David’s Repentance
2 Samuel 11-12
Psalm 51
Tell the Story David in Jerusalem
Bathsheba on roof
Uriah
David marries B
Nathan’s story – Poor man with pet sheep…
“You are the Man”
“I have sinned against the Lord”
I think that we all get to that point in our faith at one time or another – it might not be as disastrous a sin as adultery and murder, but at some point we hear the words “you are the man” and they strike deep with in us – we look at ourselves and are horrified at what we’ve done, who we’ve become.
At that point we are ready for repentance – turning our hearts back to God. In the story, David says “I have sinned against the Lord.” But in the psalms we find out that those words were just the beginning: true to form, David wrote a song to sing out his grief and shock and his desire to return to God. We have this song in Psalm 51 – the words, not the music. And it teaches us how to respond when we are drawn into repentance.
Read Psalm 51
1- YOUR unfailing love, YOUR great compassion - focus is not on the sin necessarily, but on God and his goodness
– English is not getting the depths of these words – the passion that God has for his people
Romans 2:4 “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.”
We often think that it is God’s judgment that leads us to repentance – we know he is angry, and we want to duck the lightning bolt. But that is not it – true repentance comes from knowing the goodness of God.
2- the image of stained clothes that need to be washed over and over again to come clean – he needs a miracle wash!
3-6 – no excuses
Against you and you only – what about Uriah?
David is seeing the big picture – his slide into self-serving lust and deceit and murder, began with a slide away from God, and at its core the whole misadventure was flouting God from beginning to end.
Last week I talked about how David stepped away from serving God to acting like he was god. Many people were hurt in the process, some killed, but David’s greatest sin was unfaithfulness to God.
It is so easy to have a higher view of ourselves than we should – when caught in a sin, even when we are guilt wracked, we will often hear ourselves saying, “I don’t know what came over me, that is not who I am.” We want to believe, that at the core, we are not the kind of person who would do such a thing.
David will have none of that – “this is exactly who I am.” He says – I was sinfull at the start – it wasn’t that I was acting out of character, this sin just showed up how screwed up my character is.
We can be full of excuses and explanations – I was tired, caught off guard, I was drunk & didn’t know what I was doing, my spouse isn’t treating me right….
David will have none of that – “It’s me, I did it, I’m at fault, I am faulty.”
Rihanna has this song that’s out right now called “Take a Bow.” The picture is her boyfriend standing outside her window crying and apologizing for being unfaithful…again.
Rihanna is saying that he’s putting on a lovely show, but she’s not buying it.
The line is, “And don’t tell me you’re sorry ‘cause you’re not
Baby when I know you’re only sorry you got caught.
This is not David – he’s actually glad he got caught – no excuses, no explanations, just a full and complete confession.
A confession of his sin, a confession of his bent character.
I’m Broken, I’m Broke, fix me.
He begs God to cleanse him with Hysop – it was part of the ritual of the priest declaring a healed leper clean. David is not saying he made a slip, he is saying he is diseased – unclean as a leper & he’s asking for healing and purification – He wants his character fumigated.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow
Let the bones you have crushed rise up and dance
1 Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD "—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 51 says it is God that crushed him – true repentance is a gift from God
Don’t hide your face from me – hide your face from my sin
Don’t blot me out – blot out all my iniquity
Remake me 10-12
In these verses, he says that he doesn’t just want this sin removed, he wants his sinful nature changed.
Just as he has said that he is rotten to the core, He wants God to renew him from the core
Create in me a clean heart/grant me a willing Spirit
Ezekiel’s promise of a new heart
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:25-27
- promise is fulfilled in Jesus
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me
- center of the psalm – it is not about ducking the lightning bolt, it is about relationship – David’s relationship with God is so precious to him – he can’t bear to lose it.
The goodness of the Holy Spirit – the good thing now is that it is not just kings and prophets who have the Holy Spirit, but everyone who is a Christian.
If you are not passionate about keeping the indwelling of the Spirit in your life, you need to dive deeper into the experience of the Spirit. David doesn’t beg to keep his kingdom, his power, his wives, his possessions… he begs to keep the presence of the Spirit – the Spirit is that good – we need to experience that goodness – we need to be continually filled with the Spirit.
13-16 – David’s mouth has been shut by his sin and its guilt. David literally wrote the book on worship. The worshiper of all time has been silenced by his own guilt. He begs God to remove his guilt so that he can get back to what he does best – worship. “Open my lips, and I will sing your praise.”
16-17
Not ritual, but a broken heart
My experience buying flowers for Pam – the check out lady said “Oh what did you do?!” I didn’t do anything wrong, I was trying to do something right!
Sorry flowers look pretty thin if there is no real sorry behind them.
God is not too impressed with sacrifice or extravagant giving if it is just there to cover a heart that is far from him.
In another place, God says; “"The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.” - Isaiah 1:11
You can’t buy God off – give enough to him to make it all go away… he already owns everything – you can’t give him what he already owns!
In verse 19, David promises God Sacrifice, but it is ritual out of a heart that is connected, not as a way of placating a hungry God.
This is repentance – a focus on God and his mercy, a focus on healing the broken relationship, a brokenness over who you are and what you have done.
The good news is that God does not leave us to wallow in our guilt – he wants a restored relationship as much as we do: even more than we do!
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - Offer confession time
