Psalm 51

Good morning. Open up your Bibles to Psalm 51.

So in case you thought you got rid of me last week, I'm back.

! Nathan called and just wasn't feeling well.

And at the time I was feeling good and I actually kind of had a rough night.

I've got a wheeze in my chest.

Y'all know what that's about, but if you hear a little bagpiper in here,

you know, throughout the sermon, that's what's going on.

Struggling physically just a little bit, but spirit's good.

I've been really encouraged this morning with our singing and our gathering.

And so after you've been doing this for quite a while,

you develop several sermons that are kind of like your go-tos if something happens like this.

But the problem is the longer you've been here, like you actually have used them before.

So I looked on our website, and apparently the last time I did this was in 2014.

So there's a lot of new faces here since then.

So I thought it'd be good to go back to it.

And I think some of the college students may have heard it a couple years ago.

But I'm looking at it with fresh eyes today and to visit a topic that every believer should be aware of

and be practicing weekly, if not daily.

And that is the subject of repentance.

And a word that a lot of people try to omit from their vocabulary.

And I know no other place, really, that I think exhibits what true repentance is than Psalm 51.

So before we walk through it, I just want to talk about repentance just for a second, just define it for you,

as well as maybe give us some context of what's going on in Psalm 51.

But in short, just the word repent in the New Testament, it means to change one's mind for the better.

So it's not just a change of behavior.

It's a change in the way you think about things.

It's like looking at sin, hating it, and by God's grace, resolving to forsake it and turn to Christ in faith.

And it is a God-produced inward change of the heart that plays out outwardly in a change of action.

And so there's just a few things to consider before we kind of get into this.

But some of you are familiar with Psalm 51.

And I was just thinking, again, like we can't outgrow this sermon.

Like the minute you think that you have no more need to understand repentance or practice repentance,

we're kind of in a dangerous spot.

And so this was written in the context of 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12.

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

That's like the background.

But instead of reading all that to you the whole time, you can go back and check it out later.

But 2 Samuel 11 through 12, and this is about King David.

And this is when he is at the height of his power, height of his blessing, at the tip top,

which typically means, based on this story, that is a time when we need to be wary.

We need to be aware like we're feeling very safe and secure,

that we're doing very well spiritually.

We're at the height because then temptation comes.

And so in these chapters in 2 Samuel, what happens is King David,

who we tend to think of only as the man after God's own heart, which is true.

He was an astonishing man, a shepherd, a king, a warrior,

one of my favorite Bible characters for sure.

But I think apart from stories like this,

we would be tempted to kind of idolize David as some sort of perfect man.

And this shows you that he was definitely broken and in need of a Savior.

So in these chapters, he commits the terrible act of adultery, murder, lying, and scandal.

I mean, you just would never think.

But again, he's at the height of his power and blessing from God.

And so it starts the chapter by saying when the kings were out to war.

So this was the time when they went out to wage war against their enemies.

And David is not out there.

He's staying in Jerusalem.

So point number one really would be able just to think about is be where you should be.

Don't be where you should not be.

And so he should be out there with his men, with his army, waging war.

But he's hanging out in Jerusalem.

And so he steps out on his balcony and he sees a beautiful woman sunbathing, which is Bathsheba.

And she is the wife of a noble warrior named Uriah, Uriah the Hittite.

And so not a Jew by birth.

He was a Gentile, but he must have at some point come to faith in the true God or he was a mercenary or something.

But Hittites were known for their reputation for fighting.

So this was his wife.

And no one knows, but if she did this intentionally to catch David's eye, we don't know that.

But she is on display.

And so he walks out and he sees her and he lusts after her.

And he calls her to his chamber.

And he's the king.

He can kind of do whatever he wants to do a lot of the time.

And so eventually he sleeps with her and she goes away.

And eventually comes back and says, hey, I'm pregnant with your child.

And no kidding, he panics.

He freaks out.

Like a lot of us would in such a situation.

And instead of going straight to God, he begins this scandal of lying and covering up.

He intends to cover it up first by calling Uriah back from the battlefield and saying, hey, Uriah, like you've been doing a great job out there.

Like come and sleep with your wife as a reward.

And but he is such a honorable soldier.

He refuses to do that.

Like, how can I do that when my men are out there in the battlefield?

And so that didn't work.

And David is growing frustrated.

So he says, well, I'll just into himself.

I'll try to get him drunk.

And then he can sleep with his wife.

And then everything will be OK.

But he that doesn't work either.

And so this growing frustration and fear, David results to the great evil of having Uriah killed on the battlefield.

It says, like, when he's up in the front of the line, draw back and let him die.

So in essence, he's murdered by David.

It was just through the means of the battlefield.

Put him in a situation where he wouldn't survive it.

And he did not survive it.

So then David comes out and he he tries to put on this noble facade of like the husband, the noble Uriah is dead.

And I can now marry his wife as a sign of of honor, kind of picking her up.

And so that really wasn't what was happening, obviously.

So he marries her and he he thinks everything is OK.

Right.

He he's he's survived.

He's gotten away with the lie.

His reputation is saved.

Or so he thinks.

Right.

But often is the case.

We are unaware of that.

We very quickly forget.

Proverbs 15, three.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

So eventually, God sends a prophet to Nathan or a prophet to David named Nathan.

And he confronts him and he says he tells him this story.

And he goes, hey, there was two men.

One was a very wealthy man and he had many livestock, many herds.

And this other man was his servant.

And he had just one lamb that he loved and he cared for.

And so the rich man had a visitor and to throw a party and to welcome that visitor.

Instead of taking one of the many livestock he had, he took the servant's only favorite animal, the lamb that he had.

And he killed it when he had all this other stuff.

And David is outraged.

He goes, surely that man deserves to die.

And then Nathan, chillingly, just says to him, you're that man.

You took, you had all this stuff and you took the only thing from this man, Uriah, and you committed a great evil.

So little did he know, he's pronouncing judgment on himself.

And so, out of David's mouth, according to Scripture, comes genuine repentance.

Not just, oh no, I'm caught.

I'm found out.

I'm in trouble.

I've got to figure out another way to hide.

He just, he owns up to it.

And what he says in 2 Samuel 12, verse 13, is I have sinned against the Lord.

2 Samuel 12:13

And Nathan said to David, the Lord, the Lord has put away your sins.

And you shall not die.

So mind-blowing, he confesses his sin genuinely.

And out of Nathan's mouth comes the forgiveness from the Lord.

So, I like to think of this, we don't exactly know how this came about.

But if you look at like the little subtitle in your Bible over Psalm 51,

it says, to the choir master, a psalm of David,

when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba.

So, I like to think that after this encounter with Nathan happened,

he got away by himself somewhere.

Nathan, or excuse me, David went out into the wilderness.

He went somewhere and got quiet, or just a quiet place.

And he penned this psalm.

And poured out his heart and soul to God in repentance and in prayer.

And so, we're going to just walk through it.

Just to save time, I'm just going to walk through it with you

instead of reading it all and then going back over it again.

And so, I'm going to just do this in the form of questions.

But if I had to look at this psalm,

one brother I heard that preached on this a long time ago,

if he had to explain what this psalm was,

he says that David's sin made him feel dirty,

and he desires to be clean.

David feels guilt.

The guilt has made him sick,

and he desires to be well.

The disobedience made him lonely,

and he desires relational reconciliation.

And his rebellion made him fearful of God,

but now he wants to be pardoned.

That's kind of like what we see a lot in this particular psalm.

So, the first question,

we're going to just walk through it with questions,

and eat it piece by piece.

So, question number one is,

how do we approach God for mercy and forgiveness?

Okay?

That's going to be seen in verses 1 and 2.

And in this, we have something for our hearts and our minds to follow

when we are seeking to repent of our sin

and work through things with God.

He says in verse 1,

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love,

according to your abundant mercy,

blot out my transgressions,

wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

And so, I want you to notice this.

He pleads with God to show him mercy and pardon and forgiveness,

not because of what he's done.

Right?

Mercy is this undeserved thing only given to us by God.

You can't earn mercy.

You can't earn grace.

By nature, it's undeserving.

And so, why is this the case?

Like, why is he approaching God this way?

Because, one, David has no hope of God forgiving him

according to his own righteousness,

because clearly he doesn't have any.

Look what he just did.

So, he's not saying,

Forgive me because I'm a great guy,

and I've done so much for you.

He just, he doesn't do that.

He doesn't plead his case

according to his own goodness,

his own merit,

but God's.

You see that?

According to your steadfast love,

your abundant mercy,

the multitude of your tender mercies,

or your compassions.

So, he recognizes he has no entitlement for God's favor,

he deserves not life,

but death.

And he's,

if we are ever to approach God,

we have to be sensible that God

doesn't have to forgive us.

We're not owed forgiveness.

We're not owed mercy and grace.

And so, therefore,

David appeals to God in this manner,

because he knows it's in the nature of God

to be forgiving.

He knows it's in the nature of God

to show mercy,

to forgive,

pardon,

and heal.

So, he taps into that,

like, God,

I know that you are a forgiving,

merciful God.

And so,

that's how he approaches it,

not according to his own righteousness,

but God's,

right,

in God's love,

God's tender mercies.

Look at these verses,

and look at the terms that he uses

to explain the crime that he committed.

He says,

first,

transgression.

You see that?

That is a deliberate,

premeditated crossing of the line,

a willful act of disobedience.

He knew he shouldn't do it,

and he did it anyway.

Then he uses the word iniquity,

which is sort of a perverting

or a twisting of something

that is good and true.

Right?

He's corrupted goodness.

And then, of course,

he used the term sin,

the most familiar to us,

the missing of the mark

of what God intended.

And then he even calls it evil,

right?

This dark, terrible, awful thing.

So, he's fully recognizing

that he has committed

a great crime against God.

He's not making any excuses for it.

And so,

then look at

what he's asking God to do

corresponding to those particular crimes.

Right?

All words depicting spiritual restoration

that only God can do.

First, he says,

to blot out.

Right?

Blot out my transgressions.

That means to wipe out,

to obliterate.

And back in the ancient times,

they use papyrus

if you could afford it.

And it was valuable.

And what they would do

is they would reuse it

by wiping off previous writing

and then writing something else

on top of it.

So, he's saying,

blot out the record

of this awful sin I've committed.

Like this transgression.

Wipe it away

as if it never happened.

Blot it out.

Then he used the term wash.

To wash by treading out.

This refreshing feeling, right,

of your dirty and filthy sin

makes us feel that way.

So, he's saying,

cleanse me.

Wash me.

Cleanse me

of my sin.

Right?

Which means to purify

and make whole.

And he's saying,

all of this, Lord,

do all of this

only because of your love

and kindness towards me.

And because of your mercy.

Not because I deserve it.

And so,

those are the redemptive response.

Like, blot it out.

Wash me.

Cleanse me.

The stuff that we all desire.

That gives you question number two now.

Which is,

what is the true confession of sin?

Okay?

See this in verses 3-5.

David goes on.

He says,

For I know my transgressions

and my sin is ever before me

against you,

you only,

have I sinned against

and done what is evil

in your sight

so that you may be justified

in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

Behold,

I was brought forth in iniquity

and in sin

did my mother conceive me.

Alright?

So, he recognizes right out of the gate

that sin is ever present with them.

He says,

I know my transgressions

and my sin is ever before me.

He's humbly acknowledging

what he's done.

What I did was wrong.

What I did was evil

and wicked.

And it's staring at me in the face.

Have you ever noticed that

when you commit sin

and you just kind of

try to brush it under the rug

and go about your day

and how it just has this tendency

to stand there

and just stare at you

like,

hey, I'm not gone.

I'm still here.

That's what his sin is doing to him

day and night.

And so,

he recognizes that

that his sin

is ever before him.

And then,

this is very critical.

Right?

He takes full responsibility

for his sin.

He doesn't blame Bathsheba.

He doesn't blame

any circumstances going on.

He owns up to it.

Alright?

And that's important

because we,

some of you who

confess sin to each other

and pray to each other,

we tend to want to

soften the blow

by saying,

well, I messed up.

Or,

I didn't do so good

this week.

And we use terms

to kind of like

make it sound better

than it is.

And according to God's Word,

according to this psalm,

it's like,

no,

call it what it is.

You committed

a heinous act

of adultery.

Call sin what it is

and own up to it.

And don't try to

soften the blow.

And I think

this next part

is very critical

if you see

in these verses,

especially verse 4,

this is very important.

David could have said,

I tragically

have sinned

against Bathsheba.

I've sinned

against Uriah.

I had him killed.

I've sinned

against the nation

that I'm supposed

to be leading.

And he would have been

true

in saying those things.

But he doesn't.

He confesses

to God

against you

and you only

have I sinned against

and done what is evil

in your sight.

So why does he say that?

Because all sin

is ultimately

against God.

All of it is.

It doesn't

just

we sin against people

and then we sin

against God

separately.

Like all of it

goes back to him.

It's all

rebellion

against him.

And as he said

to Nathan

in 2 Samuel

12,

13,

I have sinned

against the Lord.

That's like what

he proclaimed.

So sin does

great harm to us.

It does great harm

to others.

At the end of the day,

it dishonors

our Creator.

And so

when I sin,

I'm saying to God

in that moment,

I don't trust you.

I don't believe

that you're good.

I don't believe

that you're wise.

I'm going to take

another path.

That's like what

we do

every time

that we sin.

And we don't

believe in His goodness.

So,

this is very important.

Repentance is not

just feeling bad.

You hear me?

Like repentance

is not just

feeling bad

about what you did

and feeling guilty.

Why?

Because even unbelievers,

people who don't know Christ,

feel guilty

about things

that they've done.

So what's the difference?

What's the difference?

I only have

two places

for you to turn

outside of Psalm 51.

So,

thank me later.

But one of them

is 2 Corinthians.

Hold your hand

in Psalm 51.

Look at 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 7:9

chapter 7

verse 9.

And so Paul

talks about

repentance

this way

and he says

there's a godly sorrow

and a worldly sorrow.

And

kind of picking up

on this

theme of repentance.

So 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 7:9

chapter 7

verse 9

Paul says,

As it is,

I rejoice

not because

you were grieved

about sin,

but because

you were grieved

into repenting.

for you felt

a godly grief

so that

you suffered

no loss

through us.

For godly grief

produces repentance

that leads to salvation

without regret,

whereas worldly grief

produces death.

So he clearly says here

there are two kinds

of grief.

For the believer

there is a godly sorrow.

It's what we're seeing

here in Psalm 51.

Like,

I have sinned

against God,

I have hurt Him,

I have insulted Him,

and I hate

what I have done

to Him ultimately.

And worldly sorrow

is man-centered.

You just kind of feel

bad about what you did,

but you don't really

feel any remorse

for sinning

against God Himself.

You just hate

the consequences

of your sin.

You hate

what it does to you,

but then it just

sort of falls

short

right there

and doesn't carry on.

But Paul says

that godly grief

or godly sorrow

will lead to life

as where worldly sorrow

will lead to death.

So repentance

isn't just feeling bad

about what you did.

It's about,

remember,

about a change

of the mind

that leads to

a change of action.

Right?

So,

go back to Psalm 51.

And if you notice

in Psalm 51

he also says,

Behold,

I was brought forth

in iniquity

and in sin

did my mother

conceive me.

Now,

he is not at all

playing the victim.

We live in a victimized

culture.

Stuff's just happening

to me

and nothing's my fault.

He really is just

saying by this,

like God,

I am weak.

I am helpless.

I don't know anything else

but sin.

From day one,

that's all I've known

is sin.

This is one of those

original sin texts.

Like,

in sin

was I conceived.

Right?

We were born,

all of us,

in a state of sin

and spiritual death.

Our understanding

was darkened

and our hearts

were corrupted

by evil.

So David

implores

that sad reality

as an argument

for God

to show him mercy.

This is all

I've ever known.

I've only known

sin

from the beginning.

Have mercy on me.

Forgive me.

Let's get into

our third question.

Alright?

How do we plea

for forgiveness

and restoration?

Alright?

This is

starting in verse 6.

David says,

Behold,

you delight in truth

and the inward being

and you teach me

wisdom and the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop

and I shall be clean.

Wash me.

I shall be whiter

than snow.

Let me hear joy

and gladness.

Let the bones

that you have broken

rejoice.

Hide your face

from my sins

and blot out

my iniquities.

Create in me

a clean heart,

O God.

Renew me

with the right spirit

within me.

Cast me not away

from your presence

and take not

your Holy Spirit

from me.

Restore to me

the joy

of your salvation

and uphold me

with a willing spirit.

And so,

in these verses

we really see

how to plea

for forgiveness

and restoration

to God.

God desires

to not just

save him

but to change him.

To change him

from the inside out.

The deepest places

of his heart.

He's pleading with God,

Change me here.

I don't just want

to do better.

I want to change.

I don't just want

to continue

down this same road.

And it's this picture

of this God

going from room

to room

in his heart

just cleaning him out

and renewing him.

So, sin is defilement.

You see that?

He says,

Purge me

and wash me

with hyssop.

Hyssop is a plant

of the mint family.

It's like a cluster

of yellow flowers

and it was used

to sprinkle the blood

on the doorposts

during the Passover.

The Israelites

were in Egypt

and it's symbolically

this idea of cleansing.

And he says,

Wash me

whiter than snow.

Clean,

pure,

unadulterated

and beautiful.

Wash me.

Cleanse me.

Whiter than snow.

And then,

keep in mind

that when we sin

it's like deafness.

We can't really hear

the voice of the Lord

and says,

Make me hear.

He wanted God

to allow him

to hear joy

and gladness again

even in the midst

of what he's going through.

Alright,

so,

sin also

is disgrace

and separation

from God.

Look at verse 9.

He says,

Hide your face

from my sin.

So,

notice sin.

Right?

And,

hide my sin,

Lord,

but not me.

And,

so,

to the Jews,

to the Hebrews

of old,

to see God's face

is counted

as the greatest blessing.

There's no greater blessing

than to see God's face

because it means

favor,

love,

fellowship,

and no greater curse

than for God

to hide his face

from you,

which means

judgment,

separation.

and so,

he pleads that.

Hide your face

from my sin,

but not me.

And,

you see again,

right,

that ultimately,

David desires

fellowship with God

himself.

He doesn't just want

to get off the hook

and not get in trouble.

He wants that

relationship

restored,

that fellowship

with God himself

where he says

in verse 11,

Cast me not away

from your presence

and take not

your Holy Spirit

from me.

A quick note on that.

The Holy Spirit

is how God manifested

his presence to us

and in the Old Testament

he empowered prophets,

kings,

and warriors

to accomplish

his mission

by empowering them

with the Holy Spirit.

But it could be

taken away from them

in the Old Testament,

in the Old Covenant.

Example of that

is Samson.

But closer to home

to David,

he saw it happen

to Saul,

did he not?

He saw Saul go mad.

Saul was living in,

God had empowered him

by the Spirit

to accomplish

certain goals

and Saul continued

to sin and rebel

and not do what

God told him to do

and so he withdrew

that presence

of the Spirit.

So he is like,

oh Lord,

please don't do that

to me.

Like,

please don't take away

your Holy Spirit

from me.

So,

so we see here though

that a lot of people

want to be

delivered by the

consequences of their sins.

Like,

I don't want to get

in trouble.

I don't want to be

found out.

That's the first thing

that comes to my mind.

How about you?

Like,

I don't want to be caught.

I don't want people

to know.

And,

but we see here

that he doesn't

just desire

to be delivered

from the consequences

of his sin.

He wants fellowship

with God himself.

Right?

And that's scary.

A question for us

to ask ourselves.

I'll spare you

this really long quote

that I have,

but Jonathan Edwards

just basically said,

you may love deliverance

but hate the deliverer.

The inclination

of your own will

goes no further

than self

and it never

reaches Christ.

You are willing

not to be miserable.

That is,

you love yourself.

And there,

your will

and your choice

terminate.

It is a vain

pretense

and delusion

to say or think

that you are willing

to accept Christ.

And in that quote,

he basically is saying

that a lot of us

just want to be

delivered from the consequences.

But we don't really

want God.

Right?

We don't really have

a desire for him.

But for those of us

who are truly saved,

truly born again,

we may have some things

we have to work through,

but ultimately

we land in this position

where we're like,

we just want God.

Like,

I just want,

I'm tired of feeling

at odds with him.

Right?

And sin is spiritually

depressing.

It causes misery.

And that's why

he says in verse 12,

restore to me

the joy

of your salvation.

And then don't let it

stop there.

Give me the grace,

empower me,

uphold me with a willing

or noble spirit.

But give me this

perseverance

to continue

to trust you,

to follow you,

and to have joy in you.

And

some of you may think

that

there's no way

that God

could change me.

Maybe you forgive me,

but like,

I just don't feel like

I can change.

It feels hopeless.

It's no use.

I've heard that

from some of your mouths

before.

And I confess

I've felt that way too.

Like,

I just don't want to just

stop committing the sin.

I want to change.

I don't want to do this again.

I want to,

I want God to change

my behavior

by changing my heart

first

and convincing me

that this is wrong

and evil

and that His way

is better.

So if you feel hopeless,

I may give you

something to hold on to here.

Notice in these verses,

He says,

create

in me

a clean heart

or a new heart.

Alright?

Think about that word

create

in the Bible.

Where else have you heard

that word

create?

about Genesis 1-1.

In the heavens

God,

or in the beginning,

God created

the heavens

and the earth.

Does that encourage you?

Like God is,

David is calling upon

that same power

that created the universe,

visible and invisible,

spiritual and physical,

to give him a new heart.

Like so,

the same God

that made all things

can speak new life

into you and me

and give us new hearts.

So that's a huge power

behind that ability

to change you.

So God's hand

is not so short

that He cannot save

and that He cannot change.

And thirdly,

third question,

what is the response?

In Christ,

what is our response?

Look at verse 13.

He says,

then I will teach

transgressors your ways

and sinners

will return to you.

Deliver me

from blood guiltiness,

O God.

O God of my salvation

and my tongue

will sing aloud

of your righteousness.

O Lord,

open my lips

and my mouth

to declare your praise.

For you will not

delight in sacrifice

or otherwise

I would give it.

You will not be pleased

with burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God

are a broken spirit,

a broken

and contrite heart.

O God,

you will not despise.

Do good to Zion

in your good pleasure.

Build up the walls

of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight

in right sacrifices

and burnt offerings

and whole burnt offerings.

Then bulls will be offered

on your altar.

So,

while this is important

is there's,

whenever we sin,

we kind of jump to,

by our nature sometimes,

jump to

the side of just

vain offerings.

Catholics.

And,

so back then,

right,

like,

people could just live

a very open,

sinful lifestyle,

they thought,

and then,

you know,

just center it up

and do a bunch of stuff

and then go to the temple,

make a sacrifice

and then like,

we're good.

And then go back

to the same lifestyle.

Today,

some of you may think,

well,

I sin against God

so I'll just go to church more.

I'll make sure

I take the Lord's Supper.

I read my Bible

a little longer.

I'll talk about Jesus

with somebody

and not really repentance.

That's not what repentance is.

It's spitting in the face

of Christ

is what it is.

And it's penance.

It's like trying to make amends,

right,

for in your own way

to make yourself right with God

for what you did.

And true repentance

doesn't involve that at all.

Right?

And David recognizes that.

He goes,

if all you wanted

was just a burnt offering,

I would go and do it.

But that's not what you want.

You want my heart.

You want my broken,

sincere,

and contrite heart.

You want me.

And so,

that's why he says,

for you will not

delight in sacrifice,

otherwise I would give it.

And you won't be pleased

with burnt offerings.

And so,

just think about how

insulting that is to God,

though,

like how we tend to do

those sort of things.

it's like treating

your wife horribly

and abusing her

and then like saying,

hey,

I'll wash the dishes

and it'll be okay.

Just,

no,

that's not what God

desires.

And he is insulted

by attempts

to make amends

through our own works.

He really wants

the heart of the worshiper.

He wants the motive

behind what we do.

And so,

what God truly desires,

verse 17,

the sacrifices of God

are a broken spirit,

a broken and contrite heart.

So,

that is humble,

broken-hearted joy

in God.

He wants us to be

shattered over our sin

and to come to Him

for mercy.

So,

if God truly rules

our hearts,

He,

repentance is this change

in our minds,

which leads to a change

of action outwardly.

Right?

It's a changing

from the inside out.

The danger is

a lot of us

focus on

mending our

hour behavior,

but the whole time

our hearts

are not close to God.

We just think,

if I just stop doing that

and stop doing that

and I start doing this,

it'll be good.

And God's like,

no,

like,

your heart first

and then your actions

will follow.

God doesn't just care

about what we do,

but why we do it.

Very important.

He desires our hearts

and our affections

to be fully His.

He wants

right actions

from right motives.

Look at the next verse,

verse 13.

He goes,

then I'll teach

transgressors your ways

and sinners

will return to you.

In other words,

like,

I will tell others

of the danger

that sin causes

and then I'll also

tell them

of how merciful

and forgiving

you are.

Right?

Then he,

verse 14 and 15,

he talks about

delivering him

from the guilt

that he has

of committing murder,

essentially.

Blood is on my hands,

is what he's saying.

You have the power

to do this,

O Lord,

and I will make known

your salvation

to other people

like me

that are lost

and that are broken

and sinning against you.

So,

I love that though

because,

again,

he's not trying

to just make amends

through his actions.

He's saying,

like,

these things will follow,

these actions will follow

once I am restored to you.

I'm not going to do

these things first.

Like,

I want you first.

And then,

verse 19,

then you will delight

in right sacrifices

and burnt offerings

and whole burnt offerings

and bulls will be offered

on the altar.

And then he ends

this prayer

with a blessing

for the nation,

a blessing

for the people

that he's supposed

to be the king over.

Do good to us,

Lord.

I'm realizing that

a lot of the stuff

that will happen

to the nation

is because of

what he does,

his actions.

So,

he prays for blessing

over the nation.

And so,

landing the plane here,

I just want you

to turn

to Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Yep,

back in Romans.

So,

a quick question.

Some of you,

maybe not all of you,

but some of you

are thinking a question

that bears answering.

And that is,

how could a holy

and just God

just pardon David

for such awful things?

Like,

can you imagine

a human judge

doing that?

Like,

being committed

of some kind

of awful crime

of murder

and adultery,

and the judge just says,

hey,

you're forgiven,

go home.

You would not put up

with that.

And,

so what's going on?

Like,

can you put yourself

in the position

of a family member

or a friend

of Bathsheba or Uriah,

and all they hear

from God is,

the Lord has taken

away your sin?

Like,

how angry you would feel?

You'd feel outraged?

Like,

just turn them back

into society

and slap them

on the hand

for such an awful,

wicked,

heinous sin

that was committed?

So,

how,

as a righteous

and holy God,

how can that God

pardon sin?

Right?

Because by nature,

His holiness

demands punishment

for sin.

And we get the answer.

Romans 3,

Romans 3:22

verse 22.

It talks about

the righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who believe.

Alright?

So we can have

righteousness

through faith

in Christ

for there is

no distinction

for all have

sinned

and fall short

of the glory

of God

and are justified

by His grace

as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ

Jesus

whom God put forward

as a propitiation

by His blood

to be received

with faith.

Alright,

we know that.

That is the gospel.

We put our faith

in Christ.

We throw ourselves

completely at His mercy.

We are saved

because of His grace

and we are redeemed

in Jesus Christ.

So here's the connection

to David though.

Alright?

This was to show

God's righteousness

because in His

divine forbearance

He had passed

over former sins.

It was to show

His righteousness

at the present time

so that He might be

just

and the justifier

of the one

who has faith

in Jesus.

So,

how was God

able to pardon David?

Because He knew

that one day

He would slay

His own son

in David's place.

That His wrath

and judgment

that David deserved

was going to be

justly poured out

on His own son.

So,

David's sin

was punished

in Jesus Christ.

And Christ's righteousness

became David's righteousness.

The same thing

that happens to us

when we are saved.

That old question

that used to bother

so many people.

How are people

in the Old Testament

saved?

Like,

the same way.

Like,

they are saved

through faith.

in the coming Messiah.

They look forward

and we look back

to Christ.

So,

forgiveness of sin

in the Old Testament

anticipates

the sacrifice

of Christ

as the ultimate

sacrifice

for our sins.

So,

that wrath

that He justly deserved

was all poured out

on the perfect

Son of God.

So,

God could say,

hey,

I am a holy

and just God.

I did not

just let that sin go.

I punished it

in my Son.

And so,

it was to show

His righteousness

because He had

passed it over

before.

So,

wherever we are today,

Jesus Christ

is the only way

for us to be forgiven,

made right,

and be reconciled

in a fellowship

with God.

And what a blessing

we have

to know

that Jesus

has died

in our place

in the same way

that He did

for David.

and I pray

that wherever

you're at,

whatever sin

you have committed,

are committing,

or will commit,

you will turn

to faith

in Jesus

and repent

of that sin

and continue

to live life

as a believer,

following and trusting

in the perfect work

of Jesus.

So,

let's pray together

and we'll sing

some songs

in response.

Let's pray together

and we'll sing

a little bit

a little bit

of that sin

and ending

of that sin.

Let's pray together

and ending

a little bit

and ending

of that sin.