Psalm 51 - Confessions, Part II: The Heart of Repentance

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Thank y'all so much. I love the words of that song.

What a great confession of the desperation of sin that cries out for Jesus to rescue.

Hosanna! Oh, save us!

That's really the whole story that we're talking about for these three weeks in terms of confessions.

The nature of sin, the heart of repentance, and finding then a God of forgiveness.

We're learning together from David's confession in Psalm 51 what true repentance looks like.

Because that's to be a regular part of all of our lives.

Seeing our sin and turning to God.

Sin deserves death.

And we see it and realize what we deserve.

And then we turn to Jesus who has beaten death at death's own game.

And we praise Him and rejoice in that.

If you weren't here with us last week, part of the context of this series is the session of Southwood making corporate confession of our sin.

Particularly in light of a season of church conflict here several years ago.

We were telling you that God has shown us several things.

Shown us our failure to love well.

Shown us how our offense is against His glory.

And also shown us at least some of the hurt that our sin has caused to many others.

For more of that context and the particulars of that confession, you can go back and listen to last week's sermon and the comments made by some elders afterwards.

And that's all online.

So as branches, our magazine which addresses that further.

But I'm thankful for people who have already reached out to talk with me and other elders even this week.

Let me say again that you or someone you know may have questions or concerns or hurts that need healing.

Please, please let us know that.

We would love to talk with you.

That's our heart.

That's our great desire in this.

The elders will be down front again at the end of the service this morning to make them a little bit easier for you to find if you're looking for them.

But as we talk more about what God teaches all of us about repentance, let's look back to Psalm 51 and read a couple more verses.

This morning, verses 16 and 17.

And then we'll pray.

This is God's holy word.

For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.

You will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

A broken and contrite heart.

Oh God, you will not despise.

Pray with me.

Father, we ask this morning that you would open our eyes.

That we might behold wonderful things in your word.

All of us are sinners.

The one who speaks is a great sinner.

We all have a greater Savior.

Show him to us.

We pray in your word, by your spirit.

For your glory and for our good.

We ask it in his name.

Amen.

Amen.

Last week, as we discussed the nature of sin, we saw that sin involves both our hearts and our actions.

That God created us for relationship with himself.

To be in this wonderful relationship where we trust him.

Where we rest in him.

Where we find our enjoyment and our fulfillment in him and in this relationship.

That's God's design.

But by nature, we are bent away from God.

And by our actions, we walk away from God towards sin.

We look for our own methods of fulfillment.

We spurn the relationship with God that he created us for.

And we turn our backs to him and walk away.

That's what sin is.

Kids, this is the picture that you should draw this morning if you're working on one of those bulletins.

And you want to draw a picture of what it means for us to sin.

It's for us to walk away from a relationship with God and look for what we're supposed to find in him somewhere else.

Chasing after maybe we'll find trust or rest or joy in another place.

David says that to God, right?

Against you and you only have I sinned.

You're the one over here and I've walked away from you.

Walked away from my relationship with you to pursue my own agenda.

Our hearts wander in search of fulfillment in someone else or something else.

And that's sin.

We see it pictured here in David's adultery with Bathsheba.

The context of this particular psalm.

The prophet Hosea uses that same picture of God's relationship with his people.

That they go looking for things they need in another lover and leave God behind.

Distancing themselves from the beautiful intimate relationship with God that he created them for.

We can also see it certainly in terms of a human marriage.

Where one spouse walks away from relationship looking for fulfillment elsewhere.

And sin like that devastates relationship, right?

It distances us from the God we were meant to be in close fellowship with.

Finding deep satisfaction and delight in.

So this morning we're talking about repentance.

In other words, how does God recommend addressing this problem?

What is he looking for when we find ourselves time and again,

even as his people wandering away, distancing ourselves from him and going after sin?

Our own desires, wandering away from God.

And David says, you will not delight in sacrifice, in burnt offering.

That's not what God's looking for.

But instead, what?

Verse 17.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

The heart of repentance is an issue of the heart.

What's going on here?

A repentant heart.

We'll see this morning as one that is both sorrowful and joyful.

But first sorrowful.

A broken and contrite heart, God says.

That's where it begins.

Repentance begins with our hearts breaking.

The sorrow of the repentant heart is mourning relational distance.

That's what's breaking our hearts.

In other words, godly sorrow over our sin grieves the damage that is done to our relationship with God.

The broken and contrite heart is one that is heartbroken over walking away from rather than toward God.

It's easy to be saddened by the consequences of sin, right?

By getting caught by the ways this is going to impact me and the difficulty this is going to bring into my life that I've been caught in sin.

It can be painful.

It can be inconvenient.

Godly sorrow, the sorrow in a repentant heart is focused not on the consequences but rather on the relationship.

Puritan Thomas Watson calls this sorrow a holy agony.

It's a deep sense of the wrongness of my actions, the wrongness of the attitudes of my heart,

before the righteousness of God.

How wrong I am.

It sounds like our hearts crying out,

look how I've defaced the image of God.

Look how I've mocked the law of God.

Look how I've neglected the things that God loves.

How I've longed for other things more than I've longed for God.

And what an affront that is to my Father who loves me.

It is to be something we feel deeply.

And David even describes earlier in this psalm his bones being crushed and broken in his sin.

Have you felt that holy agony?

How could I have done this to my God?

To the one who loves me?

To the holy and perfect one?

How could I have treated him who wanted that relationship with me?

How could I have run away from that?

Typically to feel that requires meaningful contemplation of our sin on our part, right?

We're not really good at that, most of us.

We've been willing to slow down and take the time to consider my own sin

and contemplate the offense against God.

I've needed recently to sit and listen to others tell me how my sin impacted them.

Those are not easy conversations.

Those are often difficult things to hear.

But an important part of true repentance is hearing and understanding the ways I've offended someone.

So that I can grieve that with them.

I can confess my sin against you much more thoughtfully and much more meaningfully

if I've actually genuinely tried to understand how I hurt you.

That's part, y'all, of why our session is inviting those difficult conversations, particularly right now.

Genuine sorrow over our sin and over how we've harmed the image of God and others

is a significant part of genuine repentance,

particularly when we're thinking of our relationship with God.

Our hearts must mourn the relational distance.

Because we said repentance is a heart issue.

And here's the heart of true repentance.

What's at the essence of it?

It's seeking that relationship.

From the heart.

From everything I am.

All that we are.

Let's go back to the example in the human relationship first.

I think it will help us understand this in our relationship with God.

Imagine again that husband who walks away from his wife

and seeks fulfillment and joy and rest in the arms of another.

Then imagine he comes to his senses.

Caught in his sin, he offers his wife this proposal.

I'll stop being with her.

And I'll wash the dishes for the next 100 days.

I'll do the next 100 loads of laundry.

I'll buy you some really nice jewelry.

I'm going to quit doing the bad things

and do some really good things.

I'll start sacrificing more around here.

I'll do my part.

Now those are nice things, right?

But what would you say may be missing in that?

Where has he missed the point?

He seems to have forgotten what?

The heart.

The damaged relationship.

The broken trust and the joy that's been lost

between the two that was promised to be there.

And that needs to be restored with his wife, doesn't it?

If you're the wife, you're thinking,

if there's ever any hope for us here,

don't just turn from bad deeds to good deeds.

You need to turn from her back to me

in our relationship, right?

Right?

That's absolutely essential.

Listen, jewelry and laundry are nice things, right?

Those are great ideas.

Don't get me wrong.

The changed actions,

the sacrifices that he would make

could come

and likely should come.

But they are the fruit of repentance.

Not the root.

Repentance is to have fruit.

We're to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

But at the root of repentance,

at the heart of what it is,

is the relationship.

It's the relationship that's the heart of repentance

that we're turning back to God.

So listen, this is where it really matters.

Where does that make a big difference for us?

In much the same way,

God says to us,

I'm not primarily seeking the things you can do.

Remember, he says,

I'm not just seeking the sacrifices

that you might make,

but rather a broken and contrite heart

that mourns the distant sin

has created in our relationship

and wants to turn back to me.

Wants restoration there.

This is the way the Bible pictures repentance.

It's turning back to God.

Just one example, Acts chapter 26.

Acts 26 · chapter mention

Paul's talking about repentance,

that they should repent and turn where?

To God.

Performing deeds in keeping with repentance.

The relationship priority first,

and then the deeds follow.

Our catechism says the same thing about repentance.

Question 87, what is repentance unto life?

Repentance unto life is a saving grace,

whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin

and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ

doth with grief and hatred of his sin

turn from it where?

Unto God.

With full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.

The deeds still there,

but the relationship priority first.

When we turn from our sin in repentance,

we turn back to God himself.

Not from bad will over here,

to good will over here,

but rather to our gracious God,

who forgives will,

and then remakes will in his image.

And that may seem like a small distinction to you.

Really?

Yeah, you're just splitting hairs.

What's the whole point of that?

It's actually the essence of Christianity.

We are so used to penance in practice,

which is very different from true biblical repentance.

Penance and repentance sound a little bit the same.

I'll say them a few times so you hear the difference.

They're very different things

for some very important reasons.

Penance says we turn from bad deeds

to good deeds.

We often live this way.

This is often what Christianity looks like,

as though it's stopping bad things

and doing more good things.

You've thought it before.

God, if you just get me out of this jam that I'm in,

I'll always, what?

Go to church.

I'll never go there again

or click on that again.

Just keep me from getting caught in this.

Get me out of this just this one time.

Those things we promise God in the face of our sin,

when we're afraid we might get caught

and we wanna escape that happening

or maybe just we're facing some other difficulty in life,

we promise God things we will do or not do, right?

And what does that show us

about what we think God values?

What do we think he's looking for?

We think he values what we do or don't do most.

I'll sacrifice this or that,

God, if you'll come through for me.

That's penance.

We've messed up, right?

So we pile our arms full of sacrifices

and march back over to take them to God

and say, see all the things I've done to make up for it?

See what I'm willing to do?

I'll do better.

I'll be different.

I won't let you down again.

That's penance.

I've sinned, but I'll make it up to you.

And God says, you're missing the point.

I want your heart broken and contrite.

I love you.

I want relationship with you,

not performance from you.

That's what I value, you.

Penance, coming to God with your arms full of sacrifices

is what most Presbyterians do naturally, isn't it?

But you must hear me.

That way of relating to God fits Islam.

It fits Mormonism.

It does not fit biblical Christianity

because it leaves out two absolutely essential things.

The relationship with God

and the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus.

They're not at issue in that model.

Christianity is nothing in my hands I bring.

Simply to thy cross I cling.

As we sang earlier,

that's true repentance.

I don't need a second chance

to see if I can perform better for God this time.

I need a substitute to perform better for me.

That's Christianity.

If sin is walking away from God

against you and you only have I sinned,

then true repentance is turning back where?

To God.

To God Himself.

It's not from bad deeds to good deeds.

It's from my back is turned to God.

I am moving in the other direction,

turning back to my face is towards God.

In humility, in worship,

in desire for restoration.

When we turn in repentance,

you know repentance has turning involved.

It's God Himself that we're turning back to.

Because I've begun to mourn

the relational distance in my heart,

my desire is to seek the person Himself

and the healing of our relationship.

And hopefully you begin to see

where the joy in repentance comes from.

I said earlier,

a repentant heart is both sorrowful and joyful.

How's that possible?

That seems a little bit odd.

Sorrow maybe fits with repentance in your mind,

but where would joy show up?

And is that even appropriate?

Well, if we're mourning the relational distance

and we're seeking that relationship

to be restored to the trust and rest and joy

that it was designed for,

our joy comes in celebrating relational nearness

and being close to God, you could say.

We don't rejoice primarily in our reformed behavior,

although that will come.

We don't rejoice primarily even in the forgiveness of sin,

as big a deal as that is,

and that's something certainly to be celebrated,

but it's not primarily where our joy comes from.

We rejoice in the God we trust

and the fulfillment that we find in Him,

in God Himself.

As we repent of our sin

and turn brokenhearted back toward God,

we find in Him,

how does God respond?

He doesn't kick us while we're down,

does He?

He doesn't turn up His nose at our sorrowful state

and just say,

stay there, cry a bit longer,

you deserve it.

Pathetic.

You've turned away from me.

What happens when we turn broken

and brokenhearted to God?

Verse 17.

A broken and contrite heart,

O God,

You will not despise.

You will never despise it.

In fact,

in context,

You will delight in it.

I love the picture of the prodigal son's father,

don't you?

What's He like?

He doesn't despise the lowly condition

of His unclean,

pig-feeding son

who's come running back to Him

and doesn't deserve anything from Him.

What does He do?

He runs to Him

and throws His arms around Him

and celebrates the relational restoration

that has happened,

that His Son is home.

That's the joy of the Father,

isn't it?

It may feel odd to you

to seek joy

as a part of repentance.

You may feel you don't deserve

to be joyful

after what you've done.

I'm just going to stay

in the sorrowful part.

That's all I ever deserve.

Look at how clear David is

about this part of repentance

as he confesses to God.

Verse 12,

one you may be familiar with.

Restore to me what

the joy of your salvation

and uphold me

with a willing spirit.

Make me joyful again

in your salvation.

What is the joy

of His salvation

in this context?

Look back up one verse

to verse 11.

What's the joy

of His salvation?

Cast me not away

from your presence.

Parallel there,

not being cast away

from God's presence

is having joy

in His salvation

in the relationship

with Him.

Restore me to joy

near you,

relationship with you.

It means that

the sorrowful heart

of repentance

is actually the pathway

to the joy

of our salvation,

isn't it?

David prays again

in verse 8.

Let me hear joy

and gladness.

Let the bones

that you have broken

rejoice.

Charles Spurgeon says

this verse right here

is a preposterous prayer.

What a great word,

preposterous.

It's a preposterous prayer

that a sinner

should request joy.

Spurgeon says

it's preposterous

except

that the Father of Heaven

is throwing a party.

Spurgeon writes this,

if when prodigals return

the Father is glad

and the neighbors

and friends rejoice

and are merry

with music and dancing,

what need can there be

that the restored one

himself

should be wretched?

Do you hear

what Spurgeon's saying?

Who is it

that gets to define

this relationship?

It's the Father,

isn't it?

He's the one

who could have said

get away,

don't come back

and the Father says

I tell you what

this relationship is,

you're not an outcast,

you're not a slave to me,

you're my son.

Come into the party

and rejoice

in our relationship.

The Father defines

the relationship

and what does he not

delight in?

He does not delight

in your sacrifices.

He's not looking

to see how full

your arms are

of all the things

you can do

and how hard

you promise to work

to pay off the debt

that you've incurred.

No, listen.

Listen to what he did

to define

your relationship

with him

because every priest

stands daily

at his service

offering repeatedly

the same sacrifices

which can never

take away sins.

But when Christ

had offered

for all time

a single sacrifice

for sins,

he sat down

at the right hand

of God

for by a single offering

he has perfected

for all time

those who are

being sanctified.

Y'all, that's why

God's looking

for empty-handed sinners.

Not the ones

with all their sacrifices

with them

because he has made

the one

all-sufficient

sacrifice

for you

and he wants

those who come

empty-handed

clinging only

to the cross

of Christ.

That's how you turn

back to God

in repentance.

He has made

the one sacrifice

that already

makes you perfect.

Hebrews 10, 14.

I love that.

Don't you love that?

Those who are still

struggling,

those who are not

yet sanctified

already made perfect.

How?

By their arms

full of sacrifices?

By the ones

the priests did

over and over

and over

for generations?

No.

By one sacrifice.

By the one sacrifice

of his son,

those still struggling

are made perfect

in their relationship

restored to the Father.

That only happens

through the cross

of Jesus.

The sacrifice

of the son

in our place.

Let me tell you

one thing this means

for us

both corporately

and individually

as we prepare

to come to this table

where we're going

to celebrate

that sacrifice

made for us.

First, corporately.

Southwood,

we've talked

in the last couple

of weeks

about a particular

chapter in our story.

It's a significant

chapter marked

by our sin

and our failures

and in many respects

well deserving

of sorrowful hearts.

That's very appropriate.

But it is not

and cannot be

the defining chapter

of our story.

This morning

we're also talking

about another chapter

in our story

where our Savior

came

and lived

and died

for us.

Where he pursued

relationship with us

at the cost

of his own life.

Where he called us,

Southwood,

to be his people,

a part of his

universal church.

One

where our sin

and the gates

of hell

themselves

cannot prevail

against

her,

his church.

And our Heavenly Father

says this morning,

I get to tell you

which chapter

defines your story

in our relationship.

It's that one.

Do it often,

he says.

And remember

with great joy

my love for you

in the midst

of your sin.

I hope we always

learn

from our past.

I hope we always

take time

to listen to

and to pursue

healing with

people impacted

by our sin.

but I'll be

honest with you,

you're not likely

to hear a lot

of corporate

public talk

about that

difficult chapter

beyond next week

because it's not

the one that

defines us.

Next week,

we will celebrate

our risen

Savior

who lives

and reigns

and calls

Southwood

his beloved bride

and says,

you're perfect

because of my love

for you.

We will rejoice

in that relationship

and in that

great God

and I promise you,

you can expect

to hear a lot

about that chapter

of our story

that has a cross

and an empty tomb

every week

from here

forever.

You'll hear about

that one.

That's the one

that defines

who we are.

God gets to make

that choice.

Now, personally,

personally,

for each of us

as sinners,

you need to know

that same reality

is true.

God gets to define

the terms

of the relationship.

Many of us,

if you're anything

like me,

you've felt

or feel today

broken

in your sin

for whatever

it is for you.

Perhaps there's a

chapter in your story

that's marked

by sin

so strongly

that the shame

you feel

from that

many days

defines your

relationship

with God.

You're not even

willing to go

towards Him

for fear

and shame

of how He

must feel

about you.

Perhaps you've

come back

so many times

in repentance

that you're

beginning to feel

God must be

tired of you.

You're tired

of you

failing

and having

to go

back

again.

You just

feel broken

in your

sin.

Listen to me.

If you're

broken

in your

sin,

God does

not despise

that condition.

He delights

in it,

right?

In the

broken

and contrite

heart.

He wants

to restore

the joy

of your

salvation.

In fact,

when you

here in your

sin,

look back

to Him

and I

know how

you're

wondering

how He

feels.

What's

He gonna

think?

How's

He gonna

respond

to me?

I want

you to

know,

you need

to know

that the

Father

runs off

the front

porch

where He

was out

looking for

you,

throws His

arms around

you,

and throws

a party

in His

great joy

that His

Son has

come home.

He calls

you His

beloved Son.

He celebrates

the restored

relationship

that you

have with

Him.

This is

that party,

that feast

that He

throws for

you this

morning.

He spread

it before

you at

the cost

of His

body

and blood

and God

says,

He defines

the relationship.

This is the

defining chapter

in your story,

in your

relationship

with Him.

You're His

child.

Always

seated

at His

table

because

He

has made

you clean.

Oh,

listen,

come,

come weeping

over your

sin.

That's

appropriate.

But come

weeping

over your

sin.

Run back

in repentance

to the

forgiving

arms

of your

Father

and find

that those

tears

that were

full of

sorrow for

you

become

in His

arms

tears

of joy

because

you're

near

to your

God

again.

May that

be the

joy of

your

salvation

and the

joy of

your

heart

this

morning

as you

come

to this

table.

Remember

what Paul

tells us

about how

Jesus

instituted

this

supper

for us.

He says

I

received

from the

Lord

what I

also

delivered

to you

that

the

Lord

Jesus

on the

night

he

was

betrayed

took

bread

and

when he

had

given

thanks

he

broke

it

and

said

this

is

my

body

which

is

for

you

do

this

in

remembrance

of

me

in the

same

way

also

he

took

the

cup

after

supper

saying

this

cup

is

the

new

covenant

in

my

blood

do

this

as

often

as

you

drink

it

in

remembrance

of

me

for

as

often

as

you

eat

this

bread

and

drink

the

cup

you

proclaim

the

Lord's

death

until

he

comes

friends

this

is

not

the

table

of

Southwood

or

of

the

Presbyterian

church

this

is

the

Lord's

table

he

he's

the

one

who

sets

it

and

he's

the

one

who

invites

all

of

those

who

truly

are

willing

to

turn

from

their

sin

and

to

trust

Jesus

alone

who

have

made

that

profession

and

joined

themselves

to

a

church

that

preaches

that

gospel

he

invites

all

those

to

come

we

would

love

to

celebrate

with

you

this

morning

if

you

know

this

morning

that

you're

not

willing

to

turn

from

your

sin

if

you're

not

willing

to

let

go

of

it

the

fulfillment

that

you're

seeking

there

it's

too

appealing

or

perhaps

if

you

feel

some

sorrow

over

your

sin

but

you're

still

at a

place

where

you

feel

like

you

have

to

balance

the

scales

with

God

and

come

back

arms

full

of

your

own

deeds

if

that's

where

your

heart

is

don't

come

to

this

table

this

morning

that

way

this

is a

table

where

we

come

empty

handed

we

don't

want

to

say

outwardly

something

that's

not

true

of

us

inwardly

if

you're

willing

to

let

go

of

the

sin

and

self

that

you

would

find

hope

in

and

come

back

empty

handed

to

cling

with

both

hands

to

the

cross

of

Jesus

and

his

sacrifice

on

your

behalf

then

come

running

you're

going to

find a

father

who's

running

to meet

you

and

delighted

to have

you

as

his

child

back

at

his

table

let's

pray

and

then

we'll

do

that

together

father

for

your

love

and

grace

on

display

before

us

this

morning

we

are

most

grateful

we

confess

we're

those

who

don't

deserve

it

we

deserve

the

death

that

your

son

has

taken

for

us

we

deserve

no

chance

at

being

welcomed

back

into

relationship

with

you

and

you've

insisted

on

it

and

so

we

come

at

your

invitation

to

rejoice

in

your

love

to

us

in

Jesus

name

amen

for

more

information

visit us

online

at

southwood.org