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Psalm 51:1-12
! Introduction
The last few messages have dealt with sin.
On July 31 I preached on the Ten Commandments.
Two weeks ago, we looked at the two paths from Romans 6:19-23 in which we talked about avoiding the path of impurity and wickedness.
Last week, Nick invited us to be careful that we are not deceived by those who may lead us astray, speaking from Matthew 7:15-23.
Each of these passages speaks about sin and the need to avoid sin.
Even though we know this and agree with everything these passages say, we all still sin.
I John 1:8 says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
What does it feel like when we know we are guilty of sin?
There was an article in the CTV news last week.
The title of the article was, “Honesty may cost boy $50K prize for hockey shot.”
Eleven year old Nate Smith won a raffle which allowed him to take the chance to shoot a puck across the ice into a 3.5-inch hole.
He made the shot and the prize was $50,000.
The only problem was that his name was not on the raffle ticket.
Rather, his identical twin brother’s name was on all three tickets.
The father and the two boys had agreed that he had the best chance of making the shot.
When the crowd exploded with excitement over the win, the father said he went along with it.
But later guilt started to get to him and he decided to own up to what had happened.”
The pain of the guilt was enough to make him confess the truth.
Guilt is a powerful emotion.
When it begins to work on us, we feel bad and we want to get rid of the feeling.
How do you remove guilt?
How do you feel joy again after you have sinned?
In Psalm 51 David helps us understand these things.
According to the superscription, the Psalm was written “When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”
The story is recorded in II Samuel 11, 12 and tells us about the terrible sins which David had committed.
He had committed adultery with Bathsheba and he had engineered the death of her husband to cover up the fact that Bathsheba was pregnant by David.
For almost a year David had lived with the guilt of this sin and thought everything was covered up, until Nathan came to him and gave God’s word to him that he was the guilty one.
At that point a flood of guilt overwhelmed David and he dealt with his sin.
Psalm 51 was written as a reflection of that experience.
It has a lot to say about the desire for cleansing when we are guilty and the way in which to find joy again.
Let us read Psalm 51 and think about what it has to teach us.
!
I. The Request for Forgiveness Is Based On Mercy
!! A. Three Words for Sin
The problem at the root of guilt is sin.
In the opening two verses David used three words for sin.
Although David uses these three words for poetic reasons, they each give a slightly different nuance to what sin is.
The word “transgressions” implies that we have strayed off the path.
It helps us realize that sin is a deviation from the right way.
The word iniquity has the implication of something that is bent or twisted.
If you were building a house, you would be very careful to make sure that every 2x4 was straight because warped or crooked boards create all kinds of problems.
That is what sin is, something that is warped or crooked.
The third word, sin, implies the idea of missing the mark.
It makes us think about shooting at a target and missing it.
So sin is all of these things it is being off the path, being warped, missing the target of obedience to God.
!! B. Three Words for Cleansing
David had sinned and was feeling guilt.
It was so serious that he wanted it removed.
He wanted the sin, the memory of the sin and the burden of guilt out of his life.
What most of you don’t know is that I spilled a significant quantity of white paint right beside the elevator recently.
The reason you don’t know it is because Scott, Val and I immediately got busy trying to clean it up.
We used rags and paper towels to pick it up and when most of it was gone, Val brought out her secret weapon and we sprayed it with this chemical and blotted out the stain so that it is almost completely gone.
That is what David wants done to his sin.
He wants it blotted out.
The word for “wash” refers to the action used to clean clothes.
In the day before washing machines, they used to beat clothes to get rid of the stains and dirt.
That is what David is asking for.
He wants the sin beat out of him so that he is clean.
The word for cleanse is a word which could be used to speak of draining the puss out of a wound or removing the dross from metal.
The unwanted thing is removed and the result is something that is clean.
David really wants his sin and guilt cleansed and removed.
!! C. Three Words for Grace
The three words for sin and the three words for cleansing show us just how badly David wants to be clean, but what hope does he have?
When I spilled the paint I had a terrible feeling that I had made a mess that would not be able to be cleaned up.
When we sin, we also feel as if we have done something that cannot be dealt with.
We feel permanently dirty and we don’t have much hope.
What hope is there?
Wonderfully in the first verse there are three words which give a powerful assurance that no matter how dirty we are, there is hope.
The hope of David is in the character of God and particularly one aspect of his character.
David’s hope is in the mercy, the unfailing love and the great compassion of God.
These are three wonderful words describing just how much God wants to cleanse those who are dirty.
They describe the deep desire of God to restore those who are filthy with sin.
When we are filled with guilt because of our sin, it is the love and compassion of God which assures us that there is hope and that we won’t have to die forever because of the stain of sin.
VanGemeren writes, “When sin disrupts the fellowship with the covenant-Lord, the sinner has no right to divine blessings.
However, the Lord has promised to forgive, and his forgiveness is based solely on his love and compassion.
!
II.
True Repentance
So resting on God’s mercy, David desires that the awful sin be removed, but how do you do that?
Years ago the Bob Newhart show was about a couple who ran a bed and breakfast.
They had a maid working for them who was a spoiled, rich brat.
She had very little conscience and whenever she did wrong she would say, “sorry, sorry, sorry” and the tone of voice and body language let you know that she was not at all sincere.
That will not do if we are to experience true cleansing from our sin.
What is needed is genuine repentance and that is what is described in excellent detail in Psalm 51:3-6.
!! A. Acknowledgment of Sin
The first thing David says is “I know my transgressions.”
The first step of repentance is the knowledge of our sin.
When David says, “I know” he is doing more than acknowledging the presence of sin.
He is recognizing fully and deeply that he has sinned.
This is reinforced in the second phrase when he says, “my sin is always before me.”
Keil and Delitsch remind us that “True penitence is not a dead knowledge of sin committed, but a living sensitive consciousness of it…” David has knowledge of his sin and he owns up to it.
When he says, “my sin is always before me” he recognizes the brokenness that has resulted from his sinful actions.
Walter Wright says, “The achievement of penitence is to take sides with God against ourselves.”
The phrase also implies that it is not only an exercise of the mind but that it causes him emotional distress.
He is broken up because of the terrible sin.
Spurgeon helpfully adds, “The thief loves the plunder, though he fears the prison.
Not so David: he is sick of sin as sin.”
This is the first step of repentance.
We need to know that we have sinned and that the sin is serious.
!! B. Sin Is Against God
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