(needs editing) Repentance Reveals Mercy - Psalm 51

Intro:

I grew up in a big family, 2 brothers and a sister.

One time I was in an argument with one of my brothers and I was convinced that I was right.

So much so that I bet him all the money in my bank account.

So we turned to google to settle this argument and she did not rule in my favor.

All of the sudden I saw things clearly but it was too late.

I saw my pride, writing a check I couldn’t cash

I saw rebellion, in not wanting to follow through on the bet that I MADE.

I saw sin.

At first, that argument didn’t look like sin but that’s because sin tells us a story.

Conversation w/ Paul Bloom, Psychologist from Yale, and Graeme Wood, a journalist who immersed himself in ISIS, read propaganda & conversed with its members for a book.

The psychologist asked the journalist, “What is it like talking to these evil people, who are pro genocide, sex slavery, and want to kill you, me and all the people that we all know and love?”

The journalists response was very unexpected. He said, “Well, its not much different than talking to you. And apart from the word evil, that is exactly how they would describe themselves.

That is so crazy!!! So Startling!!! How is that possible? It’s possible because sin tells a story.

The journalist, Graeme, gives an example. Young man who had been recruited from Australia[Dorthy was really the evil one. She crushed the witch with a house and stole her shoes]He telling himself a story. Sin is telling a story.Our problem is that we are sinners but we tell ourselves a story and we believe it.Sin is rationalizing. If someone seriously wrongs me it was malicious, intentional, and demands serious restitution. If I am accused of seriously hurting someone. It wasn’t my fault. I was forced, I was hungry, didn’t sleep well. They’ll be okay and get over it. We rationalize sins like…lying about why our assignment or project is latethe sexual glances when we go out to eat or at churchWe rationalize sin just like ISIS doesHebrews 2:13 - hardened by the deceitfulness of sinSin is telling us a story that rationalizes our sin. Sin is always progressing. And if we’re not careful sin will progress. [Porn > Affair]

We never think that it will go that far but that is exactly where David finds himself in Ps. 51

— How do we begin to adjust to our new home? —

The Need for Repentance (1-6) [READ]

We are Bankrupt (1-2)

Mercy is - God’s loving assistance toward the pitiful and helpless.

Those who have believed the story that sin tells them can only approach God because of His mercy.

Sin deceives us into thinking that our sin is not that bad and that we only need help not that we are helpless.

As men, we don’t mind being helped but we resent being helpless.

We realize we need mercy when our sin gets audited

David is being audited, notice the “my”s.

12 “my”s in Psalm 51, first 8 are about “my sin”

Blot out = erase

wash me thoroughly = laundry

He is being put in a place where he has to admit his moral bankruptcy.

We realize we need mercy when we audit our sinWhen we begin to admit…the lingering glancesthe little liesthe un-compassionate conversationswe want to be with our phones more than other people.we are bankrupt… >The U.S. bailout of GM, Chrysler, Ford cost $80.7 billion. w/o the bailout, GM & Chrysler faced bankruptcy & the loss of a million jobs. Mercy is God’s bailout when we admit our moral bankruptcy.

We are Apologists (3-4)

David takes his sin to God. Why?People will always give you reasons to sin because we all sin.If we are basing how we respond on other people we are stuck in a cycle.We can rationalize our sin against others but we can’t rationalize our sin against God. We only get perspective at the cross.On the cross horror of our sin is revealed for what it is. Murderously harmful and we are responsible.

We are sinners (5-6) [Read]

Sin isn’t just something that we do. It is something that we are.This is the doctrine of Original Sin. C.S. Lewis describes it this way:Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.  .  . . This process of surrender— this movement full speed astern— is what Christians called repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. In fact, it needs a good man to repent. And here comes the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person— and he would not need it. - Lewis, C. S.We need to learn repentance but we can’t just stop sinning we need to be made new.David says this in vs. 10Bara - This word describes what only God can do; to create out of nothing… like in Gen. 1. We create out of existing material but God creates out of nothing.David is asking for a miracle. He is asking to be made good so that he can repent.We, like David, need to be given a new heart to repent.Jeremiah 31 tells us that God takes our heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh.God shows the rebellious and helpless cleansing mercy. He does this by washing us in the blood, making us whiter than snow so that we can walk the path to repentance… That is where we go next…

The Path to Repentance (7-12) [READ]

What is repentance?We can get repentance wrong! Paul even says it can hurt us!!!For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 2 Cor. 7:10Our own experience tells us this. How many times have you swore you would never do that again but then you do. You become either self-loathing or hardened. Both are stories that sin tells.Repentance is not apologizing or even feeling guilty.Repentance gone wrong is haunted by the consequences of sinRepentance gone right is distressed over the relationship [Look at vs. 11]David is distressed over losing closeness with God.Tim Keller helps us distinguish between good repentance & bad repentance“Legalistic remorse says, "I broke God's rules," while real repentance says, "I broke God’s heart." Legalistic repentance takes sin to Mt. Sinai, gospel repentance to Mt. Calvary. Legalistic repentance is convicted by punishment; gospel repentance becomes convicted by mercy.”Vs. 18-19 were added by those going coming back from exile. This Psalm taught them how to repent the same way it is teaching us to repent today. How do we repent rightly?Remember mercy & sacrifice (1 & 10, 7)Cleanse me w/ HyssopHyssop was a small plant because of its shape, it was used as a brush in the ceremonies of the temple to sprinkle blood. This is mentioned in Ex. 12:22David understood this so when he asked that God cleanse him with hyssop he meant… “cleanse me by the blood. Forgive me and regard me as cleansed on the basis of the innocent victim that has died.”If you forget these truths repentance will either be grueling or shallow. It will neither honor God or change your life.Jesus himself is THE merciful sacrifice whose blood makes the rebellious, helpless, sinners white as snowForgiveness wasn’t cheap but Jesus is paid for it.God freely forgives us because Jesus paid the high cost of forgiveness. Confess the mode & motive of sin (3-4, 5, 10) Meaning the action and what motivated that action. Gospel repentance is not just forsaking the mode of sin but the motivee.g. losing temper because your insecure after your boss got on you at work.motive - insecurity/fear of manmode - anger, lust, drinking, on your phone controlled by insecurity.Make sin Tangible (1-3)[Tastes, smells, and sees his sin]transgression - Intentionally crossing a forbidden boundaryiniquity - perversionsin - falling short or missing the mark.Gospel repentance works our hearts to such a godly grief that the sin becomes more foul and repulsive than any punishment.

The Result of Repentance (13-17) [READ]

Joy in your salvation (14-15)

Four “my”s of praise!

Humility in your character (16-17)

Humility is not something you learn, it’s something you become.

broken in sin + Repentance = humbled by salvation

If my sinfulness appears to me less severe then the sin of someone else then I do not recognize my sinfulness at all. I’m still listening to the story sin tells.

[Spurgeon’s, “They don’t know the half of it.” reply to gossip]

Paul Summarizes this in 1 Tim. 1:15-1615 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Mercy in your example (13)

When you don’t repent you are implicitly claiming to be perfect, right, or the savior in that situation. You are not supposed to demonstrate how right, or strong, or ideal you are. When we repent we point others to the One who is always right, and strong enough. You point them to Jesus, who is the true ideal of manhood.When we learn to repent other can see God’s mercy through us.

Conclusion:

Let’s end with a story: In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The villain, the White witch, tells a story, how a traitor belongs to her and must die and spill their blood. Aslan the lion, takes the place of the traitor Edmund. He is tortured, abused, and killed for the crimes of another. But the next morning Lucy and Susan in the midst of their grief discover that Aslan has risen from the dead!!!!Aslan tells them that their is a deeper magic. When one who is innocent, willingly gives their life for a traitor the deep magic would be broken. Sin tells the story of the deep magic but mercy tells the story of the deeper magic.In Christ, mercy tells a better story than sin. Mercy & sacrifice leads to new life. What story are you believing today?Jesus faced the evil giant of our sin so that we can receive God’s mercy. Learn to repent & your life will tell a better story to those around you: that Mercy is found in Jesus.