In our first lesson this morning (from second Samuel), we heard the second part of a two-part story. Last Sunday, we heard the first part of that story - a truly loathsome account of adultery and murder.

David - you may recall - commits adultery with Bathsheba and, to conceal that fact, arranges for the death of Bathsheba's husband - Uriah, the Hittite - in battle. The text portrays David as ruthless, lustful, arrogant and greedy. His depravity is perhaps most evident when a messenger comes from the battlefield to advise him that Uriah is dead. The messenger has been sent by Joab, whom David has used to ensure that Uriah is killed. David sends the messenger back to the battle to encourage Joab, and to tell him: "Do not let the matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it." (2 Samuel 11:25, emphasis added)

"The matter," it seems, does not trouble David - and nor should it trouble Joab. The matter does not trouble David because it is wholly consistent with David's worldview - the story of human reality, and David's own reality, that David has constructed for himself. It is a story of absolute autonomy, and of absolute power - a story from a king's perspective. David is king in the universe David inhabits, and kings are not troubled by lives lost in battle. Kings are not troubled by lives sacrificed for the king's own comfort, and convenience.

In today's first reading, David is confronted by Nathan, the prophet - and Nathan has his own story to tell. It is the story of a rich man, a poor man, and the poor man's lamb. It too is a story about human reality, and David's reality, but God - not David - has constructed this story. And this narrative is characterized by a worldview that is decidedly different from David's: it's a story from a poor man's perspective. It is, as William H. Willimon suggests, a "counter-story."

God's counter-story - and God's prophet - serve to shatter David's view of reality and self, and to convict him of his sinfulness. It is a two-part process. First, the story engenders awareness - awareness on David's part of the demands of God's justice. David responds with anger - and righteous indignation - to the lack of compassion demonstrated by the rich man in Nathan's parable. "As the Lord lives," says David, "the man who has done this deserves to die."

But then Nathan addresses four words to David, four words that will change his life forever. Nathan says, very simply, "You are the man." And David realizes - he knows with certitude - that he has sinned, he has "sinned against the Lord." And he despairs.

Psalm 51 is one of seven penitential Psalms in the Psalter, and considered by most scholars to be the most significant. Tradition suggests that Psalm 51 reflects David's response to his encounter with Nathan. The superscription to the Psalm reads: "A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." In the Psalm, David beseeches God for cleansing and pardon. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me." (Psalm51:10-11)

As I read these ancient texts this week - the story of this despicable man and his despicable acts; the story of his being called to account for his deeds; and the story of his prayer of contrition - I wondered what connections I could make to our lives in Ottawa so many years after these accounts were written.

For me, three themes (three strands of meaning) seem relevant, and I would offer them to you this morning for your own reflection.

The first concerns David's insensitivity - his total blindness - to his own sinfulness. This lack of spiritual perception is, I think, common to most of us. We habitually notice "the speck" in the other's eye, without any awareness of "the log" in our own. We habitually construct our own stories - about self and reality - and we stick to our stories. In so doing, we deceive ourselves, and this self-deception may serve to separate us from the joy, freedom, and the love of God in Jesus.

For this reason - it seems to me - we need to make certain that we continually come in contact with/ that we immerse ourselves in "counter-stories." The stories of God - heard in scripture, and in the voices of modern-day prophets. The stories of God - heard in the voices of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized. This is, for me, the only way to ensure that we're not deceiving ourselves about ourselves. And, more particularly, about our own need for repentance and forgiveness - our need for God's immeasurable grace, and mercy.

This is, for me, the only way we can shield ourselves - at least in part - from Nathan's words addressed to us: "You are the man." You are the woman. You, and the society in which you live, have offended against your neighbor. You, and the society in which you live, have offended against God - God's righteousness, compassion, and justice - and God is sorely displeased.

The second theme from our readings for today that seemed relevant to each one of us is that (as the saying goes) "confession is good for the soul." Every Sunday, here at St John's, we have the opportunity to confess our sins, receive God's forgiveness, and start fresh. Sometimes, I know, I do not fully participate in that act of confession - I mouth the words, but I do not mean them/ I do not "attend" to them with sufficient sobriety, and sincerity. And I know - I know - that when this occurs, I have lost a precious opportunity for healing and restoration. I have lost an opportunity to lighten the burden that is part and parcel of my own human existence. And I despair.

The third, and final, theme from our texts today that I would like to address concerns our purification - the cleansing of our hearts. As Robert M. Alter notes: "The spiritual journey is essentially a journey of purification, where all that is limited, contracted, ignorant, mean, fearful, self-hating, and sad within us is diminished and then deleted from our beings."

Most Sunday's at St John's we pray: "Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name." (BAS, p. 185)

Thus, over the centuries, we join with David in beseeching God to create in us clean hearts. We acknowledge that only God - only God - has power to wash, cleanse, and blot out the dirt, and debris, and stains that soil our innermost selves. Only God has power to vanquish all that is, like David, ruthless, lustful, arrogant, and greedy within us. Only God has power to shatter any princely illusions we may have of autonomy, and power. Only God has power to enable us - in the words of Ephesians - "to lead a life worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called." (Ephesians 4:1)

So let each of us pray, let each of us pray without ceasing: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)