PSALM 51: THE Penintent Psalm

Question: What is Repentance?

Is repentance just saying we did something wrong? Often when Ella does something she isn’t suppose to, she’ll say “Sorry daddy” or “sorry mommy” and in 5 minutes she is doing that again, or something worse. Is that (being “sorry”) an example of repentance? Being the chief sinner amongst our brothers & sisters here at Lakeville, I turn to this Psalm often. It is also here that in the OT, that I started to understand that what repentance means more than I originally thought it meant. Throughout the NT is summed up by what Christ himself in said in Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” Throughout Scripture, we’re told to repent, and believe the gospel, so it’s of central importance that we know what repentance is.

Uniqueness Of Psalms:

All Scripture is God-Breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)

Psalms is unique due to as they are the Words God has given us to say to God himself!!

CONTEXT Of Psalm 51

David’s sin found in 2 Samuel; a man after God’s own heart sough Bathsheba for adultery and had her husband killed

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1  Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

2  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

3  For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4  Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

5  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6  Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8  Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

9  Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

11  Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

15  O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18  Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;

build up the walls of Jerusalem;

19  then will you delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 51:title–19.

5 points of Psalm 51:

Word of Caution:We’re so sinful, that only God can convict us of our sins.

-Dangerous Presupposition to keep in mind: We’re so sinful, that only God can convict us of our sins.

-Being sorry we’re caught (see Ella’s illustration) is not being repentant. Godly sorrow from sin is only the result of the work of God; For example in 2 Samuel 12:1-14 Who gives us knowledge of our sins? God by his mercy and grace makes us aware of sin. This can be through various means, in the example of Psalm 51; God used Nathan the prophet to remind David how bad, and more so WHO he sinned against to bring about repentance according to his God pleasure.