5 I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. 6 You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You make me to know wisdom. 7-8 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones that You have broken may rejoice. 9-10 Hide Your face from my sins,  and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11-12 Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Psalm 51:5-13 Modern English Version

Would I be wrong in assuming that, by and large, we live in a superficial generation? We have glossy advertising to try catch the eye as people rush by, amazing technology to get things done in a flash, and social media that reduces out attention span to minutes rather than hours. Of course it's not true of everyone, but I think it's true of many. Sadly, it can be true of faith as well. Someone pointed out that the apostle Paul said in Romans Chapter 1 that he was 'not ashamed of the gospel'. But then he took another 15 chapters to unpack all that this gospel involves. Today people are told to 'Admit you are a sinner; Believe Jesus died for you; Confess Him to others'. Easy as A, B, C. The problem is that if we get 'A' wrong, B and C will have no depth. If our sense of the sinfulness of sin is shallow, our repentance will be superficial too. So what do vs 5-6 tell us that David had learned about sin?

He realized we are born with sinful natures. Children don't need training to disobey. He also realized that God isn't fooled by what we display to others in public. God sees the inner chambers of our thoughts and the desires of our hearts. And He has given us a faculty called conscience which accuses or excuses us, and by which we can learn wisdom if we would only listen. So God looks for truth in the soul – not a show of piety on the surface.

I counted at least 11 earnest requests by David in vs 7 to 12 as he cried out to God for forgiveness for the terrible deeds he had done; and which had shown him just how sinful his nature was, even though it may not always have expressed itself so shamefully. And there were two sides to his prayer. Firstly, he asks God to wash his sins away, to not look upon them but to blot them out forever. But he also asked God to enable him to make a fresh start with a heart that was pure and a spirit that pursues righteousness. (vs 9-10) That's what repentance involves. We don't just casually agree that we've done some wrong things so we must be a sinner. True repentance grieves over the state of our heart and cries out earnestly to God to enable us to love His truth and righteousness.

What were David's biggest fears when he realized just how deep and dark his sins were in God's sight, and, apart from seeking forgiveness, what did he ask God to do? (vs 11-12)

He was afraid God would leave him and take away His Holy Spirit, as had happened to the king (named Saul) who had reigned before David. This shows that the Psalm is more to do with the repentance of someone we now call 'a backslider', rather than someone who'd never known God before. Yes, Christians can, and do, fall into terrible sin. And, like David, try to cover it with lies. David says that when he was in that deceitful condition it felt as if his bones were broken! Now he asks God to give him back the joy he had known before he slid back so badly.

That is always the way back to God from sin. Repentance that isn't superficial, but genuine. And notice what David prayed (in vs 13) the outcome would be. He would willingly tell others of God's mercy. He would own up to the wrong he had done, but he would also tell how God had so mercifully restored him. If God has been merciful to you, don't shy away from telling your testimony to others. It won't be as dramatic as David's experience, but it may just be what the person you are speaking to needs to hear.