Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. – Psalm 51:6
Psalm 51 has an infamous backdrop. King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and ended up having her husband killed. Nathan, a prophet of God, confronted David with his sins and, in contrition, David confessed, repented, sought the mercy of God, and wrote this psalm. In today’s verse, the king speaks of being truthful before God, and with himself. Where today’s version of Psalm 51:6 says that God delights in truth, other translations render this as His desire or even His requirement.
How are things in your deepest inward parts – those places others cannot see, but both you and God know about? David had endeavored to hide what he had done, and murdering Uriah was a means to that end for him. He would go on to pay serious consequences, as the Lord indeed dealt with him in the secret places of his soul and spirit. David would later pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (verse 10).
The deep desire for true fellowship with the Lord brings you to the place where you confess hidden sins. The Apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Just as the Lord did with David, He will restore you. He will create a clean heart within you. Come to Him in truth, hiding nothing.
Pastor and author Dr. Kenneth Yates said, “Wisdom is found in speaking the truth to ourselves and the Lord when we sin. May we ask the Lord to keep us from lying to ourselves and to instead be honest with Him. Let His Word show us the way things really are.”
Today’s Verse: Psalm 51:6
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Psalm 51:1-12
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 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 judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
