Psalm 51

C.S. Lewis once said,

Time does not erase the fact or the guilt of sin.

! Time does not erase the fact or the guilt of sin.

! Last year, just before Easter,

our washing machine started spilling water out of the overflow pipe during its rinse cycle.

One morning I was leaving the house,

and next thing there was this flood of water coming out from underneath the washing machine.

And to cut a long story short,

what had happened is there had been a blockage in one of the pipes under our floorboards,

and during the rinse cycle, the water was going down the overflow pipe,

hitting the blockage and then just backing its way up and pouring out onto the kitchen floor.

Now in the weeks and months previous, I had been given a few warnings.

So I remember one morning seeing a trickle of water come out from underneath the washing machine,

and I just grabbed one of Jackie's blouses and dried it up.

A few weeks previous, I remember on the rinse cycle,

the kitchen sink started spitting water up and gurgling loudly.

But because there wasn't any sort of volcanic eruption, I just ignored it.

And then just a few days before the blockage,

the kitchen sink started to drain really slowly, like, really slowly.

Like, hello, there's a blocked pipe below kind of slope.

But you know what I was thinking when I got all these warning signs?

It'll be alright.

It'll clear.

Ah, it'll be a wee blockage.

It'll clear in time.

And then it happened.

The blockage, the overflow,

and there I was with tiles and everything all over the kitchen floor.

And after four hours of me trying to fix it,

the kitchen sink wasn't even draining.

And it came at quite a stressful time.

I actually was going off to Australia to speak at a conference,

and I had talks to prepare.

I had this talk to prepare.

And I didn't have the time to be fixing a blocked pipe under my floorboards.

And then, in God's kindness and providence,

I realized,

here was an illustration

staring me right in the face.

We sin every day.

By thought,

by word,

by deed.

If we do not confess our sins,

then it is like the accumulation of dirt

in the pipes of our relationship with God.

If sin is unconfessed,

then it just sits there,

building up and clogging up our relationship with God.

And one thing is for certain,

time does not erase the fact or the guilt of sin.

And that was a lesson that King David had to learn.

And in learning it,

he left us with a wonderful example

of a Christian confession of sin.

This psalm,

Psalm 51,

set within the context of the whole Bible,

gives us five aspects

of a Christian confession of sin.

Number one,

confession of sin

comes only

through divine revelation.

Confession of sin

comes only

through divine revelation.

Just take a glance down

to the superscription.

That's the beginning part

in your Bibles.

If you've got the NIV,

it's the bit

at the beginning of Psalm 51

in capital letters.

Now this

hasn't been added

by the NIV

or ESV

translators.

This is part of the original.

It's not irrelevant.

It's actually the key

to understanding this psalm.

In fact,

it presents us

with the foundation

for a Christian confession of sin.

To the choir master,

a psalm of David

when Nathan,

the prophet,

went to him

after

he had gone in

to Bathsheba.

Now we're not told

how long it was

between David committing

adultery

with Bathsheba

and Nathan,

the prophet's visit.

But from the story

of 2 Samuel 11 and 12,

it looks like Nathan

came to David

either just before

or just after

the birth

of the boy

who was born

from this adulterous affair.

That's about

nine months.

Nine months

to wake up.

Nine months

to come to his senses.

Nine months

for the guilt

to get so heavy

that eventually

he cracks

and runs back

to God

in confession.

I mean,

just think about

what he had done.

He had failed

to go to war.

2 Samuel 11

starts with those

wonderful words.

In the spring

when kings

go off

to war,

David

sent

Joab,

his commander,

to fight

the Ammonites.

What a brilliant way

to open the drama.

So not only

does he not go to war

when he should have,

he sends somebody else

to fight the war

for him.

And then one night

as he's looking out

on his balcony,

he spots a woman,

another man's wife.

And a bit of laziness

leads to lust

and the lust

leads to an affair.

But David

wants to cover it up

until his secret

hits a bump.

Quite literally

in the tummy

of Bathsheba.

So what does he do?

He calls her husband

back from war.

He tries to tell him

to go and spend

a night with a missus

so that he can

cover up his crime.

And when he doesn't

play ball,

he brings him

to his dinner table,

gets him drunk,

sends him back again,

still doesn't play ball.

So what does he do?

He sends him back

to the battlefield

with his own

death warrant

in his hand.

he says to Joab,

make sure you put

Uriah,

Bathsheba's husband,

at the front

of the battle line.

And in that fight,

it wasn't just

Uriah who died,

it was other men

who died

fighting on the front

with Uriah

because David's army

pulled back

and let them

get killed.

And then when the

messenger comes

to David and says,

Uriah is dead,

David responds

with ice cold

calculation.

Well,

that's war.

Some are taken,

some are not.

C'est la vie.

Now,

nine months

David had to live

with all of those

things on his

conscience.

270 nights

going to sleep

with blood

on his hands.

So why didn't

he repent?

Why couldn't

he come

to his senses?

I mean,

if you

had had a secret

affair,

you'd lied,

you'd murdered

someone to cover up,

wouldn't you

come to your senses?

Wouldn't you

wake up

and say,

okay,

enough's enough,

I need to admit

I've done wrong?

Well,

the reason why

David didn't

and the reason

why neither you

nor I would

is because

the DNA of sin

is deception.

Built into the

very nature

of sin

is deceitfulness.

And that is why

David didn't have

the wherewithal,

the objective

self-assessment,

the ability

to differentiate

between himself

and his sin

and to be able

to see that

what he had done

was wrong

and to confess

his sins.

This is the fact

that the Bible

gives us,

that as human beings

we do not have

the ability

for true,

clear,

objective,

accurate

self-assessment,

self-analysis.

David didn't

and neither do we

because sin

is deceitful.

it was the Puritan

John Flavel

who said

that you are

more likely

today

to stop the sun

in its tracks

or to make

rivers run uphill

than you are

to order

or rule

your own heart.

Think about that.

You are more likely

to stop the sun

moving

east to west

than you are

to rule

and order

your own heart.

and that is

the fact

of sin.

It is

deceitful.

So what was it

that brought

David

to repentance?

Well the answer is there

in the superscription.

Divine

revelation.

A psalm of David

that he wrote

when

Nathan

the prophet

went to him.

confession of sin

comes only

through divine

revelation.

confession of sin

faces sin

square on.

Confession of sin

faces sin

square on.

Verses 1

to 6

Now I should warn you

this point is the

longest of all

of the five

because if we are

going to confess

our sins are right

then we need to

first understand

exactly what sin is.

And David

gives us a very

comprehensive view

of sin.

He covers three

aspects.

Its definition

its defilement

and its dimensions.

Let's look at

sin's definition

verses 1 and 2.

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.

Did you notice

the different

ways David

refers to

his crimes

transgressions

iniquity

sin

transgression

in verse 1

refers to

rebellion

the breaking

of God's

law

transgression

is willful

deliberate

defiant

acts of

rebellion

at the heart

of a human

being

is a rebel

I'm sure

you have

seen that

perhaps with

some of your

children or

other people's

children

you say

to your

child

don't touch

that

and then

what do you

find them

doing within

30 seconds

sort of

just loitering

around the

thing you

said don't

touch

and then

they go

to touch

it

what is

that

that is

defiant

rebellion

I remember

a friend of

mine years

ago in a

church

he'd become

a grandfather

and he

tells a story

of when his

daughter

his granddaughter

came into

the house

one day

and she

came in

and in the

hallway

his wife

had this

beautiful

vase

at a table

about knee

height

and they

came into

the house

and the

little daughter

went

she was about

three years

old

she went

straight for

the vase

and the

mother and

the grandmother

said now

this is a

beautiful vase

we don't want

you to touch

it so

come into

the living

room

and the

mother was

very clear

this is

grandmother's

vase

you do

not touch

this vase

well within

a few minutes

everyone was

in the living

room enjoying

conversation

and the

grandfather

sitting in

the chair

noticed that

the granddaughter

made her way

back out into

the hallway

towards this

little table

and the door

was ajar

so he could

see out

and she

went to the

table and

she sort of

looked over

her shoulder

took her

vase and

pushed it

onto the

ground

and it

smashed

now what

is that

that is

transgression

that is a

deliberate

defiant

rebellion

against a

mother's

rule

and that is

what transgression

is in the

bible

god gives

us his

law

and we

deliberately

break it

the second

word is

iniquity

verse 2

this refers

to perversity

it means

to bend

or to

pervert

it's used

in some

context of

straying off

a path

waywardness

of the

three terms

here

this is the

internal word

it refers

to the

warped

human

nature

bent

from the

inside

it's like

one writer

calls it

the incurve

the incurvature

human beings

are bent

on the

inside

when I see

this word

in the

bible

I think

of

golem

in lord

of the

rings

you know

that

pathetic

creature

who grasped

for the

precious

the ring

only to

find himself

bent

inward

left

with only

himself

imprisoned

by his

own

jealousies

and hatred

the groove

of the

incurve

had taken

its toll

and he

had just

continued

to down

spiral

in his

depravity

that

is a

picture

of

iniquity

perversity

the

incurve

and then

there is

the word

sin

this is

referring

this refers

to failure

to missing

the mark

like an

arrow

that falls

short

of its

target

God's

glory

and holiness

is the

target

and we

have

fallen

short

of that

but we

mustn't

think

that we

were trying

to aim

for the

target

and we

were just

unfortunate

not to

hit it

no

as we

were aiming

for the

target

we

deliberately

moved

our arm

so that

we missed

the target

this word

sin needs

to be

understood

in the

context

of the

other two

words

transgression

and iniquity

we deliberately

wanted

to miss

God's

target

and so

there we

have it

the terrible

threesome

of human

depravity

transgression

iniquity

and sin

and it is

these three

words in the

Old Testament

that capture

the concept

of sin

and David

defines his

actions with

all three

words

that is

sin's

definition

then there is

sin's

defilement

did you

notice

the verbs

that David

uses

verse 1

blot

out

verse 2

wash

me

thoroughly

verse 2

cleanse

me

what picture

do those

words

give you

remember

years ago

as a

physiotherapist

working in a

hospital

and on a

few occasions

when I was

working with

spinal cord

injury

patients

I got

human

feces

on my

hands

and my

clothes

and I

remember

the feeling

of it

I wanted

to blot

out the

dirt

I wanted

to run

to a

shower room

and get

out of my

clothes

and burn

the clothes

not just get

them washed

I wanted

to burn

them

and I wanted

to get in

a hot

shower

and I want

to get

my hands

in it

and I wanted

to be

thoroughly

cleansed

and that

is the

picture

that David

gives us

here

sin

stinks

sin

defiles

sin

stains

and what

David wants

is to be

thoroughly

washed

to be

thoroughly

cleansed

from the

defilement

of sin

well he

gives us

sin's

definition

he gives

us

sin's

defilement

but he

also gives

us

various

dimensions

of sin

verses

3-6

this

aspect

of sin

relates

to its

inescapability

did you

notice the

word

for

at the

beginning

of verse

3

David

wants his

sin

blotted

out

and he

wants

himself

washed

and cleansed

because

his sin

is inescapable

for

my

transgressions

and my

sin

is ever

before me

that is

the first

dimension

the outward

dimension

sin

is outside

him

staring

him

down

his language

conveys the

idea of

guilt

that is

attached

to sin

that external

burden

that you

feel

when you

have sinned

the guilt

and the

dread

of what

you have

done

then there's

the vertical

dimension

verse 4

against you

only

against you

you only

have I

sinned

and done

what is

evil

in your

sight

now I'm

sure you

notice the

anomaly

there

against you

you only

have I

sinned

and done

what is

evil

in your

sight

I mean

was David

sucking back

too much

and a bit

Israeli wine

or something

when he

wrote this

I mean

who has he

sinned

against

he sinned

against

Bathsheba

he sinned

against

Joab

he sinned

against

the nation

he sinned

against

Uriah

he sinned

against

the people

who died

in battle

beside

Uriah

he sinned

against

his whole

army

he sinned

against

his servants

who called

Bathsheba

to come

to his

room

he sinned

against

everyone

who hasn't

he sinned

against

he sinned

against

his own

wives

yet here he says

against you, you only

it's emphatic

I have sinned

what is the point that he's trying to make

well it's surely this

that in a sense when we sin

no matter the collateral damage

at the end of the day it all pales into insignificance

because God is God

he is thrice holy as we have sang this morning

and when we sin

the primary person against whom we have sinned is God

that's why David actually chooses a new word

to define his actions

he doesn't choose transgression or iniquity or sin

do you see that in verse 4

he uses a new word, evil

he sees his sin in a whole new dimension

when it is seen before the face of God

this whole escapade with Bathsheba

and Uriah and the lies

and the affair and the murder

it is one heinous act of evil

in God's sight

so that's the vertical dimension

we've seen the outward one

the vertical one

and then there's an inward one

verses 5 to 6

this is the dimension that is internal

internal

behold I was brought forth in iniquity

and in sin did my mother conceive me

behold you delight in truth

in the inward being

and you teach me wisdom

in the secret heart

I remember at Bible college

the principal coming in one day

he was teaching us original sin

and he said

he had just had a granddaughter

who'd been born

and he started the class by saying

my beautiful granddaughter

is making me doubt the doctrine

of original sin

now he was only joking

but David here is not playing around

is he?

as he wriggled forth

that's actually what the Hebrew says

as I wriggled forth from my mother

I wriggled in iniquity

I came out of my mother

with the incurve at work

with perversity

with waywardness

cute and cuddly

on the outside

but with the incurve

on the inside

but he doesn't just stop there

at his birth

as if that wasn't enough

he goes back

to the very moment of conception

that moment when

one sperm out of hundreds of millions

fertilized an egg

in his mother

at that very moment

what does David say?

there was sin

present

conceived in sin

born in iniquity

I'm sure you've seen the program

one born every minute

can you imagine

after all of the screaming

and pushing

and yelling

and that's just the husband

the baby is born

and this beautiful

cute baby

is curled up

on his mother's breast

and the midwife

comes in

with one of those

helium balloons

and hands it to the husband

says congratulations

and he takes the helium balloon

and hands it to the wife

and it says congratulations

it's

a sinner

can you imagine?

and yet

that is actually

what David is saying here

from my birth

I have been like this

and the point he's making

is this

we are not sinners

because we sin

you don't first sin

and then become a sinner

what David's saying is

we sin because we are sinners

it is part of our nature

now that doesn't take away

the responsibility

but he is trying to get back

to the root of his problem

and it goes back

to his conception

to his birth

and these polluted waters

of sinful nature

they run deep within all of us

you see

there David says in verse 6

in the inward being

in the secret heart

God teaches us wisdom

God is saying

I want you to be truthful

even in the subconscious

parts of your being

let me take you back

to that incident

of my friend's granddaughter

as she went out of the room

back to the vase

the dog followed her

and the door was sort of

left ajar

and the grandfather

was watching

and she sort of

looked through and through

and she pushed the vase

onto the floor

and it smashed

and then she came

running back

into the living room

crying

and do you know

what she was saying

it was doggy

it was doggy

well it wasn't doggy

the dog stood beside her

but she was the one

who pushed her

but now

she is three years old

she has no siblings

she is the first one

where did she learn that

that is not learned behavior

that is not a child

who is mal-adjusted

or has anxiety issues

that is sin

in the deep recesses

of her conscience

to lie like that

to her mother

and what David is saying

is God requires truth

from us

even in those inner parts

of her being

well David

as you can see

has faced his sin

square on

he has taught us

the doctrine

of total depravity

our sin is original

our sin is everywhere

it is outside us

we are sinning

before God

it is inside us

David

has faced sin

square on

well number three

confession of sin

acknowledges God

alone

as the only

effective savior

confession of sin

acknowledges God

alone

as the only

effective savior

verses 7

to 12

purge me with

hyssop

and I shall be

clean

wash me

and I shall be

whiter than snow

let me hear joy

and gladness

let the bones

you have broken

rejoice

hide your face

from my sins

and blot out

all my iniquities

create in me

a clean heart

oh God

and renew

a 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

what is interesting

here is that

David's request

here is that

he renews his

appeal for

cleansing in

verses 7

to 9

something that

he's asked for

in verses 1

and 2

but he adds

in another

request

verses 10

to 12

David is not

requesting here

it's the request

sorry for renewal

David's not

requesting here

the decisive

cleansing of

renewal

at conversion

but rather

the ongoing

cleansing

and renewal

in a believer's

life

we continue

the Christian

life

as we began

it

with repentance

and renewal

and you'll notice

David requests

both repentance

and renewal

sorry both

cleansing

and renewal

he wants

cleansed

and renewed

because

without cleansing

there is no

lasting

change

no lasting

renewal

but note

also the

order of

the events

or the

requests

he wants

first

to be

cleansed

and then

to be

renewed

this is

something that

secular thinking

in psychology

and sociology

has not really

grasped

what do they

try to do

they switch

that around

they try to

change the

human being

first

in order that

they might

cleanse their

conscience

but the Bible

gives us a

completely different

way of dealing

with our sin

first we need

to be cleansed

and then

we need to

be renewed

I like to

think of these

two aspects

of confession

a bit like

light and

heat

in order to

have heat

you must

first have

light

but where

there is

light

there will

be heat

and when

you ask

God to

cleanse you

he's not

just going

to cleanse

you

he wants

to change

you as well

and that

is what

is at

the heart

of confession

a request

for cleansing

and renewal

but I wonder

if you notice

what was most

striking about

the heart

of this

confession

in verses

7 to 12

every verse

that I've just

read there

contains two

imperatives

two commands

two requests

to God

that's 12

all together

in fact the

whole psalm

is dominated

by imperatives

20 times

in 19

verses

20 times

David

requests

something

from God

now that's

not just a

piece of

statistical

trivia for

the mathematicians

in the

congregation

by calling

on God

to do

something

20 times

in a matter

of 19

verses

and 12

times

in a matter

of 6

verses

in the

middle

of the

psalm

David

is making

a profound

theological

point

and it's

this

only God

can cleanse

only God

can change

a person

he doesn't

turn inward

to himself

he doesn't

find the

resources

for change

or improvement

or development

of himself

inside

himself

he has

to go

outside

himself

he has

to go

to God

the interesting

verb

the most

interesting

verb

of all

of the

ones

that he

uses

in verse

10

create

in me

a clean

heart

oh God

in

biblical

Hebrew

there's

about

three or

four

verbs

that are

used

for

creating

or making

there's a

verb

yatsar

it's used

of God

fashioning

the heavens

and the

earth

but it's

also used

of a

potter

in Isaiah

fashioning

and forming

his clay

there's the

verb

asah

which is

used in

Genesis 2

of God

making man

from the

dust of

the earth

but it's

also used

in Genesis

12

of Abraham

making an

altar

at Shechem

there is

a third

verb

it's

the

verb

bara

the

beginning

of the

Hebrew

Bible

starts

in the

beginning

God

created

and what

is interesting

about this

verb

bara

is that

God

is only

ever

the subject

of this

verb

it's not

that the

verb means

to create

from nothing

every single

time

it does

mean that

in Genesis

1

but the

interesting

thing about

the verb

is it

occurs 45

times in

the Old

Testament

and never

is it used

of a human

being

a human

being

never

bara's

that's terrible

Hebrew

but a human

being never

does bara

only God

now which

verb do you

think David

used here

it's the

verb bara

he's saying

God

you

alone

are the

one who

can create

this new

heart in

me

and that

is the

profound

point

that David

is making

only God

can perform

heart surgery

on a human

being

I remember

years ago

being at a

conference

and seeing

on the

bookstall

at this

conference

a book

with the

title

You Can

Change

and I

remember

thinking

who

ordered

that

dodgy

book

for this

Christian

conference

and then

I realised

I had

I was the

one on

the

bookstall

and as

I got

closer

I remembered

the subtitle

and I could

see it there

You Can

Change

sounds like a

bit of pop

psychology

You Can

Change

subtitle

God's

transforming

power

for your

negative

emotions

and sinful

behaviour

it's a great

book

it's by

Tim

Chester

You Can

Change

God's

transforming

power

there's the

answer

to change

do you ever

feel caught

in the

cycle of

your sin

the answer

is not

in some

pop

psychology

or even

some well

researched

psychology

the answer

is turning

to God

and saying

God

create

in me

a clean

heart

and renew

a steadfast

spirit

within me

now up to

this point

in the

sermon

you may

be wondering

if my

name is

Rabbi

Gibson

after all

there is

nothing

different

here in

this sermon

from a

Jewish

exposition

of this

confession

of sin

which brings

us to

our fourth

point

confession

confession

of sin

is centered

on Christ

and his

cross

confession

of sin

is centered

on Christ

and his

cross

verses 16

to 19

there are

hints in

this psalm

that the real

help for our

sin lies

in the future

the hints

come in the

form of

tensions

there's two

tensions

within the

psalm

that point us

beyond the

psalm

for their

resolution

the first

tension

is to do

with the

word

righteousness

look back

at verse

4

against you

you only

have I

sinned

and done

what is

evil in

your sight

so that

you may

be righteous

justified

righteous

in your

words

and blameless

in your

judgment

David

acknowledges

that his

actions

before God

are evil

David is

referring to

the time

God spoke

and judged

his sin

when Nathan

the prophet

visited him

in that

encounter

Nathan

said to

David

David

you are

the man

and what

you have

done

is evil

so when

David recalls

his actions

here and

calls them

evil

he's saying

I agree

with you

God

that you

have a right

to judge

me

that you

are righteous

in condemning

my sin

so keep

that in

mind

here in

verse 4

he's used

the word

righteousness

to refer

to condemning

his sin

now come

with me

to verse

14

deliver me

from blood

guiltiness

O God

O God

of my

salvation

and my

tongue

will sing

aloud of

your

mercy

it doesn't

say that

it says

my tongue

will sing

aloud of

your

righteousness

righteousness

David

wants to

sing of

God's

righteousness

in saving

him from

his sin

in fact

look at

the word

blood

guiltiness

he's saying

I murdered

someone

now will

you please

save me

because of

your

righteousness

do you see

the tension

in verse 4

David is saying

you were

righteous to

condemn me

to judge

me for

my sin

and in

verse 14

he's saying

be righteous

and save

me from

my sin

now how

can God

be righteous

in both

ways

how can he

judge sin

in verse 4

and yet at

the same

time

at the very

same time

how can he

show mercy

and rescue

David from

the exact

same

sin

do you feel

the tension

it's real

but it's not

the only

tension

there's a

second

tension

did you

notice the

tension

surrounding

sacrifice

verses 16

and 17

for you

will not

delight in

sacrifice

or I will

give it

you will

not be

pleased

with a

burnt

offering

the

sacrifices

of God

are a

broken

spirit

a broken

and contrite

heart

of God

you will

not

despise

so what

does God

delight in