HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD Psalm 51 Pastor Dan Brooks Sunday Evening, September 1, 2013

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1 HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD Psalm 51 Pastor Dan Brooks Sunday Evening, September 1, 2013 Introduction: Committing adultery with another man s wife and then murdering the man in order to cover your tracks and make a way for her to become your wife: it seems more appropriate for cheap romance novels and Hollywood films. It s the kind of thing that scandalizes the senses of even an unregenerate culture. But it s the plot line of 2 Samuel 11. It s the story of King David and the wife of Uriah, valiant, loyal Uriah. The last line of 2 Samuel 11 reads But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord (11:27). I. DAVID S SIN. A. The sin of adultery B. The sin of murder C. The sin of self-justification 1. 2 Sa 11:25 David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it. And encourage him. 2. David is trying to persuade himself that what he has done is nothing out of the ordinary cultural current of his day. a. You go to war; people die. b. You re king; you have to make hard calls. D. Typical of our thinking. We are experts at self-justification. That s why we use terminology which sanitizes our sin. 1. Made a mistake 2. Lapse in judgment 3. Slipped up 4. Inappropriate relationship 5. I m just human E. The story doesn t end in the tragedy of scandalizing sin. This is a story that turns with unexpected and unfathomable mercy. In a tidal wave of confronting grace and forgiving love, God steps into the middle of what displeases Him and rescues the king from his self-righteous delusion and spiritual bondage. F. We often wonder what goes through a person s mind as these things are unfolding. Psalm 51 is a very personal and specific look inside the heart of a man who has been convicted of sin and humbled himself in genuine repentance. It is not only a prayer of confession, but a pattern of thinking that ought to characterize every one of us as we own our sin and confess it before the Lord. II. GOD S ASSESSMENT OF DAVID S SIN A. The author records God s assessment (11:27) :27 But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. 2. A literal translation of this verse would read: it was evil in the eyes of the Lord. B. The prophet reveals God s assessment (12:1-4). 1. Nathan s parable reveals the nature of David s sin. 2. Nathan s parable reveals the nature of David s heart. 3. In the end the one who has practically everything takes away the only treasured possession of the one who has next to nothing. Thus it is not simply the act that is so monstrous, in the given circumstances, but rather the very nature of the offender as it is revealed by his actions Point: Sin is always a manifestation of what is within us. 1 A. A. Anderson, 2 Samuel, vol. 11, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 162.

2 P a g e 2 III. C. The king agrees with God s assessment (12:5-6). D. 12:5 Then David s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. E. And David is absolutely right. Nathan does not disagree, but goes on to state with greater force the full extent of David s sin. F. 12:9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 1. Despised: (בּ ז ה) to raise the head loftily and disdainfully; to regard with contempt 2. Q: Do you see your sin as such an act? You and I don t think of it that way, but when we knowingly violate the will of God, we are raising our heads loftily and disdainfully against the Lord s word? 3. Point: We live in a culture that despises God s word. The Bible is so outdated! Nobody today waits until marriage to have sexual relations. Nobody today really believes that homosexuality is an abomination. G. 12:14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die. 1. Scorned: (נ אַץ) feel contempt or strong dislike for an object, rejecting as having little or no value either or both by words and actions 2 2. Q: Do your words and actions show your personal contempt for the Lord? 3. Objection: I m not scorning the Lord by this. I m just weak and susceptible. a. That s not the Lord s assessment of your sin. b. When you sin knowingly, you are in truth despising the word of the Lord and scorning the Lord Himself. DAVID S CONFESSION OF SIN A. He is honest in his confession of sin. 1. The NT term for confess means to say the same thing about sin. He describes his sin as God does. 2. Transgressions: ע) (פּ שׁ revolt, i.e., to rise up in clear defiance to authority (Swanson) 3. Iniquity: (ע וֹן) wrongdoing, with a focus of liability or guilt for this wrong incurred (Swanson) 4. Sin: (ח טּ את) what is an offense to a moral standard (Swanson) 5. Evil: (ר ע) pertaining to that which is not morally pure or good according to a proper standard, implying this evil hinders or severs a relationship to a person or principle which is proper (Swanson) 6. Bloodguiltiness: ים ) (דּ מ the liability for a wrong done 7. Q: Are you willing to call your sin what it is? B. He takes responsibility in his confession x s in this Psalm David uses the personal pronoun my ; 7 of them have reference to his sin. 2. He doesn t blame others. a. If Bathsheba hadn t been bathing in broad daylight... b. If my other wives had been more attentive to my needs... c. If being king weren t so demanding and pressure-filled... 2 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

3 P a g e 3 IV. d. If my life weren t so complicated and difficult Q: Are you willing to own your sin and take responsibility before God? C. He acknowledges the One whom He has offended by his sin. 1. Against You, You only, have I sinned 2. You may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment D. He is humble in his confession of sin. 1. Have mercy on me, O God: (ח נ ן) show favor, be gracious a. Any time that we are confessing our sins to God and one another, we are acknowledging that we are absolutely in need of mercy. b. Because of what I have done, I do, in fact, deserve to die. c. Justice for David would mean his death. d. Death is what all of us deserve for our sins; but forgiveness is a favor. 2. Point: This is also true in our confession to others. a. When I sin against Kristen or my children and I confess that sin, I am asking them for a favor. GOD S FORGIVENESS OF SIN A. God deals with the memory of our sin. 1. Blot out: (מ ח ה) to obliterate from the memory (see also 51:9) 2. The memory of our sins is painful. What does God do with the memory of our sins? 3. Is 43:25 I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. 4. Is 44:22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. B. God deals with the defilement of our sin. 1. I sometimes wish that we could actually see the stain of our sin like a leper could see the decaying flesh :2 Wash me: (כּ ב ס) conveys the idea of laundering clothes that are stained a. 51:7 Wash me... whiter than snow: (כּ ב ס) To be whiter than snow is to be completely clean and prepared for the divine presence. 3 (ח ט א) hyssop: 3. 51:7 Purge me with a. A hyssop bush was used to sprinkle blood on the doorposts at Passover (Exod 12:22), in rituals for cleansing of a leper (Lev 14:4, 6, 49, 51, 52), and in the purification of a person defiled by contact with a corpse (Num 19:6, 18). Thus the verb reflects a background of cleansing rituals, though the use here may be strongly metaphorical. 4 b. This answers the question of how clean am I? C. God deals with the separation of our sin. 1. Cleanse me: (ט ה ר) to be ritually purified; to make pure (51:1) a. Lev 13:6 the priest would pronounce a leper to be ritually clean once the disease was healed. That pronouncement meant that the individual was restored to the relationships he had lost. He was free to go home to family, to assemble with the people of God in worship and to approach God in faith. b. David is asking the Lord to make him pure so their personal fellowship would be restored. 2. Hide your face from my sins: (9) to conceal 3. Cast me not away from your presence (11) 3 Marvin E. Tate, Psalms , vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), Tate, 21.

4 P a g e 4 a. The prayer in v 11 is for God to separate himself in a gracious self-alienation from the suppliant s sins a startling concept of forgiveness. 5 b. Hide your face from my sins, but not from me. V. GOD S RESTORATION AFTER SIN (51:10-19) A. Personal restoration VI :10 Create in me a clean heart: (בּ ר א) this is the word used exclusively of God in the initial creation of the universe in Genesis 1. a. It is clear to David that he is in need of a new heart condition and that he cannot restore himself. b. The divine activity results in a new order of existence, a new arrangement, or a new emergence of something shaped by the divine power and will. While the prayer in v 12 is not for creatio ex nihilo, it is a bold one for a transformation which could be accomplished only by divine power and a work on the order of the first creation of the world (Gunkel, 224; Kraus, 546; cf. 2 Cor 5:17). None but God can create either a new heart or a new earth (Spurgeon, 405). 6 c. Point: The God who has the power to create all things out of nothing is the God who has the power to create a clean heart in guilty sinners like us! 2. 51:10 Renew a right spirit: (ח ד שׁ) make one s loyalty anew (שׂ שׂוֹן) (שׁוּב) joy: 3. 51:12 Restore Point: David desires God to restore his innermost being to a pure, loyal, joyful condition. 5. Q: Isn t that what you desire tonight? You can have it, if you are willing to give up your sin and come to the Lord. B. Ministry restoration (13-17) 1. It seems likely that during this season of sin, David has not produced the kind of Psalms that he has been known for. 2. He is asking God to do a work that will allow him once again to instruct (13) and sing (14) and praise (15). C. National restoration (18-19) Application Questions A. What truths in this Psalm make you thankful? B. What personal sin do you need to repent of? 1. What words does God use to describe your sin? 2. Do you use the same terminology? 3. Be specific in your confession. C. What does this Psalm show you about God s willingness to forgive your sin? 5 Tate, Tate, 23.

5 P a g e 5 1. Do you ever think that your sin is different from David s or other believers? a. How is it different? b. Why do you think it is different? c. According to God s word are your thoughts about your sin accurate? D. How will you apply the truth of this Psalm specifically? 1. Write out something like: Because God has said, I will. 2. Or This week I will. E. Who will you tell about God s work in your heart?