Psalm 51:1-2

Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving

kindness, according to the greatness of your

compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash

me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me

from my sin. As we continue to look at Psalm

Psalms 51 · chapter mention

chapter 51. Just a brief reminder regarding the

context and the setting of it. David sinned with

Bathsheba. He sought to conceal that sin for

over a year or near a year at least. And at the

end of that time, God graciously sends the prophet

Nathan to... This fallen king. This backslidden

man who loved the Lord so dearly. Who had sunken

so low into sin. The Lord graciously sends Nathan

the prophet and he tells a parable. And the story

of a rich man, the poor man, a ewe lamb. And

at the end of it, David is furious. He's enraged

by what the rich man does to the poor man and

taking the ewe lamb and killing it for his own

selfish purposes. And then at the end of that,

Nathan the prophet points his finger at David

and says, you're the man. Immediately, godly

sorrow sinks in. Immediately grief and brokenness

comes upon this man. And he says, I have sinned

against the Lord. It's at this point, it's at

this place, somewhere in this time frame that

David pens Psalm 51. It's a record of his restoration

with... sweet fellowship with the Lord. It's

a record of him returning to the Lord. It's a

record of him coming back to the Lord after concealing

his sin for so long and willfully and voluntarily

sinning against his God. So as we continue this,

we're going to look at five things in particular

in verses one through two. We're going to see

the place that David goes to make his plea. We're

going to see his understanding of his sin or

his view regarding his sin. We're going to see

David's confidence. We're going to see David's

plea that he makes with God, his petition, his

appeal that he actually makes to God. And we're

going to see David's prioritization of this plea.

meaning the priority he places on the plea for

the forgiveness of sins with God in the place

of his restoration with the Lord. Following this,

we'll make several applications to our own lives

today that we draw from this text and sex position.

Beginning with David's place of plea, we see

whenever David sinned, In 2 Samuel, whenever

he sinned, we see that, and he was found out

that Bathsheba was pregnant. He did not immediately

go to the Lord, but he resorts to the arm of

the flesh. He sins for his general. He seeks

to control and to manipulate the situation, to

exercise authority, which he had. To conceal

it, to hide it, to keep it, to cover it. But

finally we find, after godly sorrow sets in,

that he goes to the place where he ought to have

gone in the first place. That he finally goes

to the place where he should have gone immediately.

He goes to the Lord himself. Be gracious to me,

O God. He goes to God in prayer following the

realization of his sin. We find in Psalm chapter

Psalms 32 · chapter mention

32, which is another account of his sin. We see

David saying, therefore, let everyone who is

godly pray to you in a time when you may be found.

Surely in a flood of great waters, they will

not reach him. And listen to this, brothers and

sisters. You are my hiding place. You preserve

me from trouble. You surround me with songs of

deliverance. In Psalm 25, David says, To you,

O Lord, I lift up my soul. The Lord is the place

where David goes to make his plea. The Lord is

the place that David goes to find relief from

his sorrow. There's so many times and there's

so many temptations that when a person sins against

God, what's the temptation? To go somewhere else

other than God himself. The temptation is to

go to men. The temptation is to go to another

sin. The temptation is to do something to get

my mind off of it. The temptation is to move

on. But that's not what David does here. He cries

out to God. He goes to the throne of grace. And

he pleads. With the Lord of glory, who is merciful

and compassionate, he comes to his throne in

prayer. Secondly, we see that David's understanding

of his sin as he comes to God. When David comes

to God, he's not coming with an attitude of privilege.

When David comes to God, He's not coming to God

in a manner that says, I deserve forgiveness.

No, David is coming to the Lord with an attitude

of brokenness, an attitude that he doesn't deserve.

He says, be gracious to me, God. The first thing

he says is, be gracious to me. He knows he doesn't

deserve any good thing from God. He knows he

doesn't deserve to be treated. as though he's

wanting. He needs grace. He needs mercy. He knows

because of the full weight of his sin in his

life that he doesn't deserve anything from God.

It's because he knows the multifaceted character

of his sin. In this text, we see that he uses

the word transgressions. He says, wash me thoroughly

of my iniquity. We see that he says, cleanse

me from my sin. Transgressions, iniquity, and

sin. David recognizes, brothers and sisters,

that his sin is not just one -sided. That it

wasn't just one thing that offended God. It wasn't

just one thing that was evil in the sight of

God. He also says the singular and the plural.

Meaning my sins, my transgressions, my iniquity,

singular. So whenever he says transgressions,

he's talking about the volitional and willful

outward rebellion against God. When he says iniquities,

he's referring to the perverting or the twisting

of that which is good and that God has given

him. When he says sins, he's talking about the

reality that he has erred so far from the mark

of his life that his aim ought to be for God

and his law. But he's fallen short of it. He's

sorely missed the mark. He recognizes. That he

is a desperate sinner coming to God. And notice

the depth of his sin. Whenever he says, wash

me, he doesn't say, wash me of my iniquity. He

says, wash me thoroughly of my iniquity. Why

is that? Because he recognizes the depth. By

which sin has penetrated his person. He recognizes

that sin is deep in him. That he is stained with

it. That he is marred deep in his soul with this

evil. The depth of sin goes to the inner core

and inner fibers of our being, brothers and sisters.

It's not just outward acts. It's not just the

twisting and the perversion of good things that

God has given us. It's not just missing the mark,

but sin has to do with the fact that we have

a sinful nature that springs forth out of us.

We are depraved. We are sinners by nature, by

birth. So there's a wellspring of iniquity from

our very person. And David recognizes this. He

recognizes the invasive nature of his sin within

him. Now, what about its severity? How severe

was David's sin? David's sin was utterly severe.

This is why he says, according to the greatness

of your compassion. He knows the depth of his

depravity. He knows the depth of his iniquity.

He knows the depth of his sin. And he knows that

only the great compassion of God is adequate

and abundant enough to forgive him of his sins.

His sin runs deep. And his sin is severe. But

brothers and sisters, in the severity of his

sin, in the depth of his sin, in the grievous

nature of his sin, it gives every one of us hope

who know the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know why?

Because if God allows David to be received by

his grace and God forgives him of his sins and

the grievous sin which he brings to his throne,

then he'll forgive you and I of our sins. No

matter the size, no matter the severity, no matter

the amount. If you go to him in prayer and you

go to his throne and you appeal to his grace

and his mercy and compassion, you will be forgiven.

There's hope for all of us because we know there

was hope for David. We know that David did not

despair, so we mustn't despair. There's hope,

there's confidence to be had. Now, what about

the effects of this sin, of these sins in David's

life? What did it do to him? What were the effects

of his sin, of his iniquity, of his transgression

on his own life? Well, what does he say? He needs

washed. Why does he need washed? Because he's

impure, he's unholy, he's dirty. He needs cleansed.

Why? Because he's unclean in the sight of God.

Sin has ruinous effects in our soul. Sin brings

about the sense and the reality of impurity and

unholiness and uncleanliness in our life. It

brings about the inner reality of those realities

which the Mosaic law proclaimed outwardly in

symbols of being unclean, of being leprous, of

being dirty and unholy and unconsecrated and

unsanctified. That's what sin brings about in

our lives. And David knows it from firsthand

experience. He wallowed in it for a year. He

wallowed in his wickedness for a whole year,

and now he's reaping the effects of that sin

in his soul. The effects of sin are that it will

make us unclean in our inner man. impure and

unholy, it will bring us to a place where we

have this weight and burden in our very souls.

And Lord willing, it will drive us to the throne

of grace to seek for mercy. Now one might be

tempted under such weight of sin to throw off

responsibility. To avoid it. To say, I'm not,

I don't have any part in this. What about Bathsheba?

She was bathing in the open. She didn't have

to do that. I didn't need to see her. David says

three times, my sin. My sin. My sin. Do you know

why? Because he is recognizing and acknowledging

his fault in the matter. He is taking absolute

responsibility for his own actions at the throne

of God. True repentance. True repentance always

involves taking. full responsibility for your

own sins. Every single time. If you are unwilling

to recognize your iniquities, if you are unwilling

to recognize your transgressions, if you are

unwilling to own up to your own sin in the matter,

then brothers and sisters, it is not true repentance.

David does own up. To his own sin, he takes responsibility

for it. And sin's ultimate error is not that

we sin against ourselves. And sin's ultimate

error is not that we sin against our brothers.

Sin's ultimate error is that it is an offense

against a thrice holy God. That it is an affront

to God himself. And that when we sin, we sin

in his sight. And we perform that evil in his

sight. David knows that. That's why he comes

to God in prayer. And what does he do with the

sins? What's he doing? He's bringing them to

the throne, isn't he? He's bringing his transgression.

He's bringing his iniquity. He's bringing his

sin where? To the throne. He is exposing his

wickedness to the holy presence of God. Now,

when a man or a woman exposes their wickedness

to a holy God, do you know what they want to

do? They want to get rid of the holiness. They

want to get rid of the wickedness, I'm sorry.

Because it will crush them. He brings his sins

to God's throne in order that he might forsake

them there, in order that he might abandon them

there and be restored with this God who's so

good and be restored with this God who is so

faithful. He deals with his sin by bringing them

to God's throne and allowing God to deal with

them. It's hard and difficult, brothers and sisters,

to take responsibility for our actions at times.

It's hard and it's difficult to own up to our

sins against a holy God. It's a difficult thing

to fight and battle against sin for all our days

on this earth. But brothers and sisters, cast

them at his feet because he cares for you. Bring

them to the throne that you might be renewed

in his grace. Bring them to his throne that you

might know holiness and godliness again, that

you might experience joy and hope and confidence

and assurance in your faith. Restoration with

the Lord, restoration to a sweet, unbroken fellowship

begins with us dealing with our sins before God

in prayer. We must begin there. We must take

them to the throne. Thirdly, we see David's plea

with God. He asks initially three things of God.

Three things which we've already seen in this

text. He says, blot out my transgressions. When

David appeals to the grace of God, the mercy

of God, the compassion of God, that he would

blot out his transgressions, he's saying, Lord,

forgive me of my sins. Pardon me of my sins.

We see throughout Scripture that God blots out

many things. Remember in the book of Genesis,

when the great flood came, what did God do and

what did God determine to do to humanity? To

blot them out. David cries that his sins would

be wiped, That God would remove them from his

eternal record book. Turn with me to Numbers

Numbers 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. This term is used in Numbers 5. Interesting

enough, it's with regards to the adultery test

for faithful or unfaithful women. We read in

Numbers chapter 5. Then the priest shall bring

Numbers 5 · chapter mention

her near and have her stand before the Lord.

And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware

vessel. Now he shall take some of the dust that

is in the floor of the tabernacle and put it

into the water. The priest shall then have the

woman stand before the Lord and let the hair

of the woman's head go loose and place the grain

offering of immoral in her hands. which is the

grain offering of jealousy and in the hand of

the priest, is to be the water of bitterness

that brings a curse. A curse. Then we jump down

to verse 21. Then the priest shall have the woman

swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest

shall say to the woman, The Lord make you a curse

and an oath among your people by the Lord's making

your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell.

Then in verse 23, listen to these words, brothers

and sisters. The priest shall then write these

curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off

in the water of bitterness. He shall blot them

out. He shall forgive them. He shall erase them.

What is David crying out for? What is David crying

to God for? That he would remove the curse from

his life. That he would remove judgment from

him, even though there's bitterness in his soul.

God, remove the curse that I might be proclaimed

clean and innocent. Then we see in Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 44 · chapter mention

44. Verses 22 through 23. I have wiped out your

transgressions. Listen to this. Like a thick

cloud. And your sins like a heavy mist. Return

to me for I have redeemed you. Shout for joy,

O heavens, for the Lord has done it. Shout joyfully,

you lower parts of the earth. Break forth into

a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and

every tree in it for the Lord. has redeemed Jacob

and Israel. He shows forth his glory. Forgiveness

leads to return and joy. But first, the Lord

must wipe away your sins. The Lord must blot

out your iniquities. David cries to God. That

he would not remember his sin. That he would

not hold it against him. Then we see that David

pleased with God that he would wash him thoroughly

of his iniquities. This word goes back to the

book of Numbers and the book of Leviticus. And

it has to do with someone becoming impure and

unholy and unclean. as a result of their garments

and their clothing becoming contaminated. And

what was required for them to be declared clean,

for them to be made right, for them to enter

into the camp again? They had to be washed. Their

garments, their clothing, what they wore had

to be cleansed. It had to be washed in order

for them to return to the camp and to be declared

in good standing. for them to be in the presence

of God and to be in the midst of God's people.

David cries out that God would wash him thoroughly

of his iniquities. We also see that he cries

out and he appeals to God that he would cleanse

him from his sin. This word is used in the holiness

code, which is in Leviticus chapters 11 through

Leviticus 11 · chapter mention

14. And it is a direct reference to leprosy.

And the impurity and the uncleanness that comes

with leprosy. The ostracization. The separation,

the isolation that comes from leprosy. Do you

know what happened to a person who was said to

have leprosy? With regards to the Levitical law?

Because of their impurity, their uncleanness?

and the danger they presented to the rest of

the nation, they were quarantined. They were

removed from the people. They were isolated.

And do you know what they needed in order to

be returned to the camp, in order to be returned

to God and His presence? They needed to be cleansed.

They needed to be declared clean and holy. In

the sight of God. Do you, brothers and sisters,

see how David is crying out that God would restore

him? That God would cause him to return? That

God would give him his presence back? He's using

terms and elements and categories and ideas from

the Mosaic Law. He's blotting out, washing, cleaning.

He's using these Old Testament, Mosaic terms,

which he was so intimately knowledgeable of,

which he knew so much about. But brothers and

sisters, he's not looking to those things for

the forgiveness of sins. He's not looking to

those things for washing. He's not looking to

those things for cleanses, is he? He's not trusting

in the ceremonial rites and rituals of the Mosaic

law for the forgiveness of sins. He knows that

if he's washed with water, it only washes his

skin. It won't touch his soul. It won't touch

his inner man. It won't deal with the issues.

Who is he looking to? For his sins to be forgiven.

Who is he looking to? To make provision for the

forgiveness of sins. Who is he looking to? To

be washed by. Who does he long to have cleanse

him? God himself. He's looking to the Lord for

these gospel realities. We learn something about

the Mosaic Law in this text. we learn that what

the ceremonial rites and rituals of the Mosaic

law proclaimed outwardly and symbolically, externally,

they were proclaiming certain realities associated

with the gospel. But they were inadequate and

insufficient and incapable of providing the substance

and the reality they were proclaiming. So David's

looking. for the substance and the reality. So

who is David looking to? What is David looking

to? He's looking to a greater sacrifice than

the ceremonial law could provide. He's looking

for a redemption that comes from God and not

from the ceremonial rites and rituals. He's looking

to the Messiah. He's looking to Christ and his

merciful work. He's looking to the cross, brothers

and sisters. for atonement and for the forgiveness

of sins. David's great concern is not his relation

to God. David's great concern is how God treats

him. David's great concern is how God sees him.

David's great concern is whether or not God receives

him or not. David's great concern is God's disposition

toward him. This is the essence of Christianity

to a degree. The ultimate question is not how

I relate to God. What I do with God. The ultimate

question is not how I respond to God, how I receive

or reject God. But brothers and sisters, friends,

the ultimate question is, does God receive you?

How does God view you? How does God treat you

and your sins? David knows. that his sins will

be forgiven. Do you know with confidence that

your sins are forgiven in the person and the

work of Jesus Christ? Do you know without a shadow

of a doubt that you are a child of the living

God? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt

that when you die, your soul will go to the throne

of God? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt

that you are in union with Jesus Christ by faith

and repentance? David did. He had faith. He was

not despairing. Do you know with certainty that

Jesus Christ is your Lord and your Savior? Has

God... graciously received you through Christ.

Has God forgiven your sins? That's the question

you need to consider. Not whether or not you

need to receive God or receive Christ. You need

to wonder, has God received me through Christ?

David knew and he understood. He was looking

to the Lord himself for these gospel realities.

And he knew that God would make provision for

the forgiveness of sins that he had. But he comes

to the throne and he knows and he has confidence,

but how does he have confidence? How does David

have hope when he comes to the throne for the

forgiveness of sins? How is it possible? That

David's sins are forgiven. Is it David? Is it

because David is king and he's been a godly man

for many years and he just fell off for a year

and he had a bad year? That's not it. That's

not where he finds his hope. We find, fourthly,

David's confidence concerning the forgiveness

of sins. David's singular hope and confidence

in the forgiveness of sins is the character of

God himself. According to the greatness of your

compassion, blot out my transgressions. According

to your loving kindness, his confidence, his

hope. was not in himself or his sin. His confidence

and his hope and the provision of forgiveness

of sins was the very character of God. The good

and faithful, compassionate and merciful character

of God. David knew Exodus 34. When Moses goes

to the mountain, then the Lord passed by in front

of him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God,

compassionate, and gracious, slow to anger, and

abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps

loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity,

transgressions, and sin. Yet he will by no means

leave the guilty unpunished. David knew the good

character of God. And he knew that God would

act in accordance with him. his character, and

because he believed it and because he trusted

it, then God would indeed forgive his sins. He

knew that God was a God of redemption. He knew

that God provided redemptive means for him to

be restored. And that's why he looked to the

Lord. That's why he looks to his mercy and his

compassion, and he doesn't look to the ceremonial

law or himself. He was looking to the great sacrifice

of Christ to come, the fulfillment of the law.

He was looking to the substance of what the law

proclaimed, and he knew it was there and there

alone, that he had hope. It was there and there

alone that he would find forgiveness of sins.

And he knew that he could come back to that place.

That he could find confidence and hope in that.

Where else, brothers and sisters, can you go

in this world to rid yourself of shame, sorrow,

grief, and mourning? Where can you go in this

world, in this life, to have your guilt removed?

Brothers and sisters, there's a lot of places

you can go to mask it, to put a band -aid over

it. There's a lot of places you can go to cover

it up and hide it. But you must go to God in

His great compassion and His mercy in Christ

Jesus if it is to be removed, if it is to be

taken, if you are to find relief from your sin.

Lastly, we see David's priority in all of this.

This is the very beginning of Psalm 51. The first

two verses. And the very first thing that David

does is he pleads for the forgiveness of sins.

He knows the importance of it. And he knows that

all restoration and renewal in his own life must

be built on the forgiveness of sins. It must

be built on the provision of God for the redemption.

Of sinners. So he places a high priority on it.

That's the first thing he does. Grace is the

first thing he looks to. God's compassion. Is

the initial thing he cries out for. Because he

knows. He must start there. If he is to build

upwards. Or if he is to be built upwards. If

he is to grow. If he is to return. It must be

built on the forgiveness of sins. So we've seen

that David comes to God in prayer. We've seen

that he goes to God himself. He understands and

he views his sin in a very serious way, with

a serious view of it. And we see that he pleads

with God that he would forgive his sins, that

he would wash him, that he would cleanse him.

We see that David has great confidence because

of the compassionate and merciful character of

God. In this plea, he places great priority because

he knows that renewal and restoration are built

on it. Knowing these things, let's apply this

briefly to our lives. Knowing that this is where

David starts, with restoration to fellowship

and communion with God. We must recognize that

it begins with going to God in prayer. Brothers

and sisters, there's a lot of things in Christianity

that have fallen to the wayside, and one of them

is prayer. There's a lot of things that we can

overlook. But we mustn't let prayer be one of

those things. If we are to be forgiven, if we

are to find relief from our sorrow, our shame,

our difficulties in life, it must be through

prayer at the throne of God. Many people... remain

in their sin because they won't take time to

pray. They won't take time to go to the throne.

They won't take time to cry out and plead with

God. Brothers and sisters, you can go to His

throne regardless of where you're at or what

you're doing. But you must pray. It's not in

our thoughts. That we're forgiven. It's not in

our considerations that bounce around in our

head. It's in prayer. It's going to the throne

of grace to be forgiven. So it starts with going

to God in prayer, but it continues by recognizing

and taking responsibility for our sins. We must

be willing to take a good, hard look at ourselves,

our own actions, our longings, our desires, our

wants, if we are to be restored after we have

sinned. We must be willing to accept responsibility.

for our own willing participation in our iniquity,

in our sin. It's hard. But if you're going to

constantly cast off the chains of your own actions,

don't expect to have a great deal of joy in your

life. If you're constantly unwilling to take

responsibility for your sin and your breaking

of God's law, don't expect a lot of... a lot

of the Spirit's presence in your life. Because

you're choosing sin over grace. We must be willing

to take a hard look at our own souls to recognize

our sin and take ownership of it. and not try

to get around it or to get out from under it,

but to own it and bring it to the throne and

leave it there and forsake it and expose it to

God's holy presence. True repentance for our

sin always involves taking responsibility for

our sins. Everything else is false repentance.

If you won't own up to your sin, that's not true

repentance. And don't expect restoration. If

you're going to hold on to that sin with a white

knuckled grip, it continues by asking for forgiveness.

It's easy. To get in the habit of saying sorry.

I have to say that a lot to my wife. And I'm

being sincere and genuine. I really do. But,

you know, a lot of times you can say it, and

it's kind of empty. There's not really any substance

there. It's just words that are hollow. It's

not meaningful. The words are present. but the

intent, the meaning, and the substance of what

you're saying are absent. God has so designed

it that we are forgiven, we are justified in

Christ when we come to Christ in faith, when

we repent of our sins, but he has so designed

it because we have a remnant of sin within us

that that forgiveness, that justification needs

to constantly be appropriated to our own souls.

Brothers and sisters, God has graciously worked

in our lives. He has graciously given us His

Spirit. He has graciously caused us to be born

again to a living hope. But if we continue to

pile up those graces, if we continue to pile

up sin on top of them, on top of them, over them,

covering them with unrepentant sin, they're still

there. But they're not going to be sensed. Felt,

experienced, or they're not even going to be

experiencing our soul. They're still there. But

we've covered them up with this pile of iniquity

because we don't ask for forgiveness of our sins.

It's as though asking for forgiveness regularly

is what removes that pile of sin, that pile of

iniquity. To keep those graces exposed to our

souls. To keep those merciful works of God through

the Spirit of Christ active in our life and felt

and sensed within our souls. Don't go long without

asking for forgiveness. We must ask. Jesus himself

taught us this as we saw in the catechism. Finally,

restoration begins with resting in the sacrifice

of Christ. We see David seeking out these gospel

realities. We see David seeking out the sacrifice

of Christ and is crying to God for mercy and

compassion and is trusting God himself for the

forgiveness of sins. And brothers and sisters,

if we are to be restored with the living God

in fellowship and communion with him, we must

rest on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's

why David didn't despair. That's why he didn't

give up hope. The story in Zechariah of the high

priest Joshua. You remember that Joshua is standing

before God and Satan, the accuser, is standing

next to him making accusations. Why? Because

his clothes are all dirty. His clothes are filthy.

And the angel of the Lord says, well, is this

not a firebrand that's swept out of the fire?

Meaning he's rescued from the ash and the dust.

Of course he's going to be dirty. Of course he's

going to be filthy because there's remnants of

the ash, the dust, the fire on him. And then

the Lord provides a new turban and new garments

for him. Brothers and sisters, we must constantly

go to the throne of God. Lay hold of Christ's

sacrifice. Lay hold of his life, his death, his

resurrection. Lay hold of the atonement. If we

are to be restored. True repentance always involves

laying hold of Christ by faith. It's not just

recognizing our sin. It's not just taking responsibility

for our sin, our transgression, our iniquity.

It's looking to Jesus Christ and trusting in

him for our salvation again. It's looking to

him for our hope. The difference between the

devil's accusations and godly sorrow in our lives

is that the devil's accusations lead to hopelessness

and despair, but godly sorrow. And conviction

of sin. Leads. To restoration. And renewal. It

leads us back to Christ. So look to the Lord

Jesus Christ. Run back to him. Over and over

and over. Continually by faith. Laying hold of

his word. This is what true. Repentance is.