CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL (PSALMS 51)
The young preacher thrilled his congregation with his first sermon - a challenge to “gird their loins” for Christian service and living.
Then, to their surprise, the preacher preached the same sermon the following Sunday, and to their dismay, for a third week. After he confronted them with the same ringing message on the third Sunday, his flock felt something must be done.
“Don’t you have more than just one sermon?” blurted a spokesman to the pastor. “Oh, yes,” he said quietly. “I have quite a number. But you haven’t done anything about the first one yet.” (Adapted from Tan # 7462)
The rise, the fall and the restoration of David is one of the greatest stories in the history of world literature, leaving in its trail the best and greatest of Greek and Shakespearean drama. More than one thousand references to David’s name are recorded in the Bible. David was the central character of the Old Testament, the greatest king of Israel and the ancestor of the Messiah.
However, a question still persists: Why did God still retain and restore David in spite of his many weaknesses as a husband, father, king and neighbor. Psalm 51 helps us understand to understand why God gave David and sinners like him a second chance. It was written after Nathan had chided David for adultery with Bathsheba. The psalm is a masterpiece in confession.
What kind of confession is acceptable to God? How do we know if one is remorseful and penitent? What should a penitent sinner say, how should the person feel and think?
Know the Scope of Your Sin
51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. (Ps 51:1-5)
Two students of the Talmud came to their rabbi and wailed: “Rabbi, we’ve committed a sin!”
“What have you done?”
“We looked with lust upon a woman!”
“God preserve you!” cried the rabbi. “You’ve committed a terrible sin!”
“We wish to do penance, Rabbi!”
“In that case, I order you to put peas into your shoes and walk about that way for a week. Then perhaps you’ll remember not to commit such a sin again.”
The two penitents went away and did as the rabbi told them. Several days later they met on the street. One was hobbling painfully and looked haggard, but the other one was calm and smiling. So the hobbler said to his fried reproachfully, “Is this the way you do penance? I see you haven’t followed the rabbi’s orders. You didn’t put peas in your shoes!” “Of course I did!” insisted the other. “But I cooked them first!”
Sin is serious and must be seriously dealt with. It breaks down our relationship with God, and we cannot hope for restoration or begin the restoration we know the extent of the damage.
“Have mercy on me” is an old plea from Job that David adapted into a moving prayer to God. Job appealed in vain for his friends’ understanding when he suffered, saying “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity” (Job 19:21). Unlike Job, David realized only God could help him. Surprisingly, David was the first one and the only one to use the phrase “Have mercy on me” in prayer to God (Ps 6:2, 9:13, 31:9, 41:4, 10, 57:1, 86:3, 86:16). All other prayers for mercy, usually in Pslams, end with the personal pronoun “us” (Ps 67:1, 123:3) instead of “me.” The verb “have mercy” has the connotation of a superior bending or stooping in kindness to an inferior. It’s been said that mercy is asking for what we do not deserve. When David prayed for God’s mercy he was not asking the Lord to lower Himself to his level, but to be present with him or to be by his side in his lowliness, possibly to lift him up.
The phrase “unfailing love” in verse 1 is the popular Hebrew word for God’s “chesed” love, which KJV translated as “loving-kindness” 22 times in Psalms (Ps 17:7, 25:6, 26:3, 36:7, 36:10, 40:10, 40:11, 42:8, 48:9, 63:3, 69:16, 88:11, 89:33, 89:49, 92:2, 103:4, 107:43, 119:88, 119:149, 119:159, 138:2, 143:8). The most distinguishing characteristic of God’s chesed love is that it endures forever (1 Chron 16:34, 16:41, 2 Chron 20:21, Ps 100:5, 106:1), as popularized by Psalms 118 and 136. The third word “compassion” is the Hebrew word for “bowels,” which the KJV has affectionately translated as “tender mercies” (Ps 25:6, 40:11, 51:1, 69:16, 77:9, 79:8, 103:4, 119:77, 119:156, 145:9, Prov 12:10). God is not interested to penalize, shame or hurt us when we sin, but to correct us. He does not chastise us according to His anger, but according to His mercy, love and compassion.
David realized he could not appeal to God on the basis of his work or worth. He had showed himself undeserving of God’s forgiveness and had done nothing to merit God’s goodness. That’s what the truly repentant say to God in prayer. Tele-evangelists, athletes and politicians have conveniently said “I have sinned against God” to imply that only God has the right to judge them but they have slyly dropped out the next line - “and done what is evil in your sight.” They conveniently say “I have made mistakes,” “I have lapsed in judgment,” but no one in his right frame of mind would say “I have failed you,” “I have betrayed your trust” or “I have acted wickedly.” David exposed and called sin for what it was, a spade for a spade. David called what he did transgression (v 1, 3), iniquity (v 2) and sin (v 3). Transgression is the attitude – the rebellious, defiant and stubborn attitude of the sinner; iniquity is the nature of the sin - perversity, repulsive and sick behavior and nature; sin is the result and its cost - an offense, a blatant and punishable offense.
After his confession, David placed himself and his future in God’s hands. He asserted that God is righteous in His words and pure/clean in His judgment (v 4). Verse 4 is an amazing confession. David confessed his sin was ever before him. He had no excuse of what he had done, using “You” or “Your” six times in verse 4. Not only did he bare his soul before God, he uncovered the truth (v 6) before Him.
Feel the Stain of Your Sin
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Ps 51:7-12)
After three and a half years in our house we finally got around to clean the stains in our carpet. We had discussed discarding the carpet after a few more years of use but we paid big bucks - $2,147 for the carpet and $200 for installation - for the carpet that the salesperson said was resistant to dust.
One night I told my wife I was heading to the supermarket to buy carpet stain remover, because I could not stand the ugly stains anymore. She said, “Wait, we have something that worked before. It’s just that we have never used it since!” After a while, she produced a ZEP 32 oz. commercial high traffic carpet cleaner. It says: “Excellent for spots and small highly soiled areas.” It promised to clean even the toughest stains in high traffic area of the owner’s carpet, including those caused by blood urine, excretion and vomit.
So we obediently followed the instructions. One of us sprayed the spots, the other clean it with a damp sponge after a few minutes wait. Voila! It worked! We were proud carpet owners again.
Sin is filth, unsightly and vile to God. It soils, stresses and severs a believer’s relationship to God. No powder, liquid, bleach, cleaning agent or cleaning lady or cleaning company can do the heavy washing or remove the dirt, the discoloring or the disgrace within. The only way is to come clean with God and make confession to Him.
David longed for a clean heart and a cleansed heart, to be whiter than snow, to feel fresher than clean laundry, to be rid of blotted ink, to be unlike used paper or a written page, like a leper cleansed of his spots.
David began by stating his general desire for God to blot out his rebellion, to wash away his perversity and to cleanse his offense. The verb order for “cleanse,” “wash” and “blot out” is reversed in verses 7 through 9. “Cleanse,” occurring last in verse 4, will show up first - in verse 7, “wash” (vv 2, 7) retains its middle position, and “blot out” (vv 1, 9) is last now. The three imageries are related to cleansing, writing – from “blot out”, and washing.
The only ultra cleansing agent provided in the law is the use of hyssop. Hyssop (v 7) is an aromatic plant used for ritual or ceremonial agent to cleanse or purify the altar (Lev 8:15), the leper (Lev 14:4-7) and his house (Lev 14:49), and for the removal of sins of defiled people (Num 19:19) in a purification ceremony. David compared himself with a cleansed leper who needs the declaration of a priest to make him ceremonially clean. A person cleansed from sin feels like clean laundry and like an unmarked or new page.
However, ritual cleansing from the law is not enough. He needed to be cleansed within (v 10). David asked God for a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. The word “pure” means “clean,” as in clean animals (Gen 7:2), not perfect but acceptable, wholesome or true, as in pure gold (Ex 25:11, 28:13). The word “steadfast/right” means upright or erect. The Chinese commend and recommend the ability to walk and stand erect. He doesn’t want to be a fake or a slouch in character or behavior.
What is more horrifying than living outside of God’s will is living devoid of His presence (v 11). The stain of sin separates us from our holy God. David pleaded for God not to cast him away or take His Spirit away (v 11). Both the word “cast” and “take” have the horror of being permanently “cast away” and “take away.” In David the psalmist’s theology, salvation comes from and belongs to God and is impossible apart from God’s presence (Ps 12:5, 18:2, 20:6, 24:5, 25:5, 27:1, 62:7, 65:5, 69:13).
Submit the Sting of Your Sin
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar. (Ps 51:16-19)
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than 8.7 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed on people to manage signs of aging or enhance their appearance in 2003, up 32 percent from nearly 6.6 million in 2002, while minimally invasive procedures jumped 41 percent over 2002. The overall top five surgical cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in 2003 were nose reshaping (356,554), liposuction (320,022), upper body (254,140), eyelid surgery (246,633), and facelift (128,667).
The favorite procedure for those 35-50 age group, which is 40 percent of all cosmetic plastic surgery, was liposuction. People 19 to 34, comprising 26 percent of cosmetic surgeries, chose nose reshaping as their number one procedure. Patients 51 to 64, who made up 24 percent of cosmetic surgeries for 2003, opted for eyelid surgery.
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/news_room/press_releases/More-Than-8-Million-Cosmetic-Plastic-Surgery-in-2003.cfm
Unlike cosmetic surgery, sin is heart surgery. It is worse than heartburn; it cuts like a knife and lasts longer than a heart attack. Unconfessed sin feels like a knee to the chest, a chokehold to the throat and a weight on our hearts, shoulders and feet. Nothing can soften the blow, relieve or lighten the load of unconfessed sin.
But what do we offer God for relief of sin? God does not delight in prime rib, filet mignons or New York steaks. Nor does he salivate for cooked, roasted, smoked or rare food. The best cut is not cut; it is best broken. A broken and contrite heart is what the Lord yearns for and takes pleasure in. A repentant sinner feels the heavyheartedness, the deep remorse and the dead weight of sin in his heart. Denial and disregard of sin will lead to sleeplessness, moodiness, darkness, listlessness and ineffectualness.
The word “broken” means more than broken; it means broken in pieces, broken up, brokenhearted or crushed. The word “contrite” is found only in the Psalms and is more biting than the word “broken.” The sensation of soreness is inherent in the Hebrew word “contrite.” David felt aching, hurting and stinging pain in its maximum strength, extreme force, and utmost degree. To the point the heart is in crouching position, shriveled and bent under the weight of sin. The sinner feels sore because his heart is sensitive to sin and tender to God.
Conclusion: Ray Stedman says, “Sin is an insult and an injury to God.” God wants in us a change of heart. Repentance is not repentance until the sinner longs for real change and desires to be a new man, not just for the trouble to go away. God disciplines us when we sin, but He does it not to chastise us, but to chasten and correct His people. To chastise is to inflict punishment (as by whipping), but to chasten is to correct by punishment or suffering. He rids us of excess, pretense, or falsehood. Are you using hot water on yourself when you have sinned? Extra strength liquid? Large-capacity washer? Do you know how serious sin is to God, how sensitive He is to sin and how stern we need to be with sin?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
www.epreaching.blogspot.com
