A Song of Repentance
Turn to Psalm 51.
Psalm number 51
my senior year of high school. I was cast as curly in the High School Musical production of Oklahoma. To prepare for the role. I studied Hugh Jackman's take on the on the character and really most of my character was based off of his portrayal of it either. He had done many years before that that experience. I began to appreciate that. He was a theater nerd like me, but he also played Wolverine in the X-Men movies and he was ripped and I said there's hope for me yet.
it didn't work out quite that way this cool guy that played Wolverine that I was studying and I thought man. I really like huge jackman as an actor and So I've been a fan of his for quite some time and when the show the greatest showman came out in theaters. I was at a drill with the with the guard and I said, hey anybody want to watch this with me in and nobody would and so I went all by myself to the theater and watched it alone and I enjoyed it so much that before I even left the theater. I got on my phone downloaded the soundtrack to the show. And a final song on that soundtrack is called from now on. It tells the story of the man who had lost sight of his love. He was caught in his career. He was caught up in the fame who would caught up in the pleasures of the world. but when he loses everything he turns to his love and determines to live a life that is Guided by what is truly important rather than following and chasing after the Trifles of public Acclaim and worldly Glory, but when we allow ourselves, To take our eyes off of God and we look to the things of this world is the source of our life. We begin to chase after other things that we believe will make us happy when in fact they do some of us chase Perfection. We want everything to just be so straight. And so correct all the time. Yeah. We want to make sure our lawn is perfectly manicured at all times. Some of us we Chase escapism. There's something about a laugh and we want to get away from and so we drown ourselves and books and in television and movies to escape the reality that we experience. And so we chased after escapism some of us think to gain some kind of approval from somebody. Maybe maybe we're trying to get the approval of our parents. And so we're trying striving hard to get their approval or maybe were trying to become popular as though we're striving hard to become the type of person that people want to be around because we want to be popular.
for King, David Is it she was women and lost? But when we realize our Folly and we were pens of it Lord has promised that he will forgive us. If there's one theme in the Bible that we must grasp it as the theme of redemption the theme of forgiveness. No other messages repeated more frequently than humans messing things up cuz that's what we do were humans. We messed things up and God has to come and rescue us from our situation. God comes and redeems a bad situation for his glory because God is going to find a way to turn our failures and to his success story. When humans rebelled against God he had a plan to bring himself Glory.
By providing his son. when the people of Israel went to Egypt God had a plan to leave them out. you're the person of Moses for his glory his willingness to accept those who humble themselves and Who We Are it is a beautiful thing. the beautiful thing but there is no Bible prayer that expresses confession and repentance of sin quite like Psalm 51. It says we examine the idea of a song of repentance for a song of confession a song of redemption. There is no better place for us to study in the song. But the way that is structured as somewhat circular and so to make things easier for us to have more of a linear progression. We're not going to go in order of the verses 1 1 through 19, but we are going to cover all the verses but I've broken it up a little bit differently as we see the progression of application for both you and fraud. So let's begin by going to the Lord in prayer then we'll look at verse 3. Lord God we thank you so much for your word. We thank you that you are a God who accepts all repentance and that you are a God who forgives us of our sin and let you are a god. Who has provided what we need? To have that salvation to have the the reunions. With you so we can have a restoration of our relationship with you got to pray as we study the scriptures this morning. She would open our hearts open our minds what you have to say. There was to us through the prophet David through the King David. The heat would illuminate our path for us. a confession and repentance and salvation that may these words take hold their heart. Play glorify you this morning. Pray in Jesus. Holy spirit. Amen. So let's begin by looking at first three. He says for I am conscious of my rebellion and my sin is always before me against you you alone. I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence, you are blameless when you judge indeed. I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me surely you desire Integrity in the inner self and you teach me wisdom deep within the first thing that we see here is that you must recognize and confess your sin. You must recognize and confess your sin. See the song is rooted in the ax and the events of 2nd Samuel 11 in that narrative King David goes out on his balcony one day and as he's out on the balcony, he sees across the way this woman is beautiful woman who's taking a bath Hey Caesar. Any tablets for her he wants her. I so he does some checking and he finds out that her name is Bathsheba. How do you send a servant to go retrieve a sativa and bring her to him? Are you committed adultery with her? I just summarize the rest of story. He steals her from her husband has him murdered and then engages in a conspiracy to cover up both the murder in the affair.
Yet noticed the superscript of this song at the very top. Search for the choir director a Psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him after he gone to Bass fever.
David have been blinded to his sin by his own lust I've been blinded by the things of this world that he did not see his own sin. And it was only when Nathan the prophet came and he told him this parable about a rich man who had mini sheep, but stole the sheep of the Poor Man. the David said that man who committed that sin ought to be killed and Nathan says David you are that man. It's only then when the word of the Lord came through Nathan the prophet that David realized and recognized his sin. This is one of the works of the Bible. The word of the Lord is that it reveals to us our sin against God it pointed out to us. So according to our said we become aware of our sin. Because we're so used to it. But then when we read the word or we hear the word preached and we hear our sin called out we have to recognize that's right. I did that. I'm a sinner.
You look at David story. He broke five of the Ten Commandments in this story.
What about you? Can you claim to have kept all Ten Commandments all of your life?
How about we just start with the first one? Hear o Israel the Lord. Our God is one and you shall have no other gods before me. Have you ever allowed anyone or anything that takes God's place the first place in your life and you cared more about what people think about you than what God thinks about you. Have you cared more about what you want to do than what God wants you to do. Maybe we haven't even made it past the first commandment.
Guy confessed to you today that I'm guilty.
I can assume you are too because we're all human we've all gone our own way.
So are mine becomes dolphin are sent. But the Divine message arouses are dormant conscious.
Just as it did for David. Someone what's David's confronted with his sand. He acknowledges it. He says yes, I have sinned. Oh Lord, he knows his send it send stocks him like a predator stalking his prey. He's under constant conviction because of it and he is aware that his sin has affected other people. He's aware that he sinned against bass Chi but he's aware that he's sin against Uriah He's aware that he sent against his General making him guilty of bloodshed. Is aware of the history on affects other people, but he also understands but it is ultimately God who is the one who is offended by all sin? The sin against one of God's creatures. It's a sin against God every sin against another person is a violation of the law of God. It's so David says against you and you alone. Oh Lord. Have I sinned?
How do you says? I've done this evil in your sights. So we can't hide our sin from God. God sees all he knows all he's aware of everything that's going on and he sees the saint that we're committing. Davis Delta, his sin was committed and all of its filthiness in the presence of the Lord, which is true is true for all sin. God was present he is present at all times. He knows what's going on. So therefore David could not deny his Sam, but he could only confess. Yes, I am guilty. David acknowledges, that seems not just something that we do but it's part of Who We Are He says indeed I was guilty when I was born. I was simple in my mother conceived me. We have inherited the perversion of human nature the comes to all descendants of Adam.
Play David's parents weren't particularly bad people. He's not saying yo, my mother was awful person. My father was this awful person. I was conceived in sin. He's saying in fact, if we look at his lineage, his parents were godly people. They were praised for being Godly yet. He still says I was sinful when I was conceived. It was as Fallen is every other son of Adam. Same is true for you and for me. Did not only have we send once but we keep going back to the same sin again and again and again because it's our nature to send. In fact, we're like a dog Proverbs Compares us. As a dog returns to its vomit. So also a fool repeats his foolish nest. I don't know about you, but I can confess.
I return to my own vomit, not literally but figuratively. I've gone back to the nasty Sim over and over and over cuz it's my nature.
We have an eight simple nature that is not an excuse and that name is not using it as an excuse, but he's using at the highlights of the fact that the acts that he committed and 2nd Samuel are just a highlight. Of the way he is it's just an example of the way, he lives each and every day and it's the same for us. We must recognize that that is our nature the way of all turn from God that we rebelled against his law and then we have all sinned against him.
So there's something that needs to be done with that. There's something that can't be done with that. I want to look at that next verse 16.
You do not want a sacrifice or I would give it you were not pleased with a burnt offering the sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken Spirit. You will not despise a broken and humble heart of God. You must understand that there's nothing you can do to atone for your sin yourself. There is nothing that you can do to atone for your sin. Sure, we can try to cover it up. In fact, that's why Adam and Eve did when their sin was revealed to them. They saw their naked as they were ashamed and so they tried to cover it up with fig leaves and God, Lee says man. Y'all are not doing a very good job at this. Let me help you out. Any sacrifice an animal? cover them in skin and blood of an innocent
David tried to cover up his sin of adultery by more said he had a man killed then had to cover that up. Cuz that's our nation. We want to cover our sin want to deny it or have an excuse for it or come up with a cutesy name for it. And so we try to cover it up.
We try to do so in various ways. One of the ways is most common for us has to try to cover up his works. The Pharisees tried to cover their sinfulness up by maintaining a strict adherence to a set of laws. These weren't necessarily God's laws. I took God's laws and added to them to make it more strict.
And then they were able to be prideful and say look at me. I've kept the law. Listen to why Jesus said to them in Matthew 23? Woe to you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites you clean the outside of a cup and dish but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgent blind Pharisee first clean the inside of the cup so that the outside of it and I also become clean. Why don't you use scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites. You were like, whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of every kind of impurity in the same way on the outside and you seem right just two people but inside you were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Is people who have kept the law Jesus says you are full of lawlessness.
The God is Not merely desire an outward virtue. But he wants in word purity. He doesn't want the pretense of Purity. But he wants the real thing. He wants the inner nature to be clean. He wants Integrity in the inner self as we saw in verse 6.
There's nothing we can do. subtain that Our reconciliation before God is not contingent upon our actions are sacrificed towards God and the forgiving us we can't say I've been to church every Sunday since the day I was born I deserve. your forgiveness
can't say I'm giving my tithe every week. I deserve forgiveness. We can't say God. I've given all that. I've had to the pool or I deserve your forgiveness because we don't deserve his forgiveness and nothing that we do will change that. The act of repentance requires not only that we turn away from evil, but that we turn to God.
Return from those evil practices. We were tempted to run into the sacrificial accent attempt to buy some sort of appeasement for God. We believe that our actions can give us God's forgiveness. And what we're really doing is turning from our sin of this nature into the sin of pride of thinking I can do it all on my own and we can't
We turn from Evil we must turn to God first before the idea of sacrifice even integers. And Armon God is only interested in sacrifices that are motivated by a heart that is thankful for his forgiveness. Start the illustrate that the beatle sang You Can't Buy Me Love. Jennifer Lopez saying my love. Don't cost a thing.
Do you want to show someone that you love them? You can't just give them a gift and walk away. That gift can only mean something if there is a love attached to it if it's accompanied by time and affection and attention to go into building a relationship and it's the same way with God David and the prophet Isaiah agree that God desires not for the sacrifices not for the burnt offerings, but for repentance and for righteous living about something you and I can do on our own. It's not something we can do it all. Look what that verse 1 and 2.
Be gracious to me God according to your faithful love according to your abundant compassion blot out. My Rebellion completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. See David started off the song with what we have to do. We have to ask God for forgiveness of your sins. You must ask God for forgiveness of your sins when we find ourselves caught up in in various and it's easy for us to sit down and to Think about our own condemnation and believe that God wants to Dole out punishment for us and to us, but if we actually take our eyes off of ourselves and look to God, we finally he's waiting there with forgiveness for us.
He's waiting to forgive us and to reconcile us to himself. If you look at the story of The Prodigal Son that Jesus told the young man basically came and told his father. I wish you were dead. I want my inheritance now and I'm going to go away and do what I will so he left and he lived his life instead. Spent all of his inheritance wasted it.
Play Sitting looking at the bottom of a barrel of pig food.
I thinks I should just return home to my father. As he returns home the father. Is there waiting for him with open arms and he runs to him when he says I am so glad that you have returned my son. Let's go have a piece and he puts a ring on his finger in a closing and find garments and there's great rejoicing in the household. This is what the Lord is like for us. He's the father waiting for her to come home.
David understood that he can not rely on his own works, but only on the mercies of the Lord for forgiveness for the cleansing of sin. He says I do not deserve your forgiveness. Neither. Do you nor do I Guy will be well within his rights to punish us for our sins. And one day he is going to Dole out punishment for sin for those who have not come to repentance and ask him for forgiveness. He's going to come in and Jesus is going to return and those who are living and sandor have died living in sin and have not repented. They will be judged according to their works and they will receive the punishment. This dude them and he is right to do so because we have sinned against him. But David knew God's nature and he knew that his nature was love. faithful love to those he is willing to forgive because he loves So he says to him Lord act in accordance with your nature forgive me my sin I graciously toward me and cleanse me of my sin. You look down at versus. Seven through nine will see he goes into a little more detail. Does Purify Me with hyssop and I will be clean wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness let the bones you have crushed Rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and blot out my guilt. David heading knowledge of sin and he was disgusted by it. He wasn't concerned about getting caught and that's what that's what we were so off and worried about is that we're going to get caught in our stand and and people are going to find out about whether we're going to be humiliated by that's not what David was concerned about. He was genuinely horrified by the ugliness.
Hypocrite is concerned with washing His Garment, but the penitent are concerned with the washing of their person. David did not fear the consequences of a sin, but he was revolted by the sin itself. Esau and all of it dirty gross repugnance and he was repelled by it and rightly so Can you say the same? Can you say I've seen my send it all of it? All of its ugliness all of its dirtiness and I am repulsed by it.
Cousin order to repent of your sins and you have to cease in the way that God sees it when Davidson was revealed. He agreed with God that is disgusting. Why did I do that? He pleaded with God cleanse me of it. He had to be broken because of his sin. He says his bones have been crossed. His Joy is Gladys have been taken away. It's only calls out to God for forgiveness and cleansing the cleaning.
For us when we need our clothes to be claimed we take it to the washing machine like throw in the washing machine. We throw some soap in close the lid push the button lock away. We come back about an hour later 30 minutes later. So and it's clean we pull it out for the dryer and yeah we go on with life. But in ancient world even many countries around the world today to clean and garment takes time. It takes patience takes pain painstaking process. Wall, but David has he's riding that these same thinking I'm willing to endure a long painful process needed to make me clean. If water doesn't work David says Purify Me those recalls, the silversmiths is they would put the the metal the precious metals into their smelter in they would allow it to heat up in the drawers in the nasty would rise up to the top lamp scoop that off. So David says if the water doesn't cleanse me Purify Me by fire. I'll take it cleanse me of mice and Purify Me. In order to enter the Temple of Jews were required to be ceremonial clean. If you were deemed to be unclean you wouldn't be allowed to enter into the place to worship God. Same's true brachii have to be cleansed from your sin in order to be in a right relationship with the Lord to be able to worship Him correctly to be able to serve him correctly to be able to love him correctly. You must understand so David ask God turn your face away from I said don't look at it as discussing. I don't want you to see it. If you can't do that blotted out so that it doesn't exist any longer. Blotted out would be to remember it no more. It's no longer in God's record as it's as if it never happened as far as God's concern. It may still exist for Humanity. We still have to deal with the consequences of it as far as God concerned. It has been blotted out. So there's a choice you have to make are you going to allow God to blot out? Your name? The stand on your name or you going to allow him to blot out your name from his book of life? Choice is yours one of the other. Listen to What God Says through the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 1:18 come let's settle. This does the Lord though your sins are scarlet. They will be white as snow their crimson red. They will be like wool. So how is that accomplished? That's all I accomplished when you trust in the promises that the Lord has given you for forgiveness. You must trust in his promises that the Lord has given for forgiveness. Look at verse 10. God create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast Spirit within me you not banished me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me restore the joy of your salvation to me and sustain Me by giving me a willing spirit Spirit. Short passage there three times in three versus there's a connection with the word Spirit. They're David desired that his spirit will be United with the holy spirit that he would be like God and in the best of ways that he would reflect the nature of God. He one of the characteristics of God to be characteristic of his life. He said he needed to be able to do that was a new heart a new creation. He says create a clean heart for me Lord.
His heart would be the renewal of his relationship with God. That's what we all need. We need this soon as we need this new creation. We need a new heart. We need a new man we need. a new creation What's the Wall Paul says? 2nd Corinthians 5:17. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away in the new has come see this is the answer. This is God answer to all want David has been asking for Jesus is the answer.
So we're all guilty. We all deserve God's righteous wrath to come upon us. We deserve the punishment that he has reserved for us. But Jesus came and he took it all upon himself Jesus the God man Jesus who was God In the Flesh. He came and dwelt Among Us a live a perfect and holy life and he willingly submitted himself to death on a cross to pay the penalty for you and for me. for David for every man, every woman every boy for every girl for every person who has ever walked on the face of the Earth. Jesus has paid the penalty for their sin. We needed cleansing Jesus cleansed Us by his blood Hebrews 9:22 says according to the law almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood. There is no forgiveness in Jesus shed his blood for us. So that we may be cleansed 1st John 1:9 if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. They went out to God when was the water God promises us and Isaiah 44. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud in your Sims like Mist return to me for I have redeemed you do we have all these promises in the word of God that if we confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. We believe in his name that we shall be saved. Our sin will be cleansed. We will be restored to relationship with the Lord. If you trust the God has fulfilled the promises they made in the Old Testament through the death of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can have it insurance that God has forgiven you have your sin. And once you've done that then you can live in response to God's mercy and Grace and you must live in response to God's mercy and Grace you must have a life change because of what you've experienced verse 13, then I will teach the rebellious your ways of Sinners will return to you save me from the guilt of Bloodshed God God of my salvation my tongue will sing of your righteousness Lord open my lips and my mouth will declare your phrase. So to respond to God. It is a sacrifice of his only begotten son.
With worship and praise of the one who saved us. You received his grace and you can't help but singing his praises and you desire to come together with a family of like-minded Believers to sing praises to Him just as we've done this morning. But there is also what David says in verse 13. He says I will teach the rebellious your ways and sinners will return to you.
There's there's two aspects here.
I will call other Sinners to repentance and they will return to you Thursday is evangelism taking place, but who better to tell of the Forgiveness of God than one who is experienced the Forgiveness of God? as always I will go and I will tell the people I will tell the Sooners and I will return to you today also says that I will teach The rebellious your ways. So there's there's a teaching of those who have not yet become. Christians who not yet trust in the Lord. There's also a teaching of the ones who have and are still a rebellion against him because we all are we I'm still a sinner. You're still a sinner? We're just saved by grace.
So we have to live and learn and study and be taught how to live in righteousness. But so we we respond to worship you respond with Evangeline. We respond with discipleship, but there's even more look at Verse 18 and your good pleasure caused by on to prosper build the wall of Jerusalem. Then you will Delight in the righteous sacrifices are the Bulls will be offered on your altar. So there's not just the ministry of discipleship evangelism an abortion, but there's also that of service to the Lord.
God does not Delight in the service of those who are trying to earn the Salvation. He says that's no good. You can't atone for yourself. But once you have been at owned by the blood of Christ near receiving a settlement.
You sacrifice. Then you respond in Deeds of love. Then you respond with Deeds of righteousness. In fact after we are reconciled with him God Delights in our works of righteousness. He Longs for them. And so we live in response to his mercy and his grace by devoting Our Lives to his caused.
So how would you respond? How will you respond have you done this today? Have you had your sin been made real before you have you seen it as a truly is disgusting enough corn before God the father. Have you determined that there's nothing you can do about it at so you must trust that God has taken care of it through the person of Jesus Christ. Have you confessed to send before the father and Scott his forgiveness? Have you found that forgiveness by trusting in the person and the acts of Jesus Christ of Nazareth just saw the god-man and confessed him as your savior and Lord if not what you do? So today or maybe you're here today any they are I've done that. I've seen my sin. I confess my sin. I've repented of my sin. I've turned to the Lord accepted his offer of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Are you living in response to the trade? Are you living a life of worship to him? Are you are you living a life of evangelism? Are you even telling others about what God has done for you? Are you living a life where you're teaching others about how to become a Christian or what? It means to be a Christian. What it means to live in righteousness to live in the light of the Salvation that has been offered to us there Christ Jesus. Are you serving the lord and his church and in his world? Are you living a life that's devoted to him that's consecrated to him.