认罪之诗
诗篇五十一篇1至13节
1（大卫与拔示巴同室以后，先知拿单来见他；他作这诗，交与伶长。）神啊，求你按你的慈爱怜恤我！按你丰盛的慈悲涂抹我的过犯！
2求你将我的罪孽洗除净尽，并洁除我的罪！
3因为，我知道我的过犯；我的罪常在我面前。
4我向你犯罪，惟独得罪了你；在你眼前行了这恶，以致你责备我的时候显为公义，判断我的时候显为清正。
5我是在罪孽里生的，在我母亲怀胎的时候就有了罪。
6你所喜爱的是内里诚实；你在我隐密处，必使我得智慧。
7求你用牛膝草洁净我，我就干净；求你洗涤我，我就比雪更白。
8求你使我得听欢喜快乐的声音，使你所压伤的骨头可以踊跃。
9求你掩面不看我的罪，涂抹我一切的罪孽。
10神啊，求你为我造清洁的心，使我里面重新有正直（或译：坚定）的灵。
11不要丢弃我，使我离开你的面；不要从我收回你的圣灵。
12求你使我仍得救恩之乐，赐我乐意的灵扶持我，
13我就把你的道指教有过犯的人，罪人必归顺你。
信息分享
透过这篇诗，我们得以了解大卫当时认罪的心情。我们若没有这篇诗，而只有撒母耳记下十一至十二章，我们便只能知悉大卫犯罪和悔罪的经过，而不会知道他实在是何等的深切悔疚，以及他如何彻底地向神认罪求赦。
大卫知道，当他犯罪的时候，他不仅是伤害人，而且更是得罪神(4节)。他承认自己在母腹当中便有罪(5节)，可是，他却知道自己不能以此作为犯罪的借口。他承认自己确实犯了大事，愧对神给予他的种种恩典，他必须承担全部罪责。
他知道，问题是出自他的内心，他需要把内心的罪污彻底清除。他在痛悔之余，令人感到欣慰的是，神确实赦免了大卫的罪，大卫再次获得救恩的喜乐。
你如果想知道大卫在蒙神赦罪之后，如何向神发出颂赞，请读诗篇第三十二篇。请留意它的第一句：「得赦免其过，遮盖其罪的，这人是有福的。」我们对此亦深有同感，对吗？当我们来到神的面前认罪时，我们的内心一定是十分沉重；然而，当我们得着神的赦免，与神复和之后，我们的内心就会立时变得轻省，再次被喜乐所充满。
反思：
我有甚么隐藏的罪，需要向神立即陈明和彻底认罪呢？
A PSALM OF CONFESSION
Psalm 51: 1 – 13
1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may 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 steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
Message
It also helps us know and understand the heart of David in this situation. If we only had the story of David’s sin and repentance as found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 we would never know how deeply he felt over it all and how fully he repented before God for what he had done.
David’s sin involved another person, Bath-sheba. But David realised that all sin is against God (v.4). He acknowledges (v.5) that he was born a sinner, but that did not excuse him for what he had done. He did it. He sinned in this way, in spite of all that God had done for him and he only had himself to blame.
He realised that the trouble was in his heart and that he needed to be cleansed again from the inside out. The wonderful part to remember is that God did forgive his sin and David found again the joy of his salvation.
If you want to read David’s Psalm of praise after God has forgiven him, turn back to Psalm 32. Look at how it starts, ‘Oh the happiness of the man who has been forgiven’. We know that ourselves, don’t we? There have been many times when we have had to confess our failures, but when God has forgiven us and fellowship has been restored, what a difference it makes. How happy we can be once more.
Question:
Is there something you need to confess to God today?