Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

As we continue our series on the Great prayers of the Bible, we are turning our attention to a well-known and significant prayer of David.

If you would, please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 51.

We will take a look at the entire chapter as we seek to learn from David's example.

Before we can read the passage, let me quickly explain why David wrote this song in the first place.

In second Samuel, Scripture records Israel's war with the Ammonites.

Chapter 11 of that book begins by explaining that the king remained in Israel while he sent his mighty warriors and the forces of Israel out to fight the battle without him.

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David's Pursuit of Sin

One particular evening, David was out on his balcony and saw a woman, who he was told was Uriah's wife, bathing on the roof.

Uriah was one of David's famous "Mighty Men" and was a valuable and skilled warrior.

He was loyal to the king and served him faithfully.

None of that seemed to matter to the king as his temptation and lust took over.

He sent his servants to bring Bathsheba to him, after which he slept with her, and she became pregnant.

King David knew that what he had done was wrong because though he had many rights and privileges as king, adultery certainly was not one of them.

After a couple of attempts to get Uriah to come home and unknowingly cover up David's sin were unsuccessful, he sent a letter to Joab, David's general, and ordered Uriah to be killed.

By the way, Uriah himself carried the letter to Joab.

After Uriah was killed in battle, David allowed Bathsheba to spend the customary time mourning for her dead husband before bringing her in and making her his wife, and she eventually had his son.

A literal translation of 2 Samuel 11:27 says, "The matter that David did was evil in the eyes of the LORD."

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Nathan's Parable of Rebuke

So Nathan, the prophet of Israel, was sent to David by God.

He told him a story about a rich man who stole a poor man's sheep and had it slaughtered to provide a meal for a traveler simply because he didn't want to use his own sheep.

David was enraged when learning that the sheep was the poor man's only lamb and that it was like a child to him.

In anger, he replied to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."

Nathan then rebuked David, saying "You are that man!"

The prophet then told David what God had explained would be the cost for his sin, and David realized what he had done and repented.

Therefore, the psalm we are about to read is David's prayer after being rebuked by Nathan.

It is probably the best known of, what are called "the penitent psalms," and it is a powerful reminder for each of us to own our sin and to speak the truth about what we have done.

While it is a deeply personal psalm, it was also intended for the Israelites to sing corporately.

With all that being said, let's look to the scriptures, specifically our passage for today.

I will read the entire psalm, and then we will break down David's prayer as we find application for our lives today.

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Prayer

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David’s Prayer of Repentance

In 2006, two performing artists named Laura Barnett and Sandra Spannan created an exhibit in a storefront in Manhattan that briefly made headlines.

The women would dress as nineteenth-century washerwomen and sit in the storefront next to these words on the glass: "Air your dirty laundry.

100 percent confidential.

Anonymous.

Free."

Onlookers were encouraged to write their deepest secrets on pieces of paper.

The washerwomen then collected the confessions and displayed them in the window for all to see.

The anonymous sins and secrets ranged from sad and strange to awful.

Some of them were:

• "The hermit crab was still alive when I threw it down the trash chute."

• "I want to see SUVs explode.

Those people are so selfish."

• "I haven't yet visited my dead parents' grave."

• "I am dating a married man and getting financial compensation in exchange for the guilt.

I'm twenty-five, and he's a millionaire.

It pays to be young."

• "I have aids."

• "I killed a man in 1957."

Barnett said they, along with the onlookers, are often overwhelmed by the weight of others' sins.

—Kathryn Shattuck, "Artists Display Confessions of Passersby on a 44th Street Storefront," The New York Times (May 6, 2006)

This little storefront experiment ultimately revealed the inescapable fact that many people are hiding.

Maybe they are hiding from the police or just their parents.

Possibly, they are hiding from coaches and teachers or bosses, while others are hiding things from their spouses, and many today are hiding from God.

What about you today?

We may be sitting quietly, and all is well on the outside, yet the story I've shared is beginning to open boxes or closed-off doors within.

In a room this size, some may be hiding something desperately shameful in their past.

An abortion.

An improper relationship.

A shady business deal.

A theft.

The hidden internet history or impure thoughts that are taking on more strength.

We may think that no one knows about the scheming, lying, or cheating.

Maybe you feel anonymous, like those at the storefront, or your cover isn't blown.

You haven't been caught.

But you know it's there, and hear me, so does God.

Maybe you've wondered: How can I ever recover?

How can I erase the guilt?

How do I find the courage and strength to deal with the consequences?

Has God given up on me?

David's example reminds us that no matter how well we hide our sins or try to stay anonymous in our guilt, God knows and desires repentance.

Again, Psalm 51 shows us what happened after David's sin was discovered, not anonymously taped to a storefront window but declared by the prophet Nathan as revealed to him by God.

David wrote out his private confession, just like the anonymous people outside the storefront.

But unlike those other confessions, David offers his directly to God.

So, we have this great prayer of repentance, as Psalm 51 wasn't about David getting some things off his chest; instead, it was about him getting his heart right with God.

Today, I want us to notice three essential aspects of his prayer that collectively serve as an excellent reminder.

In the time we have remaining together, let's seek to learn from David's example.

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David admitted to and owned his sin.

(Vs.

1-5)

In the first five verses of Psalm 51, David shows us that we must admit to and own our sins.

Significantly, David doesn't fall into the self-justifying trap of shifting blame.

There is no mention of the devil or that he was just having a bad day.

He didn't mention Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop or that his general should have known better than to follow through with his order.

His iniquity, sin, and transgressions are his to reckon with.

David essentially says, "I am at fault for twisting and perverting something good into something evil.

I am at fault for aiming at a false target and overstepping my boundaries."

David believed that he, like every human being, is born with a bent to sin.

He knew the problem wasn't a simple external issue of unacceptable behavior; there was a deeper problem of a sin-craving nature that strives for independence from God. Theologically, David knew he was corrupt and that his depravity infected him to his core.

By admitting fault and not placing blame on his mother, his heritage, or anyone else, he admits to and owns his choices.

He doesn't negotiate for softer treatment from God or escape his consequences.

In fact, he acknowledges that God is right when He passes judgment.

He even declares that God is blameless in His justice.

You and I must be willing to admit to and own our sins.

There can be no moving forward until we do.