David pens this Psalm after being found out and convicted in his heart of his adultery with Bathsheba, his murder of Uriah, her husband, and of his misleading of the whole nation regarding it all and the subsequent child he and Bathsheba produced. In this Psalm three crucial elements of repentance can be found. In his prayer David prays that God would forgive him, that God would change him, and that God would use him. This sort of prayer that arises out of a living relationship with God where things are not “hidden” from God, is the basis for any possible renewal and revival. It is, after all, a prayer that God will always answer.

Psalm 51