There’s a modern-day proverb that says: “To err is human. And so is denying responsibility and avoiding an admission of guilt.” Why is it so tough to own up to our mistakes? There’s nothing new or modern about sin and the need for repentance. Tonight, we will look at perhaps the most classic expression of repentance in all of Scripture in Psalm 51. PRAYER
There was once a family consisting of a father, mother, and a preschool son and daughter. This young family decided to take a vacation somewhere off the beaten path. They reserved a cabin several miles off the paved road. They were to stay a week. By the end of the 2nd day, the small garbage container was filled and overflowing. So, the father drove 20 miles to the nearest hardware store and bought a larger trash can.
All was well until the 5th day when the new can was running over. The family put the trash can in the closet, out of sight, but the smell came through the door. Clearly, they couldn’t leave the garbage where it was. It would make the family sick.
What to do? They could leave it behind but their lease didn’t permit that. They couldn’t take it with them either. There was no room in the car. Besides, the smell was terrible. The mother looked called a disposal company and someone came and removed the garbage and took it off their hands.
Guilt is a lot like the garbage in this story. If left, it will overflow our containers. It can only be hidden so long before it makes itself known. TO get rid of it we need to go outside ourselves and get help from Someone who specializes in forgiveness. This isn’t something we can take care of by ourselves. The Lord is that Someone who is in the forgiveness business.
For God to come in and remove our sin, our garbage, we have to come to the place of (1) recognizing we have a garbage problem, (2) acknowledge that we can’t handle our problem ourselves, and (3) turning the garbage of our life over to God, asking Him to remove it.
Psalm 51 is a cry to God for forgiveness, a cry to remove the garbage. That is, the event that led to David writing this Psalm is his guilt over his sin with Bathsheba.
Most of you know the story of David and how he committed adultery with Bathsheba. You might remember that while Bathsheba’s husband was fighting a battle for King David, David looked out from his balcony one evening and saw beautiful Bathsheba bathing. And he desired her. In the end, David committed adultery with her. Sometime afterwards, the prophet Nathan was sent by God to cause David to realize his sin. READ 2 Samuel 12:1-14. It was in the midst of all this that David wrote the 51st Psalm.
Psalm 32 is the companion Psalm that expresses joy over the answer to that cry for forgiveness. Ps. 32:1 says, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”
The Book of Psalms was the hymnal of the community in the Old Testament, and it was the hymnal of the early church following the death and resurrection of Jesus. Many of the Psalms have superscriptions. Explain. These were notes to the musicians. The superscriptions were written later than the psalms themselves and reflect Jewish traditions about them. The term, “Of David,” in the superscription to Ps. 51 can mean more than one things. “Belonging to David,” “Dedicated to David,” “Authored by David,” or “With respect to David.” The superscription attached to Psalm 51 reflects a Jewish tradition that acclaimed it as a psalm that is related to David’s sense of guilt over his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.
There’s more than one way to say things. Let’s look at a couple of them in verses 1 & 2. READ. David uses the terms transgression, iniquity, and sin to say basically the same thing. Transgression is rebellion or willful disobedience. An example of this would be the private slapping the general in the face. Iniquity is crookedness that comes from a creature who has been warped by the fall. Sin is missing the mark that God set for us. IT may be that the psalmist is using the three terms for poetic reasons and intentionally is using them as synonyms. But it may also be that the writer is using all three words to describe his sin from different points of view.
David’s sin of adultery was a slap in the face of God, a willful disobedience, crookedness that came out of David’s warped character, and a missing of the mark set by God.
In the same Way in these 2 verses, forgiveness is also described by three different terms. “Blot out,” “wash,” and “cleanse.” Blot out refers to removal from a record of some kind. Wash calls to mind the washing of clothes by treading. Cleanse is to render guiltless, to acquit, or to go unpunished.
In verses 3-6, a further description of David’s guilt and sinful condition is given. READ. Looking specifically at verse 4, let’s answer some questions:
1. What were David’s crimes?
2. Was David suggesting he had no responsibility to Bathsheba and the larger community, but just to God?
3. What does this verse tell us about the nature of sin?
4. Why does the psalm suggest that every sin is a sin against God?
5. Is there such a thing as a “victimless crime?”
6. How does this passage offer a model for confession for us today?
Now let’s look at a breakdown of three prayers. Let’s look at verses 7 & 9. READ. This is a prayer for God’s forgiveness.
1. What does the writer want?
2. What image do these verses use?
3. What feelings do these verses evoke?
Look at verse 8 READ. This is a prayer for the return of gladness.
1. What does the writer want?
2. What image does this verse use?
3. What feeling does this verse evoke?
Look at verses 10-12. READ. This is prayer for a new start.
1. What does the writer want?
2. What image do these verses use?
3. What feelings do these verses evoke?
In verses 13-17, the psalmist solemnly vows to share with the world the ways of God. READ.
Does this seem like a sincere declaration or does it seem like “foxhole religion?” (Oh God, get me out of this mess, and I’ll do whatever you want, even foreign mission!)
What is the motivation for such a fervent promise?
At what point do you personally surrender to “a broken and contrite heart.”
The chances are that everyone here tonight has asked God for forgiveness at one time or another. But how often have we repeated the same transgression? Not only was the psalmist apparently quite serious about asking forgiveness for sins committed in the past, but also he was intent on setting a new course for the future. He asked God to create in him a pure heart—to make something brand new at the center of his life. Our prayers should ask the same thing.
So many times I have heard that people wouldn’t mind sharing Christ with the world if someone would just show us a method or give us a tool to use. Psalm 51 offers us a simple, useful tool for experiencing and sharing the gospel.
? A person recognizes that his or her actions have brought separation from God and other.
? The person asks God to forgive and restore him or her.
? The Spirit of God delivers an affirmation of grace and acceptance.
? The person is not content to just feel “off the hook” for his or her sin. They want to be reshaped and directed by God, to follow the ways of Christ in all the avenues of life. This newfound feeling causes a lot of joy in the person’s life and a desire to tell people about the source of the joy.
Make a note to read this psalm again and this time insert your name every time it says “me” or “my.”
Let’s close with prayer and pray that today would be a day for asking God to create new hearts and anew future for each of us and to kindle in each heart a desire to share this joy with others.
