The Confession Of A King. Series

INTRODUCTION

OPENING SLIDE

• Have you ever found yourself doing something you shouldn't have been doing?

• What do we typically do when we get caught?

• Excuses and blame are what we usually offer.

• Consider yourself as the victim in this scenario.

• When someone throws excuses and blame at you, how do you feel?

• You probably do not feel positive about the situation.

• When someone sins against you or hurts you in some way, what do you want from them?

• You want them to repent and not do it again.

• If you are the guilty party, what should you do?

• Repent and do not do it again.

• The way one reacts when they have done wrong will tell you if they are sorry they did what they did, or are sorry they got caught.

2 Corinthians 7:9–10 NET 2nd ed.

9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.

10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death.

• If we are sorry we got caught, we will not change; if we are sorry we did what we did, we will want to repent.

Big Idea of the Series: This five-week series explores the gift of repentance by considering moments of genuine sorrow in the Bible. We will be challenged to look for the fruits of true repentance in our lives.

• Our focus today will be on the concept of confession.

• Confession goes against our natural tendency to rationalize or deny our sin.

• True confession is defined as “a way of opening myself to God within the safety of the divine love so I can authentically seek transformation.

• Confession embraces Christ’s gift of forgiveness and restoration while setting us on the path to renewal and change” (Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005], 101).

• Today we will be looking at Psalm 51.

• Psalm 51, attributed to David, expresses deep contrition after personal sin. It emphasizes the need for genuine repentance, underscoring God’s readiness to forgive.

• The overarching theme is the transformation of a contrite heart by the mercy and cleansing power of the Lord.

Big Idea of the Message: David trusted in God’s forgiveness and praised God before, during, and after confession.

Psalm 51:1–5 NET 2nd ed.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love. Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.

2 Wash away my wrongdoing. Cleanse me of my sin.

3 For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin.

4 Against you—you above all—I have sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. So you are just when you confront me; you are right when you condemn me.

5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.

SERMON

POINT 1 SLIDE

I. Even a king needs mercy.

• Psalm 51 is a psalm of repentance, traditionally ascribed to King David.

• The historical context behind this psalm is closely tied to a significant event in David's life: his sin involving Bathsheba and the subsequent confrontation by the prophet Nathan, as recorded in the biblical narrative of 2 Samuel 11-12.

• King David, having seen Bathsheba bathing, desired her and engaged in an adulterous affair with her, leading to her pregnancy.

• To conceal this, David called her husband, Uriah, back from battle, hoping that Uriah would sleep with his wife and believe the child to be his.

• However, when Uriah refrained out of solidarity with his fellow soldiers, David resorted to ensuring Uriah would be positioned at the front lines of battle, where he was killed.

• After Uriah's death, David took Bathsheba as his wife. God then sent Nathan to confront David with a parable that revealed the king's wrongdoing.

• Upon realizing the depth of his sin, David repented deeply, which is believed to have inspired Psalm 51.

• When Nathan the prophet revealed his story to David, King David responded immediately:

2 Samuel 12:13–14 NET 2nd ed.

13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the LORD has forgiven your sin. You are not going to die.

14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the LORD with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”

• David did not make excuses or blame other people; he said, I have sinned against God.