The key phrase in the Lectionary readings for me this week was from Psalm 51:6, “You desire Truth in the inward being; therefore teach me Wisdom in my secret heart.” King David is writing this right after Nathan the prophet confronted David about the horrible behavior King David displayed in his affair with Bathsheba.
David was completely working under the assumption that a person is guilty and needs to repent if they have been caught rebelling against God. David was trying all sorts of ways to cover up the affair and therefore not having to repent. But when Nathan confronted him, it was like he was jarred by an explosive revelation. He had not told Nathan about the affair, and he was sure that Bathsheba had not told Nathan about the affair, and it was not Uriah (he was already dead), who could it have been?
Joab, the leader of the army, might have made a connection especially since it was Uriah that carried the note from David to Joab to have Uriah killed. But, Joab would never gossip about his King. How could Nathan have known?
There was only one answer. God was with David even in David’s in-most thoughts. Wow! God is in that secret place that everyone knows about but never talks about. When we are deep within ourselves completing a complicated strategy, God is there in the room with us. It is a Holy place where there are only two people there, God and you. David realized this and that was when he wrote the verse, ”You desire Truth in the inward being; therefore teach me Wisdom in my secret heart.”
The word Truth in Scripture means that there is “one” creating God, who has three natures, (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). It is the Truth that God has created us for a purpose. It is the Truth that God needs us in heaven with a loving, clean, and righteous heart. It is not the fact that we sin that makes us unfit for the Kingdom, it is the fact we sin and that we do not understand that sin is rebellion from God. Also, we sin and do not know we can ask God for forgiveness.
It must have been extremely emotional for David to realize that he and God can have a conversation in that secret place where before David thought he was alone. Also, the word Wisdom is used in Scripture to mean the Learning how to go God’s way. David wanted to be taught about God’s will for his life directly from God in that secret place. No longer was there a direct need to hear God’s message from a Prophet or a Priest.
David could see what our relationship with God would be like after Jesus Christ came and removed the barriers. It is comforting to us to know that we each have that very Holy Place where we can talk to God. Amen.
