In Psalms, chapter thirty-two, verse five, acknowledging and confessing sin with an honest, sincere, and repentant heart will always result in God’s gracious pardon, the removal of guilt, and the gift of His abiding presence.
The theme under A Prayer During Distress depicts the challenge for believers to overcome sin or give in to it. After David, the King of Israel completes his sin in Second Samuel eleven, verse twenty-seven, God sends Nathan to confront David. He describes a situation to the King about a rich man and a poor man in Second Samuel twelve, verses one through four. However, in verses five through six, “And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
David didn’t realize that Nathan was talking about Him at the beginning of verse seven. “And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.” After receiving a harsh rebuke through verses seven through twelve of Second Samuel, in verse thirteen, David acknowledges his sin at the start of verse thirteen, “
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.” He immediately admits his wrongdoing.
The danger of sin is that once a person commits it and continues pursuing ungodly ways and activities, their flesh follows the mind, fulfilling its desire. In Second Samuel eleven, David got caught up in getting Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Uriah’s wife having a bath outside the King’s palace causes David’s pursuit of getting her. The time he sent messengers to inquire, getting Bathsheba to lay with her. Then Uriah’s wife became pregnant. David then sends a letter to a servant to put Uriah, the husband, into the hottest battle to get killed. Bathsheba becomes David’s wife after the mourning is over. All this sin does to a person when they fail to stop and acknowledge God because the heart is in the ungodly activity.
Psalms fifty-one is the psalm all believers must read and recite daily and follow to remove any sin and correct their ways before beginning another day.