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Psalm 51
51:1 Have mercy on me,1 O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right2 spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Have mercy on me, oh 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. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Speaker 1: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. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness.
Speaker 1:Let the bones that 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.
Speaker 1:Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, oh god. Oh god of my salvation. And my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. Oh, lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Speaker 1:For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. Despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure. Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings, in whole burnt offerings.
Speaker 1:Then bulls will be offered on your altar. This is the word of the lord.
Jeffrey Heine:Thanks be to god. You would pray with me. Lord, I ask that you would honor the very reading of your word. We trust that this is how you speak to us. So, god, right now, I pray that you would give us ears to hear.
Jeffrey Heine:Give us a heart to obey. God, I pray right now in this moment that my word would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:A number of years ago, I can remember sitting in a seminary class. It was my spiritual formations class. And my professor, said I'm gonna introduce to you a guest speaker. It's a he's a local pastor. He also came through my class one time.
Jeffrey Heine:And, as a student, he was probably the best student I ever had. I can still remember the papers that he wrote. And so I've asked him to come here and share with you guys. And so, this man got up there and he shared, and he was just talking about how after he finished Beeson Divinity School, he, he started a church. The church started exploding in growth.
Jeffrey Heine:You know, there's, you know, up to the 1,000 now. And honestly, at this point, I just kind of started shutting down because you hear these stories just so many times. And, and he's just kind of talking away. And and then he said, and all of this was happening while I was having sex with another man's wife. We're like, oh.
Jeffrey Heine:Did did did I just did I just hear that right? And he he actually used a very vulgar term to throw it out there. And, and he explained all along as he was preaching, all along while God was using him in his giftedness, all along while this church was exploding in growth, he would growth, he was having an affair. And what struck me about this, and I I can remember the class so vividly, was not his confession. It wasn't so much that he he sinned.
Jeffrey Heine:I I have seen, I have had friends who are pastors who have fallen in that area. But what struck me was his unashamed joy in front of us. That God had absolutely restored him to a point where he was still in the same city and he could still speak of the Lord's goodness and the Lord's grace, and he was radiating joy as he was telling us this story. And I will always remember that. And just thinking how far the Lord can restore us.
Jeffrey Heine:That's what this psalm, Psalm 51 is about. We've been looking at a different psalm the last Sunday of every month. And and Psalm 51 is, is perhaps David's greatest psalm. It releases greatest psalm of repentance. And and let me begin this by simply asking a question.
Jeffrey Heine:Nobody would argue that king David was the greatest king in Israel's history. But let me ask you, why was David so different than Saul, his predecessor? What was the difference between King Saul and King David? I mean, King Saul, early in his career, loved the Lord. He was humble.
Jeffrey Heine:He was a genuine worshiper of God. He he would even prophesy. He was passionate for the Lord. He had all the same qualities that King David had. Yet, God ripped the kingdom away from Saul and gave it to David whom he called a man after his own heart.
Jeffrey Heine:So you have to just wonder why why is it that David's a man after God's own heart? What what what makes him this? Let me tell you, it's because he does a certain thing better than anyone. He he had done a lot of difficult things in his life. I mean, he had fought giants, he had fought entire armies, he he'd been on the run for years, but this is the most difficult thing that David does and it's repentance.
Jeffrey Heine:David repents like no other. This is something that we have to learn as well if we want to have the same joy, if we want to have the same heart of worship, we have to learn how to repent like this. We've heard the word so many times, but I'm not sure we really know what it means. David's gonna unpack for us what repentance looks like. If you look at your Bibles before verse 1, you have a little title there, a Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba.
Jeffrey Heine:And so David wrote this prayer, this song of repentance, after he had had an affair with Bathsheba. You can read about this affair in 2nd Samuel. How David, he went up on top of his house and he was looking around and he saw Bathsheba bathing. And, it says that he looked on her and the Hebrew word is ruah there, which doesn't mean it was a passing glance. He stopped and he he gazed, and he he began to entertain things in his mind.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, he immediately asked, who's this woman? Go find out for me, and an attendant doesn't even have to go. Just says, well, this is, this is Uriah the Hittite. His dad's Ilium. Now, we know both Ilium and Uriah were one of David's mighty men.
Jeffrey Heine:I don't know if you've heard of David's mighty men. These these were 30 men who had fought with David through thick and thin. They were his most loyal people. And here, you have the father and the son who are part of that. You you would not get any more fiercely loyal people than this.
Jeffrey Heine:And the attendants like saying, that's that's Uriah's wife. And David just says, bring her to me. And so, he comes, or she comes and he sleeps with her. She gets pregnant. And David immediately begins thinking, I've I've gotta cover this thing up.
Jeffrey Heine:How can I cover this up? Go get Uriah from the front lines. I've got a good plan. And, and so, Uriah, he comes up and he says, you know, go home, sleep with your wife. Uriah won't do it.
Jeffrey Heine:They they find him the next morning, he's just kind of sleeping outside and they're like, why didn't you you go home? He's like, I'm not gonna go home, sleep in my bed while my men are out there fighting. David's like, great. Now we gotta get him drunk. And so he brings him over and you can't refuse when the king gives you a cup.
Jeffrey Heine:He's like, have another cup of wine, Have another cup of wine. And he completely gets him drunk. He says, now go home. Then you're shocked to find, like, this this drunk Uriah is still more moral than a sober David at this point, and he won't do it. And he forces David's hand here, and I actually think he knows what's going on at this point.
Jeffrey Heine:I think he's hurt because people saw what David had done, and I think word have probably leaked to Uriah, and he he's forcing David's hand here. David decides he has to kill Uriah. He can't just kill Uriah. So, he gets his general Joab, and he says, hey, this is what I want you to do. Put Uriah at the very front of the fiercest fighting, then everybody just kind of pull back and let him die.
Jeffrey Heine:Joab, after he leaves David's presence is like, that's a terrible plan. It's so obvious. I mean, everybody would know what you're trying to do, plus none of Uriah's friends are going to leave him. They love him. And so Joab changes a plan.
Jeffrey Heine:Instead, he has to send a bunch of people, an entire troop up to the fiercest fighting where most of them die, including Uriah. And so now, on David's hands, it's not just Uriah's blood, but it's the blood of all of these other men as well. And you see how cold David's heart is when he when the word comes back to him, Joab comes back to him and tells him what happened. And David essentially says, oh well, it's just war. These things happen.
Jeffrey Heine:Keep fighting, be encouraged, leave. And and this is from a man who has wept when his enemies were killed. Now, one of his closest, most loyal friends and Uriah's killed nothing. This was cold, premeditated murder. And so, I I don't know where, most of you all are in this room.
Jeffrey Heine:I bet you're not here, this dark of a place, this this dark of sin, but I'm sure there's some here feel like they've made a mess of their life and they are a 1000000 miles away from God. But I want you to know that God can still restore you and restore the joy of his salvation. He can give you that unashamed joy if you learn how to repent. You might remember the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to the king. And, Nathan spins this tell, gives him a parable essentially, but doesn't tell him it's a parable.
Jeffrey Heine:It says, hey, there was a poor poor man, he had a a little sheep, he loved it like it was his very own pet, and a rich man came and just stole it from him, killed it to serve dinner to somebody. David has this reaction that's over the top. That's a bad story, but David's like, the man should die. And and, what you're getting here, I think is his conscience is beginning to be pricked. And Nathan is is ingenious.
Jeffrey Heine:The way that he's doing this because he wants David to remember what it was like before he was king. To remember what he was like when he was a shepherd. Before he had power. Before he had wealth. David, can you think back to those times?
Jeffrey Heine:David's conscience is beginning to stir. And after David declares that this man deserves to die, Samuel or Nathan gives the the shortest sermon application ever. He says, which is Hebrew for you the man. There's not even a verb in it. It's just you the man.
Jeffrey Heine:And when David hears those words, he says, I've sinned. I've sinned against the Lord. And he fleshes out Psalm 51. He writes it. If you'll see, the psalm begins with the words, have mercy.
Jeffrey Heine:Have mercy. These are words from someone who has 0, 0 claim on what he is about to beg for. Have mercy. David doesn't bring up, Lord, remember all the good things I've done. He has no claim to anything.
Jeffrey Heine:He throws himself at the mercy of God, and then he appeals to the steadfast love of God. This word steadfast, I wrote an article and I sent it to you guys about a month or 2 ago, is the Hebrew word, hesed. It's translated a lot of things throughout the Bible. It's the covenantal love of God. It it can mean steadfast love, loyal love, merciful love, faithful love.
Jeffrey Heine:That's what David is appealing to there. That covenantal love of God. And so he begins this psalm, this prayer right where he's supposed to begin it. Not appealing for his own on his own faithfulness, but on the character of God. And God's covenantal promise to him.
Jeffrey Heine:And then he says, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgression. That's a different word for mercy here. It's 2 different Hebrew words that translates the same way in English here, but this word for mercy has a lot more even emotion to it. Back in Genesis 44, when, if you remember when Joseph had risen to a place of power and his brothers were finally before him. And when they came before him, the the second time and they brought Benjamin, they brought Benjamin before him.
Jeffrey Heine:This is what it says. Says, when, when Joseph saw his younger brother Benjamin, his compassion, that's the word here. His compassion grew warm for his brother and he sought a place to weep. This kind of mercy overwhelms you. It's a mercy that's full of sorrow and hurt over one that you love.
Jeffrey Heine:That's what David's appealing to. It's like, I know you love me. I know I'm your child and now I've done horrible things, but is there is there some mercy here for me? He wants God's heart to grow warm towards him. He says, wash away my sin.
Jeffrey Heine:I read several years ago, it was a study that people had done. It was fascinating. They basically had a bunch of people come in and they said, here's our study. You're going to sit down in these chairs, and, they would tell the person either to think of one of the most ethical things they've ever done or one of the most unethical things they've ever done. And they said, we're gonna have a video camera.
Jeffrey Heine:It's just gonna monitor you. We're gonna be taking your pulse, all of these things. And they they were told that was the test. And so a bunch of people came in. They had half the people doing ethical, half of the people thinking of unethical, but that really wasn't the test.
Jeffrey Heine:The test was when they left, as they were walking out the door, they were allowed to pick up one of 2 things. There was 2 baskets there. 1 was an antiseptic septic wipe, and the other was a pencil. They're like, yeah, you could grab one of those things before you leave. Well, the people who thought of the unethical bad thing that that some sin they've done in their life were twice as likely to pick up the antiseptic wipe as the people who just, were thinking of the ethical thing.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, they call this the Macbeth effect. Where you feel like you've got blood on your hands and you can't get it off. That when people do wrong, they feel, they they know my soul is stained. I need to wash myself. I need to be clean.
Jeffrey Heine:People felt that as they walked out of there. Just from thinking of something unethical. And David feels this. And when he says, my transgressions are ever before me, all he has to do is look at Bathsheba and see her growing belly. And it is ever before him, always.
Jeffrey Heine:He's realizing this thing he's done. He needs to be washed of this. Well, verse 3, when he does say, for I know my transgressions. Let me ask you, how did David know his transgressions? You can come to know your sin through prayer, through through study of the word.
Jeffrey Heine:It's not how it came to David. When you've got a big honking blind spot of a sin in your life, you need somebody else to come in and blast you. That's what Nathan did. David allowed Nathan to come into his presence and to have freedom to speak. Let me tell you what, every one of us need a Nathan in our life.
Jeffrey Heine:Somebody who we we deputize, if you will. He had free reign to point out sin. Because I guarantee you, the biggest sins that you have in your life, you're blind to. You don't see it. And a lot of it, I've noticed is because I I label a sin different things.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, I might have the sin of being overly anxious about something, not trusting about something. But you know what? I just labeled that as being cautious or prudent. It's not sin. Or, if I'm really greedy, I don't label it as greed.
Jeffrey Heine:I'd say, I'm being financially prudent and responsible. So, there's times I know after the fact that I have said some very hurtful words to people. But you know what was going on in my mind? I'm just telling the truth and telling it like it is. And, it's not till somebody else points it out to me that I realize, oh my gosh, it's sin.
Jeffrey Heine:And let me tell you, if you point that out to me, don't expect the kind of response that David gave in which Nathan says, you're the man. He's like, I've sinned. You say that to me, you're the man. Give me 2 weeks. Alright?
Jeffrey Heine:It it takes a while for me to come around. I'll get there. I usually respond by silent treatment, anger, giving a really good excuse. I'm not that quick to repent. And now, we come to verse 4, which is the key to the whole song.
Jeffrey Heine:Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. When he repeats the you, that's just a way in Hebrew of just being very emphatic against you. It is only against you have I sinned. Now, let me tell you what, when I read that, I just I'm like, what? Against you and you only?
Jeffrey Heine:What? What about Uriah? I'm I'm pretty sure you sinned against him. What about Uriah's friends that are all dead? I'd say you sinned against them.
Jeffrey Heine:What about, what about their wives? What about their children? I think you owe them an apology. What about Bathsheba? She has to sleep with the killer of her husband.
Jeffrey Heine:I'd say you sinned against her. And and so, I I react against that when Jesus says, against you and you alone have I sinned, but let me tell you what. That is the key to repentance right there. What David is saying is that his actions, his adultery, his killing, were all symptoms of the sin. The real sin that was going on.
Jeffrey Heine:The much greater sin. And then, until you see this, you're likely gonna spend your entire life repenting from symptoms, but not the real underlying sin that's there. David knew that it was against God and God alone. The reason David looked at Bathsheba and couldn't look away. The reason he lusted after her and he longed for her embrace was because he had already left the embrace of God.
Jeffrey Heine:He'd already left God's embrace. Before he ever committed adultery with Bathsheba, he'd already committed adultery against the heart of the Lord. The Lord was no longer satisfying him. No longer satisfying him with his love. So now, he's trying to find it in other places.
Jeffrey Heine:That's the sin. He goes to the arms of Bathsheba only because he left the arms of God, and and that's why this psalm I hope you notice it. This psalm which is about adultery and the repentance from that adultery, nowhere mentions adultery outside of the title. None of the verses mention Doesn't talk about Bathsheba. The reason is because he realizes his real sin was not so much adultery there, but it was adultery against the lord.
Jeffrey Heine:And that's why he appeals to God's covenant faithfulness. He's like, God, I broke the marriage covenant. God, will you keep your end? And it's an amazing moment of insight when David recognizes this. That the sin underneath all the sins is that he's not loving the Lord his God with all of his heart, soul, and mind, and strength.
Jeffrey Heine:God's not satisfying him. It's probably a good time to mention this. I want you to also notice that nowhere else in the Psalm does he talk about sex. It's not in there. He doesn't talk about having accountability partners.
Jeffrey Heine:He doesn't talk about trying to kill this sin in his life. It's all absent. But what he does talk about is joy. Look at verse 8. Let me hear joy and gladness.
Jeffrey Heine:Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Verse 12. Restore to me the the joy of of your salvation. David understands that what he needs from this point in his life now is not more accountability partners, not that to always focus on trying to kill sin. He needs to find satisfaction in God.
Jeffrey Heine:He needs to be joyful in him. God needs to be his passion. That's what he's praying for here. He's saying, God, I want to find my satisfaction in you, and you only. May you may you be my joy, then I won't go to other places trying to find it.
Jeffrey Heine:And, when David receives his joy, you you see, we'll make it 2. I have 7. We'll make it 2 things here. First, David's joy results in praise. Look at verse 15.
Jeffrey Heine:Oh, Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. David, because of the sin in his life could no longer worship. He was incapable of it. He realized that he needed to repent and God had to give him joy to where it would ignite something in his heart. And and I I can guarantee there are some of you here who are feeling that.
Jeffrey Heine:It's like, I come on Sundays, you know, I try to sing but there's just, God, you need to open my lips. What you need to do is repent. 2nd, verse 13. David says that he will now instruct sinners in their way. So David's restoration is going to lead to other people's restoration.
Jeffrey Heine:His renewed joy is now going to lead to other people's renewed joy. And I gotta confess again, when I read that, it rubs me the wrong way. How many of you would like to go to King David for marriage counseling after all this? You're like, you're gonna you're gonna teach me? How many mothers out there who, who know of somebody whose children are have zero discipline, or horrible kids, and, and they just have no self control at all, or self discipline, and disciplining your children at home.
Jeffrey Heine:They're just terrible parents and yet that mom will come up to you and say, can I give you some pointers about how to raise your child? How does that rub you mothers? Like, yeah. Yeah. Right.
Jeffrey Heine:You will. Nobody wants to be corrected by people like that. And here's David saying, yeah. Okay. I've committed adultery.
Jeffrey Heine:I've murdered people, but you know what? Now, I'm gonna give a class on morality. Let me tell you why David's doing this. And I want you to hear this as clear as I can say it. When the Lord washes you and restores you, it is not partial.
Jeffrey Heine:I think some of you, you know, maybe you've committed a sin, maybe a sexual sin or or just lying to people, just been hateful and you just think, okay, I've asked for forgiveness but I only have now a partial purity. Yeah, I understand that God, He kind of forgives me, but it's just this partialness. No. Whiter than snow. As far as the east is from the west, so far as the lord removed your transgressions from you.
Jeffrey Heine:They're gone. There's no there's no partial restoration here. That's why David can get his confidence back and be like, you know what? You've restored me and I'm gonna teach people. If you doubt God's restoration that it is complete, let me tell you what, you're doubting God's character and you're doubting God's work on the cross.
Jeffrey Heine:And you know, we're living proof. We're studying this Psalm 3000 years after it was written. David is still teaching. He is teaching sinners. Now, I want to end by talking about how all of this is possible.
Jeffrey Heine:How is Psalm 51 possible? How is washing out our sins, blotting out our transgressions? How was being like cleansed with a hyssop? I love that. It's the language that was used in the old testament.
Jeffrey Heine:You'll find it Leviticus, that's how what lepers had to do. They they they were they were washed with the hyssop. They had to walk around going, I'm unclean, I'm unclean. But how can we be cleansed from our uncleanliness and our sin? Well, in 2nd Samuel 12, after being confronted by Nathan, we've already talked about this.
Jeffrey Heine:David says this, and I'll quote it. David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord has put away your sin. It's it's right to the point. I have sinned.
Jeffrey Heine:Nathan goes, the Lord has put away your sin. Like that. I mean, there's there's no nothing he has to do. It's like, I mean, instant. The Lord's put it away.
Jeffrey Heine:You're like I mean, the question I have is, where? Where does it go? I mean, come on. You you don't just sweep stuff like that under the rug and kind of pretend like it never happened. You know, we've got all this horrible news in the paper.
Jeffrey Heine:What if Sandusky, you know, he's standing and he's like, alright. I'm sorry. And the Lord says, alright. I I, your sins are removed. You'd have all these people going, what?
Jeffrey Heine:What? You can't you can't do that. Go to Romans 3. It's here we get our answer. Romans 3.
Jeffrey Heine:And you you can you can spend the better part of a week here. Don't worry, I won't. Begin in verse 23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is Christ Jesus, And god put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be to be received by faith. Now now hear this closely.
Jeffrey Heine:This was to show god's righteousness. Because in his divine forbearance, or your translation might have patience, He's passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So let me explain what is going on here. Paul is saying, okay.
Jeffrey Heine:When you look at the past, when he says that he has he has looked past, because in his divine forbearance, he has passed over former sins. He's talking about sins like David. David has committed heinous sins, yet God didn't just smite them. He wasn't punished for them. He wasn't thrown in hell for them.
Jeffrey Heine:God passed over. And so now, the accusation could be made, but god, you can't do that. You're just. So you know, Sandusky's on trial before a judge, and he says, you know, Judge, I'm really sorry about that. And the judge goes, Well, okay.
Jeffrey Heine:No no prison time. Go free. Every victim would be crying, where's the justice? People would lynch the judge. Certainly, when it came time for reelection, he wouldn't get one vote.
Jeffrey Heine:Because he's not just. Now, most people don't don't think of this in terms of God's forgiveness, but here's God. Forgiving, forgiving, forgiving, heinous sin. Well, I'm just gonna kind of put it away. I'm gonna pass over.
Jeffrey Heine:But there's an accusation now. People are pointing at God going, you can't do that. You can't just forgive. You're not just. And Paul says, that's why he put forth his son.
Jeffrey Heine:Said, it was to show his righteousness at this present time when Christ is crucified. So that he might be just. God says, I am just. It's Just you're not the one who's gonna be punished. It's going to be my son who's punished.
Jeffrey Heine:Says, he is both the just and he's the justifier. Now, we are righteous as well. Be true faith in Jesus. That's what Paul's talking about here. That's what Psalm 51 is about.
Jeffrey Heine:So, so where does God just put David's sin? On the cross. That's where he puts yours. God is just, he punishes sins and he did that with Jesus. Receive the punishment you deserved.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, the only reason in Psalm 51 that David can pray, God, cast me not away from your presence. God answered that is because God did cast away his own son from his presence on the cross. The only way that David here can pray, let the bones you've broken rejoice, is because Jesus was crushed for our sins. The only way our sins can ever be blotted out is through the blood of Jesus. That is what Psalm 51 is declaring.
Jeffrey Heine:David spoke better than he knew. We're gonna take time to celebrate that this evening by partaking of this table. This is how we remember how forgiveness and total restoration is provided for us.