Columbus Baptist Church's Podcast
01 Psalm 51 A Song For The Repentant
Title: A Song for The Repentant Text: Psalm 51 FCF: We often struggle knowing the depth of our sin and our hope only in God for mercy. Prop: Because God alone is the only hope for sinners, we, being sinners, must seek Him alone. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Psalm 51. In a moment we’ll read the psalm from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible on page 629 or in whatever version you prefer. One Puritan writer compared the preparation and delivery of a sermon on Sunday as the preacher going to the market and grocery shopping for the congregation. He provides the raw materials for the flock to prepare for themselves spiritual meals for the remainder of the week. I have found this illustration to be accurate. For the last nine months we’ve been eating from one particular diet together. But sometimes it is good to take a break from the normal and shop in different aisles of the store. As a pastor I am commanded to preach the whole counsel of God’s Word. And so, for the next three weeks we’ll get some variety to our spiritual diet. Today, we will approach a rather well-known but theologically rich and incredibly relevant psalm. Psalm 51. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Holy and infinite God, you are unlike all that is in Your creation. You are perfect and pure. You are right and just in all Your ways. Yet we are sinners. We fall short, miss the mark, and transgress Your ways. Yet You are merciful none the less. You are kind and gracious. You have made provision to forgive and to restore those who are broken and contrite. You have made a way for the repentant to be set free. I pray that You would help us to see, through the anguish of the psalmist, the path to mercy and forgiveness. I pray that you would help us to understand how repentance is not only the first word of the gospel but is the path to receiving mercy from You. Teach us in this song Lord, we pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] “When we truly comprehend our own nature, repentance is no dry doctrine, no frightening message, no morbid form of self-flagellation. It is, as the early church fathers said, a gift God grants which leads to life.” Charles Coleson [Slide 3] “Every man feels more comfort and spiritual joy after true repentance for a sin than he had in that innocence before he committed the sin.” John Donne “Real repentance produces confession and forsaking of sin, reconciliation and restitution, separation from the world, submission to the lordship of Christ and filling of the Holy Spirit.” Vance Havner [Slide 4] “Upon the two hinges of faith and repentance do all the promises of the Bible hang.” George Swinnock “The grief of repentance is never loss in any way; not to experience this grief, that is loss indeed.” R.C.H. Lenski Let these words wash our minds to prepare us for the exposition of this psalm this morning. I.) God alone is the only hope for sinners, we must confess the depth of our sin and look to God for cleansing and a restored relationship to Him. (title – 5) a. [Slide 5] For the choir director. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. i. Scholars agree that although the titles of the psalms are very old, they are not original to the text of the psalm itself. ii. Although not inspired by God, they still can serve as a contextual commentary for the occasion of the psalm by an ancient commentator. iii. We should read this title then, as we might read the writings of Polycarp, Irenaeus, or Clement of Rome. iv. With those caveats, there really is no reason to doubt the title given to Psalm 51. v. Everything in the psalm seems to fit the context described which occurs in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. vi. After Nathan the prophet comes and confronts David for his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite, David realizes his sin and repents. vii. What is noteworthy however, is the personal nature of the repentance voiced in this psalm but knowing that David submitted this into the psalter for all of Israel to sing. viii. Most often we don’t think of personal repentance as something that is public. In fact, due to shame we wish it to be private. Indeed, David tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba by killing her husband. ix. But now David makes his repentance public to all of Israel. Why? x. Two reasons. First, his sin had become public. And second, he is the King of Israel. That is what leaders do. xi. So now, let us explore this song for the repentant. b. [Slide 6] 1 - Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the abundance of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. i. David begins his song of contrition, with a plea for God to be gracious. ii. That God would give him favor and compassion that is consistent with His loyal love. iii. The word “lovingkindness” is one of the most important words in the Old Testament. It is used almost 250 times and each time there is some difficulty bringing it into English. Why? Because it has many ideas rolled into it. 1. There is the aspect of covenant loyalty where there have been promises made to be loyal. 2. Faithfulness 3. Love 4. Goodness 5. Graciousness 6. Kindness 7. All of these are bound into this word. Therefore, it is difficult to come up with a good English word to encapsulate all of it. 8. Lovingkindness is often used, I think I prefer Loyal love. iv. In any case, David pleads with God to be gracious to him in a way that is consistent with that covenant love and faithfulness that God has. v. We can understand even more about this as David writes the second half of this verse. vi. In the psalms there are often relationships between phrases. The second phrase can reword, explain, expand on, or be set in contrast to the previous phrase. vii. David’s second phrase here helps us to understand what God dealing according to His loyal love would look like. viii. It is according to God’s abundant compassion, and the graciousness he desires of God is specifically to blot out his transgressions. ix. Blotting out here means to forgive but it carries with it a destructive or punitive component. To blot something out means ink must be scrapped off the page or the tablet record must be smashed. c. [Slide 7] 2 - Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. i. David continues begging God to wash and cleanse him. ii. David wants to be free of the sin he has committed. iii. And notice that David has used three different words to describe his failure. Why? iv. Iniquity, transgression, and sin are different words that when combined together serve to paint the whole picture of sinfulness. Whether it is a minor misstep or outright rebellion, whether it is accidental or purposeful, the full scope of sin is encompassed with these three Hebrew words. v. But why does David desire to be washed? d. [Slide 8] 3 - For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. i. He is fully aware of his failures. ii. He knows them, why? Because they are ever before him. iii. He is haunted by what he has done. e. [Slide 9] 4 - Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, i. Is David’s statement here true? ii. In one sense it isn’t. He certainly sinned against Uriah, whom he had murdered. He certainly sinned against Bathsheba with whom he fornicated. He certainly sinned against the people of Israel by failing them as their King. iii. But in a very real sense, every sin is ultimately against God. And sinning against God is far more egregious than sinning against another human being. iv. David’s statement here is not to excuse himself from the hurt he caused others… rather, it is to recognize that ultimately his sin against others is a sin against God first. v. He has done evil. vi. In fact, sins against other humans can easily be dismissed. We often justify our sins against others because they deserve it. It is a twisted sense of justice that we come up with. vii. But when all sins are against God – who never earns our sins against Him… we are without hope for justification. viii. And that is what David goes to next. f. [Slide 10] so that You are justified when You speak and pure when You judge. i. David confesses that God is right to speak against him and to judge him. ii. There is no shadow of doubt in David’s mind… God can and should punish him for his sin. iii. And then David says something even more astounding. g. [Slide 11] 5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. i. Some have tried to interpret this verse to say that David is confessing that he was conceived as a result of some adulterous or sexually immoral behavior by his mother. ii. Although grammatically that is possible, there is no justification contextually to interpret the verse this way. iii. It is just as grammatically possible that David is talking about his own sinful condition and its origin. iv. David has been begging for God’s gracious and loyal love, recognizing his own sin and even saying that God is just to judge him. v. If David was conceived by an act of sin, that is his mother and father’s sin… not his. And that has no real bearing on what he is saying in the psalm so far. vi. The only real possible interpretation, which is almost universally accepted by Old Testament scholars, is that David is talking about his own sinful condition and when it infected him. vii. Now I won’t say that this verse outright teaches the doctrine of original sin – but it certainly accords with it. What is the doctrine of original sin? viii. [Slide 12-16] Turn with me to Romans 5 and we will read not just verse 12 which is the supposed proof text of this doctrine… but let us read 12 through 21. 1. The doctrine of original sin is important (though it is under attack today) primarily because Paul sets Adam and Jesus up as two representatives. Jesus is actually called the last Adam by Paul in 1 Corinthians. 2. He specifically calls Adam a Type of Christ. Meaning that what Adam has done is like what Christ has done. It is actually what we’d call an anti-type. 3. Just as Jesus secures life, righteousness, and acceptance from God, our former representative Adam doomed us to death, sin, and condemnation from God. 4. It is by Adam’s failure that all men die, inherit a sin nature, and are condemned before God earning His wrath. And this is all before they ever commit a sin themselves. 5. Paul says that though the law had not yet come to reveal sin, men still died… why? Because they were sinners already even if they didn’t know they had committed sins against God. 6. Paul says in Ephesians that we are children of wrath… by nature. Naturally. We are born that way. 7. It has been expressed this way, “We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.” 8. This is the doctrine of original sin. And what David says here is right in line with that doctrine. ix. [Slide 17] At his very conception… he was ALREADY a sinner. At his birth he was brought forth in iniquity. Before David ever committed any sin willfully, he was already a sinner in his heart. x. This serves as further proof that God is just and pure to judge him for his sin. xi. David does not see his sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah as a rare blemish in a long history of otherwise righteous behavior. Instead, he confesses, that this sin was borne out of his very nature. h. [Slide 18] Summary of the Point: As a song for the repentant this psalm focuses on one primary truth. And that is that God alone is the only hope for sinners. In the opening stanza, David explains why that is. Why is God alone the only hope for sinners? Because we are all sinners by nature. The depth of our sin is great and the stain of sin is impossible for us to remove. And worse still, every sin is ultimately a sin against The Creator and Judge of the universe. He will rule in justice. He will never pardon the guilty. In that economy, in that legal climate to where else can we run than to the judge? Indeed, we must confess our sinfulness before God and seek Him alone for mercy and to cleanse us and to restore us to a proper relationship with Him. [Slide 19 (blank)] Transition: But what is the solution to David’s problem? II.) God alone is the only hope for sinners, we must seek God for a change from the inside out. (6-12) a. [Slide 20] 6 - Behold, You delight in truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. i. Now David moves to the solution of his sin problem. ii. Although he is a sinner by nature, he knows that God delights in the innermost person. Who we are inside. But David has already said that who he is naturally, inside, is a sinner. iii. So, if God is to grant mercy and restore the relationship, God must act in his innermost being and must give him truth and wisdom. iv. David isn’t going to find it on his own. b. [Slide 21] 7 - Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. i. David speaks now of a cleansing. ii. Hyssop is a plant used in ritual cleansing ceremonies performed by the priest. It would be dipped in the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkled on things and people to make them ritually pure. iii. David is asking for God, as his priest, to spiritually, morally, cleanse him and make him cleaner, purer, and whiter than he has ever been. To truly make him righteous. c. [Slide 22] 8 - Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have crushed rejoice. i. Daivd begs for joy and gladness even from the same bones which God has crushed in shame and guilt. ii. David desires to be free of the anguish of sinning against God. iii. He wants to be vindicated. He doesn’t want this sin to be synonymous with him any longer. d. [Slide 23] 9 - Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. i. Most often in the Old Testament, God hiding his face is a bad thing. ii. Here, however, David doesn’t want God to look on his sin. iii. He wants it ignored, gone, separated, expiated, atoned for. e. [Slide 24] 10 - Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. i. David asks God to give him a new heart. One that is clean. ii. To actually create (not recreate) a new heart within him. iii. We see striking similarity to David’s plea and God’s promises concerning the new covenant where he will give a new heart of flesh to those whom He is saving. iv. David then asks for a steadfast spirit. A spirit that is able to endure temptation again and choose righteousness. f. [Slide 25] 11 - Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. i. As we saw in 2 Thessalonians, no one can truly go out from the presence of God. Why? Because God is everywhere and He is every when. ii. But, to be cast from His “face” presence, which is the Hebrew word here, is to be put away from his favor and his compassion. iii. Disagreement abounds on how the Holy Spirit interacted with Old Testament saints. Did He merely come upon them? Did He regenerate them? Did He indwell them? iv. We certainly do know that the Spirit came upon Old Testament people to empower them to do things. Much like the Holy Spirit fell upon people in the New Testament to produce sign gifts. v. And this could, perhaps, be what David is referring to. He doesn’t want the Spirit to be taken from him as the King of Israel. vi. However, we could see this as hyperbolic language where David is basically asking that the Spirit not be grieved. vii. We have already said that the presence referred to previously is the benevolent presence of God. So, taking the Spirit away could simply mean, grieving Him or experiencing a dryness or farness from God’s presence. viii. In any case, David’s plea, really, is to return to a right relationship with God. ix. And that is what he says next. g. [Slide 26] 12 - Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. i. David wants to go back to the days when he rested in the joy of God’s deliverance and saving grace. ii. He wants God to give him a spirit which desires to obey God, and that obedience to God will be what sustains him. iii. David wants to walk in right standing with God. iv. Such is the desire of all who are truly repentant. h. [Slide 27] Summary of the Point: This song of repentance shows us that God alone is the only hope for sinners. So not only does David seek God to cleanse him from sin, but He seeks God to change him from the inside out. He seeks God to make him a new creation. He seeks God to help him to never be this way again. We too must seek God to change us. Transition: [Slide 28 (blank)] The repentant heart does not just want to be washed, restored, and changed. A repentant heart also wants to warn others who might fall into the same traps. III.) God alone is the only hope for sinners, we must teach sinners of Him and His ways. (13) a. [Slide 29] 13 - Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. i. David moves on to the result of the restoration of his relationship with God. ii. Only when he is restored will he be able to teach others who are sinners God’s ways both by command and demonstration. iii. Only when he is free from these things will he be able to instruct others of God’s ways and see them convert to following God. iv. David sees his relationship with God as the foundation of his evangelistic efforts. b. [Slide 30] Summary of the Point: David is beginning to widen his focus. He begins with God, expands to himself and God, and now he expands to himself and God and others who are sinners and do not worship God. David recognizes that after his restoration he can once again turn to sinners and point them to God. He has just come to God for mercy. He can point them there also. We too must teach by command and example that sinners must seek God alone for mercy and forgiveness. [Slide 31 (blank)] Transition: But there is yet another aspect of his life that has been affected by his sin. David must now seek deliverance so that he can properly worship God. IV.) God alone is the only hope for sinners, we must be repentant of sin if we are to worship God. (14-17) a. [Slide 32] 14 - Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. i. Worship of God is harmed by his status. ii. He is guilty of murder. iii. Although there are no external standards set for worshipping God, our sin makes us unworthy to worship Him. This is why a sacrifice was required for the Israelites and this is one of the reasons Jesus had to die. So that an atonement could be made for us so we could be brought near to God. iv. David reveals that only when he is delivered from murder can he sing, joyfully, about God’s laws and righteousness. b. [Slide 33] 15 - O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise. i. With guilt and shame, we are often chased into silence. We hang our heads and we close our mouths. ii. With guilt comes great sorrow and despair. iii. David asks the Lord to open his mouth so that he can worship Him and praise Him. Why? iv. Because when we sin against Him, praising Him is far from our minds. v. When you feel like a wretch you feel unworthy to speak to Him, let alone sing to Him. vi. But God again is the one David turns to. Though God is the one offended, David again turns to the One He offended for help to praise Him. c. [Slide 34] 16 - For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. i. A sacrifice is required to worship God, to bridge the gap between sinners and a Holy God we need a sacrifice. ii. However, ritual sacrifices without true repentance is repugnant to God. iii. Mere confession of truth and belief in a
