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00:00:01 [Applause] [Music] today's scripture reading is taken from psalms chapter 51. have mercy on me oh god according to your unfailing love according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin for i know my transgressions and my sin is always before me against you you only have i send and done what is evil in your sight so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge surely i was sinful at birth sinful from the time my mother conceived me
00:00:57 yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb you taught me wisdom in that secret place cleanse me with hyssop and i will be clean wash me and i will be wider than snow let me hear joy and gladness let the bones you have crushed rejoice hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity create in me a pure heart o god and renew a steadfast spirit within me do not cast me away from your presence or take your holy spirit from me restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain
00:01:43 me then i will teach transgressors your ways so that sinners will turn back to you deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed o god you who are god my savior and my tongue will sing of your righteousness open my lips lord and my mouth will declare your praise you do not delight in sacrifice or i would bring it you do not take pleasure and burn offerings my sacrifice o god is a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart you god will not despise may it please you to prosper zion to build up the walls of jerusalem
00:02:32 then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous and burnt offerings offered whole then bulls will be offered on your altar this is the word of god hi good morning it's a privilege to be with you and preach god's word today our passage and topic this morning are quite sobering and i pray that we can come with open hearts and minds as we think through repentance together last time i was here i spoke about church discipline today i'm speaking about repentance i promise that next time i'll speak about
00:03:11 something more joyful often in churches we use the word repent or repentance but we do not really teach about it much i wonder what comes to your mind when you hear that word repentance i would guess joy and excitement it's not what comes to your mind right away maybe you don't think that you have anything to repent of or maybe you think that you're so bad and are ashamed that there is no hope for forgiveness or maybe you have been confessing sin have cried over your sin but have not seen real change in your life
00:03:55 in psalm 51 we can learn three things about repentance that will help us navigate through some of these thoughts we will know that genuine life-changing repentance is honest heartfelt and hope-filled and before we look at these three points let me pray heavenly father as we just read your word and about to hear your spoken word help us see the living word jesus christ clearly this morning would you give me grace to preach your word faithfully and grace to all of us to hear your word so that it may do its work in our minds
00:04:35 and hearts and our lives in jesus most precious name i pray amen psalm 51 is among one of the more famous psalms it's essential to know the context in which david wrote this psalm and if you look at your bibles you will see a little note before verse 1 and it says and i'm reading out of the english standard version to the choir master a psalm of david when nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into bathsheba this sets the backstory it sets the scene you can read it in 2nd samuel 11 and 12.
00:05:14 david was supposed to be out at war but he stayed back and while walking on the roof he saw bathsheba taking a bath he was smitten by her beauty and desired to have her unfortunately she was married to uriah who was out at war however overcome by temptation david sent for her and slept with her i just as a side note she did not really have a real choice in the matter the king demanded it as she got pregnant and to cover up what he did when uriah came back he tried to get uriah drunk and so that uriah would then
00:05:52 sleep with his wife but that did not work and eventually david sent uriah to battle to die thereby killing uriah after this nathan the prophet came to david and told david a story there were two men one rich and the other poor the rich man had many flocks and herds but the poor man had nothing but one little lamb now there came a traveler to the rich man and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock to prepare for the guest who had come to him but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the guest
00:06:34 when david heard the story david's anger was greatly kindled kindled against that man and he said to nathan as the lord lives the man who has done this deserves to die because he had no pity nathan then looked at david and said to him you are that man he was referring to the fact that david had many wives but took uriah's only wife david realizes his sin and then he writes this psalm okay so so that's the story now let us look at the psalm three things for life-changing repentance it has to be honest heartfelt
00:07:22 and hope-filled let's look at the first one honest david begins the psalm by confessing that he is sinful and that he needs mercy he talks about what he has done david owns his sin john 1 8 through 9 says if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness do you think you are without sin are you deceiving yourself everyone sins david was deceived but he saw the truth
00:08:10 and then he owned up to it because of what nathan said so what does he do well he admits his wrong in three ways firstly he talks about his transgressions in verse 1 he says blot out my transgressions in verse 3 i know my transgressions he has gone against god's law god created the world and designed it in a way that we should live and how do we know what that way is well scripture tells us god's plan and god's design god's moral law from genesis to revelation it reveals god's design for our lives
00:08:54 transgression means willfully rebelling against someone to whom you owe allegiance god created you and gave you life and you choose to rebel against him david acknowledges that he has gone against god's way god's law god's design and so must we he also talks about his iniquities and sin in verse 2. in verse 2 it says wash me thoroughly from my iniquity iniquity focuses on a twistedness inside that often leads to our transgressions so it's a heart not centered on god but filled with distorted beliefs
00:09:44 it's wickedness from within he admits that his heart and mind are twisted wicked and that this is what drives his misplaced desires he then in verse 2 also uses the word sin or it's translated towards sin and it says this and cleanse me from my sin that word is used to describe missing the mark so it's not just going against god's law but failing to live for his glory we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god romans 3 23 teaches us and this is the mark that is missed we fail to live for god's glory and
00:10:33 instead we live for our own so david refers to his wrongdoings in three ways and it's vital that we hold on to these three ways forgetting one of the ways will make us miss the complete view the bible has on sin tim keller in one of his studies on sin says this sin violates god's authority it's being your own master and savior it is transgression this leads to guilt and depth that must be paid sin also violates god's design it is building your identity on something besides god it is iniquity its
00:11:19 wickedness this leads to slavery and inner corruption that must be healed sin also violates god's peace it is ruining god's creation it is missing the mark this leads to breakdowns in relationships and to spiritual and social and cultural disintegration which needs to be restored david in verse 4 then plainly says that he has done evil in god's eyes his behavior is not good but evil it's wicked he doesn't deny it he does not deflect it that he's not at fault he doesn't belittle it saying that it's
00:12:07 not so bad he doesn't blame shift he doesn't say it's because of somewhere someone else it's merely a reaction uh she shouldn't have been bathing naked or uh you should not have made her so beautiful god or i can't help it that i have this desires no he doesn't do any of these things david is honest about what he has done he owns up to his transgressions iniquity and sin you have to be honest about what you have done well the second thing he's honest about is about who he is he says i know my transgressions they
00:12:47 are before me i see them clearly and i admit them but furthermore i admit that it's my nature to sin i am a sinful person verse 5 behold i was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me now this does not mean that his mother was sinning in conceiving him but it was his nature to sin from the very beginning from when he was conceived his sin was not out of character of who he is it's not a freak accident it's not a circumstance that's at fault it's not that just he just sinned
00:13:28 but that he is a sinner an honest confession focuses not just on what we have done but on who we are often we believe that we are morally good people who at times do bad things however true and honest reflection will lead you to realize that you are a corrupt person who behaves in line with your depravity we all may sin different well we all may be different in the way we sin or in a type of sin we commit even in the extent or gravity of sin we commit but we are all in the same in the sense that we are all sinners
00:14:12 i had the privilege to be part of a group discussion together with paul tripp in fact that was yesterday and he spoke about sins and he said this our past circumstances our experiences are not the cause of our sins they merely give us give sins the track to run on that means we are sinful and our past our circumstances our experiences are the tracks upon how we sin so we sin because we are sinful but our circumstances is how we sin so that means that no one here listening today or speaking today
00:14:54 can claim to stand on a moral high ground david realizes this and he confesses it honest repentance acknowledges that you are by nature a sinner you have to be honest about who you are will you confess that today well there's a third thing he's honest about he also admits that his sin is against god and that god is good and right in judging him for it verse 4 against you you only have i sinned and done what is evil in your sight well we know that he has sinned against bathsheba in a patriarchal society he pretty much
00:15:43 forced himself on her he clearly sends against uriah by killing him so is he trying to avoid the fact that he has sinned against all these other people by saying that only is that he's only sinned against god no it's hyperbole it's it's it's an overstatement it's an emphasis on the recognition that he has sinned against a thrice holy god that in comparison to his offense to those around him his offense to god is far greater there is no comparison jesus says you are to hate your father and mother it doesn't mean that you hate
00:16:27 them in a direct way it's a literary tool to show that in comparison to the love you ought to have for god your love for your parents should look like hate it's comparative and in the same way he says this against you you only have i sinned it's comparative but not just is it a literary tool it's it's actually correct proper theology martin luther said this about every sin of the ten commandments that all failures to uphold any of the ten commandments fundamentally stems out of failing to uphold the first one
00:17:07 every sin is a sin against god and a failure to worship god as god one scholar on this passage says this the first commandment is have no other gods before me david could only commit adultery if he either well a made himself own god his own god assuming that he was wiser than god who made the laws or made bashiva into a god or an idol more important than god believing that if he could have her then his life would be fulfilled in any regard david had to sin against god first putting something else or
00:17:48 himself in place of god to sin against others and david rightly vocalizes this his sin against bathsheba and uriah comes from fundamentally disobeying god and god alone all your sins are fundamentally a disobedience to god and not just an accidental one but a rebellious self-centered action that worships either self or something else aside from god david continues to say so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment speaking about god in the book of romans chapter 3 verses 4
00:18:34 paul quotes this very statement to explain that god is righteous and just in his judgment david is honest that god is right and that he is wrong god is just and upright and justified with his displeasure towards david david is not trying to justify his sins based on circumstance it wasn't because i just so happened to see here my sin is really merely a response or it's because i could not sleep and then walked on the roof which led to sin or it's because you gave me desire for women no he does not do any of this
00:19:14 he is honest and he says in the light of who you are and what you deem good and evil god in that light i have done evil i have wronged a holy and just god so david starts by being utterly honest about three things what he has done he has transgressed committed iniquity missed the mark he is out for evil rebellion he's honest about who he is sinful guilty and that by nature and lastly who he has offended a righteous just and holy god he doesn't belittle underplay blame shift or justify he confesses it
00:20:10 but he doesn't stop there all this is merely coming to terms with what is reality it is calling out the obvious it has done what is it's done with the mind but see what david does he digs deeper and he goes beyond the surface his repentance is not just a cerebral it is heartfelt genuine life-changing repentance is heartfelt let us look at some verses in verse 6 it says behold you delight in truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart verse 10 create in me a clean heart or
00:20:57 god and renew a right spirit within me verse 17 the sacrifices of god are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart or god you will not despise david knows that god is interested in the inner and not just the outer manifestation of sin he is interested in the secret heart so how do we get to the heart well we have to move beyond the superficial we have to move from outward repentance to inward repentance now now now what's the difference well let me try to illustrate let us say somebody calls me fat
00:21:46 and let's say someone makes a joke about me and laughs and i get really angry and in my anger i go and i slap that person immediately i feel sorry and i apologize you know sorry i shouldn't have slapped you maybe the person is older me no i shouldn't slap old people or maybe that person is younger than me well i i shouldn't slap young people and actually in fact if the person same age of me i i shouldn't slap anybody now i i said sorry in a way i repented but i only repented of the surface problem
00:22:16 the visible action the slap but not what's actually going on in my heart imagine a a shark a shark in the water and all you see is the fin merely cutting off the fin is not killing the shark it is just getting rid of what's on the surface much of our repentance is surface repentance it is cutting off the fin it is not killing the shark it's not deep heart repentance and there's a great danger there for us firstly surface repentance often is not sincere and therefore it has zero power to change us
00:23:08 but it's also dangerous think back to the shark illustration the only thing more dangerous than a shark in the water is a fitness shark in the water you won't see the shark coming and it will devour you suppose you repent of just slapping the person and therefore you never hit a person again well it will keep you out of jail for assault charges but you will be walking around an angry person you will be white knuckling it don't hit don't hit don't hit would be the mantra in your mind but even though your hands are in your
00:23:50 pocket when you look at that person you would have already killed or murdered that person in your heart one day you might even explode or get sick you know that holding back and suspecting our feelings is stressful and our bodies usually take the toll maybe you eat more or more maybe your your spouse or your colleagues gets the brunt of it i did not sleep i did not slap that person therefore i'm irritable with others please note that i'm not advocating for violence to release your attention but i'm merely making a point that we
00:24:29 have to go deeper we must move to the heart the surface repentance of our actions will not lead to change in our hearts or in our lives what i should do is i should ask why is this fact that somebody has called me fat causing me to be angry and the answer is simple i agree i'm big size and i don't like it and i feel insecure about it i don't even like to go swimming because people would see my body and i can't hide it under baggy clothes i'm already ashamed without anyone having to tell me but it's even deeper than that
00:25:19 i'm angry because a person is making fun of me and i want to be liked and loved and admired and though i know god loves me i care more about what a person says about me than what god says about me my identity is wrapped up in my body weight and people's opinion about me my identity is not in christ so man's words weigh more on my heart than god's a man calls me fat but god calls me his beloved child i am shaken by man's comments because i don't stand firm on god's word can you see how i moved from the surface
00:26:15 to the heart now i'm not just sorry anymore that i hit somebody i'm sorry i have unbelief that i don't put my identity in jesus that man's approval is more important to me than god's approval i've moved from worldly grief to godly grief for it to be heartfelt it had to go beyond the surface to the root so that we can experience godly grief david vividly in this psalm expresses godly grief in the verses he writes this and i'm i'm paraphrasing a little bit and emoting but in essence throughout the
00:26:58 verses he says this i am defiled in my innermost being i'm broken to the bones he even says don't look at me or my sin second corinthians 7 9-10 says as it is i rejoice not because you were grieved but because you were grieved into repenting for you felt a godly grief so that you suffered no loss through us for godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret wells worldly grief produces death so how do you express it how do you get down to the bottom of your heart maybe these questions will help
00:27:44 how have i grieved god how has this sin tarnished me i tarnished the name of jesus how has this sin damaged me my family and my community how is this sin seeking my ruin this will help you just as david express godly grief i remember godly grief is not measured by the tears over your action but a conviction to want to change a desire to be clean to be washed for your sins to be wiped away but also for you to have a renewed spirit a desire to be in god's holy presence again david desires real change in his life
00:28:35 not just pardon but change he asked for god's wisdom in his life and a renewed spirit in verse 12 he desires to be upheld and to have a willing spirit heartfelt repentance desires real change a desire to feel the joy of righteousness again have you ever sinned and then looked in the mirror and then you couldn't even stand to see your own face oh in that moment how you long for the joy of righteousness real repentance is an honest reflection of your actions and heart that leaves us utterly grieved
00:29:22 and acknowledging that there's no merit in us it forces us and forces us on the inner being to move beyond to superficial it desires to change whatever the cost is but it also recognizes that there's nothing we can do to fix it on our own verse 16 for you will not delight in sacrifice or i would give it you will not be pleased with a burnt offering he's saying there's nothing you can do there's nothing you can offer in sacrifice to make up for your sin your sacrificial bible reading your sacrificial serving
00:30:09 and tithing god will not be pleased if you do it without a contrite heart and a broken spirit you see in verse 17 the sacrifices of god are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart or god you will not despise then then only will you delight in right sacrifices in burnt offerings and holborn offerings then bulls will be offered on your altar when your offering is no longer a means to fix yourself but an act of worship because you have been fixed then it is right when it's no longer a way for you to
00:30:57 make good for your sin then it is right what david says is this i am broken broken to the bone in the depths of my heart i have sinned against you and there's nothing i can do to fix it therefore have mercy on me you need to be broken to the bone realizing that you can't fix yourself that will remove all pride in all last bits of self-righteousness even jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit so we need to be honest honest about our sin about who we are and against whom we have sinned and our repentance needs to be heartfelt
00:31:55 it has to move beyond the superficial it has to express real godly grief it needs to desire real change realizing that we can fix ourselves and you might say this sounds like utter despair well the weight of sin should take hold of our hearts but brothers and sisters this is why real life-changing repentance must also be hope filled you may ask how can anyone have hope if they're honest about their sin and are utterly grieved and understand that they can't fix it well let's look back at the text let's look
00:32:46 at what david says let's try to understand firstly what is he hoping for what kind of hope does david have well it's hope for salvation he asked to restore my salvation he wants to be clean white as snow see sin was seen as defilement which only blood could clean he wants his sin to be wiped away in verse 14 to be delivered from blood guilt he was guilty as charged and he wanted to be free and in verse 12 he wants to have the restoration of the joy of salvation but for him salvation also meant to
00:33:34 return to god he wants to be in a right relationship with god in verse 13 he says transgressors will return to you in verse 11 to be in god's presence and to have god's spirit dwelling in him he says take not your holy spirit from me and all of that salvation and this relationship with god to return back in god's presence he wants that not for his own glory but for the glory of god and verse 15 god's praises are declared and in verse 14 god's righteousness is sung about his hope david's hope is not to get away with sin
00:34:19 his hope is not to avoid the earthly consequences of his sin but to be saved from the eternal consequences of sin to have the joy of salvation to be in the right relationship with god again and for god to reap all the glory and to receive all the praise now for whom is he having this hope well of course for himself most of the psalm focuses on his salvation and relationship but he also talks about others he says transgressors will return to god there will be an overflow of joy and overflow of salvations
00:35:04 others will hear about it it will be shared and not other holy people but other transgressors see the hope of our repentance what it produces is that it's not just salvation for ourselves but salvations for others he also talks about jerusalem because the restored king will bless his nation and he prays for his nation too in verse 18 which means his hope is personal it's for him it's communal it's for others and it's corporate it is for the nation now now why can he have this hope well the answer lies in the person of
00:35:57 god verse 1 have mercy on me o god according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy the word used for steadfast love is a word that represents god's covenantal love his unmerited favor his unconditional grace yes if you're honest and you look deep into your heart you are completely undeserving of god's mercy but the good news is that god's grace is entirely unconditional it is within the person and character of god that our hope lies there's hope sprinkled all over this passage or since
00:36:45 i'm today with my fellow baptists let me say that this passage is immersed in hope david understood that he would be cleansed that he would be pardoned that he will be back in god's presence again david understood who god was but he did not have the full picture we have the complete picture and so we are hopeful for we much more clearly than david know god's loving kindness toward us we know his great mercy god demonstrated his unconditional steadfast love when he sent his son to die for us sin was a contamination
00:37:32 it defiles us and makes us dirty blood was considered a sanitizer the blood of jesus washed us clean sin is a trespass it makes us guilty and justice demands a penalty to be paid jesus on the cross took our punishment he paid that penalty but sin also means exile sinners must be cast away from god's holy presence jesus on the cross cried out father father why have you forsaken me he was forsaken so that we can be brought back into god's presence jesus was the right sacrifice once and for all time
00:38:20 his sacrifice is sufficient his sacrifice is a righteous one it was offered up and god delighted in it and you might ask well won't this lead to more sin knowing that god's unknowing of god's unconditional kindness romans 2 4 says or do you not presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that god's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance it is his kindness his grace that leads to repentance you might say this repentance seems too easy it won't change anyone
00:39:06 but if it's easy it's probably not a honest heartfelt reflection of your sin it's most likely superficial it's not real godly grief there's no real desire to change and therefore it isn't real repentance maybe you say if if i would feel all this if i acknowledge all this i would feel condemned if i confessed my heart completely well then it isn't hope filled for there is now no condemnation for those who are in christ genuine repentance is honest heartfelt and hope-filled because christ bore our sins on the cross
00:39:54 charles spurgeon preaching on this very passage said this while i regarded god as a tyrant i thought sin a trifle but when i knew him to be my father then i mourned that i could have ever king kicked against him when i thought that god was hard i found it easy to sin but when i found god so kind so good so overflowing with compassion i smote upon my breast to think that i could have ever rebelled against one who loves me so and sought my good will you not now think of the goodness of god brothers and sisters and shall it
00:40:33 not lead to repentance shall we not feel within our hearts a burning indignation against sin because it is committed against so holy so good so glorious a being as the infinite blessed god brothers and sisters may i invite you today to repent with me could i just ask you how have you trespassed god trespass god's law this week how have you twisted his truth how have you missed the mark if you could just take a moment and just think of of one thing and it's probably already in your mind would you confess of that today
00:41:22 would you admit that you have committed that sin not just because of circumstance but because you are a sinner just like me would you acknowledge that god would have every right to judge you for this for he is a just god and as you're thinking about this act this transgression this iniquity would you go with me beyond the superficial take a moment to think what caused you to sin this way what are you valuing more than god that made you sin how has this idolatry sought your ruin how is this sin affected those around you
00:42:15 how has your sin tarnished the glorious name of jesus would you pray for real change and will you admit that you can't fix this on your own that you need someone else to help you to give you mercy brothers and sisters do you feel the weight of sin upon you our transgressions and iniquities are plenty our grief is heavy and our sorrows are real as you come before the lord with honesty and a contrite heart i ask you to think about that sin and now hear these words from isaiah about our lord jesus christ
00:43:11 he was pierced for your transgression he was crushed for your iniquities upon him was the chestnut men that brought you peace and with his wound you are healed all like sheep we have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all brothers and sisters because of christ whatever sin you thought of you are forgiven in christ that sin is no more repentance begins with a long gaze at the cross for only there will you find the courage to be honest
00:44:05 the grace that touches the heart and the hope of salvation genuine repentance is honest heartfelt and hope-filled genuine repentance saves you and it changes you let us pray have mercy on us or god according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions wash us thoroughly from our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin in the name of jesus we pray amen
