Our Psalm today will teach us that it’s better to limp in the light than to run in the darkness.
The Bible tells us we’ve all “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Not a soul in this building today is exempt from this reality. When our sin is confronted, we have two options for response: we can stiffen our necks in prideful rejection or bow our heads in humble confession.
So, when you are confronted with your sin, how do you respond? Do you point your fingers at others, seeking to justify your actions? Or do you admit to your actions, responding in humble confession?
Today, we will look at David’s response to his sin. In doing so, we will discover God’s loving and compassionate offer of grace toward the sinner.
Friends, if your heart is heavy with the weight of your sin today, I’m here to tell you that someone has already carried that sin to the cross for you. That someone is your creator, and his name is Jesus. Jesus willingly marched to the cross with the weight of judgment for your sin upon his shoulders so that you could walk through life and march into eternity with the weight of no condemnation upon your shoulders. Cry out to the LORD, and you will be saved.
Let’s dive in.
CONTEXT
“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone into Bathsheba.”
Similar to last week, we find context given at the start of this psalm to help us better understand the psalm. So, let’s hash this out for a moment.
In 2 Samuel 11, you will discover that David fell headfirst into sin—a bad sin. David stayed back in Jerusalem when he should have been out to battle. Late one afternoon, he gets up from his couch and notices a beautiful woman bathing on her rooftop. It was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. David sent messengers to her and took her, and she came to him, and he laid with her. She conceived and was pregnant.
This deeply bothered David. Since her husband, Uriah, was off at battle, David knew that people would have questions. So, David, doing what many of us would do, sought to cover up his sin. He called Uriah off the battlefield and sent him home, hoping he would be with his wife. But Uriah refused. Therefore, David sent Uriah back to the battlefield with the command, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” Uriah died, and after Bathsheba mourned his death of him, David brought her to his house to become his wife.
This angered the LORD. So, God, through Nathan, rebukes David. He tells the story of two men, one rich and the other poor. The poor man had nothing but one little lamb that he loved dearly; the rich man had many lambs. When a traveler came to the rich man, he was unwilling to take one of his own lambs. Instead, he prepared the poor man’s lamb for his visitor.
This infuriated David, and he said, As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
Nathan said, “You are this man!”
This led the LORD to say, “Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.”
So, because of David’s sin, evil will come against David from his own household.
I think Nathan’s example here could shed some light on the art of confronting sin.
Nathan was willing and obedient.
Nathan went privately.
Nathan was prepared and direct.
This is the context of what David is lamenting in Psalm 51. So, let’s begin unpacking the words of David’s lament.
STEADFAST LOVE & ABUNDANT MERCY
“[1] Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
[2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!”
This Psalm begins with a plea for mercy. Staring face first into the mirror of guilt and shame, David asks God to act according to his “steadfast love” and “abundant mercy.”
The phrase “steadfast love” implies faithful and loyal love—a type of love that is not easily broken or abandoned. The word “abundant mercy” implies plentiful compassion—the feeling a father feels whenever his children get hurt. So, God is committed and compassionate; he’s slow to run away. His love and mercy do not lack.
David appeals to God that he will treat him according to his steadfast love and abundant mercy. David’s actions here should serve as an example of how we should act in the face of our sins. We, like David, are invited to run to God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy. At our lowest moments, God’s love and mercy are our only hope.
Is your heart stained with the guilt and shame of your sin today? Well, I’m here to remind you that God is not cheap in the department of love and mercy. His mercy is abundant, and his love is steadfast. The bank account of God’s love and compassion will never become low. His checks will never bounce. God’s steadfast love and mercy have always been how he blots out our transgressions. So, don’t be afraid to run to him today. He’s willing and able to act compassionately toward you in your sin. He will thoroughly clean today, cleansing you entirely from your sins.
At David’s lowest moment, he cries for God to act compassionately toward him, leading to him then saying,
“[3] For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
[4] Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.”
ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SIN
For repentance to occur, we must acknowledge our sins. So, the first thing I want to highlight here is David's acknowledgment of his sin: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Some of us feel these words in our bones. We, like David, are all too familiar with our transgressions. We’ve hurt so many people that it doesn’t matter where we go; it feels like our sin follows us. Every second of every day, we feel the crushing weight of condemnation because of our sin. To you, there’s hope today!
I fear others don’t feel these words in our bones. We quickly skip over them when we should let them simmer deep into our hearts. Some of us are walking in sin with no seared conscience whatsoever. Our hearts are harder than stone. There’s always an excuse for our actions. We can talk our way out of everything and are never at fault.
I extend a warning to you. Living with a seared conscience is dangerous, especially when your heart becomes numb to sin. So, my prayer for you is that the LORD will break the bones of your spirit today, draw you to your knees, and lead you to complete surrender and dependence upon the LORD.
SIN IS FIRST AN OFFENSE AGAINST GOD
Notice God’s omnipresence here. David says, “I have done what is evil in your sight.” The sin of David performed in private was public before God. Everything we do in private is public before God. God is present everywhere, and he sees all things. You cannot hide from him. There is no secret work in the kingdom of God.
The Bible doesn’t allow us to have a small view of God. He is all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful. When we develop a right view of God, we also begin to develop a right view of our sin. You cannot trick God; he knows the truth. You cannot manipulate God; he is the creator and sustainer of all things. The all-seeing God of the universe is the one who sets the standard of morality. He is the one who gets to determine what is right and wrong. Therefore, all sin is first an offense against God.
Now, there are obviously horizontal elements to our sin. To say your sinful decisions do not affect those around you would be absolutely foolish. David’s sin affected so many people. They affected Bathsheba, Uriah, his children, and many more. But, all sin is first an offense against God— “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…”
I would argue that understanding this is a sign of true repentance! When we realize that our sin is a direct offense against our creator, we begin to truly experience righteous remorse for our sin, which leads to confession and repentance.
So, do you understand that your sin is, first and foremost, an offense against God? Can you join David in saying, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight?”
WE ARE SINNERS WHO NEED CLEANSING
David goes on to confess,
“[5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
[6] Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”
Here, I believe David is confessing that sin is at the core of who he is. No one had to teach David how to sin; it always came naturally to him. David’s guilt before the LORD started long before he called Bathsheba to his quarters. He was born into iniquity. Sin is a part of the fabric of his being. We aren’t sinners because we sin; we sin because we’re sinners. This is essential for us to see and understand today. You, like David, have sin woven deep into the fabric of your being. And because of this, behavior modification won't suffice. You don’t simply need to break a bad habit. You need to become a new person. You need to become born again. You need a new heart. You need new desires. You need a transformation where you begin to “delight in truth in your inward being.” And this is what David cries out for!
“[7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
[8] Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
[9] Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
[11] Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
[12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
Far too often, I’ve had conversations with someone whose sin has come to light, and their whole demeanor is saturated with an assurance that they will get this right, get everything under control, and beat the sin in their life. But I want to draw our attention to how a vital element of the Christian faith is coming to God empty-handed. There’s nothing you can contribute to the cleansing of your sins. Only God can cleanse us from our sins. David doesn’t come to God, assuring him he will get things right. Instead, he comes to God, acknowledging that he can do nothing to fix his situation. He comes to God empty-handed and entirely reliant upon the mercy of God. Trying to right your wrongs through your efforts is like trying to bathe yourself with muddy water. Instead of experiencing cleansing, we experience more filth. The cleansing we need is only found when we humble ourselves before the LORD and cry for help. Cleansing comes from the LORD alone; only by his mercy can we become as white as snow.
CONVICTION IS A GIFT FROM GOD
Conviction hurts. It’s painful. It’s the spiritual equivalent of breaking your bones. But, on the other side of the pain of conviction is healing and joy. The LORD broke David's bones so that he might humbly return to the LORD. So, don’t fight conviction. Embrace it as the gift it is. Allow it to push you close to the LORD so that you can cry out to him. God breaks us to heal us. Conviction is a grace from the LORD because it’s intended to draw you to Jesus.
GRACE LEADS TO HAPPINESS
When you’re met with God's cleansing grace, joy is found. Grace leads to happiness. Those whose sin has been exposed and are met with grace cannot help but experience joy. Joy is the overflow of grace. When God “hides his face from our sins and blots out our iniquities,” our hearts become glad. When God creates in us a “clean heart and renews a right spirit within us,” our hearts become joyful. When God “draws near to us” instead of pulling away from us, the joy of our salvation is restored, and our bones rejoice! Church, the closer we walk with God in grace and holiness, the happier our hearts become. Holiness breeds happiness.
Over the years, I’ve heard people pit holiness against happiness, as if God wants us to be holy and not happy. But I would argue that we are most happy when we are most holy. Sin robs us of joy, but grace and holiness lead to more joy. The fruit of walking with God should be a happy heart. Grace leads to happiness.
GRACE LEADS TO PROCLAMATION.
“[13] Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
[14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
[15] O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.”
Church, let me be very, very clear. Grace leads to proclamation. It leads to teaching, shouting, and declaring. If you’ve experienced God's love, grace, and mercy, you cannot help but tell others about the gracious God you’ve encountered! You cannot help but sing aloud of his righteousness and declare his praise.
Some of the best teachers in the church are those who have experienced the most grace. Some of the best preachers in the church are those who have experienced the most grace. Some of the best evangelists in the church are those who have been met with the most grace. Some of the best disciplers in the church are those who have experienced the most grace. Grace leads to proclamation. The cross is transformational. We become like the woman at the well, running back to our hometown shouting, “Come and see a man who told me all I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
So, could a lack of discipleship, evangelism, or singing stem from a prideful heart that has forgotten God's gracious ways? Could it be that the farther we drift from God’s grace, the quieter we become?
David ends this psalm by saying,
“[16] For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
[17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
[18] Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
[19] then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.”
David here wasn’t diminishing the significance of a rightful sacrifice; Instead, he’s highlighting the importance of a broken heart before God. God doesn’t delight in you rolling up your sleeves and trying harder. He opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. He will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
So, as we close today, I want to direct our attention to Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for our sins. The merciful and loving God has made a way for you to be saved by sending his Son to the cross. Two thousand years ago, there was a lamb offered on the altar of God capable of atoning all of our sins. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, Jesus took the bread, and when he gave thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And in the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that the Father is pleased with. So, all who humble themselves before the LORD, fixing their eyes upon the Son of Man, will be saved. So, as the church, we bow in reverence, respect, and awe of Christ, giving him the glory he deserves. May we thank God that he was betrayed, abandoned, and crucified so that we might have life through him. May we take a moment to reflect on the grace of God, and may we spend some time asking the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin today.