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Psalm 51
Jesus knew the Psalms. Paul knew the Psalms.
In fact, the entire early Christian community was steeped in the same Psalms that have served as the central prayer and hymnbook for the church since its beginning-until now.
Reading, studying, and praying the Psalms is God’s means for teaching us what it means to be human: how to express our emotions and yearnings, how to reconcile our anger and our compassion, how to see our story in light of God’s sweeping narrative of salvation. Our intent this summer is to help provide the tools for understanding and incorporating these crucial verses into our own lives by exploring 10 hymns from the books of the Psalms.
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Jeremy is on vacation now for a few weeks for the rest of July. And that means that we'll get a few different voices from our community to share. This week it's me. What it also means when Jeremy's on vacation is that I wrote a lot of this sermon in his office partly for inspiration, but mostly because he has some really comfy couches up there and a great big window. And so it's nice up there.
Speaker 1:It sort of felt like, you know, when your parents go away and you eat all their food and you watch their TV and those kinds of things. That's kinda how it feels around here for the month of July. Basically, what I'm saying is if you wanna come by this month and just sit in his office, just text me and I'll let you in. You're welcome to. Jeremy opened this series up two weeks ago, with Psalm 46 and was speaking about peace and desolation and how we often differentiate between peace and desolation.
Speaker 1:In Psalm 46, we're shown that perhaps what we think of as moments of desolation are seasons or opportunities for the true peace of God's kingdom to come about in our lives. Peace is not the absence of desolation. Both can exist at the same time. The question becomes, what does it do to our faith when things aren't going the way that we've imagined them? These are great questions that were posed to us to think about that week.
Speaker 1:And then last week after our stampede breakfast in the evening, Darcy walked us through Psalm one. He did a great job talking about how these songs and lyrics of God's people have spoken to humans throughout their existence. And Darcy encouraged us that there is hope when we remember that we are created for a life of bearing fruit. And the psalmist reminds us that there is a reason and that there is a season for all of the relationships in our lives. Sometimes when we aren't wise with whom we invest our time and energy, we can get lost and tired.
Speaker 1:When this happens, we have the hope of a God who finds us and replants us in a place where we can be nourished and fruitful. And this week, I am taking us through Psalm 51. So I'm gonna read it for us. You can follow along with me and then we'll pray together. Have mercy on me, oh God, according to your unfailing love.
Speaker 1:According to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. So you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
Speaker 1:Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb. You taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Speaker 1:Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me.
Speaker 1:Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, oh God, you who are my savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it.
Speaker 1:You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, oh God, is a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, you God will not despise. Let's pray. Jesus, give us grace as we sit together as a community and as we work through these words, as we look at their history in their context, and we ask some good questions, We raise some awareness of what was going on at this time, and as we raise maybe some awareness of what is going on within each of us and within our communities, help us to find you and to see you in these moments as we sit here together as your children and engage with these words.
Speaker 1:Amen. So, stampede is wrapped up or wrapping up. And some people are saying, finally. And others are saying, it's over too soon. I have been in Calgary for seven years and have never been to the stampede.
Speaker 1:Yes. Okay. Oh, yes. This is perfect. Okay.
Speaker 1:So usually, as you did, people react very strongly in two different ways to that news. Either people react and they say, yeah, I hate the stampede too, a 100%. I would never go again. I never wanna go. Amen.
Speaker 1:Or people say, what is wrong with you? I would go every single night if I could. You are a broken messed up person. Those seem to be the reactions when I say this news. I'm not taking sides on the stampede.
Speaker 1:I'm not taking a stand or making a point. I just haven't gone. And again, that's crazy to some people. Maybe I'm not a fan of huge crowds. That's maybe part of it.
Speaker 1:So then maybe this is the year I should have gone because it poured rain and they'd had all these discounts and everything. Speaking of the pouring rain and the leaking roof, I have absolutely loved the weather in the last few weeks. And I said that this morning at the 09:30 service and got booed. So again, like there was a strong reaction, but I love this weather where it's either raining or thunderstorming for half the day at least for the last few weeks. I love it.
Speaker 1:I have just loved it. I love it so much. And I think it's because I love light jackets. That's basically it. Speaking of the rain, about a week and a half ago, after a long day of work, we were eating dinner and it just started pouring really heavily.
Speaker 1:Just crazy heavy heavy rain. And I was tired and I stood up from the table and I looked out the kitchen window and I really wanted to be out there in that rain. So I mumbled something very pathetically existential about, I'm not really living because I'm not out there in the rain. It was really pathetic and I just wanted to be out there and get soaked. And I said it kind of to myself.
Speaker 1:I said it just loud enough so that Hillary could hear me, so that I was saying it to someone. And she just says, well then just go outside. This Hillary, always so practical and no room for both. Stampede joke. And so we did.
Speaker 1:My son Frank and I, we went outside in our shorts and t shirts. We put on our rain boots and we just went out. And we were just running and dancing, and just watching the rain pour off the buildings, and down the spouts, and through the trees, and we just got soaked, soaked. And we're laughing, we're having a great time. And we come in after a few minutes, and we're taking off our boots, and we're just laughing with each other, oh, this is so great, so funny.
Speaker 1:And he looks up at me, and he says, we're really living, aren't we dad? And I thought, man, you have to be so careful with a three year old in your house. He heard my little over exaggerated mumble at the table and he recalled it later in the experience and threw it back in my face. He's never heard that line or said that line before and that is terrifying to me. This is just one example.
Speaker 1:But what I do and what I say and who I am is on full display with a little three year old accountability machine walking around my house. And obviously, I still mess up. I still have other parts of myself. Parts that he can't see or at least not yet that will catch up with me or maybe eventually show their face. But we will get to that stuff a little bit later.
Speaker 1:Not necessarily maybe my stuff, but that idea a little bit later. As we break down what's going on in this psalm. As we go through this series throughout the summer, we're gonna hear a lot about the stanzas and the sections of each psalm. But commentators have found psalm 51 difficult to outline and to break down that way. The construction of it is not standard and most think that it's due to this perspective that it's written from, this distressed life of prayer that it is written from.
Speaker 1:This psalm is often lumped in as one of the seven psalms of penitence. But even then, psalm 51 is very different. There's no complaint about enemies. There's no prayer for their defeat and or punishment and or destruction. As well the writer doesn't proclaim their own innocence which is common in the rest of the Psalms.
Speaker 1:And there's no big motivational appeal for God to do some sort of action. Some big action. But what we do have is a full confession of sin which has no parallel in any of the other psalms. Now we don't always go to the psalms for doctrine. But Martin Luther said of this Psalm that it was truly helpful in understanding penitence.
Speaker 1:And Luther and Calvin and Karl Barth, they all use Psalm 51 as a text for reflection on Christian doctrine regarding penitence and contrition. This idea of a contrite heart, a broken heart. Now as with all Psalms, this one could have been written by David, but maybe not. There's room for variance on this, on who and when and how long it took to write this psalm. And this reality is common and you might hear this more and more as we go through this series in the summer.
Speaker 1:The reality is that all of this psalm is probably not David's words exactly. Maybe part of it, but at least not all of it. But whether it was written by David or by a psalm writer later in Israel's history, we have to agree that good poets and good hymn writers and good songwriters and good story writers all have this ability to enter into an experience of human life in ways that seem extremely personal. They can use language that evokes a very personal response from many different readers and hearers. And realistically, the writer or writers of Psalm 51 deliberately designed it with David in mind.
Speaker 1:It was and is an appropriate prayer for David and all the other Davids who have followed him throughout history. Verse four parallels second Samuel twelve thirteen. I have sinned against the Lord. David uses these words in Samuel after he gets caught sleeping with and impregnating Bathsheba, and then sending her husband Uriah to certain death on the battlefield. That is the reason for this Psalm 51 confession.
Speaker 1:David, the greatest king in Israel's history is involved in some dark ungodly stuff here. Murder, manipulation of power, adultery. Second Samuel chapter 11 where this all goes down reads like a season of Game of Thrones for crying out loud. It's incredible. But within all of this, there are some other things that make this psalm special.
Speaker 1:Psalm 51 begins and continues and ends in this asking mode. And the call for help is for a person, for their inner self. Again, not against an enemy or even against God as many of the Psalms find their place. Many of the prayers of the Psalms say, change my situation so that I might praise you. And this one says, change me.
Speaker 1:I am the problem. The repentance in this psalm concerns what I am not just what I have done. Because if God only dealt with the sin, the psalmist's sin, that would leave the person or the self untouched. So rather than just blot it out or hide his face from it or deliver from his guilt, There are these verbs wash, cleanse, and purge. These words speak of God's direct action on the person as God creates and renews.
Speaker 1:And this psalm puts this in perspective in regards to verse 10. A clean heart create in me a clean heart, oh God. A clean heart would mean a mind and a will open to God and oriented towards God. And a steadfast spirit would be a mind and a will steadily moving towards God. Sin referred to in this psalm has less to do with broken commands and violations and more to do with the revolt of the human will against God's will.
Speaker 1:And Richard Rohr says, Jesus is never upset with sinners only with people who pretend they are not sinners. In verse five, you may have noticed this line about David claiming that he was evil from birth, from the time of conception. And although it has been used in this way, this line was not written with the intentions to have any doctrine about original sin. This idea of are we born good? Are we born bad?
Speaker 1:This line is there, but it was not written to kind of develop any of that doctrine. In fact, it makes more sense that these words are concerned with the Levitical laws of uncleanliness in childbirth and intercourse. Because those are there and that makes more sense in this context. But, the verse obviously raises those questions and has throughout history and that debate has gone on, which is fair. But ultimately, we have to read this.
Speaker 1:Look at the heart of this language, sinful from birth in this confession. That's a realization that perhaps David desires to be remade from the beginning. His entire self from birth, a new chance, a new life, a new birth. Wishing that he could surrender his will from that point. What happens when we surrender our will?
Speaker 1:In his expressions of self awareness, David shows this kind of transparency that God desires. God wants truth in the inner parts. But the word truth that's used here emphasizes reliability and trustworthiness, not absolute accuracy. Truth in this instance is regarding trustworthiness over being externally correct. God is seeking a heart, a person whose external reality is consistent with their inner honesty.
Speaker 1:And this kind of vulnerability allows God to transform my inner self. There are two things wrestling inside each of us. Our tendency to hide stuff, hide even the honest mistakes, or even the darker stuff that we're ashamed of. That is always wrestling against the value of vulnerability. When we hide our failings in the innermost secret places, we're not only trying to fool God and ourselves, we're often denying others the benefit of our experience.
Speaker 1:Often because our struggles when they're revealed, they can encourage someone else to speak up or to admit something or to accept help or even just to hope for change. But more than that, David's and our experience of forgiveness and restoration can encourage others that they too can live forgiven and restored. One legitimate value in our forgiven sin is the possibility of testifying to the gracious mercy of God. Verse 13 says, I wanna teach transgressors your ways so that sinners will turn back to you. And often in evangelicalism we use God's will and his ways as a threat against bad decisions.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're gonna learn God's ways mister. But God's ways are grace and renewal and restoration not judgment and condemnation. Again, this psalm opens verse one, have mercy on me oh God according to your unfailing love. This is who God is. Maybe you're like me and you can't connect with everything going on in the context of this psalm.
Speaker 1:On one hand, David is the king of a nation, and I am not even in charge of what goes on in my house, and so I can't totally connect with that idea. And at the same time, I'm not a powerful king. I've not had an affair with a married woman and then sent her husband off to get killed after getting her pregnant. What's truly beautiful about the scriptures and we have referenced this before, is that here again, we have a recorded history of an ancient people and they don't just present the good stuff. Even with David, their greatest king, they give us the awful stuff too.
Speaker 1:More than just the military conquests, the speeches, the leadership, the legend of David. Because I think about how I use Facebook and social media to present the best part of myself only, my best history. Social media Joel is the perfect dad. Social media Joel is the perfect husband, perfect pastor. He's intelligent and attractive and he does cool exciting things.
Speaker 1:Because social media Joel would never put down his mistakes, his transgressions, the parts of him that he really regrets. Social media Joel doesn't want to be that transparent or honest. So despite their non revisionist history, their non Victor written history, the real history that still claims David's awful horrible choices. And despite all that, in the end, David is remembered more by his heart for God. And that might give us hope.
Speaker 1:Sometimes maybe we don't read between the lines of these stories for those people affected by the horrible decisions that David would have made. Their experiences of loss at his hands were as raw and real and painful as some of the things that we may have experienced personally, as well as some of the harder things that have happened in our world and our city even in the last week. Horrible things. Decisions made by people that are unfathomably selfish and broken and incomprehensible. And the encouragement for those affected in history from these kinds of choices, and for us, when we find ourselves in these moments of desolation and fear and pain.
Speaker 1:As we have to choose to hope that the little bits of love and peace that we offer in our daily interactions actually make a difference somehow. Maybe we can't stop these things from happening, but maybe we don't know that we are stopping them from happening by offering these little pieces of love that we are capable of. We can be remade each day as David was eagerly eagerly praying for. With new opportunities to bring light and life into the world ourselves. In lieu of and despite what seems to be too often happening around us.
Speaker 1:Because no matter where you are in this room, as I said before, you may not have done anything as bad as David, But maybe you can't find peace right now. Either because of the broken world we're living in or because of maybe your own decisions or actions. Well, David must have found that peace. At least he found peace enough to approach the face and presence of God again. Despite the depth of hurtful and terrible selfish decisions that he made.
Speaker 1:And how does he get there? How does he get to the place where he can approach the holy presence of God again? True repentance. This broken will and this contrite heart. When we read this Psalm, you can see the awareness, the recognition, the humility, the depth of sorrow and regret mixed with hope in what God does.
Speaker 1:There's hope in requesting mercy and unmerited favor from a trustworthy God. There are still consequences. The consequences of David's and our choices still catch up to us. Now, the vast cultural differences between when this psalm was written and our time today, I always imagine this horrible conversation that eventually maybe took place where their son Solomon says to David and Bathsheba, hey, how did you and mom meet? And navigating that awkward violent maybe impossible conversation is just one consequence that David faces as he tries to mold his son into a living human being.
Speaker 1:It's not God saying I told you so. That's not what consequences are. It's when the consequences of our bad negative decisions eventually make their way into our reality. But the beauty is found in being able to live faithfully in the middle of dealing with consequences while living forgiven. And we can't do that without a broken spirit, a contrite heart.
Speaker 1:David is sure that these sacrifices of a broken spirit in a contrite heart would be acceptable to God. This is said in verse 19. God says in Hosea six six, for I desire mercy not sacrifice An acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. The sacrifice that God demands is a sacrifice of our self will, our self importance. The surrender of our self to God.
Speaker 1:I have this tradition in my house, in my home, in my family, when I get home from work at the end of the day, I gotta come in the door and start wrestling with Frank immediately. He's three. I have to wrestle with him immediately. Used to have to do that with Hillary, now we have kids, so it's different. But I gotta get in the door, I gotta start throwing off my backpack, throw off my shoes, my jacket.
Speaker 1:Gotta get all ready to go because Frank is there in the living room like waiting for me. He sees my car pull up and he's waiting for me. And so I come in the door and he is like stripping off clothes because he just kids don't like to wear clothes and he wants to wrestle in his underwear, which is hilarious and shouldn't have told you that. But anyway, so he's waiting for me. And he has this move.
Speaker 1:I usually wrestle with Frank where I get down on my knees, so I'm sort of closer to his height. And his move is he takes a bit of a running start, and he runs, and he jams his hands up against my throat, and he tries to push me over as hard as he possibly can. He's leaning into me, he's pushing, he's pushing. And I stand I just sit there because I outweigh him by a hundred and seventy five pounds. And he can't push me over if I don't want him to, but we're wrestling.
Speaker 1:And so he's pushing, and he's pushing, and he's pushing, and he, like, stops and, like, regathers his feet. He tries again, and he's pushing, he's pushing, and he's pushing with all of his might. And no matter how long or how firm I stand, he is relentless, and he just keeps pushing me. Keeps going, pushing, pushing, pushing. He does not stop.
Speaker 1:Now eventually, I die of laughter and I fall over and we've it just kind of continues. Because the point for me in this moment is not to teach him some sort of lesson about who really is stronger and who's in control. That is not my point. The The point is to wrestle with my son. But it's amazing to me his will.
Speaker 1:All three year olds have a will that is incomprehensible to me. But what a picture of our human condition against God to push so hard for our own way. Consciously, subconsciously, unconsciously pushing and pushing. Or even to flip the analogy, what a picture of our human condition to resist at all costs with all of my weight, with my whole self to resist. Knowing that God can't make me do anything.
Speaker 1:Maybe you find yourself pushing your will into God's face Relentlessly against what he stands for. Adamant that your way is the best way. Or maybe you find yourself as the resistor to the pushing and prodding and hoping of God. So maybe what I'm saying today is maybe let yourself get knocked over. Let yourself get rolled over.
Speaker 1:Let your will be the one that takes the backseat for a bit. See if you end up falling. Maybe falling off your perch. Probably falling from your status. Maybe you even get hurt.
Speaker 1:But I bet at some point, you end up falling and laughing with your father who loves you and making some good beautiful memories in the pouring rain together. Today, as we close and as we celebrate at this table, the Eucharist, would you allow yourself to be pushed up here and experience grace and acceptance? Please feel invited up here to participate in this sacrament in God's and each other's presence. Join with the rest of us sinners and transgressors telling the story of God's unfailing love at this table. God invites and accepts all to this moment to meet him in a simple and profound way.
Speaker 1:Learning to hope for and trustingly expect the grace, peace, and restoration that comes from humbly asking God for mercy. As we celebrate these things together, please come up the center aisle if you're in this part of the room. Or if you're in the gym, can come up the side here and we'll just try to make a line and make it work. Grab a grape, grab a piece of bread or a cracker, participate in this meal together as God's children, and then take your seats back along the side aisles. These are the gifts of God for God's children.
Speaker 1:Thanks be to God. Would you come and eat?