Is a personal sin crushing you? David offers 4 steps back to fellowship with the Lord

Tom Harper Nov. 11, 2024

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Like it or not, people watch your spiritual life. As Christian leaders, how we handle personal sin impacts our credibility.

If you're a follower of Jesus, your sins are forgiven already. A sign of a forgiven believer is a desire to continually confess to God (1 Jn 1:9); a sign that someone isn't a believer, even if they think they are, is if they carelessly persist in sins (1 Jn 3:6, 9).

We all sin—even if we've already confessed faith in Christ. But guilt doesn't have to darken our days or shroud our hearts.

Psalm 51 is one of David's heartbreaking psalms (after his adultery with Bathsheba was found out). He wisely sought to right his relationship with God, even though he was God's chosen king.

Here are selected verses from his prayer, organized into four practical steps anyone can do:

Step 1: Recognize and confess sin.

¹Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
²Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
³For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;

Step #2: Ask for forgiveness.

⁹Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
¹⁰Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Step #3: Ask God to restore your relationship with him.

¹¹Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Step #4: Praise him.

¹⁴Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

These steps for restoring fellowship with God must be preceded by a foundation of faith in Christ. Without that saving faith, we fall into the error of thinking we can be forgiven just because we ask.

If you're unsure whether you're a believer, I suggest reading the book of 1 John (it's very short, but hugely clarifying!)

Also, John Piper wrote a helpful article called "All My Sins Were Canceled — So Why Continue to Confess?"

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Tom Harper is publisher of BiblicalLeadership.com and executive chairman of Networld Media Group, a business-to-business publisher and event producer. He has written five books, including Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership (DeepWater Books, 2019) as well as the Christian business fable Through Colored Glasses and its sequel Inner Threat (DeepWater, 2022). Learn More »

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