Psalm 51:6  Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
You taught me wisdom in that secret place.
(NIV)

What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
(The Message)

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My bride and I are on the West Coast with family this weekend. Time zones change, but bodies and minds require space to adjust. About the time we adapt, it will be time to go home and readjust all over again. These wee navigational matters are worth it to spend time with those you love, aren’t they?

King David was going through an adjustment. He knew he was the Apple of God’s Eye for a very long time. Anyone examining his life would say he was most assuredly God Blessed. Consider his resume:

* Shepherd Boy
* Giant Killer
* Warrior of Warriors
* Poet of Poets
* Prophet, Priest, and King
* Lover of women

It was the last bullet point that was KD’s undoing. He who could lead sheep along the right paths missed a couple of turns on his own journey. He turned left one time in particular when he should have made the right turn and walked away. 

Long gone were the sweet and tender notes of Psalm 23. Psalm 51 is sung in a minor key. It is Blues with its most heartbreaking wails and groans. It’s a song lingering long in the gut. It was there when Dave awoke in the night. It was there first thing in the morning. It was the earworm playing in his heart in every unguarded moment throughout all the days of that loathsome season. ([https://bit.ly/4qFaNPz](https://bit.ly/4qFaNPz))

What God wanted for David from eternity past was derailed by five minutes of bad sex and an endless conspiracy of consequences. He who started so well, continued so strong, would finish underneath a cloud of brokenness. Forgiven, yes. Restored. Renewed. But broken in places only heaven can heal. 

To get back to what God wanted from those days in the womb when he shaped Little Dave for the adventures ahead, confession had to be made. Restitution was required. Even so, there are some messes we can never fully clean up, some brokenness that can never be restored. 

David came clean before God. God cleaned him up and redirected the remainder of his days. His fullest legacy would come centuries later in the person of Jesus. What David could not manage or master, Jesus would perfectly fulfill. Timely repentance is like that. Its results endure forever. 

King David teaches us how to praise God, thank God, and seek God’s forgiveness. He teaches us how to pray in good times, hard times, and in the worst moments of our lives. 

Sometimes, we gotta sing the blues. ([https://bit.ly/4bUpw5x](https://bit.ly/4bUpw5x)) 

God can turn our minor-key blues into songs of praise. He can return the smile of our younger days. He can redirect our steps, setting our feet on his own path. How do we get there? Psalm 51 is a good place to start. 

Sooner than we think, but perhaps not as soon as we would like, we can return to the lighter, brighter days of Psalm 23. ([https://bit.ly/3MwRBoX](https://bit.ly/3MwRBoX))

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I will sing God’s song for this day with an eye and an ear for that day of all days.

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Our Father, thank you for Psalm 23 days. Thank you for the hard and necessary work of Psalm 51. Thank you that our final song is unending praise. Amen.