How to be Crushed with the guilt of sin

Introduction

Psalms 51 was written by King David. He wrote this psalm because of the sins that he had commited against God in 2 Samuel chapter 11-12.

King David saw a beautiful woman Bathsheba bathing and wanted her for himself. So he took her and laid with her. To cover up his guilt of committing adultery he then conspires to get her husband killed and to marry her quickly bc she was also pregnant.

Notice though that David did these things post conversion. He was considered a man after Gods own heart.

He wrote this psalm bc he was broken and crushed with the guilt of his sin.

One commentator called this psalm the Martyrs psalm.

Back in the day during the reformation in Europe followers of Christ were being killed and heads put on the chopping block and its been recorded that there last words were reciting psalms 51.

If you were to have 1 song to go through your mind in your last moments what would be? psalms 51 was that song for many people back then.

Luther claimed that there is no other psalm more often sung or played in the church. Maybe not today. But back then this was a popular song to sing. Where have we gone wrong and strayed from the church fathers? We love to sing about Gods love and his mercy which are all great things to sing about but what about confessing our darkest sins to our father in heaven and being honest with him.

Protestant Reformer Viktor Striegel said: “This Psalm is the brightest gem in the whole book, and contains instruction so large, and doctrine so precious, that the tongue of angels could not do justice to the full development”.

Spurgeon said : “matchless psalm well suited for the individual as well an assembly of the poor in spirit.”

This Psalm shows us the painful reality of our sin and the amazing all powerful Gods divine mercy.

Before diving in to the Scripture here, you might have pre read this psalm and your saying to yourself “o man i haven't sinned that bad this isn't for me” It is.

I love what a commentator said here : There are some here (or watching) who have a woefully shallow and inadequate view of our sin and the glory of God’s mercy - this is for you. There are others who think they are too holy or mature or committed to really blow it - this is for you. There are others who have fallen headlong into egregious sin, and wonder if there is any hope for you, and be forgiven or useful to God again - this Psalm is for you. There are others who know the daily battle against sin - this psalm is for you. The issue is not whether Christians sin or not, we do. The issue is whether we have made peace with and cherish our sin or hate and forsake it. 19th Century Scottish minister William Arnot wrote,

The difference between a converted person and an unconverted person is not that one sins and the other does not, but that the one takes part in his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.

We will talk about 3 ways that King David Prays this prayer.

Appealing to the love and mercy of God

David starts off in verse 1 appealing to Gods mercy and his steadfast love.

Notice here that he isn’t saying “God if you will help me with my guilt i will do better from now on” he isn't saying “ God ill pay you back for this i promise”. How could he what do we have to offer to the creator of everything!! Nothing we have nothing to offer him, so David appeals to Gods mercy. Read verse 1.

Steadfast love - the Hebrew word “checed” - is so good. It is the faithful, covenantal, unstoppable, always-pursuing, never-ending love of God for the undeserving. Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and steadfast love (checed) shall follow me all the days of my life…” And that’s the kind of love David appeals to, because he has blown it. He doesn’t deserve mercy, forgiveness. He doesn’t say, “Hey, it’s me David, the man after your own heart.” He says, “please give me mercy according to your steadfast love”

When we talk about Gods mercy remember that he sent his only son to Live a humble life, and to pay our penalty on the cross. The cross doesn't give us a free pass to never repent. Listen to what piper says about this: “ The cross isn't the reason we don't ask for forgiveness, Its the basis for our confidence that the answer will always be yes”.

I think that we tend to really get in our heads and start to stress over just the sheer amount of sin that we commit daily and just cant find any comfort and i love what Spurgeon says about this : “Men are greatly terrified at the multitude of their sins, but here is comfort - our God has multitude of mercies. If our sins be in number as the hairs on our head, God’s mercies are as the stars of heaven.”

Honesty and confession of sin

David then goes into being brutally honest about his sin.

When is the last time you have been brutally honest with God about your sin? Not just brushing it off and saying “ I'm sorry God i wont do it again” But actually confessing to him and being broken hearted over your sin.

The only way to really understand the mercy of God is to fully understand the severity of our own sin! Sin is sin no matter what, but we love to belittle our sin and maximize others right? We love to tell ourselves that we don't really sin that much to make us feel better when we sin every single day. Minimizing your sins is minimizing the person and work of Christ.

Notice how David says in verse 4: “against you and only you” What he is meaning here is yeah you may have sinned against someone in the world but compared to God that doesn't matter. You have sinned against God! Look what Jesus says

Luke 12:4–7 ESV

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Next David calls his sin evil in the sight of God. Evil is a shocking word. We use it. But not when describing ourselves or our actions. We use it when describing the actions of others. What Hitler did was evil. Abortion evil. My pride? A weakness. My outburst of anger - a slip up. My greed - misplaced desire. No, let’s call it what it is - this is confession. My pride and selfishness is evil. My ingratitude to God for his rich mercy toward me is evil. My gossip is evil. My rough anger is evil.

Do you see how just broken David is here.

He is completely broken over his sins here. When is the last time you have weeped over your sin? or even felt bad about it?

Pleads for the effects of Gods mercy

He pleads for God’s deep work in his heart. Generally, we see at least four things he seeks the Lord for:

1) Cleansing from sin’s pollution:

“Purge me and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (v. 7).  Verse 10 says, “Create in me a clean heart...” Sin contaminates and poisons our hearts (Peter in 1 Peter 2:11)

2) Nearness to God (v. 11):

“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” (anointing and experience of nearness, not loss of salvation)

3) Deep Moral Renewal:

“And renew a right (steadfast - NASB) spirit within me.” David uses the word “renew”. It once was there, but his dulled conscience has deadened his sense of duty and right and wrong, good and evil. And he seeks a moral renewal deep within.

4) Serious Joy:

8 - “Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have broken rejoice”. Unhappy Christians are often unhappy because they are weighed down with unconfessed sin and consequently have a guilty conscience. And for good reason. God’s hand of stern mercy weighs upon us. David felt it. He says, “God you have broken my bones, let them rejoice” at the abundance of your mercy.” V. 12 - “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”

I read this as “God take me back to when i was first saved” Take me back to where i was on fire for you and just doing everything i could to spend time with you and cling to you and love you God.

Conclusion

The main point in this passage is that we are to humble ourselves before God and repent from our sins. With repentance this is a work that we are to do to turn away from our sins, not to just brush them off and act like they aren't that big of a deal. I don't want you guys to leave today thinking that you are worthless and just run down by the fact that your sin is much bigger than you thought it was before coming to church today, but to leave here remembering that your sin is big for sure but that makes the Gospel and the person and work of Christ bigger. Jesus is bigger than your worst sin, the reason that his mercy and love is so amazing to us is because we know we couldn't do anything without him.