Learning from David; Heart purity
Psalm 51:1-19
Disclaimer: This sermon was done by personal study and the sermon notes of Melvin Maughmeron brokeness.
Introduction-
Been looking at principals from the Bible.
Last week, we looked at learning from Jesus about Discipleship qualities.
This week we are looking at David, having a pure heart.
A heart that is pleasing to God.
Psalm 51:1-19 Read
Psalm 51 is David’s “response” after the prophet Nathan came to him and confronted him about his affair with Bethsheba.
You know the story.
King David should of been in battle with his army.
Spots on the roof a beautiful girl named Bethsheba.. He lies with her while her husband is at war.
She becomes pregnant.
David gives him opportunity to come back and lie with his wife.
He refuses because of his loyalty to his men and King David.
David puts him out front in battle and he is killed.
David commits a multitude of sins including adultery and murder.
That is what sin does to you. It takes you farther than you want to go. It will take you deeper, it is a snowball that will keep rolling until it destroys you.
That’s why it is bogus for us to believe we can ever have a handle on sin.
Because by the time you realize it is overwhelming you, it is too late.
King David lives with this guilt over a year with what he done with Bethsheba.
Bethsheba is moved into the palace now as his wife.
Psalm 32 records his feelings that he felt as he covered up his snowball sin.
“When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me”
So how did this adulterous king who struggled with guilt and conviction of sin get to the place where God says that David had a heart after God?
How do you get from guilt to restoration?
Listen to me;
Sin in the closet will prevent you from restoration from God.
Sin will keep you from sharing your faith.
Sin will keep you down spiritually.
John Wesley was convinced that living truthfully is a mark of God’s grace in our lives. God is actively at work, moving in and through the messiness of things, illuminating our lives, and prompting our desire to see what is really going on.
Because we are created in God’s image, our destiny is to be restored and having a growing relationship with God.
There are certain things that happened with David:
1. He confesses his need to be cleansed.
2. His heart was open for God to change him.
3. He realized that God has to do it- he cannot do it.
David’s prayer and God’s response only comes after David is broken.
David says God I am sorry
Acknowledges his sin
Ask God to forgive.
God responds to a broken heart.
I read a great sermon from pastor Melvin Maughmer on being broken.
He goes on to say that we talk about being hurt and broken . They are two different things.
We believe that time heals all wounds.
We believe if we get comforting words, a little sympathy, everything will be alright.
We don’t understand why people cannot “just get over it”
Unless you realize that there is a difference between being hurt and being broken.
You will not be able to heal properly and you will not be able to help others through the process
.Hurt:
to affect adversity, to injure, and to feel pain, to become damaged or harmed.
Broken:
Hebrew (Shabar); it means to crush into pieces, shattered, bruised, violated, not functioning properly, disconnected, maltreated, desecrated.
Anybody ever been broken? Can you see the difference
Today people’s lives:
are shattered, hope is stolen,
they are angry about things that happened to them.
There self respect has been taken. There reputation taken. And for some their innocence has been taken.
They are broken
A hurt is a heartbreak.
Things happen where time can be allowed to heal. You miss a few meals, cry a few tears.
“Weeping may endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”
But to be broken is much more than that.
A broken heart can cause you illness.
A broken heart can cause anxiety.
A broken heart can kill you.
Not just being hurt, your broken, you are not functioning properly, your spirit is abused.
You are crushed
Psalm 69:20
“Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but found none.”
Illustration- (S/Central)
There is not anyone here I believe that has not at some point in there life dropped a cup or a vase and a piece of it chips off, you get out the super glue and glue the piece back in and after a little time you can’t tell that the cup or vase was even damaged, you can continue to use it for whatever reason you used it for in the first place, it will hold water, coffee or what ever you put into it, it was damaged, hurt. But it’s okay now.
If you broke it, you shattered it into a lot a little pieces, there is no way that you can put it back together again, because some of the pieces you are unable to find, and even if you try to put it back the pieces don’t fit together properly, they may look like they belong together, but once you put it back together you find out that it’s not in the proper place. I don’t care how much glue and duct tape you use, you can tell it is broken. You can see that it cannot any longer handle the pressure. It was shattered right down to it’s very essence. It is broken.
David is at that point .
He cannot fix it. He is a broken vessel, only God can fix this.
All the fixing you think you can do will only bring the sides in under the pressure.
The first step is confession and realizing that there is a problem, not afraid to admit it to God.
Others may be hurt by our sin, but ultimately we sin against God
Proverbs 28:
“He who covers his sin will not prosper but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”
With his confessed sin and knowing that God has forgiven his confessed sin.
David is ready to live his life for the ‘Lord.
We need to submit ourselves to God so that He is able to do what he needs to do to cleanse and change our hearts.
David realized that it was not enough to have his sins forgiven, he wanted God to change his heart, his attitude, his feelings, and ultimately his life.
Honesty to God. Truthfulness of where you are at . Pure heart. Pure motive, pure love.
V10-
“Create in me a clean heart O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit” (NRSV) new revised standard.
Create in me a clean heart
Put a right spirit in me.
Restore within me joy and a willing spirit.
I do not have the power to change my life God, so you have to do it.
Rev. Cohen (Chosen People Ministries) told me that it is customary for Jews to throw bread into the Ocean. It is so the fish can eat their sins. Only Jesus can forgive sin.
Only Jesus can take the guilt away and restore a right relationship with God.
“Against you , you alone, have I sinned”
Illustration-
Last week my Oscar fish bite me. It was the first time. I was putting the food in the palm of my hand and ready to drip it in , he bit me. He bit the hand that feeds him. Without me, he has no way of living, he cannot sustain life without me. I think that is sometimes what we do with God, without him we cannot sustain a happy fulfilling life. He is the one that supplies our needs one way or another. Sometimes , we bite the hand that feeds us, sometimes we nip and attack, we cannot really hurt God, but it does tell us where our heart really is.
David says., I have sinned against you, I know you’ve forgiven me, but I want you to cleanse from me sin that I do not even want to hurt you or disappoint you.
Bring it home-
God did it for King David and he can do it for you.
He is willing to do it for us if we let Him.
“Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17)
David pleads with God for forgiveness and renewal.
He asks for transformation.
A changing.
John Wesley calls renewing Grace.
Sacrifice without repentance is worthless. The animal sacrificed gave all to be on that altar.
V15-
“O Lord open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering , you will not be pleased.”
V17-
“The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken Spirit, a broken and contrite heart”
God has to crush the old you, you have to acknowledge sin and your need for God.
He forgives you, creates a new heart.
We need to know who we are in Christ, and be who we are suppose to be.
You cannot balance the scales. Let God have you this morning.
Open every closet door, bring the junk from the basement and throw it out.
Born with a small trash bag, everyday we put more trash in and wonder why we are burdened down and not living a joyful and productive life for Christ. It is time to take out the garbage.
Altar Call
you were shattered, broken in many pieces, not good for anything,
but today you can be a new creation in Christ.
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
