Verse seventeen says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise.” God wants brokenness over our sins. He wants us to hate sin like He does. He wants us to recognize what we have done, and he wants it to deeply affect us. This is what God wants us to bring when we confess our sins. He does not require anything of us but this.

We do not need to work to have our relationship with God restored. He will forgive anyone who repents before Him for their sin. But God knows our hearts. He knows if we are being truly repentant or if we are just confessing our sins, expecting forgiveness, while devising schemes in our hearts to sin again. We cannot fool Him; He is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). That is why true, genuine repentance is so important, and why this Psalm can be a great aid for us because it shows what true repentance looks like.

I cannot finish this article without focusing on God’s unbelievable forgiveness. If you look at all the other religions and faiths out there in the world you will see that their gods require some sort of action and sacrifice. God simply requires repentance. No action is required on our end but repenting of our sins! We do not need to work to get back to a relationship with Him. No matter how often or how severely we sin, He only requires genuine repentance, and He promises to forgive us and restore us. We do not deserve it, but His inconceivable grace is all we need. It is enough!

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