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Penance and Grace

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"Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee" (Psalm 51:13)

The prayer David offered after being told off by Nathan the prophet revealed a specific aspect between Man and God. In this occasion, Man sins, and only sin Man actively commit. The penance was provoked or necessitated by the prophet's delivery of witness, who was God. We could not know whether David would repent without the knowledge of God's knowledge of his transgression. With the knowledge of God's knowledge of his transgression, however, David repented. His penance reflected its own precondition, namely the existence and action of God. David's request for cleansing and renewal depends on God's re-action. David promised to offer sacrifice, which could only be a product of God's renewal of him - make me a new heart and I will offer it to you. In this sense, David did not really give anything of himself, but only acknowledges the authorship of his offering. Therefore, in a strange sense, David actually was recognizing the principle: give God what belongs to God, and Caesar what belongs to Caesar. A clean heart and holy spirit comes only from God and shall be given to God as offering. Sin comes from Man and cannot be offered to God. Logically, Man with sin cannot be offered to God, unless cleansed of such sin. The cleansing, however, can only be done by God. That means, without Grace, Man remains uncleaned, and therefore not acceptable to God. 
In this set of statements two things are irrelevant. First is offerings of other kinds. God does not need it does not mean that God cannot accept it. God can, although for nothing. Second, other Men. The promise to teach others the way of God is the real offering David proposed here. God still does not need it. Yet God did not demand it, so David made a real promise here. 
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