The Sinner's Prayer

In Psalm 51 we get to see a divinely inspired example of what it looks like to repent.

Repentance is a word that we dont like to use much in the current cultural climate in which we live. Especially in the Bible-Belt South

True Repentance involves:

Genuine Repentance Involves: Ownership of Our Personal Responsibility for Sin

Let me start of by defining what sin is: In this passage, 3 terms are used to describe the nature of David’s sin.

The Three Terms for Sin:

Transgressions = Rebellion against God’s authority.

Iniquity = Doing something that should not be done.

Sin = A failure to hit the target or the mark.

To take Personal Responsibility for sin means that we recognize that our sin is always our decision.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, David took full ownership of his sin…he took full responsibility for his sin.

You can hear it in his own words:

Psalm 51:1–4 (ESV)

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

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.

You see, David understood that his sin was his responsibility.

David didnt blame his sin on his environment…he didnt blame his sin on anyone or anything else…and he could have…David was the King…and his kingdom was at war...he had a high stress and big responsibilities.

David didnt say, “well you know God…I was just so stressed out and I needed to blow off some steam…and I messed up… Im sorry, please forgive me.” He didnt say… “Well, that Bathsheba…If she just would have been more considerate of where she took her bath that evening none of this would have happened…” The Holy Spirit helped David to see, that regardless of the circumstances, His sin was his responsibility.

But David, by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, understood that his decision to rebel against God, do what shouldn't have been done, and therefore miss the mark and standard of God…was HIS responsibility. His sin was His sin...

This is where all real repentance begins.

If you do not see your responsibility…you will not see your sin....and you cannot because you will not repent.

If you blame your anger on your children…you will not repent.

If you blame your lust on anyone or anything else than your own selfish and wicked gratification…you cannot repent because you will not repent.

If you blame your bitterness on someone that betrayed you…you cannot repent because you will not repent.

Because until you take personal responsibility before God over your sin, you wont see your sin for what it really is…and frankly…your will have a distorted view of who you really are.

We have to own our record of sin…our sin is not the fault of our upbringing…our

Genuine Repentance Involves: Contrition and Brokenness that Leads to Confession

When you read this Psalm, one of the things that becomes obvious is David’s own brokenness that he experienced over his sin.

David understood the gravity of what he had done…he had neglected his responsibilities as King, lusted in his heart, had an adulterous affair, he had lied, he had cheated, and he had murdered... He had sinned against his nation, sinned against Bathsheba, he had sinned against Uriah (her husband), sinned against his family…but ultimately…David had sinned against his good and gracious God.

Psalm 51:4 (ESV)

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.

David—by the power of the Spirit—understood this one single and important truth. When we sin, God is always the most offended party.

David understood that his sin made him guilty before a holy and righteous God.

And the same is true for us when we sin…our sin effects all kinds of people and has all kinds of unintentional consequences…but the most serious consequence of sin is that it puts us in rebellion against our Loving, Righteous, and Good Heavenly Father.

Therefore, when David says, that he has sinned against God alone and done what is evil in his sight…he is admitting his failure…but he also proclaiming the truth that God is perfectly justified if he judged him…he doesn't bargin or argue with God…he just confesses his failure and God’s rightness if he were to decide to judge him.

You see…we see our sin in terms of what we do…but sin has little to do with what we have done…and it has more to do with who we have sinned against...

And this is why David is so broken…he is in anguish and greif not because of what he had done. He sorrowful, primarily over the fact that he had committed cosmic treason against the God of Heaven.

Psalm 51:5–6 (ESV)

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

David recognizes that what he had done was a result of who he was...

And this is true for you and I as well…we have sinned…we have committed cosmic treason against God…not because we just did something bad…but because of who we are. We are people who, by nature, are not mostly good. We are like David, born and brought forth in inequity. And like David…we were in sin during the moment of our conception.

We are by nature, as Paul says, Children of wrath…at enmity with God…

We do all sorts of wrong things on the outside, because we are not right with God on the inside...

And therefore…we should like David be broken over our sinfulness...

We should experience sorrow and contrition...

ARE YOU?—Are you broken over your sinfulness. Not just remorseful over what you have done…are you truly broken over the fact that your heart is prone to wander?

In my time in ministry…this has been the main reason why people dont repent…because they dont see the gravity of their offense against God.

We like to run to the good news…but sometimes we have to let the bad news really become bad in order for the good news to be good...

Thomas Watson: “Until sin be bitter, Christ cannot be sweet...”

Genuine Repentance Involves: Looking to God for Healing and Hope

Look at where David looks to for hope and healing in this passage:

Psalm 51:1 (ESV)

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

So I have a bad habit that I need to share this morning…It’s been weighing on me for a really long time…and I just need to get it off my chest this morning…were preaching on repentance… so I need to repent...It’s a bad habit…it’s caused more than a little conflict in my home over the years.

So what’s the habit? Sometimes I forget to empty out my pockets when I put them in the dirty clothes.

And it may not seem like that big of a deal…and most of the time it isnt that big of a deal…unless the thing in my pocket is a pen…or a highlighter...

If I forget to take a pen out of my pocket when I put my pants in the laundry…the pen is gonna bleed. The ink is going to spill and it’s going to put an irremovable stain on the clothes that are in the washing machine…And I learned this lesson the hard way.

In fact, the pants I have on right now…I wore these pants on purpose today. They arent the nicest pants in the world…but they are my personal favorite pants. And a few years ago, these pants were the pants I had on the very first time I forgot to remove a pen when I put them in the dirty laundry. And so now…my favorite pants in the world have this stain on them…and these are my favorite pants…I still have them because I love them so much…I just cant get rid of them… (When your my size it isnt every day that you find a pair of pants quite like these…you big people can testify…)

Well…as you can imagine…Ive tried everything humanly possible to get this stain out over the years…Weve done the spot removers…weve scrubbed it with all the chemicals and sprays…this stain is permanent.

There’s only one thing that will remove a stain like this one…a supernatural act of God...

And you see, it’s a silly illustration…but I tell you that story because the stain of sin on our souls is just like the stain that I have on these pants…nothing can remove it but the power of God.

David doesnt look to his own strength and power to clean himself from the guilt and stain of sin…he pleads to God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy...

Psalm 51:7–12 (ESV)

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

David looks to God to purge him…he looks to God to wash him…he looks to God to restore him…he looks to God to forgive him…He looks to God to save Him.

It was against God alone that David had sinned…and therefore it was God alone that had the power to forgive, cleanse, and save...

Psalm 51:16–17 (ESV)

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

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

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

And for you and I…we are just like David…maybe our sin is different…but the truth is that our sin this morning makes us guilty before God alone…Like David…we have sinned against God alone, and it is God alone who has the power to forgive us, cleanse us, restore us, and save us…

What God wants from us this morning is to embrace our brokenness, our sorrowful contrition…because of our sin…and he wants us to see that he is willing and able to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And this is the very reason that Jesus came.

Jesus was fully God and fully man…and therefore he is the only one who could both sympathize with human sin, while simultaneously standing holy and righteous as God.

He was the one who could both judge sin and be judged by the sin of the world...

Jesus offered the healing and the hope that David was looking for in his sin…and Jesus offers us the healing and hope that we need for our sin.

This is the reason why we sing the old familiar song:

What can wash away my sin…nothing but the blood of Jesus

What can make me whole again…nothing but the blood of Jesus

For my cleansing this I see…nothing but the blood of Jesus

For my pardon this I plee…nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing can my sin erase…nothing but the blood of Jesus

Not of work…tis all of grace…nothing but the blood of Jesus

This is all my hope and peace…nothing but the blood of Jesus

This is all my righteousness…nothing but the blood of Jesus....

Oh precious is the flow…

That makes me white as snow...

No other fount I know....

Nothing, but the blood…of Jesus

Genuine repentance involves: Looking to God—looking to Jesus—for healing and Hope...

And Lastly...

Genuine Repentance Involves: Resolving to Live for the Glory of God

Genuine Repentance leads to Evangelism...

The person who has recieved grace in their brokennes, shares the gospel boldly.

Look at David’s words...

Psalm 51:13–15 (ESV)

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

Repentance always leads to Resolving to live for the glory of God…and how do we most actively glorify God? We share the gospel...

So hear this challenge…I want to invite you to a time of repentance…where you can pray this prayer yourself.

Is there a sin that you need to repent of this morning?

I want to invite you as the instrumentalists play…to spend some time in repentance…pray through this psalm this morning…let David’s words be the meditation of your heart…(The alter is open)...

And then we are going to resolve to live for the Glory of God by celebrating the Lord’s Supper together...

Matthew 26:26–29 (ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

The body of Jesus was broken for you…the blood of Jesus was poured out for you...

Receive it this morning...Believe it this morning…and proclaim it this week...

Let’s pray and then let’s sing...

Lord, thank you for the gift of repentance...

Thank you that your mercy is avaliable.

Thank you that we can look to you for healing and hope...

We have sinned greatly…but you are an even greater Savior...

And I pray