Because you have been born again and are therefore saved and justified, the wrong, bad, and evil things you do are called misdeeds and aren’t considered sins. Salvation and justification provided you a perfect record with God. For as long as you have the WANT and HATE of Romans 7:15, you will maintain a perfect record with God: Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do.

Psa 51:1a (NIV) For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:1-24). The wrong, bad, or evil things Jesus is bringing up that He wants you to mourn over probably won’t be anything like David’s. Not only did He commit adultery, he had Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, murdered. So, no matter what you have done, the answer is to allow Jesus to put God’s power-attitude of mourning in your heart. David tried to hide his sin; that ended up leading David into causing Uriah to be murdered. When you try to hide, bury, or ignore a wrong, bad, or evil issue, it usually leads to others.

Psa 51:1b (NIV) Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Misdeeds doesn’t go away; they don’t cease to do damage to the Christian until they are repented of. Because of Jesus’ blood, they can’t kill you (separate you from God) relationally. But, they will continue to cause you pain and suffering until you take them to God and tell Him you are sorry for what you have done.

God’s power-attitude is wonderful; the Holy Spirit brings to your attention a current or past misdeed you have involved yourself in. Then God’s power-attitude helps you feel sorry for what you have done. As you mourn over the problem, Jesus heals your heart, forgives you for hurting yourself and others, and empowers you to never again involve yourself in that deed. From that point on you HAVE a power relationship to resist ever doing that misdeed again; but, YOU must yield to that power.

Rom 8:13-14 (NIV) For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if BY the Spirit YOU put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:1b) into a prayer for you. This is a time of soul searching; what should you be asking Jesus for mercy concerning?

Psa 51:2 (NIV) Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. A sin, or in your case, a misdeed typically comes with other sins or misdeeds; if you lie, it usually requires a package of lies in the process. If you gossip, you will typically say more than one thing against the person. If you cheat someone, you will normally have to cheat them in several different ways. In the part of the prayer, “Wash away ALL my iniquity.” the word “iniquity” is singular. “All” is broad and covers the whole deed with all its sins (misdeeds) and damage. You are asking Jesus to forgive you of all the damage the multilayers of deeds did.

“Cleanse me from my sin.” David’s SIN involved lust, adultery, lying, deception, murder, and an attempt at covering it all up. He sinned; but, that sin involved a whole package of sins within it. If Jesus asks you, during your mourning, to allow Him to help you break it down into all its smaller parts, yield to Him. Your heart may need multiple areas of healing. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:2) into a prayer for you. Let Jesus bring up actually instances where you did things you shouldn’t have.

Psa 51:3 (NIV) For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. There are some misdeeds that haunt you; this one haunted David because it was so horrible. But, you can have one thing you did that you feel greater regret, sorrow, pain, and remorse over. Usually it is because of the end result; the misbehavior caused something to happen that ended up really hurting, disappointing, and maybe even severing an important relationship. In the process of mourning Jesus will probably have you go to that person and make it right. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:3) into a prayer for you. Ask Jesus to empower you to be willing to go to anyone you need to and make it right.

Psa 51:4 (NIV) Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. Mourning involves making things right with God; repentence involves you telling God that you are sorry for what you did to yourself, other people, and His plan. You did wrong to the people you hurt; but the actual sin was against God. Jesus will usually send you to those you hurt and have you make it right. They can forgive you for what you did; but, they can’t forgive you of the sin (misdeed); only God can do that. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:4) into a prayer for you. Let God show you where you damaged His plan.

Psa 51:5 (NIV) Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. This is in reference to the sinful nature that is in your body. As a little child, you were innocent for as long as God kept you from knowing the difference between good and evil. But, just as soon as God decided you were mature enough to be responsible for knowing the difference, the Holy Spirit started speaking to your conscience and warning you about those things you involved yourself in that were wrong, bad, or evil. From that point on, anything you went ahead and did against that warning was a sin. James 4:17 (NIV) Anyone, then, who KNOWS the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Rom 7:20 (NIV) Now if I DO what I do not WANT to do, it is no LONGER I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. This is the life of a new or untrained Christian. They do something that would have been a sin; but, because of the blood of Jesus covering it through salvation and justification, God considers it a misdeed.

Here is the difficult life of the new and untrained Christian: You think about doing something wrong, bad, or evil and the Holy Spirit makes you feel guilty about it. But, because of your current spiritual condition, you do it anyway. You don’t want to do it; but, your body and its sinful nature push you into it. After that, you have to keep going to God, yielding to His power-attitude of mourning, repenting, telling Jesus you are sorry, asking for forgiveness, and then having to go make it right with anyone else you hurt. But, Jesus is leading you out of this life into the life of the victorious Christian. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:5) into a prayer for you.

Psa 51:6 (NIV) Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. This is talking about you, your spirit being; your body has a sinful nature; but you are able to have truth and wisdom in your spirit. Pray and ask Jesus to give you truth and wisdom so you can see the difference between where you are going and what you are mourning and repenting of. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:6) into a prayer for you. Allow Jesus to show you the difference in the attitudes of your body and your spirit.

Psa 51:7 (NIV) Cleanse me with hyssop (Your blood), and I will be clean; wash me (with your blood), and I will be whiter than snow. In the Old Testament they used hyssop as a spiritual ritual for being cleansed. In the New Testament you have faith in the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for you. So, you would say: Cleanse me with Your blood, and I will be clean; wash me with your blood, and I will be whiter than snow. This is you asking for Jesus to take all those things you mourn over and cover them with His blood. It has the power to set you free from the consequences of the sin and the power of it being able to kill you (separate you from God) relationally. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:7) into a prayer for you. Believe that Jesus’ blood is keeping things misdeeds that would have been sins.

Psa 51:8 (NIV) Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. The end results of mourning is joy and gladness. Sometimes mourning can feel like your bones are being crushed. To be required to look back at how wrong, bad, or evil what you did was, can really hurt. It is during those times that mourning gets intense and very emotional; but, the degree of heart-healing is tremendous. Now, go back and turn this Psalm-prayer (Psa 51:8) into a prayer for you. Let Jesus turn your mourning into joy and gladness.