| Introduction As we consider Psalm 51 this morning, I want us to think about the truth that this psalm has a special message for several groups of people. · First, Psalm 51 is for those who have never come to grips with the horror of human sin and the magnitude of divine grace. ü Often grace becomes meaningless, and certainly less than "amazing", because we lose sight of the depths of our depravity. ü David helps us on both counts by describing in graphic detail the reality of his sin and the breath-taking glory of forgiving grace. · Second, this psalm is for those who think some people are too high or too holy to fall – let us never forget that this psalm describes the experience of David, king of Israel, the "man after God's own heart" (1 Sam. 13:14)! · Third, this psalm is also for those who think that once you have fallen, you can never get back up again. ü It is for those who think it's possible to fall beyond the reach of God's grace and forgiveness or that there is a quantifiable limit to divine mercy. ü But no one is so holy that he/she can't fall, or so fallen that he/she can't be forgiven. · Fourth, Psalm 51 is for those who think that if you have fallen and have actually gotten back up, perhaps even forgiven, you are still useless from that point on both to God and the church – David's experience will prove otherwise. I. The Historical Setting for This Psalm Is Stated in the Title (see 2 Sam. 11:1-18, 26-27; 12:1-18). A. None of us likes to have our struggles and problems broadcast publicly, much less our sins of the flesh. B. Yet here we are told that this psalm was written "To the Chief Musician"! C. How would you like for your worst sins to be projected on a screen up here and set to music for the corporate worship of God's people? 1. This psalm is a remarkable, and in many ways unparalleled, description of the nature of conviction, confession, and forgiveness. 2. But at the same time that we celebrate with David the joy of having one's sins washed clean, we don't forget that his transgressions yielded significant and far-reaching consequences: a. His denunciation by Nathan and the public shame it brought (2 Sam. 12:1-14); b. The death of David's son (12:15-23); c. Trouble with Amnon: he raped Tamar, Absalom's sister (13:1-22); d. The rebellion of Absalom (13:23-18:33); e. Trouble with affairs of state (e.g., the revolt of Sheba in 19:41-20:26). 3. The lesson is that while sin is certainly personal, in many cases it is anything but private! II. On What Basis Does David Ask for Forgiveness, 1-2? A. Does he appeal to his track record as king over Israel? 1. Does he remind God of how many psalms he has written and how much of a blessing they have been to God's children? 2. Does he cite his faithful service or marshal forth a long list of character witnesses? B. He doesn't expect to be forgiven based on his sincerity or spiritual intensity or deep pain for having sinned or fervor of heart or promise not to sin again or his depth of determination to somehow "make it up" to God. 1. That's not to say sincerity and zeal and conviction aren't important. 2. But David's appeal is based on what he knows of God's mercy and compassion and lovingkindness. C. Note the three words David uses in vv. 1-2 to describe his sin. 1. If nothing else, it indicates on his part an acknowledgment that it is sin, and not just some trivial mistake. 2. He calls it a "transgression" (a willful, self-assertive defiance of God), an "iniquity" (a deviation from the right path), and a "sin" (a missing of the divine mark). D. Equally vivid are the three words he uses in his plea for forgiveness. 1. He asks God to "blot out" his transgressions – to erase it from the record or wipe it away. 2. He begs the Lord to "wash" him from his sin, 2, 7b. a. This word was often used of a woman first saturating a garment with soap and then treading it under foot on a rock, beating and pummeling it as the rushing waters poured over it. b. One can almost hear David tearfully praying: "Gracious Lord, do that to my spirit! My sin is like a deep-dyed stain that has soiled the fabric of my soul, and no ordinary soap or detergent, far less any good works I might perform, can remove it. My transgressions are like ground-in dirt. Lord, scrub me clean by your mercy and grace!" 3. Finally, the word "cleanse" was one used for ceremonial purification in the OT. III. When David Turns to Confess the Magnitude of His Sin, His Language Is no less Graphic, 3-4. "The sin is not vaguely expressed and in a neutral context but intensely personal – MINE – and is so described five successive times in the first three verses. True penitence is not a dead knowledge of sin committed, but a vivid, ever-present consciousness of it. Thus poignantly affected by this fixation of sin and dominated by a feeling of complete submission, the psalmist opens the hidden world of his soul, exposing his guilt-stricken conscience." Edward Dalglish A. David makes no excuses, offers no rationalizations, and refuses to shift blame. 1. He doesn't say, "Well, now wait a minute God. Yes, I sinned. But it takes two to tango. What about Bathsheba's complicity in all this? She's so beautiful and seductive. Besides, the pressures of being king over your people are enormous. Given what I faced on a daily basis, I'd expect you to cut me a little slack." B. There's no insanity plea or appeal to diminished capacity. 1. Back in 1985 Dan White attempted to kill San Francisco mayor George Moscone and his supervisor Harvey Milk. 2. During his arraignment, he pleaded innocent based on his alleged "diminished capacity" brought on by certain biochemical reactions to junk food! " "I'm innocent, Your Honor. I overdosed on Twinkies!" 3. That is not what David does here. C. My sin, he says, "is always before me," 3b. 1. It is no intermittent flash but a perpetual obsession, a sight from which he can never turn away. 2. It is, as it were, seared on the inside of his eye-lids: he sees it all the time. 3. Worse still, it is a sin ultimately against God alone, 4a. a. But how can it be against God "only" if he committed adultery with Bathsheba, conspired to kill her husband Uriah, disgraced his own family, and betrayed the trust of the nation? b. Perhaps David would argue that while one commits crimes against people, one sins only against God. c. More likely still, "face to face with God, he sees nothing else, no one else, can think of nothing else, but His presence forgotten, His holiness outraged, His love scorned." J.J.S. Perowne d. David is so broken that he has treated God with such disregard that he is blinded to all other aspects or objects of his behavior. D. David's confession is not simply to "get things off his chest," as if confession were merely a therapeutic release of sorts. E. His confession is designed to tell everyone that God was in the right all along, that God's judgment was true, just, and that God is blameless, 4b. IV. How Long Has David Had This Problem with Sin?, 5. A. Did it start with puberty? Was he turned to the "dark side" by some childhood or teen-aged trauma? B. "The problem," says David, "isn't so much that I sin. The problem is that I'm sinful, and always have been. These deeds of the flesh are symptomatic of a much deeper problem. The fact is, 'I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me' (v. 5). My transgressions are not of recent vintage. This was no freak, one-off event. I've been a sinner from my mother's womb!" C. So, David confesses his sinful nature (v. 5) as the root cause of his actual sin (v. 4), but makes no effort to excuse himself on that basis. 1. In other words, David's problem (yours and mine too!) isn't that we commit individual acts of sin. 2. The problem is that we have a constitutional propensity to sin. 3. What we need most isn't a new lifestyle, but new life! 4. Not new habits, but a new heart! 5. And what hope is there for this? a. Countless Christians feel spiritually paralyzed by the lingering stain of sin. b. Neither therapy nor religious formulas, not good intentions or good deeds, can erase the vivid memory of their transgressions or bring cleansing to the defiling sense of guilt. c. The oppressive weight of their failures is virtually suffocating. d. But we do have hope in Jesus Christ. 1 Jn. 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. D. Psalm 51 is a refreshing and heart-warming reminder of the hope of forgiveness. E. But it's even more than that. V. David not only Prays for Pardon from Past Sin but also for the Power to Walk in Future Purity. A. He makes an impassioned plea for ceremonial cleansing, 7. 1. David's choice of words is instructive. 2. Hyssop, an aromatic herb with a straight stalk and a bushy head (it looked a lot like broccoli), was dipped in the blood of the sacrifice and then sprinkled seven times on the person who was defiled (cf. Lev. 14:1-9; Num. 19). 3. The word translated "purge" might more literally be rendered, "de-sin" me! 4. Only then will David be "clean" and "whiter than snow". 5. Can this actually happen for sinners like you and me? YES, through the blood of Christ sprinkled on us by faith. B. But David longs for more, 8. 1. He asks that God would enable him to "hear joy and gladness," 8a – "Make me to experience the joy and gladness that come from hearing the announcement of forgiveness." 2. He may even have in mind a priestly or prophetic oracle in which another loudly declares that his sins are forgiven. C. Sin can be as spiritually devastating and painful to the soul as broken bones are to the body, thus his cry: "That the bones You have broken may rejoice," 8b. D. David's desire is that his entire being, body and soul, might once again celebrate and rejoice in the blessedness of communion with God. E. Once more he prays: "Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities," 9. 1. Don't look any longer at my failures! 2. Let not your eyes gaze on my wickedness! 3. Blot it from view, erase it from memory! VI. With Verses 10-12 David's Prayer Gets even more Specific – Lord Give Me Spiritual Power (v. 10), Spiritual Presence (v. 11), and Spiritual Pleasure (v. 12). A. Simply asking for pardon isn't enough. B. One must also have the power by which not to commit the same sin again. C. No mere "makeover" will do, no matter how "extreme"! 1. David refuses to settle for a glossing over his faults, and pleads for a replacement of the old with the new. 2. A "clean heart" (v. 10a) and a "right spirit" (v. 10b; or steadfast, firm, reliable spirit), which is his way of describing the inner core and center of his life, are essential for a life of holiness. D. David can't bear the thought of the loss of intimacy of fellowship and its accompanying joys, and so he prays that he not be cast from God's "presence" or suffer the loss of God's Spirit, 11. 1. What does David mean when he prays that God would not take his Spirit from him? Does he envision the possible loss of his salvation? Does he envision the withdrawal of divine grace? No. 2. His prayer is that God would not withdraw the enabling anointing of the Spirit that empowers and equips him to lead Israel as king. E. God's power, God's presence, and even God's pleasure is at the heart of David's prayer: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation," 12a. 1. David was saved, but his soul had soured. 2. He longs once again for the enjoyment of God that comes with intimacy. VII. David Concludes with a Vow of Commitment, 13-19. A. It is possible for the fallen to be forgiven and used of God in ministry to others. 1. David anticipates that after his restoration he will again "teach transgressors [like himself] your ways," 13. 2. David anticipates once again singing "aloud" of the "righteousness" of God, 14b. 3. With pardon and power comes the opportunity to once more "declare" God's "praise" aloud, 15. B. Note also the relationship between testimony and praise in 14-15. 1. Often guilt acts like glue: it seals shut the mouth of praise. 2. It's as if David says, "My conscience has shamed me into silence. Right now, my lips are sealed because of my sin. Forgive me and open my mouth and I will surrender my voice to you!" C. People have often misunderstood the concluding verses of Psalm 51 (particularly vv. 16-17), thinking that God has rejected his own appointed sacrifices. 1. But in the OT, "not that, but this," is an emphatic way of saying "not that, without this." 2. David is simply telling us that what matters most to God is the inner spiritual reality of a truly contrite and broken heart. 3. Without it, sacrifices are worthless. 4. With it, they are a sweet-smelling aroma to God (see vv. 18-19). Gordon MacDonald tells the story of how as a child he once knocked over a lamp, cracking the side of it. He quickly placed it back on the table, turning the lamp so the crack was not visible. He lived in fear each day that his misdeed would be discovered. "The longer the confrontation was delayed," he writes, "the worse the consequences promised to be in my mind." When the day finally arrived, his mother asked him, "Did you do this?" He confessed. What happened next is instructive for us all: "But Mother never said a word. She took it to the kitchen, glued the pieces so that they once more fit tightly together, and within a few hours returned the lamp to the table. The crack was always there, but the lamp was rebuilt. And it served its purpose for years. Broken worlds may always have cracks to remind us of the past; that's reality. But sometimes the grace of God is like the glue my mother used on her lamp. The bonded edges can become stronger than the original surface" (Rebuilding Your Broken World, xviii). Some of you have cracked lamps in your past and live in constant fear, devoid of joy, paralyzed in life, relationships, and ministry. You wonder whether you will ever again experience the joy of intimacy with God, much less a fruitful ministry to others. But God is in the business of rebuilding cracked lives and shattered dreams. His "lovingkindness" (v. 1a) is a soul-cleansing power, his "multitude of tender mercies" (v. 1b) a force for restoring long lost hope. All he asks of you is a "broken spirit" and a "contrite heart" (v. 17a). These, says David, he will "not despise" (v. 17b). The second David, the Lord Jesus Christ, invites us to come to him and experience divine rest in him.
Mt. 11:28-30 – Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2020/06/forgive-me-lord-psalm-51.html
|  | Send olympiabp blog feed to OBPC Podcast |  |
Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service. |
