The Purification Process

Introduction:

I was reading an article about the 4 greatest personal comebacks in NFL history. One of the four men listed was DREW BREES—and rightly so. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 2001. In 2004 he led the Chargers to a 12 and 4 season record, posting one of the highest quarterback ratings in the league.

In 2005 he again posted great numbers. But in the last game of the season, Drew suffered what was thought to be a career-ending shoulder injury. When the Chargers learned of the severity of the injury they really didn’t want Drew.

Miami needed a quarterback and the coach Nick Saban wanted to sign Drew, but the team doctors advised against it. The only team left was the unpredictable New Orleans Saints. The Saints took a chance and Drew broke records and even won the Super Bowl with his new team shortly after in 2010. He became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in NFL history, starting after this injury that threatened his career. He is headed to the Hall of Fame.

Dr. James Andrews was the doctor who performed Drew’s surgery. When Drew healed and began playing again, Dr. Andrews said, “It is the greatest comeback I have ever seen.”

Today we’re going to talk about one of the great comebacks seen in the Bible. We’re going to look at King David and the God of second chances.

Transition:

Last week, we went through Psalm 50. This morning, we are going to look at Psalm 51. Both Psalms 50 and 51 mention the sacrificial system, but each their focus is different. Psalm 50 raises no objections to sacrifices, even though God does not need them (50:8–15), while Psalm 51 insists that God takes no pleasure in sacrifices, but he has a great regard for “a broken and contrite heart” (51:17). Despite the apparent contradiction, they are in effect complementary.

Psalm 51 deals with true repentance with thorough confession as seen in the life of David. The title of this Psalm tells us exactly what point of King David’s life we are dealing with. Having committed adultery with Bathsheba and ordering the execution of her husband, King David apparently refused to deal with his sin for at least nine months. When Nathan, the prophet, told him a very pointed parable about a man who had stolen a lamb, David said, “That man shall surely die.”

Then Nathan looked at him and said, “Thou art the man,” referring to his stealing Bathsheba from Uriah (2 Samuel 12:7).

This, at last, caused David to admit his sin. Psalm 51 is the confession David made.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 51

Psalm 51 LEB

For the music director. A psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love. According to your abundant mercies, blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and from my sin cleanse me. 3 For I myself know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, only you, I have sinned and have done this evil in your eyes, so that you are correct when you speak, you are blameless when you judge. 5 Behold, in iniquity I was born, and in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and all my iniquities blot out. 10 Create a clean heart for me, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and with a willing spirit sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise. 16 For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. With a burnt offering you are not pleased. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good in your favor toward Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, burnt offering and whole burnt offering. Then bulls will be offered on your altar.

While the historical titles sometimes seem to be loosely related to their psalm, Psalm 51 fits perfectly the story of David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11–12). Although the Samuel narrative does not give an account of David’s repentance, his admission of sin (2 Sam. 12:13) and the emotional trauma associated with the death of his and Bathsheba’s infant son certainly implies the spirit of repentance that permeates Psalm 51.

Adultery, prohibited by the seventh commandment (Exod. 20:14/Deut. 5:18), was a grievous moral violation that carried the death penalty for both partners [(Deut. 22:22)]

Deuteronomy 22:22 LEB

“If a man is found lying with a married woman, then they shall both die; both of them, the man who lay with the woman and the woman also, so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

It was recognized in ancient Israel’s world as such a serious offense that it was sometimes called the “Great Sin.”

People often say that we as Christians are obsessed with sin. Their accusation is understandable because the Bible is obsessed with sin. Why? Because the Bible deals with human history and human history consists of one sin after another. It speaks accurately. It paints the picture honestly. The church is the only place I know where people come together to remind each other that we’re all sinners. Other organizations try to build people up by telling them how wonderful they are. Not the church. Only the church says, “We’re out to lunch here. We’re missing the mark there. Oh, Lord, forgive us. We need a Savior.”

Transition:

As seen in this psalm, true confession deals with three basic areas: a right view of sin, as seen in the first 5 verses; a right view of God, as seen in verses 6 through 12; and, finally, a right view of self, as seen in the final portion of this confession.

I. A right view of sin (51:1–5)

A right view of sin carries with it the understanding that sin deserves judgment. That is why David pleads for mercy rather than justice. He realizes that God hates sin.

Psalm 51:1 LEB

Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love. According to your abundant mercies, blot out my transgressions.

Why does God hate sin? Because of what it does to us. Uriah was dead. Bathsheba was polluted. David was crippled. His family was tainted. Sin left nothing but problems, sorrow, and heartache in its wake. That’s one reason why God hates sin.

Psalm 51:2 LEB

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and from my sin cleanse me.

Not only does sin deserve judgment, but it demands cleansing. Before revival can come, there first must be removal. In Nehemiah’s day, for example, before Israel experienced revival there was repentance (Nehemiah 9).

Many times, we seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit when, in reality, what we need is to be emptied of our sin.

Third, sin declares guilt.

Psalm 51:3 LEB

For I myself know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

When Adam sinned, he didn’t initially declare his guilt. “The woman You gave me caused me to sin,” he said, as he not only blamed Eve but God as well (see Genesis 3:12).

Repentance involves a consciousness and admission of sin, made possible by Yahweh’s revelation in the Torah.

In Jeremiah’s and Ezekiel’s day, one of the proverbs in Israel was: “Our fathers ate sour grapes so our teeth are set on edge.” God forbade its use because it kept people from taking responsibility for their own sin (Ezekiel 18:2, 3).

David took responsibility for his sin:

Psalm 51:4 LEB

Against you, only you, I have sinned and have done this evil in your eyes, so that you are correct when you speak, you are blameless when you judge.

“What about Uriah and Bathsheba?” you ask. “Didn’t David sin against them?”

They were innocent victims perhaps but sinners nonetheless. We rush to place blame, thinking there must be someone wrong and someone innocent. But that’s not scriptural, for we’re all guilty (Romans 3:23). We’re all in need of salvation.

“The measure of the psalmist’s sin in this case is ‘what is evil in [God’s] sight’ (51:4)—a much higher standard than the world holds.”8

We’re all in need of salvation.

Psalm 51:5 LEB

Behold, in iniquity I was born, and in sin my mother conceived me.

While the doctrine of original sin may not be in mind here—nor is it a doctrine in Judaism—David may be thinking of the sinful nature and sinful tendencies of humanity, from the very beginning of the biblical story. In truth, this affects human beings “at birth,” inclining them in the direction of sin.

Transition:

I. A right view of sin (51:1–5)

So for nine months, he had a wrong view of sin, but here now he has corrected that. After seeing a right view of sin, we come to a right view of God. IN the next few verses David corrects his thinking about his God

II. A right view of God (51:6–12)

First, we see His holiness.

Psalm 51:6 LEB

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.

God desires inward holiness rather than an outward show of piety. But why?

One reason is because YHWH loves His Son, Jesus so much that He wants heaven filled with people just like Him.

After seeing God’s holiness, we see His power:

Psalm 51:7 LEB

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Hyssop was a small plant that grew in the rocks of Israel. It was used to apply blood on the doorpost when the children of Israel left Egypt on the night of the Passover (Exodus 12). It was also used to apply blood in the ceremony of cleansing a leper (Leviticus 14). The hyssop was also used to apply ashes of the red heifer and holy water in the cleansing of the priests (Numbers 19:6). In other words, hyssop was the agent of cleansing—and David wanted it applied to his own heart.

Psalm 51:8 LEB

Make me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

David understood that God’s dealings with him were not punitive but corrective. This verse is a reference to what a shepherd does when a sheep strays. The shepherd breaks its legs and carries the lamb on his shoulders. As the weeks go by, the lamb develops such a close bond with the shepherd that, when its legs are healed, it never strays from the shepherd again. It’s as if David says, “I needed to be dealt with in that way, but I’ve learned my lesson, Lord.”

Psalm 51:9 LEB

Hide your face from my sins, and all my iniquities blot out.

Psalm 51:10–12 LEB

10 Create a clean heart for me, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and with a willing spirit sustain me.

David’s salvation wasn’t lost, but his joy was. When the joy of your salvation departs, turn to Psalm 51 and do business with God.

Isaiah 59:1, 2 says

Isaiah 59:1 LEB

Look! The hand of Yahweh is not too short to save, and his ear is not too dull to hear.

Isaiah 59:2 LEB

Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, from hearing.

If the joy is gone, chances are very great that there is some unconfessed sin in your life. The fruit of the Spirit is joy. So if the Spirit is flowing the fruit will be present. Seek the Lord and ask the Father to search your heart and restore to you the joy of your salvation.

I must be holy so that I can remain in fellowship with God. I must be holy so that my prayers for His people and the amazing work He desires to do in and through them will be heard.

II. A right view of God (vv:6–12)

After being given a right view of sin and a right view of God, here we see a right view of self:

III. A right view of self (vv:13–19)

King David commits himself to the duty of teaching others God’s ways (51:13)

Psalm 51:13 LEB

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

When will sinners be converted? When I have repented of my sin, when there’s joy in my life once again. You need not feel that the time you failed or the mistakes you made disqualify you for ministry. In fact, just the opposite is true. If you repent before the Lord, just as He promised to restore the years the locusts had eaten, He’ll open up entirely new aspects of ministry to you, for you will be able to speak with authority and conviction about the inexhaustible goodness and grace of God (Joel 2:25).

Psalm 51:14 LEB

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

The idea here resonates with David’s story in 2 Samuel 11–12 and implicates him in the death of Uriah. It could, however, be a prayer that God will deliver him from having his own blood spilled, perhaps in revenge (lit., “deliver me from blood/bloodshed”). In light of the allusions to the Genesis narrative, we might also raise the question whether “you do not delight in sacrifice” (51:16) is an allusion to God’s rejection of Cain’s sacrifice, and “bloodshed” to Cain’s murder of Abel, his brother (Gen. 4);11 so serious is his sin that the psalmist may be casting himself in the role of Cain.

Psalm 51:15 LEB

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Note that the fact that “Lord” does not use small caps indicates that the name of the deity here is not YHWH but ’adonay. The divine name YHWH is not used in this psalm.

Psalm 51:16 LEB

For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. With a burnt offering you are not pleased.

This is not a rejection of sacrifice (see 51:19) but an admission that God has other preferences, in this case, “a broken and contrite heart” (51:17).

Psalm 51:17 LEB

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Some take it to imply that no sacrifice would be effective in removing his sin, particularly since the sacrificial system did not provide atonement for the sins of adultery and murder.

I must not only be holy for the sinners’ sake, but for God’s sake. The sacrifice God desires is a humble sacrifice—not mixed with pride of my spirituality or satisfaction with my own righteousness, but with an acute awareness of my own need for mercy.

Finally, I must be holy for the saints’ sake.

Here in the next verse, David—seemingly out of the blue-- is praying for Zion, praying for Jerusalem, praying for his nation. After he has repented and received restoration himself, he is now able to pray for others effectively and confidently.

Psalm 51:18 LEB

Do good in your favor toward Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

While it may seem like an alien thought in the psalm, King David is so emotionally related to Zion that a restoration of his relationship to Yahweh will leave his aspirations only partially fulfilled. His inner cleansing and restoration to the joy of God’s salvation require the restoration of Zion. Not only does the psalmist’s fulfillment require the welfare of Zion, but God’s own full delight in the offerings made in Zion’s sanctuary is also contingent on the welfare of Jerusalem.

Psalm 51:19 LEB

Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, burnt offering and whole burnt offering. Then bulls will be offered on your altar.

It is only when David is restored to the joy of God’s salvation and the walls of Jerusalem are in good repair that the pleasing combination will have transpired to bring God the greatest delight in the sacrifices that Israel offers. Sacrifices alone do not delight him, but the renewal of the people’s hearts and the good welfare of their beloved city are circumstances attendant to God’s delight.

So What?

King David is not far from Paul’s theological truth that [(Rom. 5:20)]:

Romans 5:20 LEB

Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance,

“where sin increased, grace increased all the more”

That is indeed the faith that underlies our psalm.

So What?

Konrad Schaefer, in his commentary makes the interesting observation that the word for sin and its synonyms occur six times in the first movement and once in the last movement. At the same time, and in reverse proportion, the name God (’elohim) occurs once in the first movement and six times in the remainder of the psalm. Schaefer, in his comments: “Sin disappears in the second half in the same ratio that God appears.”

There are some lessons about repentance we can walk away with:

First, repentance means we are conscious of our sin, and David begins the psalm with a plea for God’s mercy (51:1–2). In this prayer David describes God’s forgiveness with three metaphors: “blot out” (which means to “wipe clean”), “wash away,” and “cleanse.” Following the literary pattern of double-tracking, these three verbs of forgiveness are repeated in verses 7 and 9, and in reverse order, so as to call attention to these transactions in a slightly different way.

Second is confession, and that is what David does in verses 3–6. David describes the condition of this stage of repentance as “a broken and contrite heart” (51:17), recognizing that ultimately his sin is against God and God only (51:4), which expresses the gravity of his sin. Others have been hurt in the process, but his sin has affected God most severely, because it was an infraction of his moral law.

The third lesson of repentance is restoration. That is what David prays for when he has acknowledged his sins and laid them out before God (51:10, 12).

If we listen to the language of verses 10–12, we begin to hear overtones from the creation/Eden narrative: “create,” “spirit,” “do not cast me from your presence.” John Calvin in his commentary says this language is reminiscent of the original creation and reflects the idea of a miraculous transaction, reminding us also of Paul’s statement about God’s re-creative work in Christ. The work of transforming grace is reflected in the structure of the psalm.

The fourth lesson in repentance is one that we do not often associate with that process, at least as a vital part of repentance, and that is witnessing to others about God’s grace. David commits himself to that task, to “teach transgressors [God’s] ways,” “sing of your righteousness,” and “declare your praise” (51:13–15). Further, we might say that repentance has an evangelistic edge: “and sinners will turn back to you” (51:13). While repentance for this suppliant is a very personal matter, its larger effect is the restoration of Zion, an indication that personal piety in the Psalms has corporate implications (51:18). One of the marvels of repentance is that it stretches from the individual to the community, and while it might be overreaching to suggest that repentance is not complete until it affects the community to which the repentant belongs, true repentance has the power to overflow the individual and spill over into the community of faith. That is, community repentance must certainly be personal, and personal repentance should be predictably communal.

So What?

In Conclusion:

While sin is against ourselves, others, and our world, it still offends God the most.

David charts the path from our old creation to our new creation.

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”

We can always turn to God for repentance, at least until the day of Jesus’ return.