King David, on his very best day, had a problem.
Psalms 18:23
"I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.”
On David’s best day, he still had to struggle to keep from succumbing to the pull that iniquity had on his soul…. And then, one day, David fell. The ground didn’t open up and swallow him, fire didn’t shoot from the sky … his admirers still looked up to him, but somehow EVERYTHING had changed! Shame now overshadowed every aspect of his life and, where joy once resided, there was only dread of the shameful awful truth being discovered. As is the way with sin, it got worse, David began with adultery and, trying to clean up his mess, he had a good man killed. (see Ps 51:7)
It could have ended like that. Plenty of people have died in the same condition David was in…. He could have lived out the rest of his life with whatever the world had to offer but without the Joy that only comes from heaven. But God is gracious, it hurt, I’m sure, to be confronted with the truth… the awful reality that King David sinned against God, the Holy one, the one that was the power behind the stone that killed the giant, the one who had loved him with such tender care. And the burning question; WHY? Why couldn’t you be satisfied with the water in your own cistern David? Something more than a glandular urge was at play… David’s old nemesis, iniquity;
Psalms
Chapter 51
1(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
So, notice how David acknowledged that he had hidden and secret parts. David had a body and a soul and a spirit and who knows what other sub parts made up David. We know that David’s living soul was from God…. It was God who breathed into Adam’s nostrils
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul
And thusly, our soul is our most precious part; "36For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
But our soul can get dirty, depending on the spirit we subject it to.
1 Peter 1:22
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”
There is the spirit of man and the spirit of God,
1 Corinthians 2:11
"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The spirit of man is a beautiful gift from God! It’s our mind, and it was designed by a loving creator, with several automatic functions, like breathing. Our minds have reflexes that help us survive, such as the reflex to run or freeze or even to fight. And it’s our minds that can be fooled.
"14The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” Proverbs 18:14
Welp, I did say a quick bible study so I’ll wrap it up with this,
Psalm 103:1-5 KJV
Bless the LORD, O my soul: And all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
When David exclaimed "Bless the LORD, O my soul: And all that is within me, bless his holy name”, he is literally saying to his once dirty soul Bless the LORD and to his spirit that was once deceived by the lies of iniquity; bless his holy name!
When Iniquity touches our minds, we need delivered, we need healing, (Read Isaiah 53) and then a part of us becomes like a child that needs raised again. 1st Peter chapter one and two are good examples of that.