Psalm 51:4

Psalm 51, we're going to read the first four

verses. Be gracious to me, O God, according to

your lovingkindness. According to the greatness

of your compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse

me from my sin. For I know my transgressions

and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you

only, I have sinned and done what is evil in

your sight so that you are justified when you

speak and blameless when you judge. As we continue

with our exposition of Psalm 51, we're going

to spend our time focusing on verse 4 today.

Against you, you only, I have sinned and done

what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified

when you speak and blameless when you judge.

As we come to this verse and we come to consider

it, We have to understand that as believers,

as those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, our

sin still has effects upon how we relate to God

in our fellowship and our communion with Him.

It's important for us to understand that which...

pulls us away from Christ. It's important for

us to understand the enemy within us, that which

causes our hearts to be wayward. It's important

for us to understand how it impacts, how it influences,

and how it affects our relation to the Lord in

fellowship and communion. with him as a holy

and a righteous God. So as we come to look at

verse 4, we have to examine four things. The

first of which is sin is against God. It is against

God. David says, against you. You only I have

sinned. When we consider David's sin, his iniquity,

his transgression, oftentimes we think of the

people that were intimately connected with that

sin and that transgression, that iniquity, such

as Bathsheba, or Uriah, or David's child, or

The nation that David was king over. When we

consider David's transgression, our mind goes

horizontal. Among the world of men. When we think

of sin, oftentimes we think of other men. It's

effect upon them. It's relation to them. But

David here says against you. You only. I have

sinned. David recognizes the Godwardness of his

transgression. He recognizes that his sin and

its ultimate offense, that sin and its ultimate

nature is always transgression of God and his

person. God in his law that ultimately all our

iniquity, all our wickedness, ultimately all

our sin is against the lawgiver, against God

himself. So David says against you and you only,

I have sinned. Now how is it that our sin is

against God? It's against his person and his

character. When we consider the Lord throughout

Scripture, we consider him as creator, we consider

him as redeemer and savior. We have to recognize

that he is holy. That God is perfectly righteous.

That he is perfectly faithful. And that we have

been made in his image. We have been made as

those who image, who reflect him in this world.

Therefore, when his creatures who are made in

his image act in a way that is inconsistent with

his person, his character, and his being, we

image him. Incorrectly. We reflect his character

and his glory in a way that perverts who he is.

We act and we work in such a way that we mar

his perfect person. His perfect character. Sin

is always against God himself. He is always the

object of our transgression. When we're unfaithful,

when we're unholy, when we're impure, we're saying

that God is impure. We're saying that God is

unholy. When we're unrighteous and unfaithful,

we're telling the world that God who made us

in His image is unfaithful and unrighteous. It's

always against... His person. It's always against

his character. It's in opposition to who he is.

Sin is against his law. It's against the express

and manifest will that he has made known in the

moral law of God. 1 John 3 .4 says everyone who

practices sin. Also practices lawlessness. And

sin is lawlessness. Sin. The lack of conformity

to his law. Or the positive transgression of

his law. Or lacking or withholding that which

is obligated and due to God or our fellow men.

as given in his law. The law is an expression

of his holy and his righteous and his perfect

nature. He's given it to us externally in his

word, and he's given it to us internally within

our hearts. And as believers, we've had the law

written afresh on our hearts as members of the

new covenant. So when we sin, it's always a transgression

of his law. It's a refusal, it's a denial of

his authority and his commands in our life. So

it's against that which he has told us to do

or he's required us to perform in the moral law

of God. It's against him. It's against his law

that is in the word and that is in our hearts

as nature. As natural beings and having it in

our hearts naturally. As those born with it.

It's against his word. It's against his will.

David knew the law of God. And we read in 2 Samuel.

That when Nathan comes to him. Nathan says to

him. You are the man. Thus says the Lord God

of Israel, it is I who anointed you as king over

Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the

hand of Saul. I also gave you your master's house

and your master's wives into your care, and I

gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if

that had not been too little, I would have added

these to you many more things like these. And

here it is. Why have you despised the word? Of

the Lord. David. As it were. Spat. On. The word

of God. When he. Willingly chose. To remain.

In his sin. He did not want. God's will. For

his life. In that moment. And throughout that

time. What did David want in his life? He wanted

his will. He did not want the purposes of God.

He wanted his own purposes. He did not want to

please the Lord. He wanted to please himself.

Sin is against God in his express and manifest

perceptive will that he's made known in his holy

word and his prophetic word. So when you willingly

sin, brothers and sisters, you are casting off

God's purposes and God's will for your life,

and you are exalting your own will and your own

purposes in your own life. That's what sin does.

It sets us in opposition and against God himself,

his word, his law, his will in our lives. It's

against the blood of Jesus Christ. As those who

know the Lord Jesus Christ, as those who are

justified as David was justified, when we sin,

we sin against the blessed blood of the Lord

Jesus. For if we go on sinning willfully after

receiving the knowledge of the truth, There no

longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying

expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire

which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who

sets aside the law of Moses dies without mercy

on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How

much more severe punishment do you think he will

deserve? who has trampled underfoot the Son of

God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of

the covenant by which he was sanctified and has

insulted the spirit of grace. It's a serious

thing, brothers and sisters, to go on in our

sin willfully. Because when the saint continues

in sin, they're not sinning against God who is

judge. You're sinning against grace. You're sinning

against Christ. You're sinning against the blood

of the Lord Jesus Christ who spilt it that you

might be atoned for, your sins might be atoned

for, and that you might be purified and cleansed.

It's a serious thing. To sin against the living

God who has sent Christ into the world to shed

his blood on behalf of sinners for their sin.

Sin is always against God himself. Sin is always

against his law. It is always against his word

and his will. And it is always against the blood

of Jesus Christ. This is why sin is evil. In

God's sight. David says. That he has done. What

is evil. In your sight. He doesn't say it's bad.

He says it's evil. Evil. Moral evil. Is that

which. God hates. That which God despises. It

is that which God does not delight in. And it's

because it is against him. And when a person

sins willfully, they are putting themselves in

a place where it's not just them against God,

it's God against them. You're putting yourself

in a place where not only do you oppose God,

but God himself opposes you in your willful sin.

Sin is evil in his sight. And it's because it

is in opposition to these things. Because it's

that which he hates. It's participation. It's

acting, thinking, doing, having dispositions

that are in things which he hates, which he does

not delight in. Sin is evil when it is acted

upon, when it is participated in, when the thoughts

dwell on it. When it's the disposition of the

heart, when it's natural corruption because we're

born with a sin nature. And when a person comes

to know the Lord Jesus Christ, when a person

believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and they come

into union with Christ by faith and repentance,

that sin does not cease being evil. That sin.

does not stop in how wicked it is. I think we

have a hard time understanding that, brothers

and sisters. We think, well, I'm a Christian.

My sin's dealt with. God doesn't see my sin that

way anymore. It's not evil to God anymore. It's

just little mess -ups. When a person believes

on Jesus Christ, their sin, which they participate

in, they act upon, they think upon, they speak

and they talk about, it is still evil in the

sight of God, brothers and sisters. It is still

wicked and there are still ramifications with

regards to your fellowship and your communion

with God. Consider that for a moment. This is

why David needs to be restored. This is why David

needs to confess his sins to God. This is why

David needs to repent of his sins because he

has done as a saint, as a justified man, that

which is evil in the very sight of God. When

was the last time you considered the fact that

you commit evil in God's sight? When was the

last time you considered the reality that you

have thought evil things and they have transgressed

God's holiness? When was the last time that you

considered that you have evil that dwells within

you? Brothers and sisters, sin is serious. And

when a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ,

the nature... does not change within them. The

nature of their external transgressions, the

nature of their original corruption does not

change. Sin's nature does not change when you

become a believer. It continues. And it remains.

It's serious. So that means we need to take sin

seriously in our lives, doesn't it? If God takes

it seriously, we need to take it seriously. And

that means we must always consider our sin with

regards to its relation to God himself. We must

think of our sin in relation to God primarily

and ultimately. not before men. When you consider

your actions, your deeds, and your words, are

you considering how it relates to God? Are you

considering how your thoughts Your actions, your

dispositions, your longings, your desires, your

sin, your transgression, your iniquity. And are

you considering how that relates to the Lord

of glory and the Savior who died on the cross

for those very sins? Brothers and sisters, the

most grievous, most injurious sin can be committed

in this world. Against another man. Another person.

And ultimately. That sin. Is against God. John

Piper said. That sin. Is uniquely. A vertical

phenomenon. And it's very true. We offend our

brothers, and the Bible uses the language of

sinning against our brothers and sisters, and

there's no doubt we can. But that is only a manifestation

and an expression of transgression and iniquity

and sin against God himself. So we must consider

our sin's relation to God. And we must take it

seriously. We must look at it seriously. We must

pray about it seriously. We must talk to God

about it seriously because it's a serious thing.

Sin is against God. We also see, secondly, that

sin is seen by God. The text says, against you,

you only I've sinned. and done what is evil in

your sight. When we consider David's transgression,

David wasn't alone in his iniquity, was he? David

thought he could cover it up. He thought he could

conceal it. He thought... He could hide it from

view. But the Lord had perfect knowledge of his

iniquity. The Lord had perfect understanding

and knowledge of his heart motives in the incident.

The Lord knew the details. The intricacies. The

root problems. The Lord knew all the outward

transgressions and all the acts. He knew all

of David's sin. And the text says that David

committed this sin and it's as though he did

it right in front of the face of God. All the

while thinking he could conceal it and he could

hide it and he could cover it up. God sees all

sin. He knows all the intimate details of every

sin, of every sinner. Genesis chapter 6, verse

Genesis 6:5

5 says, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness

of man was great on the earth, and that every

intent of the thoughts of his heart was only

evil continually. Isaiah. Chapter 65, verse 3

Isaiah 65:3

reads, A people who continually provoke me to

my face. Sin is known and seen by God. It cannot

be hidden, removed, or covered up. That means

that the sin of all men, Is seen by God. Everybody

in this room. Your sin and your sinfulness. Is

exposed to the sight of a holy God. But that

also means. That every other person in Illinois.

Every other person in a seat of power. Every

other person in a seat of authority. Every other

person who serves in office. Every other person.

In this county, their sin is seen by God. Brothers

and sisters, it doesn't matter if you're white

-collar or if you're blue -collar. It doesn't

matter if you're in a combine or in church. It

doesn't matter if you're driving to Olney or

if you're coming back from Olney. It doesn't

matter if you're driving to Evansville or you're

coming back to Evansville. Your sin is seen by

the living God. All men sin is in clear view

of the Lord. But that also means that every type

of sin is seen by God. It's not just that all

men are seen, all men's sins are known, but it's

that every type of iniquity, every type of wickedness

is known and seen by God himself. The big ones

and the little ones. The horrendous ones, the

gruesome ones, and the seemingly acceptable ones.

The self -righteous ones and the unrighteous

ones. They're all known, they're all seen by

God every time. Every... Manifestation of sin,

whether it be a disposition of our heart, our

attitude, whether it be our thoughts and our

thought life, whether it be our words or our

motives, whether it be our actions and our behavior,

all of it is known to God. It doesn't matter

if we meant to do it or we didn't mean to do

it. Whether we're conscious of it or we're unconscious

of it, our sin is seen by God. He has an omniscient

knowledge of every iniquity in our lives, including

the saint's sin. Including that of the Christian.

Consider that. The Lord knows all of your sin.

The Lord is well aware of the motives of your

heart. The Lord is well aware of your thoughts

and your mind. He witnesses everything. He sees

it all. He takes into account everything. This

leads us to the third thing. Not only is sin

against God, not only is sin seen by God, but

sin is judged by God. We read in the second half

of verse 4, So that you are justified when you

speak, and blameless when you judge. What is

David talking about there? He's talking about

the reality that sin is against God and that

God is witness of all sin. That the Lord needs

no corroboration with regards to the wickedness

of people. That he knows perfectly well the fault

and the responsibility for sins. In such a way,

That he is perfectly justified and he is perfectly

blameless when he brings justice. When he judges,

when he condemns. His perfect judgment is seen

in the reality that David himself confesses it.

David says, you are blameless in your judgment

upon me. You are righteous. David knows that

there's no room for him to blame God for a false

or to blame him or an unjustified accusation

against him. He knows that God is perfectly in

the right and that God is perfectly clear with

regards to his accusations, his judgment, his

discipline, and his condemnation he has experienced

in his soul and on his conscience. This perfect

judgment teaches us that everything God condemns,

he is just and blameless in condemning. That

means that everything God requires, he expects

and he demands, he's blameless and he's just.

In requiring and demanding. Every commandment.

That is given in the law of God. And in the word

of God. And by our Lord Jesus Christ. Is blameless

and just. But it also means. That all those he

judges. Are justly judged. That all of those.

who are judged on the great day of power when

the Lord Jesus Christ returns, they will be judged

with a blamelessness in the judgment. Meaning

there's no room for accusation. He's witnessed

it. He's seen it. He knows the transgression

and the iniquity. And it's the sinner that is

judged. We get this idea, and there's been this

idea in evangelicalism, in Christianity for many

years, that you can somehow condemn and judge

sin apart from the sinner. That is completely

and absolutely foreign to the Bible. You cannot

separate sin from the one who has committed the

act. David is being condemned in his conscience.

David. It's filling the weight and the burden

of this judgment in the disciplinary hand of

God. It's not some mystical concept that's separated

from David. But it's something he's done. It's

something he's acted upon. It's something he

has carried out. It's something that has flowed

from the very epicenter of who he is. From the

very core of his being. It also means that the

Lord is just and he's blameless. In all the discipline

he brings upon his children. There's no way for

the child of God to say, remove your hand, Lord.

This is unjust. You're not blameless in this.

He knows our hearts, brothers and sisters. He

knows the iniquity. He knows the sin. We find

that discipline comes perfectly, blamelessly,

in a justified manner to the people of God, to

the child of God, from the hand of God. This

leads us lastly to the reality that sin is forgiven

by God. God, out of his mercy and out of his

compassion, has in fact made a way for himself

to forgive sin. And it's in the person and the

work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever

considered the reality, and this is one of the

most amazing things about Psalm 51. Here we have

David, who's committed this heinous, evil, wicked

act. Yet, we find David being restored, brothers

and sisters. We find David being renewed. We

find David finding the forgiveness of sins again.

The reality that David's sins are not held against

him, that he remains a justified man with imputed

righteousness from Jesus Christ, is incredible.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered, says David in Psalm 32.

How blessed is the man whom the Lord does not

impute iniquity. The Lord has made a way for

his people to be forgiven of their sins. He overlooked

David's sins that he might demonstrate. The righteousness

of Christ Jesus in propitiating the wrath of

God. That's how David can come to the throne.

This is how David can be restored. This is how

David is to be renewed because Christ's sacrifice

was sufficient and adequate for him. For all

have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Being justified as a gift by his grace through

the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom

God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his

blood through faith. This was to demonstrate

his righteousness. Because in the forbearance

of God, he passed over the sins previously committed.

For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness

at the present time. So that he would be just

and the justifier of the one who has faith in

Jesus Christ. David could come to the throne.

Because. He was resting in a righteousness that

was not his own. He could be forgiven of the

evil he's committed in the sight of God. Why?

Because his standing before that holy and that

righteous God was outside of himself. It was

found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God continues.

to forgive the sins of his people when they continue

to commit evil acts in his sight. But it's only

in the Lord Jesus Christ that sins are forgiven.

So in the midst of God's omniscient knowledge

and understanding of all iniquity, all sin, and

all transgression, and the reality that he judges

perfectly, God has made a way for the forgiveness

of sins, but it's only in the person of the Lord

Jesus Christ. He does not overlook or blot out

sins unless a person is in Christ by faith and

repentance. That's the only place that you can

find safety, that you can find shelter from the

wrath of God. In the person of the Lord Jesus

Christ. He always continues and he always does

and he always continues and he does forgive the

sins of his people. He always will. We consider

the reality that God knows all of your sin. Brothers

and sisters, you do commit evil acts in the sight

of God and he knows it. Yet, his love remains

on your life. Do you understand that? He knows

who you are. He knows what your heart is like.

He knows your thoughts, yet his grace remains,

his love remains on your life because of the

person and the work of Jesus Christ. There is

and there always will be forgiveness available

for the believer because you're resting in the

finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. His

love is not based on the evil acts you commit

in this life. His love is not based on whether

or not you confess your sins or you don't confess

your sins. His love is based on the fact that

Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived a perfect

life, keeping the law on behalf of the elect.

And at the end of his life, he went to the cross

and he suffered the punishment that was due to

them. His love is based on the reality that he

rose. from the dead on the third day and the

father was pleased with his sacrifice. His love

is based purely and singularly on the loveliness

of the Lord Jesus Christ. His love is based purely

and singularly on his person, not your person.

This means That when he does discipline us, brothers

and sisters, that when he does discipline us

in our lives and he does discipline our souls

and he opposes us, it's always from the loving

hand of a father and never from the wrathful

hand of a judge. All discipline from the Lord

is loving discipline. Discipline which God ordained

for his people. Whether it be the discipline

required of parents with their children. Whether

it be the discipline that Christ has given to

the church for its members. Or whether it be

the discipline of the father to his children.

It is discipline of love. It's discipline for

the good of God. His people. It's for the good.

Of his children. It's meant. And it's always

meant. To restore. It's meant. To revive. To

bring them back. To return. To show them their

sin. And to show them the loveliness. Of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is forgiven by God in

Christ. And we can trust and have hope and confidence

that his discipline in our lives meant to bring

us to restoration is done with blamelessness

and justification. That it's done with... The

reason that we need. For the reason that we need

it. He does it ultimately for the good of his

people. That means, brothers and sisters, that

as a believer, yes, you commit evil deeds, you

commit evil acts, you have evil thoughts, but

God uses those very things for the good of the

Christian. They don't work for your condemnation.

They don't work for your judgment. They don't

work towards your punishment. They work for your

good because God is disciplining you for your

good in those things. Our sin is against God.

It's seen by God. It's judged by God. And it

must be forgiven by God. Let me offer you several

applications. this text. You have to do with

God. Meaning, you have to live unto the Lord.

Our lives are meant to be lives that are lived

unto our Maker and our Savior. Unto our Lord,

unto our King. We do not first and foremost,

brothers and sisters, live unto men. We can't.

If we live unto men, it will lead to displeasing

our Father. But if we live unto the glory of

His name, if we live unto the Lord with reference

to Him, before him and his sight for his smile,

for his pleasure, then we will relate to men

as we ought to. We will deal with men as we have

dealt with God, but we must deal with him first.

David knew he had to do with God. And this is

why he recognized that his sin was against God.

The same is true of us. We also need to understand

that you can only understand sin when it's viewed

in relation to God. Let me put it negatively.

You cannot understand sin unless it's with reference

to God. This helps us understand The world around

us a great deal, doesn't it? This helps us understand

why there's so many false and erroneous views

of man, of sin, of their actions, because you

can't understand man or his sin unless it's in

relation to God himself. The world cannot understand.

and his great dilemma. They are not capable of

understanding sin because it rejects God. But

brothers and sisters, it's not just the world.

Christians have inadequate and harmful views

of man and his sin. Because they have inadequate

and deficient views of God himself. So if we

want to understand sin, if we want to understand

man, then where do we need to look to? If we

want to understand our own actions and our own

behavior, our own ethics in life, how we are

to make decisions, what do we need to be looking

to? God. It's a wrong question to ask. It's the

wrong question to ask. What do I need? What does

this person need? It's a wrong question to ask.

What is best for us in this situation? How should

I act with reference to this situation, this

life? We must ask the question of how does it

relate to God? What is God's view of it? What

is God's attitude and disposition towards this?

What does his law say with regards to my actions?

What is his law and his word and his will? What

does Christ say with regards to the dispositions

of my heart? With regards to my longings and

my desires, my wants and my hopes and my dreams

in this life? We must view ourselves, our actions,

our attitudes, our whole lives with reference

to God himself. Also, we see that it's useless

and vain to strive and to seek to conceal sin

before God. It's a vain and useless pursuit to

try and cover your iniquity with a sovereign,

all -knowing God. For the believer, this is why

it's necessary that we expose it, that we confess

it, that we forsake it, that we bring it to him

and we turn from it. For the unbeliever, your

sin will be exposed on the day when Christ judges

all men. You cannot hide it from him. You cannot

cover it up. He already knows it and he knows

everything you'll do and everything you've done.

And there's only hope, there's only safety, there's

only refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every person

will either be judged because of their sins with

a blameless and justified judgment or you will

be acquitted in the person and the work of Jesus

Christ. You either rest in his work and his sacrifice,

his life, his death, his resurrection, or you

rest and you hope in your own supposed good deeds

and your own supposed self -righteousness. Those

are the only two options. Every person in humanity

will be divided as sheep and goats. You're either

in Christ or you're not in Christ. You either

have faith or you don't have faith. You trust

or you don't trust. You'll answer for your own

sins or Christ will answer for your sins. Turn

from your sin. And trust in the Lord Jesus Christ

for those of you who don't know him. Christian,

brother and sister, turn from your sin. Cast

yourself at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Realize

that there is forgiveness that continues. There's

righteousness that continues because of his work.

Look to the Lord Jesus. Believe in him.