Renew Me, O God!

Psalm 51:1–17 NKJV

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

Introduction

Martin Luther loved Psalm 130. He called it one of the “Pauline Psalms” (with Psalms 32, 51, 143) because of its offer of forgiveness by grace apart from human works.

James Montgomery Boice

I know that likely most of you know the context of this Psalm, but for those of you who do not, Let’s review:

David was on his rooftop, where he should not have been because his army was off at war. Kings back in that time were supposed to accompany their armies and lead them in battle.

Nevertheless, David was at home chilling on the rooftop. Now that’s problem number one!!

And he looks across at another rooftop and sees Bathsheba taking her bath to cleanse her from her ceremonial uncleanliness.

And as Todd says it, “In the Whitmire International Version” David says, “Aaah Sookie Sookie Now, that woman is some kind of fine!”

So he does the first of a series of things he knew he shouldn’t do. He calls for Bathsheba.

And then sin number two—he sleeps with her.

And low and behold, she gets pregnant.

And David says to himself, “Uh Oh, I done messed up now.”

See, he knows that Lottie, Dottie and everybody is gonna know what I done did.

Then comes sin number three.

Instead of fessing up to his sins, David devised a plan to hide his sins.

I wonder how many of us have done this very same thing, committing one sin just to try to hide another sin we’ve committed?

Maybe I’m the only sinner in here that has done that.

So he calls Bathsheba’s husband Uriah off the battlefield figuring Uriah is gonna have missed his lady and you know…

But then when Uriah gets home, he’s way more better than the supposed man after God’s own heart.

And Uriah says, “My buddies are out on the battlefield, how could I possibly go in with my wife?”

Then David devises sin number four, he decides to have Uriah killed on the battlefield.

So Uriah gets killed.

And David takes Bathsheba as a wife.

2 Samuel 12:7–15 NKJV

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ” So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.

And that brings us to our passage for today.

I. WE SHOULD BE HEART BROKEN BY OUR SIN!

I know that y’all already know a lot about me. In fact, many of you grew up with me and went to school with me.

So you also know that in my BC days, I did a lot of things I am not proud of.

When I look back on my life, the truth of the matter is that I can honestly say that I have broken every one of the Ten Commandments.

I have coveted.

I have born false witness against my neighbors.

I have stolen.

I have committed adultery.

And before y’all get too up in arms about that one, and think your associate pastor is the worst human being on the planet, I want to remind you that Jesus said that if you have even looked at another with lust in your heart, you are guilty of adultery already.

I have committed murder.

I have failed to honor my mother and father.

I have failed to keep the Sabbath.

I have used God’s name in vain so many times I cannot count.

I have bowed down to idol. And again, before you look at me with judgement in your eyes, I ask you, have you ever put money or or your children before God? If so, I would submit to you that money or your children are an idol for you.

And most importantly, I have failed to worship God and make him my only God.

In the past, none of that would have bothered me a bit.

I was care free.

Couldn’t nobody tell me nothing.

But then I got saved.

And that is when I was broken by my own sin.

It was then that i looked back on my life and i was absolutely disgusted with myself.

Like David, my sin broke me.

And I remember early in my walk with God, that far too often I would sin against God and it would just devastate me.

I would look in the mirror, and I would think to myself, “How dare you call yourself a Christian!”

How dare you try to say that you have made Jesus the lord of your life?

The Bible says that if you continue to practice sin and say you are a Christian, then you are a liar.

All I could see myself as was a liar, and I was simply broken time and again.

I was broken because, like Paul said, I wanted desparately to do the right thing, but I could not seem to do the things I wanted. And the things I wanted to do I somehow could not seem to make myself do.

There are times, my sin broke me to the point that I didn’t think I had any more tears to cry.

And it broke me.

My sin broke me to the point that at one time I could not find a reason my life should go on.

I would get on my knees and pray for God to rid the sin in my life.

And to this day, the good Lord and my wife both know far too well, I am still a sinner saved by grace.

Cause let’s face it, like Tim McGraw said, “I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get, but I’m better than I used to be.”

And all praise be to the Holy Spirit that I don’t sin near as much as I used to.

But when I sin now, it still breaks me.

It still breaks me now because I think about how much God has blessed me, and I cannot believe that I would ever do anything to disappoint my Heavenly Father.

Yet I still do.

And when I do, I like David say:

Psalm 51:3–4 NKJV

For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

Psalm 130:1–3 NKJV

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Because I know that God, being a just and holy God, cannot look upon my sin.

Yet I, like David, know that from birth I have been a sinful man.

I, like Job, realize that as a man born of a woman, I CANNOT be righteous. I CANNOT be pure!!

So I am left to do the only thing anyone can do when faced with our own sin and that is cry out to Him from the depths of my humanity and turn back to my God and your God and say, “God I have sinned!!!”

Like the prodigal son said, “I have sinned against You, O God and against my fellow man!”

I am so dirty that I can never even begin to wash myself clean from the stain of sin in my life!

But it is at times like these, when I am at my lowest that that still small voice from God reminds me: “My child, I can cleanse you from your sins.”

II. ONLY GOD CAN CLEANSE US FROM OUR SINS!

It is easy to get black by sin, but remember that it is so hard to get clean that only God’s Omnipotence, in the Person of Christ, could provide a Cleanser for your sins. The Guilt And The Cleansing, Volume 53, Sermon #3056 - Psalm 51:7

Charles Spurgeon

I want to show you that David knew the truth about what Spurgeon said.

Look at what David says at the end of this Psalm: Psalm 51:16

Psalm 51:16 NKJV

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

David knew that he could not undo the sins that he committed.

He knew he could not undo the adultery, or the murder, or the fact that he was responsible for the death of his son.

He knew that no matter how many sacrifices or burnt offerings he performed, nothing would cleanse him from his unrighteousness.

Instead, David knew that only God could cleanse him.

So I want us to look back at our passage for a moment.

And when I read these verses again, I want you to really look carefully at what David is saying.

Psalm 51:1–17 NKJV

Have mercy upon me, O God, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.

That alone will preach, won’t it?

In each and every one of those statements, David acknowledged that it was God that does the cleansing.

It is God that washes.

It is God that restores.

Only God can blot out iniquities.

Only God can deliver us from the blood guilt that stains our inner being!

And it is only by the blood of Jesus Christ that we are cleansed.

I thank God that forgiveness was in the heart of God before sin was in the heart of man.

The Bible says: 2 Corinthians 5:12

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

John the Baptist who famously said, as we heard Sunday morning, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” upon seeing his cousin, Jesus, coming toward him at the Jordan river exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Hebrews 4:14–16 NKJV

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:10–18 NKJV

... we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

You see, it is by the Grace of God, because of the Love of God, through the Son of God that we are forgiven.

We are justified!

For those of you who don’t know churchese, that means when God looks upon us today, when we are covered by the Lamb of God it’s Just As If I’d never sinned.

This is a mystery there that is so glorious I cannot help but praise God for it.

I am saved!

When I came to know Jesus, I was justified.

I am being saved!

By the power of the Holy Spirit I am being conformed to the image of the one true God.

And I will be saved!

When I reach Heaven, by the Power of Jesus Chirst and Him alone, I will be glorified!

Halleluiah, Amen!!!!

Not because of anything I have ever done!

But because God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life!!

And if that, my friends doesn’t make you want to shout on the rooftops how good God has been to you, then you are still dead in your sins.

But if you, like me, realize just how good our God is, then you should have the same response that David did!

And that brings me to my final point:

III. OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S GRACE SHOULD BE PRAISE!!

Let’s look again at what David said:

Psalm 51:10–15 NKJV

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. … Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. … And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

David tells us that there are TWO things we should do in response to the grace and mercy of God.

First, we should teach others about God

After all, didn’t Jesus teach us: Matthew 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

In response to God’s grace and mercy, we as believers must be willing and prepared to go to a lost and dying world and boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking.

You’re gonna say, Preacher, I am not a teacher or a preacher, I cannot do that.

I cannot tell others about Jesus.

What if they have a question I cannot answer?

What if I mess up?

And to that I say this:

David wasn’t a priest.

But he said: Psalm 51:12-13

Psalm 51:12–13 NKJV

… I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.

Luke was a physician, not a theologian, but he wrote Luke and Acts.

Peter was a fisherman, not a Pharisee.

And remember, God used 12 men who were mostly illiterate and uneducated by our modern standards to spread the Gospel message to the known world.

And more importantly than that, NO ONE can take your testimony away from you.

No one can tell you that Jesus didn’t change your life.

No one can take away from you the fact that Jesus saved you from the depths of addiction and sin and pain and heartache.

So, if you’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, then you should teach your children, and your friends, and your family about what Christ has done for you.

Second, David says this: Psalm 51:14-15

Psalm 51:14–15 NKJV

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

But I wonder, how many of us truly praise God outside of church?

Do you wake up in the morning and praise God for alowing you the blessing of another day?

Do you praise Him for the food on your table?

Do you praise Him for the joy and innocence of a child’s heart?

Do you praise Him for a roof over your head?

Do you stop to praise Him for the sheer beauty and majesty of His incredible creation? For the simplicity of a blade of grass? Or the majestic beauty of a horse’s gallop? Or simply the intricate interplay between all living beings?

But more importantly:

Do you praise Him for delivering you from yourself?

Do you praise Him for saving you from your sin?

Do you praise Him for sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross and atone for your sins?

Do you praise Him for reaching down from on high to lift you, like Jesus lifted Peter from the strom tossed sea, out of a Devil’s Hell?

Do you thank Him for the fact that, because of Jesus, we as believers will spend an eternity in heaven on the streets of gold where the Glory of God Himself will serve as the light of day rather than in the darkness of hell where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies?!?!?

If not, what are you waiting for?

Hasn’t God done enough for you that He deserves your praise?!?!

As the lyrics of the song by Crowder goes:

Praise Him in the morning

Praise Him in the noontime

Praise Him when the sun goes down

Love Him in the morning

Love Him in the noontime

Love Him when the sun goes down

Jesus in the morning

Jesus in the noontime

Jesus when the sun goes down

Good God almighty

I hope You'll find me

Praising Your name no matter what comes

'Cause I know where I'd be without Your mercy

So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs

Tell me, is He good?

Tell me, is He God?

He is good God almighty!

Closing Prayer and Invitation