Restore My Heart
Psalm 51
June 17, 2018
On Father’s Day I like to talk about a man of the Bible we need to know more about. A man who is a little more obscure, but today, I wanted to talk about someone we have all heard of and maybe know some of his story. But this man did something really, really sinful. His sin was great!! Yet, he was loved by God.
He committed sins you wouldn't expect a good man to commit. It wasn’t one of those, ‘oops, I spoke before my brain kicked into high gear.’ He didn’t gossip or anything kind of plain and simple. Actually, each aspect of his sin grew in its premeditation. This was a premeditated sin. He thought it up and planned it. Yet, he didn’t go looking for it.
His life may work for a reality TV program. His actions destroyed lives, yet somehow, he was not ruined by his sin.
I’m not sure if you’ve guessed who I’m talking about . . . But it’s King David. David is the guy who God said “is a man after my own heart.” He's a guy, who as a younger teen, ignored those who didn’t believe in him, and went against the giant Goliath, and killed him. He’s the guy who was chased and made all of the right decisions. Ultimately becoming king! And he’s the guy who wrote the most famous of Psalms, Psalm 23. But that’s not the psalm we’re looking at today.
The story goes like this ~
Believe it or not - - they had seasons when they went to war with their enemies. David always led his soldiers into battle . . . so with that in mind, let’s hear the story as it is found in 2 Samuel 11. It’s a simple 5 verse beginning ~
1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war,
David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.
They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace.
From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she went back home.
5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” – 2 Samuel 11:1-5
Now, remember, David is king of the most powerful nation of the world. He has more than one wife. So, to find out about her is not the worst thing he could do. But once he found out she was married. That’s where the story should have ended.
David had Bathseba visit the palace . . . and well, we know the rest of the story from there.
Now, David’s all freaked out. He’s committed adultery - - and now she’s pregnant. What should he do? Well, David thought up a great and devious plan.
Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, was where David was supposed to be. He was off at war. So, David called for Uriah to come home from the battle and what man wouldn’t want to sleep with his wife after being away at war? Afterwards, nobody would know David was guilty. Great plan David!!!
But Uriah was more honorable than David. Scripture tells us he slept at the entrance of his home, with the servants. Why? Because how could he enjoy himself when all of his buddies are at war. The next night David got Uriah drunk and that didn’t work either. He slept again with his servants.
David had to be super frustrated. And we read this ~
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest.
Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
So, Uriah carried his death sentence letter to the commander, handed it to him, and Joab followed orders and Uriah was killed in battle.
Eventually, David married Bathsheba. No one in Israel knew the story behind the story, but the Bible says...
27 The Lord was very displeased with what David had done. – 2 Samuel 11:27
In the next chapter of the Bible, a prophet named Nathan came to David and confronted him with his sin. Nathan laid it all out there for David, telling him how wrong he was. David made only one comment ~
13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” – 2 Samuel 12:13
That’s the start to where he wanted to get to. In the end, to make matters worse, David and Bathsheba's newborn child was very sick, and Nathan said it was all David's fault - - and told David, "Because of what you have done, this baby will die."
Imagine how David felt about that. He couldn't hide it any longer. He had blown it in a big way, and he couldn’t live with himself with what he did. Really, David wasn’t a bad guy. He was an honorable man, but, he failed on this one.
Have you ever been there on that one? You’re a good person, but somewhere along the way you made a huge mistake. You sinned big time and you’ve tried to ignore that sin and keep living life, but there always seems to be something that gets in the way. Well, in the rest of the message, I want to show you what David did, and maybe it’s something you need to do as well, since we have a great God who loves us and wants us to come to Him.
When something like this happens which is your fault ~
We can admit it, and move on and do nothing about it.
We can blame someone else for our sinfulness. OR
We can admit it, repent, and draw closer to God as we pray for forgiveness.
Why was David a man after God’s own heart? Because of things like what he did. He wrote Psalm 51, an amazing psalm of repentance over his affair with Bathsheba.
David did a few things which we can learn from ~
Firstly, David admitted his sinfulness. Listen to the words he wrote to God ~
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. – Psalm 51:1-4
Psalm 51 is a deep heartfelt prayer from David to God. It’s written from the heart. David knew he sinned. He could have blamed Bathsheba for taking a night time bath. He could have blamed her for saying yes. He could have blamed Joab, his commander, because he trained the soldiers so well, David knew he didn’t need to go to the battle. He could have blamed Uriah for being too pious. David didn’t do any of that.
He looked at God and said, Lord, I blew it. I sinned. I not only sinned against the world, but most importantly, I sinned against you. Notice that in verse 4 he said, “Against you, you only have I sinned.”
David asked God to ~
blot out his transgressions.
Cleanse him / wash him from his sin.
He admitted his sin continues to stare him in the face.
Against God, David sinned. And
God would be just to enact judgment against him.
Part of the power and beauty of this psalm is David’s raw honesty. We admire it. And we’re called to do the same when we blow it. David committed adultery, he schemed and lied and ultimately committed murder. Those are serious sins.
David sought God’s forgiveness. He didn’t make excuses, he admitted his wrongdoing and sought God’s presence.
We all know people, and maybe we’ve been there a time or two, when our attitude didn’t reflect our sorrow at the sin we committed, instead we gave an attitude because we were caught. We never had a change of heart.
Remember, repentance is all about changing your heart, it’s turning from the sin you’ve committed and making it right.
To often, we justify our sin. We pretend it's not so bad. We explain why our circumstances are different. Why our sin . . . really isn’t sin. As long as we maintain this defiant attitude we can never be completely right with God. Getting right requires admitting our sinfulness and having a change of heart.
I think most parents look at their kids at some point after they’ve done something wrong, and ask ~ Are you sorry you did it, or are you sorry you got caught?
A change of heart means we're sorry we did it, regardless of who knows or doesn't know about our sin.
Have you ever noticed how we gladly take credit for our accomplishments, but we often blame our failures on extenuating circumstances or on other people?
How many times have you heard someone say something like, “I'm sorry I lost my temper. It's because I'm so tired . . . I'm under so much pressure . . . people were getting on my nerves . . . I’ve been sick.”
We tend to place blame somewhere else when we mess up or sin. It’s not easy to accept responsibility for our sinfulness . . . or even for our mistakes. But we must do this if we want to stay connected to God. You need to change our thinking and mindset about who is in control of our lives. We can’t blame others, we have to accept responsibility for our actions.
This is why David confessed his sinfulness to God. Again verse 4 is the key! He had told Nathan, he sinned against God, and when he wrote his prayer to God, David said the same thing.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, – Psalm 51:4
It was evil and sinful to Bathsheba. It was sinful to that child. It was sinful to Uriah and his family and friends. David knew it . . . and ultimately, his sin was against God. Every time we sin - publicly and privately it is a sin against God.
It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be a comment made to someone who doesn’t get that you’ve just put them down. It could be a way of self-medicating yourself, alcohol, drugs, food, porn, bitterness, self-righteousness, self-centeredness, hoarding your material blessings . . . Whatever it is, it is sin. And until we admit it and confess, we’re going to be stuck in that sin, with a fractured relationship with God.
David said he and he alone was responsible for what happened.
And David asked God to cleanse him. He wanted to come clean and be healed. That sin was weighing him down and he wanted freedom. Freedom to fully worship, freedom to fully live again.
So, listen to what David asked of God ~
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Do you hear what David is asking God to do for him?
PURGE ME WASH ME
CLEAN ME BLOT AWAY MY SIN
CREATE A CLEAN HEART
RESTORE JOY
RESTORE YOUR SPIRIT
Getting our relationship right with God takes work on our part. And David has the perfect prescription for us.
He admitted his sinfulness
He confessed his sinfulness
He wanted cleansing.
He wanted a right relationship with God.
David wanted things to be right with God. Sometimes we want it, but we aren’t willing to open our heart, spirit and mind to God’s leading, His presence and power.
This is so crucial. David was ready and willing to experience whatever God had for him. Whatever judgment God would put upon David, David was willing to accept, so that he could have a renewed and restored relationship with God.
Because of this - - David says this ~
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
You see, God didn’t close David’s lips, David’s lips were closed because he couldn’t worship God without repenting. His heart and spirit were so broken there was no way around it. So, David’s prayer was for God to cleanse him and restore him, and then he could praise God once again. He could sing and dance and celebrate his restored relationship with God.
He would help others to see the foolishness of their sin, he would encourage them to repent and turn back to God and he would celebrate it all.
Finally, David reminds us of what God wants from us. These are powerful words from the man who greatly sinned against God, yet found healing ~
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. – Psalm 51
Friends, that’s the power and the beauty of what God wants from us. IF we are willing . . . we can come to God, drawing nearer to His throne of grace and mercy.
God doesn’t want idle sacrifices that mean nothing. God doesn’t care about sacrifices which are not from the heart. When they mean nothing to us, when we throw some loose pocket change God’s way, that’s not what God is after in our lives.
Instead, what God wants is what verse 17 tells us. The sacrifices God wants from us are a spirit which is broken, a spirit which is filled with humility. And a heart which is filled A spirit which can admit that god is God and we are not. A spirit which can admit I’ve done wrong. I spirit which can state against you God have I sinned.
The Hebrews word for contrite literally means TO CRUSH. That’s what happens to us. Our spirit is broken and our heart is crushed. That’s part of our drawing near to the heart of God. That’s what God is calling and wanting us to do.
When you blow it, you need to repent. Repentance is more than just feeling bad and admitting you sinned. True repentance means you turn away from the sin. You confess it and you fix what was wrong. Repentance removes our guilt.
If you've blown it, you need to get past feeling guilty and get back on track. And there's only one way to make that happen: Ask God to help you change your heart, spirit and mind. Change your direction so that you can again experience the joy of his presence.
You can mess up your life without anyone's help, but it takes an act of God to make things right again. The good news of the gospel is that God is ready to make things right for you today.
