Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

We can all identify with the prayer that we read in the Psalm, and the Psalm is a prayer to God

from the very beginning for mercy from God.

For mercy amidst sin have mercy on me, oh God, and I love this language, according to your

steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy.

The Psalmist knows he has no merit before God by which to approach him and ask for forgiveness

of sin, like the only way he can be forgiven of sin before God, that you or I can be forgiven

of sin before God is according to God and his steadfast love and his abundant mercy.

Let's never forget that we are not children of God by any merit in us, but solely 100% by mercy in

him. The only reason we have eternal life that we have forgiveness of our sins, that we have a

relationship with God is because of the steadfast love of God. It's because of the abundant mercy.

Don't those words seem so inadequate to describe what God has done for us? Yes, steadfast love.

Yes, abundant mercy. We just want to think of more adjectives for his mercy than abundant or

more adjectives for his love than steadfast. He is so loving. He is so merciful that he

blots out our transgressions, blots them out, that he washes us thoroughly from our

iniquity. Think of all our iniquity. He washes it all. He cleanses us from our sin when we

call out to him. We know this is where the Christian life begins with confessing your sinfulness

before God. My sinfulness before God, believing that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave

and victory over sin to make away for us to be forgiven of sin, that his blood is covered over

our sin. That's the only way this forgiveness, this cleansing, this washing is possible by the

blood of Jesus shed on a cross for us. And so we come to God every day in prayer based on the

blood of Jesus. And we cry out continually, God, have mercy on me. We confess our sin. This is a

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