How To Come Back When You’re Down
By
Gary MacDonald
Everybody sins. But the Christian has a unique place to turn that will take him past his sin and on to forgiveness.
Read Scripture Passage: Psalm 51
The devil tempts you to sin by suggesting to you that, "You can get away with it." Then, after tempting you to sin, he spends his time accusing you with, "You’ll never get away with it!" He wants you down and discouraged, thinking that you will never ever be able to get back up again. But the Bible tells you how to get back up after you’ve been knocked down.
David committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba. Then, while trying to cover up this first sin, he made matters worse and compounded his problem by committing murder. It was only after he was confronted with his sin that David repented, thus writing Psalm 51, the psalm of the repentant. That Psalm expresses the need of a believer, from his heart, to be right with God.
The Capability of Sin in the Believer
When you get saved it doesn’t mean you lose the capacity to sin. We are all sinners, and we never completely overcome our nature to sin as long as we’re still here on earth. 1 John reminds us that if we think we have defeated all sin in our lives, we are deceiving ourselves. But many times sin in the believer is an unexpected opportunity from an undetected weakness. The sin doesn’t take away our salvation that God has given us, but it can knock us down spiritually and emotionally. Sin brings suffering. Your eternal security doesn’t offer you protection from temptation. As long as you live on this earth, you will be capable of sinning.
The Consequences of Sin in the Believer
When David wrote Psalm 51, he began with the words, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin".
David knew that sin had consequences, and those consequences were taking a toll on his life.
Sin Soils the Soul
The first thing sin does in the life of the child of God is to soil his soul. David asks God to wash him because he felt dirty. He wasn’t dirty on the outside, but on the inside he had a filthy soul. If you’re a Christian, sin will make you feel dirty. Now, if you don’t belong to the Lord, sin doesn’t really bother you. If you rebuke a non-Christian for taking the Lord’s name in vain, he’ll say, "What’s wrong with that?" He has no difficulty with sin. Sin comes naturally to him. He’ll leap into sin and love it. But a Christian loathes being dirty with sin. That’s why David asks God to cleanse him.
Sin Saturates the Mind
Another thing sin does is saturate the mind. Notice what David says in verse 3: "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." Night and day, the evil thing David had done echoed through his conscience. He could not get rid of it. It had left a wound in his mind, and the Holy Spirit was there to remind him of his sin and his need for forgiveness. Again, that is a difference between a child of God and a child of Satan. A non-believer can sin and forget about it, but a believer will have that sin rattling around in their subconscious. It will show up as an inability to concentrate, or an inability to pray, or as an irritable temper. The sin is ever before them.
I think there are two kinds of wounds that come to the human mind. One is guilt and the other is sorrow. I recently spoke with a woman whose husband had passed away, and she was wounded with sorrow. It was a deep wound, but it was clean. It will heal. I have also spoken recently with a man who has done his wife a grave wrong, and the guilt of his sin has created a dirty wound that I believe will fester until it is cleansed. That man will continue to have that sin before him until he deals with it before God. Sin not only soils the soul, but saturates the mind.
Sin Pricks the Conscience
"Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight" (v. 4). David is conscience-stricken. He cries out against the sin, knowing that he has done evil before a holy God. You see, David not only sinned against his family and his wife, but against God. David saw sin as an insult to the Holy God who loved him and had redeemed him.
If you are merely afraid of the punishment for your sin, you had better carefully consider your salvation. As a child of God, you don’t just weep over your sin because you are going to be punished, but because you have disgraced God. That’s the difference between a slave of God and a son of God. A slave fears the master’s lash; a son fears the father’s displeasure. When we sin against God, we break His heart, and that should bother us.
Sin Saddens the Heart
"Let me to hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation . . ." (vv. 8, and 12). David does not ask to have his salvation restored, because sin doesn’t cause us to lose our salvation. Instead, he asks for his joy to be restored, for sin saps us of our joy. If you fall into sin, you can be saved and still be miserable. The most unhappy man on earth is not the unsaved sinner. He’s living it up, having a ball, and enjoying the pleasure of sin. But the child of God who is out of fellowship due to sin is truly miserable. When you became a Christian, you were not changed so that you can no longer sin, but you were changed so that you can no longer enjoy it as you used to.
If you want to know if someone is a back-slider, look at his joy. Does he have joy in his heart? If not, you can bet he has sin in his life. Christians are to have joy at all times. We are to rejoice in the Lord always, even during tough times. Joy does best in difficult circumstances. Short-term happiness may depend on what happens, but true joy depends on Jesus. Our joy doesn’t disappear when bad things happen, because our joy doesn’t depend on things happening. We don’t lose our joy over an ungodly government, because the government doesn’t give us our joy. We have joy because our sin has been taken away. God’s joy won’t take away all our pain in this life, but it will help us to endure it. If the joy is missing from your life, that’s because something has gotten in the way of your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sin Sickens the Body
Going back to verse 8 for a moment. "Let me to hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice". David doesn’t mean that the Lord literally broke his bones, but rather that he is crushed in his spirit. God doesn’t cast us off when we sin; He squeezes us tighter! Cos’ he loves us so much! And I know, I personally have been crushed by my sin to the point of actually being physically sick. As a Christian, the pressure of sin can sicken your body. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:30, reminded the believers that those who partook of the Lord’s table in a cavalier manner could become sick. That’s what sin can do in your life. Without your joy, without the peace that comes from being close to God, you can just become sick. You cannot experience the joy of the Lord if you are walking away from God.
Sin Sours the Spirit
"Create in me a pure heart, O God; and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (v. 10). David had a wrong spirit. I have seen that in back-slidden Christians. The most sour, cantankerous, abusive people I’ve ever met are backsliders. They are miserable on the inside, so they try to push their misery off on to others. They are usually the most critical people in the church, finding fault with everything. A perfect example can be found in David’s response to Nathan. The prophet came to David and told a story of a poor man who had a pet lamb that was like his only child, even eating from his table. Next door was a very rich man who had hundreds of sheep. But when a stranger stopped by, the rich man had the poor man’s lamb killed and fed to the stranger. What should happen? I can see David livid with rage. He jumps from his throne, clenches his fists, and orders the rich man to pay four-fold. Then Nathan springs his trap: You are the rich man, David. Bathsheba was the lamb that was stolen. David was angry because his sin had made his spirit sour. He was quick to judge the small sin in the lives of others because he carried great sin on his own shoulders. Sin sours the spirit and makes us critical, judgmental people.
Sin Seals the Lips
When you become a Christian, God gives you new lips!? What do I mean by that? Well when I became a Christian, when I asked God for forgiveness, God forgave me for all the sins that I had committed, not only in the past but all the sins that I am going to commit in the future. He gave me a new life, I could start again. I was given a clean slate. A result of this was that I was so happy with this new life I wanted others to hear about it and to feel for themselves, what I was feeling and I still do it now. This is what we call ‘Witnessing’. We want other people to meet Jesus and feel good. A few years ago I wouldn’t have dreamt about talking about Jesus and everything else because I didn’t know about him. I would only talk about luck and good fortune or fate if something good happened to me. Now, I talk about nothing else, about the Lord, how He has forgiven me and given me a new life. This is what I am doing right now, to you. Before I became a believer I didn’t know how to speak these words I’m speaking now to you. God has taken away my old lips because they were sealed and unable to spread His word. Now he has given me new lips and I am telling everyone about Him.
When I first came to Meadow Way, you may recall, when I first gave my testimony I said that I wouldn’t sing any hymns or songs, because I felt that to sing would be to allow God into me heart and that I wasn’t ready to become like you, I was still dirty, I still had so much sin in my life. I now know that I couldn’t sing not wouldn’t sing. Let me explain. As you read through Psalm 51, you’ll notice how David talks about what his life will be like after he is right with God. "When I get right, I’ll be a soul-winner," David says. "When I get right, I’ll be a singer." He had sin in his life, so he was unable to sing. Sin stops singing. It withers our praise and stops soul-winning entirely. Sin shuts our mouths, so that we can’t express the good news. The devil comes along and asks, "Who are you to be singing about the joy of the Lord? You don’t have any joy in your life. Who are you to be testifying to others about what God has done? You’re a miserable sinner who’s not even sure you’re saved!" One of the names for Satan is "the Accuser," and he will try to intimidate you and keep you down. Your sin will seal up your lips, so that you will not feel like saying anything to anybody about God.
The Return from Sin in the Believer
Even though you fall into sin, you can come back. It’s not too late. You can once again draw close to God. There are three wonderful things to keep in mind.
First, have the confidence that God still loves you. David prays to the Lord, at the beginning, do you remember? "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your unfailing love." David had confidence in God. He knew that for a multitude of sins, God offers a multitude of forgiveness. The devil will tell you that God is finished with you, that there is no hope for a sinner like you. But that’s a lie! There is nothing you can do to make God stop loving you. No matter what you’ve done, or how many times you’ve failed, God still loves you and wants to be in your life and have a right relationship with you.
Second, confess your sin to God. David admits that he has sinned against God alone, and that God is justified in judging him. He doesn’t merely admit his sin, he confesses his fault. God doesn’t want an excuse or an alibi. Oh I’m sorry for doing that Lord but if he hadn’t done that or said that etc. The Lord doesn’t want excuses. He wants you to be sorry, truly sorry for what you have done. He wants a repentant heart. God wants us to say, "I am guilty, Lord." 1 John 1: verse 9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Go to God and confess your sin if you want to be right with Him.
Finally, allow God to cleanse you. "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," David writes in verse 7. He asks God to cleanse him, to blot out his sin so that it is gone forever, buried in the grave of God’s forgetfulness. God removes both the penalty and pollution of our sin. He takes the filth away, he makes us pure once again. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. We no longer have to go around with a load of guilt. We no longer have to carry around our condemnation. We no longer have to listen to the Accuser. We are made new. We can come back from being far away from God, and as His beloved child, we can be close to Him once more.
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sin, that is why we are here this morning to drink this wine to remind us of how gracious God was in allowing His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. To eat the bread to remind us of the body that He sacrificed for us, the pain He went through, just for us.
A Prayer of Repentance
Dear God in heaven, I praise you and thank you for your grace, mercy, long-suffering, kindness, and loving care; and the salvation which you offer to me through the merits of your Son and my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank you that He fulfilled your demands that He be holy and righteous on my behalf, by dying on the cross in my place, thus paying the price for my sins. I know that you could not compromise your basic nature in saving me, blessing me, and taking me to heaven, apart from the satisfaction of your just demands for my sins, for they are such a blatant affront to your holiness and righteousness. I understand that you honoured my free volition, and that as a free agent I did not produce that which you desire; and I now see that I am totally unable in my own power to produce what you desire of those who you would call your people.
Therefore Lord, I am justly chargeable as a sinner, and am in need of your salvation, which is in your Son, Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy of acceptance as payment in full for the weight of my sins; whom you also raised up from the dead for my justification, and who also is presently sitting at your right hand ever interceding for me when I stumble and fall into sin. Sanctify me now, by giving me your Holy Spirit, who will empower me, and enable me to do your will. Help me to walk in a manner worthy of your calling, and of bearing your name; and I pray that I would not bring dishonour upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as I live my life in this world. Amen.
If you can pray this prayer to God in sincerity, not necessarily out loud, but in your heart, you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit, and an eternal life with God. No flashing lights - no razzle-dazzle, no running down the aisles, no thunder & lightning - salvation is concluded quietly in your soul. You may not feel any different, but you will begin to see the difference - in your life.
