Psalm 51:1-3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

What if we tried to measure our security to be forgiven and loved by someone, from our daily performances? How assured would we be of our daily “performances” to deserve such forgiveness and unconditional love? It is this struggle without understanding mercy and unconditional love, that leaves us feeling insecure and unworthy of love…

I believe this psalm from King David is famous for its confession of sin and desperate need of mercy that makes it so appealing to us. Without David knowing the Lord to be a God of abundant mercy and steadfast love, he would not have any confidence to confess and trust that he will receive mercy, and not have the love of God stripped away from him!

It is this kind of mercy that gives us the confidence to know that love from God is not rooted in our performances, but in the goodness of Christ our King. But it takes knowing that a person will show us mercy, in order for us to open up and confess how bad we are! It is the amazing reality of grace that causes a person to have confidence, even though that confidence is not rooted in our ability to be worthy!

In order for the gospel to be relevant to our confidence, our hope to be loved and secure cannot come from our performances. David understood this about his Lord, knowing that in spite of his many sins (performance) he did not define his hope by his sins, but by his hope in God’s abundant mercy! That is what we have in Christ Jesus! A love that is not measured by what we can do, or what we don’t do, but by what He has done for us! That His love will always triumph over our sin! Rest in the Lord and His abundant mercy, and let confidence in it overwhelm your heart, that you be confident you are loved unconditionally!
In His Love, Ld