Psalm 51:6 3/4/18 (Create in Me a Clean Heart #6) YOU DESIRE TRUTH
An amateur genealogical researcher discovered that his great-great uncle, Remus Starr, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription:
Slide: Horse Thief at the gallows pic
“Remus Starr; horse thief; sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887; robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives. Convicted and hanged 1889.”
In a Family History subsequently written by the researcher, (as the story goes) Remus’s picture is cropped so that all that's seen is a head shot. The accompanying biographical sketch is as follows:
“Remus Starr was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1885, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”
Right? That’s stretching the truth beyond recognition, isn’t it? And why? Why are we so tempted to do that – instead of just letting the truth be the truth? That’s where we’re going today and where David is leading us with this verse of his repentance.
Have you ever heard the expression “The Hard Truth”? Why is the truth sometimes “hard”? Because truth is truth. 2+2=4 regardless of how you feel about it.
Slide: 2+2 = 4 pic
A student might protest and say he would feel a lot better if it were 5, but it isn’t going to do him any good.
Or let’s take chemical formulas for instance. I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but there has been a rising movement against dihydrogen monoxide and there has been considerable discussion recently about the dangers of this chemical
Slide: Danger pic
That Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless and odorless, that Accidental inhalation of DHMO may be fatal. That prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage and so on. But did you know that despite all those warnings…
Slide: Dihydrogen Monoxide deliberately sprayed on organic crops
Dihydrogen Monoxide is still being deliberately sprayed on organic crops?
Slide: Rusty pipe pic
I mean, if dihydrogen Monoxide can rust these pipes, just imagine what it can do to your insides. And so, as a responsible citizen you can begin to get concerned and even begin to warn others about this problem.
Slide: Kool aid pic
For instance, did you realize that Kool-aid contains more DHMO than sugar by volume? Advertising companies are even using cartoon mascots to encourage our kids to consume dihydrogen monoxide. So after learning all of this you might even join the movement to ban this chemical from use in America
Slide: Ban diydrogen monoxide T-shirt
But I’m sorry, in order for you to stay alive, you’re still going to have to drink it.
Slide: H20 pic (and hold up water bottle)
‘cause it’s water… Right? Truth is truth. It’s “hard” because it’s not ever going to change no matter what you feel about it. And what David knew from his experience that just as scientific truth is “hard” and mathematical truth is “hard”, so is the moral truth. God is the one who wrote those other laws, God is the one who stands behind all Law. In fact, it’s been said that’s why God gave us the 10 commandments on stone tablets: so that we could keep them or break them, but we couldn’t bend them. They are hard and fast and when we break them there are consequences. And David was feeling those consequences big time when he wrote these words of confession for himself and for us to use in our worship of the true God:
Slide: “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” (Psalms 51:6 NIV)
You know, I’ve given many sermons on truth over the years, Truth with a capital “T”, and there are a lot of ways to objectively look at it, and we’ll do that again together, should the Lord tarry. But this look at truth runs deeper. What David is talking about here is a look deep within yourself for truth. And the truth is that most of us simply don’t like to go there. We don’t like to take an honest look deep inside the “inner parts” of ourselves, because we don’t like what we’ll see.
Slide: You Can’t handle the truth
We too often can’t handle the truth, because a real, honest, look will reveal that we adopted the ways of the world and the wisdom of the world, instead of the Word of the living God. And David is saying he’s done with that. He is confessing that there is something so rotten about himself that he cannot trust himself to be honest with God. After all, he has a history of lying to himself and trying to cover up his sins. He knows he needs a deeper look. We say the same thing often in our worship with this verse:
Slide: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NIV)
I like how the New Living Translation puts it:
Slide: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” (1 John 1:8 NLT)
And folks, that is a dangerous way to live. For instance, I’m not sure it’s possible or desired to get into the head and the inmost thoughts of a Larry Nassar,
Slide: Larry Nassar pic
…but there had to be a moment when he first decided to cross that moral line, and then a moment when he somehow convinced himself that it was o.k. for him to continue to abuse over 250 victims. The Bible says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV) Beyond cure on your own. One of the amazing things to come out of this tragedy is the courage and statements of his victims - none better than the first woman to file a police report against Nassar, Rachael Denhollander.
Slide: Rachael Denhollander pic
She was the last to speak at his sentencing, and delivered this amazing truth toward the end of her statement to Nassar:
“In our early hearings, you brought your Bible into the court, and you have spoken of praying for forgiveness, so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you have read the Bible you carry, you know that the definition of sacrificial love portrayed in it, is of God Himself loving so sacrificially that He gave up everything to pay the penalty for sin He did not commit. By His grace, I too, choose to love, no matter what it costs.
You spoke of praying for forgiveness, but Larry, if you have read the Bible you carry, then you know that forgiveness does not come by doing good things, as if good deeds can wipe out the incredible evil you have committed. It comes from repentance, which requires facing and acknowledging the truth about what you have done, in all its utter depravity and horror. Without mitigation. Without excuse. Without pretending you can cover it with good things. The Bible you carry says it is better for a millstone to be tied around your neck and you [be] thrown into a lake than for you to make even one child stumble. And Larry, you have wounded hundreds of children. The Bible you carry speaks of a final judgment where all of God's wrath, in all its eternal terror, is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the weight of guilt in the face of the horrific evil you committed, will be crushing. And that is what makes the Gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it gives hope and grace where none should be found. And I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt someday, so that it can be followed by true repentance and forgiveness from God.”
Those words were forged in a hard, hard school of pain and deep searching of the Scriptures. I don’t think I have ever read such a good presentation of what it means to repent and what it means to receive true forgiveness. And some I know, also some Christians would never want to see Larry Nassar somehow get to that point where he can tell the truth to himself, see the horror of what he has done, and fall on his knees in true repentance and truly receive forgiveness for what he’s done. They don’t want God to have that kind of Grace for a person like that.
Careful. Because you want Grace for a person like you, don’t you?
Slide: “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” (Psalms 51:6 NIV)
And when you look for truth in the “inner parts” of you, and God teaches you wisdom in the inmost place, what are you going to see? How would you feel right now if I flashed your secret thoughts onto the screen for everybody to see? You know the Lord Jesus dealt with possibly the most religious people who ever lived, the Pharisees of the Judaic faith. One time when they had pointed out somebody else’s flaws, Jesus had had enough, and He told them:
Slide: “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” (Mark 7:6–7 NIV)
Is that the group you want to be in? Worthless worshippers? Then let God deal with Nassar and others you think are unworthy of His Grace, and you plead for it yourself as you pray with King David, “Have mercy on me O God”. This verse and this Psalm folks, is not about other people. When we study this Psalm, we’re not doing it for show. This isn’t pretend, churchy, religious stuff. This is for each one of us to do some serious business with the almighty God. And the question is not whether you have committed adultery or murder or abuse, it is this: have you loved and are you loving God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind? If not, you are a sinner. God demands that of you, and he has a right to demand it of you. The truth is that God is God, not you. He is the maker and owner of heaven and earth. He had the right to judge the earth and reboot it with the catastrophe of the flood. He had the right to judge the earth again by confusing the languages of the people and forcing them to spread out over the earth. He has the absolute right to judge and bring an end to the earth and one day He will. And He will judge you. How do you want that judgment to take place? With you pretending that you’re not so bad, or on your knees confessing your sins and clinging to the cross of Christ? Again, the Bible says, “If we claim to have no sin, we’re only fooling ourselves” BUT…
Slide: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8–9 NIV)
Because the truth is that God has already judged your sins – every evil thing you’ve ever done, said or thought. He judged it in Jesus on the cross. And He paid for it in full. Thank God. Thank God for His love and grace. Thank Him for forgiving somebody like you – and then pray for the courage to forgive the people in your life and then point them to where forgiveness can be found. Amen.
