The Forgiveness of Sins Opening Prayer Psalm 51 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; * in your great compassion blot out my offenses. 2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness * and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, * and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you only have I sinned * and done what is evil in your sight. And so you are justified when you speak * and upright in your judgment. 5 Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, * a sinner from my mother s womb. 6 For behold, you look for truth deep within me, * and will make me understand wisdom secretly. 7 Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; * wash me, and I shall be clean indeed. 8 Make me hear of joy and gladness, * that the body you have broken may 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 right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence * and take not your holy Spirit from me. 12 Give me the joy of your saving help again * and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. 1
13 I shall teach your ways to the wicked, * and sinners shall return to you. 14 Deliver me from death, O God, * and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness, O God of my salvation. 15 Open my lips, O Lord, * and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. 16 Had you desired it, I would have offered sacrifice, * but you take no delight in burnt-offerings. 17 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; * a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Be favorable and gracious to Zion, * and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with the appointed sacrifices, with burnt-offerings and oblations; * then shall they offer young bullocks upon your altar. God of mercy, you know us better than we know ourselves, and still you love us. Wash us from all our sins, create in us clean hearts, and strengthen us by your Holy Spirit that we may give you praise; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. Exegesis Psalm 51 A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 12:1-14 ESV 2 Samuel 12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up 2
with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." 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, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." 7 Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 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. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' 11 Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.'" 13 David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die." Psalm 51 is one of 1 of 7 penitential psalms (6, 32, 38, 102, 130 & 143). It is a psalm of personal lament. Psalm 51 is considered the most powerful of these psalms. It is a profound statement of the depths of sin and of repentance. The last 2 verses have national implications. It is a powerful reminder that repentance comes about as we approach God with a broken and contrite spirit. Westminster Confession 15.6: As every man (all humanity) is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof; upon which, and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy; so, he that scandalizeth his brother, or the Church of Christ, ought to be willing, by private or public 3
confession, and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended, who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love receive him. (Ps. 32:5-6; Pr. 28:13, 1 John 1:9; James 5:16; Lk. 17:3-4; Jos. 7:19; 2 Co. 2:8) God could forgive David out of his steadfast and longsuffering mercy (hesed). Forgiveness of sins Like communion of the saints, the phrase forgiveness of sins was a late addition to the Creed. It did not appear in the R document and first appeared in the 4 th century. Forgiveness was a very big deal during this period. o Recent persecution of Christians was fresh on the minds of the faithful, even though the period of persecution had ended with the Edict of Milan in 313AD. o Many in the church were beginning to believe that the church had become too lenient towards sinners particularly those who had betrayed their faith in the midst of sever persecution. There emerged a group that insisted that the only true church was theirs. The Donatists were the largest of these groups. o Donatists required re-baptism for those who had given up Scriptures or renounced their faith in order to save their own lives. o The tension between 2 schools who viewed the church as (1) the holy people of God understanding holiness as moral purity, and (2) the view of as the loving church and forgiving people of God. How does the church respond to particularly egregious sins? At a personal level someone may hurt us in a particular way and we simply won t let go. Or we forgive in a manner that is a surreptitious form of revenge what he or she did is not important which is a way of broadcasting the action and bringing discredit to the other person. To affirm the forgiveness of sins is to affirm that we have been forgiven. Jesus in explaining the Lord s Prayer For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you (Matt. 6:14-15). 4
o Seems to be a transaction if you forgive others = God will forgive you o Perhaps much deeper often we do not forgive others because we are not convinced that we are forgiven. Matt. 18:21-35 the Unforgiving Servant before God we are more like the man whose enormous debt was forgiven. We are the forgiven people of God In this parable the man who is forgiven and then tries to wring every last cent out of the poorer one is a servant of the king thus his actions are seen as the actions of the king so when he chokes the poor man and tries to put him in prison it is seen as an action of the king whom he serves Will others see in our actions a loving and forgiving king or one as harsh and unforgiving as we are? Discussion 1. Why is it important for us to confess that we believe in the forgiveness of sins? 2. In what ways do our attitudes about forgiveness reflect our views of God? Application 1. Think back on your life, who has done you a wrong, a real wrong, and in your heart you still hold a grudge. Now begin to pray for that person every day. Your prayer may begin by, Dear God, I don t know how to forgive, help me. 2. This week, when someone slights you in the least (e.g., cuts in front of you in line, or cuts you off in traffic) pray this short prayer, Jesus, I don t know what is going on in that person s life, please send the Holy Spirit to help them. Bibliography Barth, Karl. The Faith of the Church. New York: Meridian Books, 1963. (this is an interesting little book: it is a commentary on the Apostles Creed according to Calvin s Catechism). 5
Book of Order Form of Government: Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA): Part 2 Book of Confessions Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA): Part 1 Barth, Karl Church Dogmatics (particularly I/2,3; IV: Doctrine of Reconciliation) Barth, Karl. Dogmatics in Outline Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC. New York: Harper Row. 1973 Bible Works 6.0 Calvin, John. The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John T. McNeill ed. Hesselink, I. John Calvin s First Catechism: A Commentary. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997. Leith, John H. Basic Christian Doctrine Leith, John Creeds of the Churches McKim, Donald K. Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. McKim, Donald K. Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992 Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrine Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Creeds Kierkegaard, Soren: Fear and Trembling. Alastair Hanny, trans. London: Penguin Books, 1985. Kittle, et al Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10 vols. Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding, 2 nd ed. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004. 6
Ramshaw, Gail. Treasures Old and New: Images in the Lectionary. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2002. Smylie, James H. A Brief History of the Presbyterians. Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 1996. VanGemeren, Willem A. general ed. Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, 5 vols. See footnotes for other specific references 7