Psalm 51 Pt 1

SLIDE 1 Two weeks ago I preached on the importance of Bible reading, prayer, and corporate worship in our journey with God. Two more important activities for every believer are confession and repentance.

In Greek, the word “confess” means “to say the same thing as another” or “to agree with another.” Confession then is admitting that God is right. We are agreeing with God about what he says concerning our sin. Confession is the first step in forgiveness. The apostle John wrote: SLIDE 2

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [However . . .] SLIDE 3 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. SLIDE 4 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)

SLIDE 5 The Hebrew word for confess means much more like we would define it. It means to admit a fault or crime. David used this word in Psalm 32. SLIDE 6

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” (Psalm 32:5a)

David is simply stating his misdeeds plainly as fact. “This is what I did.” We shouldn’t overlook God’s response to David’s confession. SLIDE 7

And you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:5b)

SLIDE 8 As John wrote, when we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.

Repentance takes confession one step further. If you look up the word repent in the dictionary you’ll find that it means to feel or express regret or remorse about a wrongdoing or sin. Again, the Greek means much more. It means to change your mind. I once thought stealing wasn’t a problem. Then, I read the Bible and found out that God considers it a sin so I changed my mind and my actions. I think differently about it now.

Paul wrote a difficult letter to the Corinthians confronting them with how they were dealing with sin among their members. He realized his letter caused them sorrow. SLIDE 9

8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – SLIDE 10 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. SLIDE 11 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Corinthians 7:8-10)

Godly sorrow for our sins leads us to repentance. God causes us to change our mind about sin and thus to change our actions. Charles Spurgeon wrote that Christian should never stop repenting because they never stop sinning.

SLIDE 12 We are in Psalm 51 this evening. It is a psalm by David and it is a psalm of confession. Many of the psalms have superscriptions that tell us something about the psalm but few are as detailed in the setting of the psalm as this one. It not only tells us who wrote it but the even that inspired it. In the superscript for the psalm we read:

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Though I’m sure we’re familiar with the story I want to go over it just to refresh our memories. We won’t read it, but it’s found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. The story starts off telling us how in the spring when the kings went off to battle that David stayed in Jerusalem. We don’t know why the kings went off to fight each other every spring but that seems to be the tradition. However, this year, for whatever reason, David stayed home. Then, one evening, as David is walking around on his roof, he sees Bathsheba bathing. We assume she was naked but she could have been sponge bathing. All we know for certain is that David saw her and despite his many wives asked that someone bring her to him. When he was told that she was married he ignored the information and slept with her anyway.

A little later, Bathsheba sent David a note that she was pregnant with his child. To cover up his adulterous relationship with her, David sent for Bathsheba’s husband Uriah. He hoped that he would go home and sleep with his wife. Then, he would think the child was his own. But that’s not what Uriah did. Since all the other men were out in the heat of battle away from their wives he didn’t see how he could disrespect them and spend a night with his wife.

David then tries Plan B. He sends Uriah back into battle with a note for the general to put Uriah in a place where he was sure to be killed. A few days later David received an update on the battle than included word that Uriah had been killed by their enemy just as David had requested. David didn’t kill Uriah but he may as well have. When Bathsheba learned of her husband’s death she mourned and when the time of mourning was over David married her.

David knew what he had done was wrong but instead of dealing with his sin and repenting, he tried to cover it up. As far as he knew, he’d gotten away with it. Who but David knew that Uriah hadn’t gone home and slept with his wife? Uriah had been sent home for a couple of days to report on the progress of the war to the king. Months later his widowed wife gave birth. David thought he’d covered his tracks.

And then Nathan showed up. Not long after Bathsheba had given birth God sent the prophet Nathan to David to confront him with his actions. Nathan began by telling David the story of a poor family who owned a lamb. They raised the lamb from birth and it was like a member of the family sharing their food and sleeping beside them. However, when a rich neighbor had a visitor, instead of feeding the visitor one of his own sheep he took the poor man’s lamb and offered it for the visitor to eat.

David was incensed. The rich man had many sheep he could have chosen but stole one belonging to the poor man. David wanted to know who the rich man was so that he could be punished. That’s when Nathan turned the tables and accused David of adultery. Though he had many wives he took the wife of Uriah and then had Uriah killed. At that, David wept. Though he already knew he had sinned, he hadn’t admitted it to himself or to God. He tried to keep it buried and secret. But now it was in the open and he had to deal with. He had to confess and repent. Though he never uses either word, Psalm 51 is his prayer of confess and repentance.

I doubt this would make your list of favorite psalms, but it is an important and oft quoted one. William Carey, the pioneer missionary to India, asked that it might be the text of his funeral sermon. And G. Campbell Morgan stated:

This great song, pulsating with the agony of a sin-stricken soul, helps us to understand the stupendous wonder of the everlasting mercy of our God.

I’m going to do something I haven’t done with a psalm up to this point; I’m going to divide it into two lessons. In the first third of the psalm, verses 1-6, David confesses his sin and prays for forgiveness. In the second two-thirds, David prays for restoration. We will look at those verses next week.

David begins with a plea for mercy.

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

We’ve already looked at the context for this prayer. David had sinned. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba. He had then lied and connived to cover it up leading to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. Now, confronted with the depravity of his actions, David in his utter brokenness prays, “Have mercy on me.”

Have you ever come to that point in recognition of your sins? Have you ever been utterly broken by the reality of your rebellion against God? Many people feel regret when their sins are made known. Unfortunately, they only feel regret for being caught. They are sorry for the consequences of their sin but not for the sin itself. But David was broken because of his sin.

David asks for mercy not because he deserved it but because of God’s unfailing love. The word David uses is chesed. It is God’s loyal love and covenant mercy. It is the closest the Hebrew has to the Greek word “agape.” The word is used 248 times in the Old Testament to describe God’s relationship with his people. Because of his chesed, God promised he would never leave nor forsake them. God kept his promises with Israel not because they kept up their end of the agreement and followed his commands, but because of his steadfast love for them – his chesed. Having rebuilt the walls surrounding Jerusalem the people prayed and confessed the sins of their forefathers saying: SLIDE 13

17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. SLIDE 14 But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, “This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,” or when they committed awful blasphemies. (Nehemiah 9:17-18)

SLIDE 15 They declare that God abounds in love or chesed. One commentator writing about God’s mercy wrote:

Men are greatly terrified at the multitude of their sins, but here is a comfort – our God hath multitude of mercies. If our sins be in number as the hairs of our head, God’s mercies are as the stars of heaven.

It is based on this mercy or love David knows God has for the Israelites and for him that he asks for God’s mercy.

David uses three different words to describe what he was asking for from God: mercy, loving kindness, and compassion. They are all slightly different but emphasize the help David needed from God. Ultimately they would lead God to forgive David for his sins. David asks God to blot out his sins. David is picturing a record in heaven of his sins. He wants the list of his sins erased. It means to wipe away as in erasing words from a piece of paper.

Then David asks God to wash away his sins. The Hebrew implies multiple washings and not simply a quick rinsing.

SLIDE 16 I took this picture of a white board in one of the Sunday school classes. This board has been erased and washed and scrubbed. And it still looks like this. SLIDE 17 You can still see the writing from previous lessons written on the board. That’s what our attempt to get rid of our sins does. We might be able to wipe them away so others can’t see them but they are still there. That’s not what David wants. SLIDE 18 David wants a clean slate. SLIDE 19 He wants everything washed clean.

When you think about it that’s a lot to ask for from God but David knows that because of his chesed God is more than willing. Through the prophet Isaiah, God will say years after David: SLIDE 20

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

That’s what the apostle John was saying when he wrote that verse we read earlier: SLIDE 21

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

SLIDE 22 God is able and willing to blot out our transgressions and wash away our sins, purifying us from all unrighteousness.

David asks for God’s mercy and then admits his sin.

We saw the three words David used to describe what he wanted from God but he also uses several words to describe his offense before God: SLDIE 23

Transgressions: crossing a boundary

Iniquity: twistedness or perversion

Sin: falling short or missing the mark

In verse 4 David will speak of his offenses as being:

Evil: the gravity of the wrong doing

SLIDE 24 David says:

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. (Psalm 51:3-4)

David is acknowledging the wrongs he has committed – plural. David is not trying to ignore what he has done, downplay the significance of his actions, or hide them from God. He is aware of them and he knows that God is aware of them.

Some have wished that David was more precise in his admission of guilt. They wonder why David didn’t mention his sins by name: adultery and murder. I don’t think that would have been helpful though. If David had mentioned those two sins some might think they are the only sins David committed or that God only forgives those sins. David had committed other sins before, during, and after these two. He needed forgiveness for all of them. We may not have committed the sins David committed but we have all sinned and need forgiveness as well.

David says that his sin was always in his mind. Note that it wasn’t God’s judgment that he was thinking about but his sin. What bothered him was his sin. He could try to cover it up, he could even try to deny it happened, but he couldn’t forget it. His unconfessed sin made his miserable and isn’t that a good thing? God allows our conscience to bother us so that we will turn to him in confession and repentance.

Note too that David owned his sin. He didn’t blame someone else or the circumstances. He wasn’t making excuses either. He took personal responsibility for his actions. We must do the same when we repent. We shouldn’t try to minimize our sin by calling it less than what it was. David could have called his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba an affair, a moment passion or weakness. We can come up with all kinds of euphemisms that downplay the severity of our sin. We shouldn’t blame God or others for our sin either. Someone may have encouraged us in our sins but we alone are accountable for our sins.

I think the next phrase is interesting. David says that his sin was only against God. I think we would consider what he did a sin against Bathsheba. We have no idea what role she may have played in this scene but he was the king. He was in the position of authority. He knew better and even when he learned who she was and that she was married he sent for her. His adultery was a sin against her husband too. And if that wasn’t enough, David had him killed. That certainly was a sin against him. Then there was the baby who never lived to see his first birthday. But David declares that he had sinned only against God. “Against you and you only have I sinned.” That’s because his guilt before God was so great. David had sinned against those people and more David realized that his sin was ultimately against God. That’s because it is God who decides what is right and wrong, it is God who judges who has broken his commands, and it is God who will judge and punish wrongdoers. Therefore, David says that when God judges whatever he says will be right.

David says that he has done evil “in God’s sight.” God didn’t accidentally discover David’s sin. No one told on David to God. God saw David as he was committing the sin. God was there. People like to pretend God doesn’t know. Like Adam and Eve hiding in the garden, people try to hide their sins from God but it doesn’t work. God is all knowing and because he is spirit is everywhere.

In Psalm 139 David wrote that wherever he went God was there. That should bring us comfort to realize that God knows where we are and is with us. Whatever trouble or difficulty we may have, God knows. But it also tells us that God knows when we do wrong. We can’t hide it so we might as well confess it. In the next lesson we see how David admits to trying to hide his sin but it didn’t work out very well. Now, he is owning up to it and confessing he had done wrong.

David asks for God’s mercy, he admits his sin, and then he describes the depth his need.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. (Psalm 51:5-6)

We should not think that David is saying that he was born from an adulterous relationship between his parents. There’s no reason to assume that. What David is referring to is the depth and gravity of his sin nature. It’s from this passage and others and theologians coin the phrase “original sin.” It is the idea that we receive a sinful nature from our parents and their parents going back to Adam and Eve. You don’t have to teach children how to lie or to be selfish. Children inherently know and act it out. All have sinned and all need God’s forgiveness.

Though we have a sin nature God desires more for us. God desires honesty and truth and faithfulness. He desires for us to do what is right. And this desire is not just that we would do what is right but that we would want to do what is right in our hearts.

Remember what Jesus said about murder and adultery in the Sermon on the Mount. It’s good that you haven’t killed anyone or slept with someone else’s spouse but have you desired to do so? SLIDE 25

21 You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. (Matthew 5:21-22a)

SLIDE 26

27 You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)

SLIDE 27 It’s not only our actions that God judges but our desires, what we might do if only we had the opportunity. God doesn’t want to just change our actions but our hearts. Later in the psalm David will ask for that as well.

Confession and repentance, these two words are important in our relationship with God. They keep us in a right relationship with God.

When I give premarital counseling I talk about the importance of not going to bed angry. Instead, couples need to clear up disagreements and conflict as quickly as possible. SLDIE 28 I then compare a disagreement to a brick. There’s not too much to a brick. If I put one brick between us if doesn’t affect our relationship much. SLIDE 29 Even two bricks don’t really get in the way. SLIDE 30 But what about eight bricks? SLIDE 31 Or forty-eight bricks? SLIDE 32 Or 192 bricks? Each brick by itself is small but added together they can create a wall between us.

SLIDE 33 Sin comes between us and God. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin we need to immediately confess it and repent. In reality it only takes one but unconfessed sins build up. As we read in 1 John, God is ready to forgive when we confess but when we sin and don’t take care of it it often gets more difficult for us to deal with. Therefore, we need to deal with it quickly.