Purpose: To describe what godly repentance is.
Aim: I want the listener to pray properly when they sin.
INTRODUCTION: We have all failed God. We have all felt like failures. What should we do when we come face to face with our own failures? Jesus said we should come to Him: Matthew 11:28-30 28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (NAU)
The problem is that we don’t want to come to Jesus when we feel dirty. This may be the same reason why some people stay away from worshipping God. They don’t feel ready or worthy to worship God so they stay away.
What should failures do? David is a good example. His failure was great. He lusted after a beautiful woman. Then he let that lust grow until he slept with her. When she got pregnant he conspired to have that woman’s husband killed so that he could take her has his wife. After her husband was dead David thought that everything was neatly covered up.
For one full year David lived in denial. God gave David one year to repent of his sin on his own. He felt bad about his sin, but he did not deal with it. It wasn’t until the prophet Nathan confronted David with his sin that he repented. David wasted a whole year of his life. I wonder how much time each of us has wasted because we were waiting until we FELT ready to worship God instead of dealing with our sin as soon as we recognized it.
What should we do when we don’t feel worthy to come to God? David’s prayer is divided into five paragraphs. Each one teaches us an important step in coming back to God. By the way, this process is easier the sooner we practice it after we sin. If David had quickly repented after he discovered lust in his heart, his repentance would have been much easier. The longer we put off repenting, the more repenting we will have to do.
➽Vs.1-4 I. Ask God for Forgiveness
HOW do we ask God for forgiveness?
➽Vs.1a A. Look for grace alone "Gracious...lovingkindness...compassion"
David is not even thinking about his good works. He doesn’t mention killing Goliath, his patience with Saul, or how many Psalms he has written. Past service for God does not excuse present sin.
Our pride leads us to works that we can do to help pay for our sin. Grace, on the other hand, shows us that we can’t do anything to pay for our failures. Even feeling guilt does not make us acceptable to God. Guilt helps reveal the problem, but it is not part of the solution. Feeling bad about our sin does nothing to solve it. This is why David said, Psalm 32:3-4 3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. (NAU)
➽Vs.1b-3 B. Expect complete forgiveness "blot out...wash me...cleanse me"
Vs.1b-2 Not one time in this Psalm does David mention his sin with Bathsheba and her husband. David was not just confessing his sin with Bathsheba--that sin merely revealed the cesspool of idols that were swirling underneath the surface of his life.
Vs.3 We must repent of ALL of our sin, not just the sin that may be bothering us at the moment. David’s problem wasn’t adultery and murder; it was the desires of his heart that drove him to adultery and murder. David loved his own pleasure more than he loved God’s holiness.
"The hypocrite is content if his garments be washed; but the true [petitioner] cries, ’wash me.’" Charles Spurgeon
If we don’t look for the heart attitudes that led us into sin, then we are letting a boil heal on the surface without draining the infection that is underneath. Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. (NAU)
There’s a Spanish story of a father and son who were on bad terms. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: "Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you, Your Father."
On Saturday 800 sons named Paco showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers. [1]
The grace of God is enough to completely heal the wounds that sin has caused. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NAU)
Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (NAU)
➽Vs.4 C. Realize that sin insults God "Against you...I have sinned"
The shame of sin is NOT what results from sin. "Many a murderer is more alarmed at the gallows than at the murder which brought him to it." Charles Spurgeon
When Joseph was sexually tempted by his boss’s wife in Egypt, he said: Genesis 39:9...How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" (NAU)
The shame of sin is NOT that we have hurt someone else, or that we have made a fool out of ourselves, but that the God who loves us and gave Himself for us has been hurt.
We need to be sorry that God is sorry. The results of sin are terrible, but they are only the symptoms. David’s new born son had died, but the real tragedy was that the character of a loving God had been insulted.
➽Vs.5-9 II. Admit Your Lack of Holiness
➽Vs.5 A. Your nature is to sin "brought forth in iniquity"
David was NOT talking about any sin that his parents had. David was admitting that it is his nature to sin. We are not basically good. We are basically bad.
This is what Paul teaches in Romans 5:19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners... (NAU)
When we sin it isn’t just a "slip-up" we are revealing our sinful nature.
➽Vs.6 B. Surface holiness is not enough "truth in the innermost being"
Some years ago a remarkable picture was on exhibit in London. As you looked at it from a distance, you seemed to see a monk engaged in prayer, his hands clasped, his head bowed. As you can nearer, however, and examined the painting more closely, you saw that in reality he was squeezing a lemon into a punch bowl![2] What a picture that is of the human heart! Things might look good from a distance, but God sees what we are really like.
1 Samuel 16:7 ... God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (NAU)
What does God see when He looks at our hearts? Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick... (NAU)
This problem can only be solved by a correct view of God. Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (NAU)
Proverbs 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. (NAU)
Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility. (NAU)
➽Vs.7-9 C. Radical cleansing is required "Purify me...Wash me...Make me"
Vs.7 The truth is that absolute perfection is the only way to satisfy God. Jesus said, Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 NAU).
Many times we think of ourselves as a piece of fine china that has a small piece that has been broken off. David understood that he was morally shattered beyond repair. He needed an extreme makeover.
Only the blood of Christ can make us pure from the inside out. Hebrews 9:19-22 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." 21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (NAU)
A beautiful blanket of snow is just as white on the inside as it is on the surface.
The blood of the Passover Lamb was applied with hyssop. Hyssop was a small plant that grows out of rocks and walls and is about 18" long. It was an ordinary plant with a clump of flowers on the end that could be used like a paint brush. Jesus came as an ordinary man who shed His blood for our sin. When we surrender to His grace He applies His forgiveness to our hearts.
Our attempts at change are worthless. Jeremiah 2:22 "Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your iniquity is before Me," declares the Lord God. (NAU)
God, on the other hand, can do the impossible. God’s pardon is perfect. Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. (NAU)
Vs.8-9 Our attempts at making ourselves better lead to pride and discouragement. Psalm 69:20 Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. (NAU)
The result of God’s forgiveness is always great joy. Matthew 9:2 2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven." (NAU) Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (NAU)
Human grief only brings more grief. Godly sorrow brings joy. 2 Corinthians 7:10-1a 10 For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].11 For [you can look back now and] observe what this same godly sorrow has done for you and has produced in you: what eagerness and earnest care ... (AMP)
Paul loved to talk about the Cross because it did the impossible. Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ... (NAU) Colossians 2:14 having canceled out [or blotted out] the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (NAU)
CONCLUSION: CS Lewis said, "We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin... But, mere time does nothing either to the fact or guilt of sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ."
How long has it been since you asked the Lord to forgive your sin? Are you carrying a load of guilt? Humble yourself before the Lord and claim the forgiveness He has already paid for.
He shed tears for those that shed His blood. Thomas Watson [3]
[1]Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, Page 13
[2]Moody’s Anecdotes, p. 69
[3]Thomas, I. (1996). The golden treasury of Puritan quotations. Includes index of authors. General index created by Christian Clasics Foundation. (electronic ed.). Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation.
