Psalm 51

Psalm 66

Ephesians 4 "Have Mercy on Me"

Children,

As we were going through Hebrews, I would ask you "what do you see?"

And we saw how important it is to see by faith.

Now let me ask you, what does God see?

Everything.

So why does David say, "hide your face from my sins"?

Does God see your sins?

How can a God who sees everything hide his face from your sins?

That's why David says "cleanse me from my sin."

Do you like to take a bath?

Wash all that dirt away-

you come out smelling fresh and clean.

Water can clean the dirt from your body,

but can water clean your soul?

What can wash away your sins?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins.

So how can a God who sees everything hide his face from your sins?

Because when you repent, he blots out your sins-he forgives them-

and never looks at them again.

Introduction: The Plea for Mercy (51:1-2)

"Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions."

2 Samuel 11-12 tell the story that forms the backdrop for this Psalm.

David had sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah.

When she became pregnant,

he then ordered that Uriah be put in the front of the battle,

so that he would be killed,

so that David could then marry Bathsheba.

And so it happened.

Uriah was killed and David took Bathsheba as his wife.

Then the prophet Nathan came to David and confronted him with his sin,

and told him that because of this sin, his son would die.

Then, and only then, did David repent.

You might think that this was a bit late.

David had been sinning, and scheming about how to get away with his sinning,

for several months.

And only when Nathan says, "your son will die,"

does David get around to repenting!

But while we should be grieved by our sin as soon as we commit it,

there are times when we need someone else to call us to account.

The key is that David did repent.

He calls out to God "Have mercy on me, O God!"

David had committed adultery and murder.

What is the sacrifice prescribed for adultery and murder?

There is none.

What is prescribed for the one guilty of adultery and murder is death.

David could slaughter every bull, every sheep, and every goat in all Israel,

and God would still not be pleased.

The sacrificial system of Israel was designed for unintentional sins-

for the little stuff-you might say.

High-handed sins-open rebellion against God-was punishable by death.

David deserves to die.

And David has no sacrifice to offer.

Therefore he pleads with God to show mercy:

"according to your abundant mercy blot out my iniquity."

He appeals to God's "steadfast love"-his hesed-sometimes translated,

"covenant faithfulness."

If God's covenant revealed by Moses called for adulterers and murderers to be executed,

then why would David plead for God's hesed?

why would David plead for God to be faithful to his covenant?

Why?

Because God's covenant included the promise of the forgiveness of sins.

In Deuteronomy 29-30 Moses said that someday Israel's sins would be so great,

that God would drive them out of the land into exile.

But God also promised that he would restore Israel.

God's faithfulness to his covenant meant that even though Israel broke covenant,

God would never forget his people.

In the end, he would have mercy on them, and would give them a new heart.

In the end, God's covenant faithfulness was the only hope Israel had!

David saw this.

He saw that there was no sacrifice on earth that could cleanse him from sin.

It was only if God himself would wash him and cleanse him,

that he could be clean.

1. Who Did You Sin Against? (51:3-6)

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me."

Why does David not name his sins here?

Why doesn't he say "I have committed adultery and murder"?

It is because he wants you to be able to sing this Psalm too!

Psalm 51 is designed to be sung in worship.

All the people of God must be able to sing it together.

And since not all of you have sinned the same sin,

there are no particular sins named!

But as you sing Psalm 51,

when you sing "I know my sin, it will not leave my mind,"

you know full well what sins you have committed.

And it is appropriate to think of those sins and repent of them particularly

as you sing the Psalm.

"Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight."

David understands that he has sinned against God.

Certainly he had also sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah,

and indeed, as the king of Israel, he had sinned against all Israel-

but he sees that above all,

he has sinned against God.

This is explained by the rest of the sentence:

"so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment."

What was God's judgment?

That David's son must die.

David was supposed to be the example-the model-of what the Son of God should be.

David's sin was not just the sin of an ordinary Israelite-

it was the sin of the one who was supposed to know better.

But wait!

This is a song that all Israel is supposed to sing!

Yes, David was the king.

And the kingship had been established in order to show forth the son of God

in all his glory.

But don't forget-according to Exodus 19,

this was supposed to be true of all Israel.

Israel was supposed to be a kingdom of priests-a holy nation.

God had called Israel my firstborn son.

So even the "ordinary Israelite" could sing this song.

"Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight."

And though David's greatest Son has come,

bearing our sins upon the cross,

yet we too must sing this song.

Because we, as God's children, ought to know better.

And so we sing with David and all Israel,

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

All of humanity is tainted from birth-indeed, from conception!

There was never a time when you were not a guilty and polluted sinner.

I have been present for all four of my children's births,

I even delivered William-since the midwife was late!

I cannot imagine how anyone could think that these little ones are innocent at birth!

They scream at you if they don't get what they want.

You never have to teach a child selfishness-

but to do good and to share?

that takes a lifetime of training!

Yet God delights in truth in the inward being,

you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

The first "behold" in verse 5 pointed out the problem-we are sinful from conception.

The second "behold" in verse 6 points us to the beginning of the solution:

we need to learn wisdom.

2. How Can You Be Clean? (51:7-12)

The wisdom of God-that inward teaching of the secret heart-

is a wisdom that cleanses.

Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean;

wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Part of the ceremony of the restoration of the unclean included a washing with water.

Presbyterians often make the mistake of so identifying circumcision and baptism,

that we neglect one of the most important images of baptism in the Scriptures:

cleansing!

David understood that he was filthy.

He needed to be cleansed/washed.

There was a stain on his soul that water alone could not touch.

He needed to be cleansed on the inside!

You may look all squeaky clean on the outside,

but what is the color of your heart?

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Let me hear the declaration of pardon!

David says that we need to hear the words of joy and gladness-

we need to feel that wholeness in our very bones.

How do you respond to the declaration of pardon?

What goes through your mind when I say,

"Believer in Jesus Christ, you are free from the power and guilt of sin"?

I hope that when you hear those words you remember,

"Ah, that's right!

God has hidden his face from my sins, and has blotted out all my iniquities!"

He has done what he promised!

The declaration of pardon is a week by week reminder of your justification.

Your sins are forgiven.

God declares you righteous in Jesus Christ!

What greater joy is there?

And so at the very heart of the Psalm we hear these famous verses:

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.

Yes, there was a special sense in which David had the Holy Spirit-

since he was the LORD's anointed king.

If God took the Holy Spirit from him,

that would be equivalent to removing the kingship from him

(which God had done to Saul, when Saul rebelled against him).

But David wrote this for all of us.

And so we should understand this in the light of Hebrews 6-

that there are those who "share in the Holy Spirit" temporarily-

who are part of the covenant community, and yet through their sin

"grieve the Holy Spirit" (as Paul says in Ephesians 4)

and return to their old ways of sin and rebellion.

But David says,

Let me not be one of those!

David admits,

if you left me to myself, then I would turn away from you.

If you do not create a clean heart in me,

if you do not give me a right and willing spirit,

then you will cast me away from your presence.

Because the only way that I can stand in your presence is if you have mercy on me.

David wholeheartedly affirms the sovereignty of God in salvation.

If you do not show mercy, then I am doomed.

If you do not create new life in me, then I am a walking dead man.

It is worth pointing out that this is the prayer of a Christian.

This is not the prayer of an unbeliever who is coming to Christ for the first time.

This is the prayer of a believer who has fallen into sin.

It is also the prayer of the One who knew no sin.

How can I say that?

How could Jesus sing Psalm 51?

Jesus never sinned.

How could he sing David's prayer of repentance?

Because he who knew no sin became sin for us.

He took our sins upon himself.

NOT that he became guilty! But rather, he bore our guilt.

He was born of the virgin, so no stain of original sin lay upon him.

But as the Son of David, when he went to the cross,

he freely took upon himself all the sin and guilt of his people.

God judged him guilty in our place.

And so now we sing this Psalm in Jesus.

And in the very act of confessing our sins,

we also confess that God is able to forgive us, and to make us new.

3. How Do You Respond to Forgiveness? (51:13-17)

Now, when God restores the joy of salvation through the forgiveness of sins,

how do you respond?

David says,

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.

And when you hear God's declaration of pardon

(because it is not my voice that matters-you must hear, through my lips,

the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ declaring his Word to you),

you are to give thanks and rejoice because if God be for us, who can be against us!

The response to God's abundant mercy is to teach, to sing, and to declare.

The singing and declaring appear to be in the assembly,

as Israel gathers for worship.

That's why we sing after the declaration of pardon!

Our mouths declare the praises of God for his great mercy.

But there is also the response of teaching transgressors your ways.

David was the king, so he had lots of opportunities

to teach and instruct as he judged the nation.

But so do you!

You do this with your children.

You do this with your friends and neighbors

And through your rejoicing over the salvation that God has brought in Jesus,

sinners are brought to repentance,

as Peter says, "always be ready with an answer for the hope that is in you."

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.

It does no good to pile up religious ceremonies.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

Is your heart broken over your sin?

Or do you think, "eh, God will forgive me, I'll just do it again!"

A sacrifice is costly.

A bull or a goat is expensive!

The economic cost of the OT sacrifices was designed to point the Israelites

to the far deeper cost of setting their hearts on God.

As Jesus put it, "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me."

A broken and contrite heart is not cheap.

It will cost you dearly in time and energy.

The struggle against sin-putting off the old self-to use Paul's language from Eph 4-

requires hard work.

But God will not despise a broken and contrite heart-

because it is his own gift to you.

God is enabling you to see yourself as he once saw you.

You are seeing how ugly and putrid is that life you once lived.

Conclusion: Forgiveness and the City of God (51:18-19)

In conclusion,

after having said that God will not delight in sacrifice,

and that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart,

David says that when God does good to Zion,

then he will delight in right sacrifices-in burnt offerings, no less!

Why does David tie his sin together with the condition of Zion.

Because, as we have seen, there is no sacrifice that can remove the guilt of murder and adultery.

And David is the king.

Why did Israel need a king?

Because Israel, the son of God, is not doing a very good of looking like his father.

In those days everyone did what was right in his own eyes,

because there was no king in Israel.

Israel needs a king who will lead them in doing what is right in God's eyes.

And God makes a covenant with David,

establishing the son of David as God's own son.

The Davidic king, therefore, is the son of God who will lead Israel in their divine sonship.

And so when the Davidic king sins,

that has implications for the whole people of God.

Israel as a whole suffers-because if God will not listen to your king,

then you're in trouble when your enemies come around.

Look at verse 18-"Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem."

When the king sins, it is as though the walls of Jerusalem have been removed.

Because if the king is vulnerable to God's wrath,

then the whole nation is vulnerable to God's wrath.

But if God forgives David and restores "the joy of my salvation"

then the nation will be secure, and the whole sacrificial system can be restored.

And that is where we are in Christ.

God has restored the joy of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

In Jesus we have a king who is the righteous Son of God.

"Therefore you are

to put off your old self,

which belongs to your former manner of life

and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

and to put on the new self,

created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

And so now we may offer up "a sacrifice of praise to God,

that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." -just as Hebrews 13 says.