His Ambassador Blog

David was known as the ‘Man after God’s own heart.’ Did you know he was guilty of adultery and murder? Yes, David fell into serious sin that brought many consequences to his life, but he was still given this title. He wrote many of the psalms that we still read to this day and was King of Israel. He was also in the genealogy of Jesus.

One of my favorite Psalms written by David is Psalm 51. David composed this psalm after he was confronted of his sin with Bathsheba by the prophet Nathan. It goes like this:

                Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

                Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin!

                For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

                Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgement.

                Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

                Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

                Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

                Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

                Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

                Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

                Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

                Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

                Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

                Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

                O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

                For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

                The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

This time of year, typically consists of many seeking to set some resolutions in place. Many, in hopes to feel good about the goals they are setting, will use ones like getting in the gym more, eating healthier, etc. Some will seek to accomplish more things on their bucket list or finally finish that project they’ve been meeting to do. (I must preface that I am all of those people, those are all on my 2025 to-do list.) Often we might think of those same old resolutions as cheesy, mostly because we end up giving up by February, if we end up making it that far. But, personally, I love new beginnings and I believe our God is a God of new beginnings. He is the God of second chances. He is the God of growth, sanctification, and transformation.

My number one prayer this year is growing radically closer to Jesus and continuing to foster godly disciplines. You might be wondering how I’m going to tie New year’s in with David’s Psalm 51?

Well, I believe that this Psalm represents a new beginning. David has committed great acts of sin and confronted of those sins. But the beautiful thing about Jesus is that His blood washes us clean. David begged God to forgive him. The Lord, being equally merciful as He is just, forgives David and washes him clean. David, of course, still faced the consequences that his sins brought about, but as far as God was concerned David was as good as new.

I have no idea what 2024 held for you. Maybe it had some difficulties. Maybe you faced a lot of trials and disappointments. Maybe you are stuck in the same sin you were stuck in at the beginning of last year that you said you were going to quit. Whatever happened last year, you can’t go back and change it. But you do have the choice to lay it at the feet of Jesus at this very moment and begin 2025 with a renewed heart and mind. You can ask God to restore to you the joy of His salvation. Ask God to light that fire inside of you once more and to keep it burning all year long and then forever. Following the Lord wholeheartedly means laying down the sins, failures, disappointments, and heartbreak that weigh us down and run towards Him with a passion to serve Him unconditionally.

Don’t let stubbornness get in the way of being right with God. Don’t hold onto the hurts that our laying you down. Don’t continue in the sin that is separating you from the Lord. It takes faith to pray a prayer that asks God to purge the ugly parts of our souls and wash the nasty parts of our hearts. It is almost never a delicate process. Recognizing our sin is the first step, but actually working to get rid of our sin? That is an entirely different ball game.

It is never too late to be cleansed of sin. You are never to old, or young, to study the word of God. You are never too broken that you can’t be fixed. You are never too far gone that Jesus can’t save you. It’s never too late to be on fire for God. Don’t let another year pass by so that you put off getting to know the Lord on a more intimate level. Don’t let another year pass by so that you don’t follow through with what He is calling you to. God is willing to bring change to us, but we must be willing to chance. We must be willing to grow. We must have humility, confession, and repentance. Jesus loves you.