Say it with me, "Have mercy on me, O God."

Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
   blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
   and cleanse me from my sin.
Psalm 51:1-2

David knew he had sinned and the first thing he needed was mercy. Mercy is what you hope for when you know that what you deserve is not going to be good. David knew that he deserved to die. He committed adultery and murder. Not to mention lying and a slew of other things he did to manipulate the entire army to serve his own ends. 

David also knew that God, in his very nature is merciful. He called on God, he pleaded with God to be merciful. I don't think David expected God to make everything just go away. He just knew he needed mercy. We need mercy, too. Some things may not go entirely away, but, God is still merciful. Like David, who knew he deserved to die, we just cry out for mercy. 

In what area of your life do you need mercy? You would be hard pressed to do much worse than David, yet he cried out for mercy. God didn't kill him or allow him to be killed, so got some mercy. He still was used to be a link in the Messianic chain. That's mercy. 

So what these verses tell us is that David needed mercy and he asked for it. What it means is that we can ask for mercy and God will still use us to build the kingdom. What it does for us today is allows us to cry out for mercy, no matter what we've done. It gives us hope. Say it with me, "Have mercy on me, O God."