Dear King David:
Thank you for the Book of Psalms. It’s a wonderful treasury of experiences and what they elicit: joy, sorrow, lament, supplication and praise.
In today’s psalm, I’m impressed by your high resolve to safeguard your purity. However, I must confess that I am unable to keep your resolutions. I cannot avoid mixing with sinners for I lack a palace to keep me apart. And if I am completely honest, I must admit that I’m not so different from them. Your words in verse 11 convey the truth about me and my condition: “redeem me, and be gracious to me.”
And if I may be so bold, a word of advice. Next spring, when kings typically wage war, and you send Uriah and all your other faithful men into battle while you remain in your palace, if you happen to go up onto the roof and see something in your neighbourhood that entices you, go take a cold shower. Maybe then you will not yield to temptation, and perhaps the lives of at least two will be spared and your profound personal sorrow averted.
Respectfully yours, a Forgiven Sinner.
O God, forgive me my sin and raise me to new life. Fill me with a resolve to love you above all else, and to love my neighbour as myself. Amen. —