Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. 15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
Psalm 51:14-15.
This Psalm is David’s confession after the prophet Nathan exposed his sin of adultery with Bath-Sheba and sending her husband to the forefront of a battle where he was killed. We don’t know all that he was feeling but if his guilt was not eating him up then he was truly heartless. However, we can derive from our text that he was feeling the guilt of his sins.
When I was a child and I sneaked around and did something that my mother would not approve of there was always the fear of getting caught (I was always caught) for doing my dastardly deed, but when, as an adult there was always the knowledge that God knew everything about me, even my thoughts and the guilt made me act in a way that probably wrote “GUILTY” across my forehead.
Apparently, David’s guilt had silenced his praise to the Lord. Since David was one who praised the Lord continually it must have been obvious to those around him that something was going on in his mind and heart that was not right. So, he asked for deliverance from “blood-guiltiness” and that God would open his mouth to praise Him again.
How To Restore Your Joy
If you have lost the joy of praising the Lord, perhaps you should ask the Lord to show you why. He may reveal to you some hidden sin that is buried deep in your heart that you will need to confess it to Him and be free of it. Then, your guilt will be gone and then He will open your heart to praise Him as you once did. Or it may be some wrong that was done to you that you need to forgive but have not. Then your joy will be restored and you can praise and worship God will all your heart again. Whatever the reasons that might have silenced our praise, let us be done with them and let’s lift up our praises to Him wholeheartedly. Amen.
