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Psalm 51:1-9
~19 min read
TRANSCRIPT
Our text for this morning's message is taken from Psalm 51, verse 1-9. Psalm 51 was one of seven psalms written by King David, known as the Penitential Psalms. The other psalms were Psalms 6, 32, 38, 102 and 143. The word ‘penitential’ is an expression of great sorrow for sin that leads to seeking forgiveness and restoration. Out of the seven Penitential Psalms, perhaps Psalm 51 was the most well-known.
Allow me to give you the background of this psalm. It was one of the saddest stories in the Bible. Remember, David sinned of adultery with Bathsheba and then his subsequent sin of murder in an attempt to cover up his sin of adultery. David was the hero of the Old Testament, a man after God's own heart, appointed by God to be the king of Israel. He was a mighty man in the battlefield, fearless. When he was young, he killed Goliath, the Philistine, a giant of the enemy. He was a man with great poetic gifts who could write beautiful Psalms. But he was also a man of sin. He had a problem with women. When he wanted a woman, he would take her, no matter who she might belong to.
One day, from the roof of his palace, he saw Bathsheba washing herself. She was the wife of Uriah, one of his military officers. Some people wonder why Bathsheba could be seen washing herself, so they believe that she was not innocent, for she placed herself in a position to be seen by the king on his rooftop. But the Bible is silent about this matter, so it is best not to speculate. Nonetheless, the story was that David took her and committed adultery with her, and she became pregnant.
Now David was in a dilemma, and he wanted to cover up his sin. So he arranged for Uriah to return from his military duties to sleep with his wife so her pregnancy could be passed on to him. But Uriah was a faithful officer; he refused to return home while all his soldiers were fighting in the battlefield. So David decided to send him to the front of the battlefield where he was certain that Uriah would be killed. True enough, Uriah was killed. Then David proceeded to marry his widow, as if it was a noble thing to do.
According to the Mosaic law, David should have been stoned to death. But God was gracious and merciful to him. His life was spared, but that did not mean there were no serious consequences. Later on, his child died, and all his other children had different sorts of troubles. It was a most painful experience for David. Sins have very serious consequences. When you and I have sinned, we must never cover up our sins; we must confess and repent. We must never play the fool with our sins.
David was a child of God; he knew God and he worshiped Him. The question is, how could a child of God continue to live his life after he had committed such horrendous sins? How could his sins not affect his worship, his prayer life, his services, his fellowship with other believers, his relationship with God? Will God continue to let him languish in the guilt of his sins and not cause him to repent? Most certainly not. God was so gracious and longsuffering; He waited and waited for at least nine months for David to confess his sins, which he did not. Finally, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him.
Nathan told David the story of a wealthy man who had many flocks and a poor man who had only one little ewe lamb. The wealthy man stole from the poor man his only little lamb and killed it. David responded furiously, ‘That man deserves to die immediately.’ Nathan said to him, ‘Thou art the man, David. Thou art the man.’ At that moment, God did the most wonderful thing; He brought conviction into David's heart so much so that he was crushed. David broke down, confessed, and repented.
At some point after that crisis, in humility, David wrote Psalm 51. So that is a brief background of this psalm; it was a psalm about God's grace that drove David to confession, repentance, seeking for restoration.
Dear friend, let us search our hearts this morning. If there be any sin that is hindering us from our worship, any sin that we have committed, perhaps no one knows, but surely God knows and it has affected us in our prayer life, in reading the Bible, in our fellowship, even in coming to church, we struggle. Let us not put the blame on others. Let us be like King David, and then we will be able to experience true confession, repentance, and the subsequent restoration.
This is the title of our message: True Confession, Repentance, and Restoration. We will only focus on the first part of Psalm 51, and the next part we will consider it next week.
I. The Appeal For Mercy
Our first point is: The Appeal for Mercy. Let us begin with verse one: "(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
For the sins of intentional murder and adultery, death is the inevitable judgment. David knew that; he knew the only way of escape from facing this penalty is through the forgiveness of sin, and the only way he could receive forgiveness is through mercy. So he cried out, “Have mercy upon me, O God.”
We cannot come to God on the basis of justice. Justice would demand that you and I be judged accordingly. We cannot come before God on the basis of wisdom. The more we know about God and ourselves and our sinfulness, the more we will be stricken with fear. The reason why we dare to approach God and dare to hope for reconciliation is because of mercy. When we sin against God, we deserve to be punished. Mercy withholds the punishment we deserve, so we must plead for mercy just as David pleaded with God: "Have mercy upon me, O God."
Throughout the Bible, God has revealed Himself to be a merciful God. In the book of Exodus, God delivered the Israelites out of oppression in Egypt. He helped them to cross the Red Sea. He gave them manna from heaven to feed them on a daily basis for 40 years. And yet, they complained that there was no meat. He gave them quails. He was their pillar of fire by night, pillar of cloud by day. When they were thirsty, they murmured again, and God gave them water. Later on, they chose to worship the golden calf. What did they deserve from God? Judgment. But God was merciful; He withheld the judgment they deserved.
Once, there was a lawyer who represented a client for a criminal case. His client was trembling with fear. The lawyer saw his client shaking, and so he said to him, ‘Do not be afraid; I will make sure you receive justice.’ His client cried out, ‘Justice is not what I want; I want mercy. I want mercy.’
Dear friend, we need mercy for we have sinned against God. Even as believers, we are not perfect. We sin against Him, whether it be in our speech, in our thoughts, in our deeds. Do you think God does not know? He knows. Perhaps you have committed a terrible sin, a sin that you are so ashamed of, and you are wondering, will God forgive me? Will He be merciful to me? Or you have sinned and repented, and then you sin again and repented, and then you sin again. You have received so much of God's mercy already. You are so miserable, you are so fearful. Will God's patience be exhausted? Will His mercies be overspent? Yesterday, I asked for His mercy; today, I ask for His mercy again. Will there come an end where I will no longer receive God's mercy?
Dear friend, God is so merciful, and His mercy is according to His loving-kindness and according to the multitude of His compassion. That is the meaning of the word “tender mercies”. You look at these three words; they are the attributes of God: mercy, loving-kindness, and compassion. And God's attributes are perfect and infinite. They cannot be exhausted. You and I should not fear to approach God to plead for mercy. We should be fearful if we do not come to Him and plead for mercy.
The only way we can come to Him and plead for mercy is through the conviction of our sins. So each time God convicts our hearts through His Word, through the wonder-working of His Spirit, whether it be from the sermon we hear, from reading our Bibles during quiet time, or through a brother or sister in Christ who shares with us a portion of God's word, we must not harden our hearts. Like David, we must plead for mercy.
II. The Appeal For Forgiveness
Our second point is: The Appeal for Forgiveness. Verse 2 and 3 say, “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”
Notice David used three different words to describe his sins: iniquity, transgression, and sin. The word iniquity means perversion, distortion, and twisting of something. David knew that murder and adultery were a perversion, a distortion, a twisting of God's moral law, yet he did it anyway. The word transgression means to cross a forbidden boundary, and it is a serious rebellion. That is what we have done each time we sin; we cross this forbidden boundary set for us by God's Word, and it is a serious rebellion. The word sin, we all know, means falling short or to miss the mark. God sets the standard, and then we miss the mark; we fall short of it, like an arrow misses the target.
Remember Romans 3:23 says, ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ So whenever we sin, we must not take it lightly. We must consider how this word is described for us in the Holy Scriptures: a perversion, distortion, and twisting of God's Word. It is to cross the forbidden boundary. It is to fall short of God's standard.
One of the biggest problems with the world today is that people no longer want to acknowledge sin as sin. People come up with all kinds of definitions to make themselves feel better. Drug addiction, alcoholic addiction, gambling addiction, sex addiction are not acknowledged as sins; they are known as social diseases. If they are diseases, that means you are sick, and if you are sick, it is not your fault. You are just in that situation; it just so happens that you are caught up in that situation. You do not need to go to the Saviour because it is not a sin. So you need to go to the secular counsellor; you need to go to the psychologist and so forth. That is just how subtle this evil world system is, and we must never succumb to it.
You and I must acknowledge sin as sin because the Bible says so. All these three words, iniquity, transgression, and sin, not only point to David's personal failure but, most importantly, it is the fact that he was aware of what he had done wrong. If David was not aware of what he had done wrong, he would not be confessing his sins; he was fully aware.
You see, all our problems with sin must begin with this starting point: an awareness of our sins. The reason why unbelievers do not confess their sins is that they do not believe themselves to be sinners. And the reason why the believers do not confess their sins is that sometimes they do not recognise that they have sinned. You may ask, how is that possible? Well, it could be the lack of understanding God's Word, self-righteousness, or self-delusion, self-deception that can cause us to be so blinded that we do not recognise our own sins.
David was well aware that he had sinned, and the moment he was confronted, it doesn't matter even if he was the king because he was convicted by the Spirit of God. And he said in verse four, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight". Many people have debated that this is not entirely right because David had not only sinned against God, but he also sinned against Bathsheba, against her husband Uriah, against his own family, and even the nation of Israel which eventually also was affected. Why then did David say, ‘Thee only have I sinned against Thee alone’?
Firstly, sin in its very definition is against God because it is only by God's Law that sin is called sin. When a child steals money from his parents, some parents may say that is naughty, that is mischief. Only before God, it is sin. Every country has its own laws, and in the eyes of that particular country, which exercises its own laws, that wrong may be a crime. But in another country, it may be permissible. Only before God, it is sin.
Secondly, it is only because of our relationship with God that we understand our neighbour is made in the image of God. So when David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, he was sinning against the individuals who were made in God's image. Ultimately, he was accountable to God who created those individuals. That was the reason why David said, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.”
When Nathan the prophet confronted David, he cried out, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). David said at the end of verse four, "that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” If God pronounces judgment against us, if God judges us for our sins, and it meant devastating consequences, incurable diseases, death, or hell, or if we are forever separated from God, God is still blameless and just. That is what it means.
Verse five, David said, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." It does not mean that David was born out of an adulterous affair; he was not. He was not putting the blame on his mother. David was confessing and taking full responsibility for his sins. He was confessing that there was never a moment in his entire life when he was not a sinner. David did not say, ‘Well, I'm basically a good person. It was only this one time, only a moment of weakness.’ But rather, he said in all honesty, ‘This is really what I am. This is my character. This is something deeply rooted in my nature. This is my DNA, so to speak, in our modern language. I am born a sinner.’
Dear friend, if we want to confess our sins, we must take full responsibility for our sins. We must not confess our sins and then with the same mouth, put the blame on someone else—our wives, our husbands, or our children, ‘Oh, it was all because of them. That was why I've sinned.’ Do not put the blame on Satan or the devil, ‘Oh, it was the work of the devil.’ Do not put the blame on the circumstances or the situation, ‘Oh, timing was just not right. That was why I fell into sin.’ Surely, do not put the blame on God. We must never confess our sins and then try to minimise our responsibilities. It will never be accepted. True confession is when you and I take full responsibility and acknowledge in our hearts, ‘I'm a sinner. I have sinned against God in this matter. Have mercy upon me, oh God. Have mercy upon me.’
Verse 6 says, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” In other words, God desires not only just an outward purity but, more importantly, an inward purity. And this inward purity is influenced by His truth. There are some people who outwardly show that they are very loving, generous, kind, godly, and pure. But inwardly, they are empty of those virtues. It is all but an outward show. Do you think God does not know? He sees into the deepest recesses of our hearts. He knows.
But at the same time, there are others who say, ‘Well, that is right. What really matters is what is inside, not what is outside because God sees the heart. God sees what is inside. So it doesn't matter what I do outwardly. I can dress sensuously. I can behave in a worldly fashion. I can say what I want to say. I can behave any way I want.’ That is a lame excuse for sin. Do you think God is blind, that He can only see what is outside and not what is inside? God sees everything, both the inside as well as the outside. Nothing can escape His eyes.
Here, God desires the inward purity because it is the inward purity that would influence the outward purity. If you want to deal with sin, you have to deal with the root problem, and the root problem is the heart. If you have an issue with lust or if you have an issue with anger, pride, greed, jealousy, or envy, is it not a heart issue? Most certainly, you have to deal with the heart. The only way is to fill your heart with God's truth, which is able to transform your life and make you wise. Then you will be able to live a godly life. That is the reason why David said God desires this inward purity, that His people inwardly would be influenced by His truth. And when you are inwardly pure, then it will manifest this purity outwardly. God sees everything, whether inwardly or outwardly. He desires His people to be pure.
III. The Appeal For Cleansing
Our third and final point is: The Appeal for Cleansing. It actually begins with verse one when David pleaded with God, "blot out my transgressions". And then again, he pleaded in verse 9, "blot out all mine iniquities". Here again, David used three words to describe his desire for cleansing: blot out, purge, and wash. Let me briefly explain.
Firstly, he said, "blot out my transgressions". To blot out means to erase or wipe away. In ancient times, the materials which the people wrote on were very expensive—those pieces of papyrus. So sometimes, those written texts were no longer needed. They would not just throw away those materials because they were extremely precious. What they would do is that they would blot out or erase, wipe away, and turn the pages sideways and write new words. That is the idea.
You see, our life is like a book with many sins written in it, and they stand as a terrible condemnation against us. If nothing is done, one day, you and I would have to be standing before God with all these sins written and then open up, and we will stand in condemnation. But God can and will do something. He would blot out all our transgressions, just like the way the people of old—they would wipe away the old writings, turn the page sideways, and write on the newly prepared surface. God will wipe away all our sins, turn our lives around, transform us, and write the message of His everlasting mercy through the work of Jesus Christ. He will blot out all our transgressions. Isn't it amazing?
To purge is to be purified from all uncleanness. David wanted to have his sins completely purged, completely washed away until he was as clean and as white as snow. How could that be possible, dear friend? This blotting out, purging, and washing of our sins is possible, but it comes at a very high price. It is given to us in four simple words: “Purge me with hyssop”. I believe that these are the four most important words in this entire psalm, though they are the least understood.
You see, hyssop is a small plant frequently found in the crevices of stone walls. And because of its shape and structure, it was always used as a brush in the ceremonies of the temple. It was used to sprinkle blood. The first time it was mentioned was at the Passover. If you remember, in Exodus 12:22, just before the Israelites left Egypt, God commanded them to do this: “ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason”. So when the angel of death passed by, he will cross over or pass over the particular house that has the blood, and all the firstborn in that house will be spared; the rest will be killed.
Interestingly, hyssop itself has no cleansing power. Hyssop itself cannot cleanse at all. It is only when the hyssop was dipped into the blood and then the people could be cleansed. It is the blood. It is always the blood. That is the reason why Hebrews 9:22 says, ‘All things are purged by the blood, and without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.’ So David understood this. When he asked that God purge him with hyssop, he meant, ‘Cleanse me with the blood because the hyssop cannot cleanse me. Only the blood can. Forgive me and regard me as cleansed on the basis of the blood of the unblemished Lamb of God.’
This perfect, unblemished lamb was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross of Calvary, shedding His precious blood. And only His blood can wash away all our sins. Only His blood can blot out, purge, and wash our sins. David needed forgiveness; you and I needed forgiveness too. Without the shedding of Christ's blood, there will be no forgiveness; there will be no cleansing.
Have you found God's mercy? Your sin may be as great as David's or even greater. Perhaps you may be thinking, ‘I'm better than David.’ After all, which one of us has committed the sin of murder or the sin of adultery? But remember what our Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5. Jesus could have quoted other verses in the Bible, yet he cited two particular things—the sin of murder and the sin of adultery.
Remember, Jesus said, ‘Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, he has committed the sin of murder in the sight of God. And whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart.’ Which one of us will say that, ‘I am no murderer’, or ‘I am no adulterer’ in the sight of God? When Jesus said to us, ‘If you look and lust, you have committed adultery; when you are angry, you have committed murder’. And God's standard is perfect—all of us are just like David. But however great our sins are, God wants us to be restored. So, He will convict us.
Look at verse 8, David said, “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.” When God convicts us of our sins, it is like our bones being crushed. It is a metaphorical sense. It is a most painful and yet heart-warming experience. Why do we say painful and yet heart-warming? Yes, we will be broken when we are convicted. Our hearts will be crushed in a metaphorical sense, but then that broken and contrite spirit will be led to turn to God, and then we will be restored and experience times of rejoicing. That is what conviction will do to us.
When God convicts our hearts, what must we do? We appeal for mercy, we appeal for forgiveness, and we appeal for cleansing. God will forgive us. Verse 9 says, “Hide thy face from my sins”. It does not mean that God becomes unaware of our sins. God is omniscient, but He chooses not to look at our forgiven sin. He chooses not to take into account our forgiven sins because they have been blotted out, purged, and washed.
Are you ashamed of your sins? Whether it be sins that you have committed before marriage, in your marriage, in the dark hours of the night, in places whereby you think nobody will find you. And every time you think of those sins, you are horrified. You do not need to live in the stains of those sins for the rest of your life and most certainly not for all eternity.
Sometimes, I will send my clothes for dry cleaning, and then the dry cleaner would tell me that a particular spot cannot be removed. It is permanent, he says. No matter how hard he tries, no matter how he washes it, it cannot be removed. That will never happen to us. Once God convicts our hearts, and we turn to Him and plead for mercy, and we plead for His forgiveness, and we plead for cleansing, and He blots out our transgressions, He purges our sins, and He washes away all our iniquities, we will be as white as snow. Isn't it amazing? You and I will be as white as snow in the eyes of God. May the Lord teach us. When we come back, we will learn the second part—true repentance and restoration. Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for this opportunity for us to consider the first half of Psalm 51. Indeed, how can we say we have not sinned? That would make us liars. We have sinned, even as believers. Like David who has sinned against Thee, some of us may have committed horrendous sins. We may be plagued by the guilt of our sins. But Thou has taught us this morning that Thou desires this inward purity in each and every one of us whom Thou has saved. And this inward purity is influenced by Thy truth. And when Thou convicts us of our sins, we will be like David. We want to be like him; we will appeal for Thy mercy.
Have mercy upon us, O God, have mercy. And we will appeal for Thy forgiveness. Who can forgive us? Only the One who died on the cross, our Lord Jesus. And we will plead for Thy cleansing. Only Jesus can blot out, purge, and wash away our sins. And those whom Thou has blotted out, purged, and washed, they will be whiter than snow. Oh Lord, this is a blessed promise, so help us. Each time we are convicted by Thy word, by Thy Spirit, we will not harden our hearts. Like David, with a broken and contrite spirit, we look to Thee. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
THE BOOK OF PSALMSWonderful Words of LifeWonderful Words of LifePsalm 1:1-3
Having Confidence In Times Of TroubleHaving Confidence In Times Of TroublePsalm 3
Pray with Your Eyes OpenPray with Your Eyes OpenPsalm 5:1-12
Message 3: The Test of TrustMessage 3: The Test of TrustPsalm 11:1-7
Morning Devotion 2: Psalm 13Morning Devotion 2: Psalm 13Psalm 13
Message 4: The Life of TrustMessage 4: The Life of TrustPsalm 20:1-9
Learn To Deal With DepressionLearn To Deal With DepressionPsalm 42
Dealing with DepressionDealing with DepressionPsalm 42
God Is Our RefugeGod Is Our RefugePsalm 46
Morning Devotion 3: Psalm 46Morning Devotion 3: Psalm 46Psalm 46
True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 1]True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 1]Psalm 51:1-9
Morning Devotion 1: The Joy of Thy ForgivenessMorning Devotion 1: The Joy of Thy ForgivenessPsalm 51:1-9
True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 2]True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 2]Psalm 51:10-12
The Joy of SalvationThe Joy of SalvationPsalm 51:10-12
Morning Devotion 4: The Joy of Thy SalvationMorning Devotion 4: The Joy of Thy SalvationPsalm 51:10-19
True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 3]True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 3]Psalm 51:13-19
O Come, Let Us Worship the LordO Come, Let Us Worship the LordPsalm 59:1-11
Hear My Cry, O God!Hear My Cry, O God!Psalm 61:1-8
The Man that is Blessed of the LordThe Man that is Blessed of the LordPsalm 65:4
Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again?Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again?Psalm 85:1-13
Teach Us to Number Our DaysTeach Us to Number Our DaysPsalm 90:10-12
Morning Devotion 1: Psalm 90:10-12Morning Devotion 1: Psalm 90:10-12Psalm 90:10-12
The Lord Is KingThe Lord Is KingPsalm 93
Christian ParentingChristian ParentingPsalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3
Morning Devotion 2: Obedience to God’s WordMorning Devotion 2: Obedience to God’s WordPsalm 119:1-8
Morning Devotion 3: The Cleansing Power of God’s WordMorning Devotion 3: The Cleansing Power of God’s WordPsalm 119:9-16
I Was GladI Was GladPsalm 122:1
Christian ParentingChristian ParentingPsalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3
Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!Psalm 127:3, Malachi 2:15, Ephesians 6:4
Christian ParentingChristian ParentingPsalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3
A Prayer in the CaveA Prayer in the CavePsalm 142
