THE CRY OF A BROKENHEARTED MAN (Psalm 51) David Roper

Roper on Forgiveness THE CRY OF A BROKENHEARTED MAN (Psalm 51) David Roper Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Thy compassion 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 Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight, so that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, and blameless when Thou dost judge (Psalm 51:1-4). David sinned grievously (2 Samuel 11; 12). He did not go out to war as usual. While at home, he lusted after Bathsheba and then committed adultery with her. When Bathsheba became pregnant David called her husband home in an attempt to get him to go into his wife so that he would think that the child was his. Uriah refused to go into his wife, so David got him drunk. But Uriah still would not go into her. Therefore, David sent him back to the battlefield with secret instructions to Joab, his military captain, to put him in a place where he would be killed. It is a heart-breaking story.... Evidently, David thought his despicable acts were not known. Nathan, the prophet, came to David and told him about a wealthy man who stole a little ewe lamb from a poor man who had only the one lamb (2 Samuel 12). The lamb was the poor man s pet. He was like one of the family. The rich man killed the lamb and fed it to his guests. David, with his keen sense of justice, was outraged8and said, As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. The dramatic moment came when Nathan pointed his finger at David and said, You are the man (2 Samuel 12:7). Nathan brought before David the consequencesòof his sin: Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house,... Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household;... (2 Samuel 12:10, 11). From David s own family evil would come! Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. Nathan promised David that because of his confession and penitence, he would not die but adds: However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die (2 Samuel 12:13, 14). In other words, the guilt is going to be removed, but the consequences will linger on. It is true that my sin may harm my friend, my neighbor, or my family, but I must understand that sin is first of all against God. As we read these verses, we cannot help but be moved. But did you ever wonder, How did David feel while all this was going on? David knew better. David knew that adultery, murder, lying, causing others to sin, and drunkenness were wrong. But how did David feel as the days went by when he thought his sin was unknown 1

to others? How did he feel when Nathan said, You are the man? What was going through his mind as he said, I have sinned against the Lord? It is in connection with these questions that Psalm 51 helps us. The psalms give us the heartbeat of the great events in the Old Testament. They tell us how men were affected by these events. Keeping this in mind, turn your attention to Psalm 51. First, notice the little note at the top of the psalm: A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. These notes which form a heading for many of the psalms are ancient. They are probably not inspired. I believe that in the case of Psalm 51, the note is correct. This psalm is written by David after Nathan came to see him. We can look at the psalm to see all that is involved in the phrase in 2 Samuel, I have sinned against the Lord. Psalm 51 could be called The Cry of a Broken-Hearted Man. It is a cry of repentance, restoration, and resolution. The psalm may be divided under these three headings, although the different headings overlap. A CRY OF REPENTANCE (51:1-6) David begins, Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions (51:1). David is aware of his sin. This is where repentance starts. He says, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Three terms are used interchangeably: transgressions, iniquity, and sin. Transgression refers to going beyond God s will; iniquity is turning aside to one s own way; sin is falling short of God s precepts. David is saying, I have been guilty of it all. Transgressions in verse 1 is plural. Sin had multiplied. One sin had led to another sin. All these sins were on his heart. He says, I need to have these blotted out! He is depending on the mercy of God: Be gracious to me, O God, he cries. He says in verse 3, For I know my transgressions,... He realized he was a sinner, and he was willing to acknowledge his sin. Is that not hard for some of us to do? He says, And my sin is ever before me. One paraphrase says, It haunts me day and night. 2 There is nothing superficial about his confession. Some of us do not mind saying, Sure I have sinned. Everybody sins. I am just a normal human being. But this confession was not a light thing with David. David s sin haunted him. He could not escape it. This psalm contains some hard verses. Verses 4 and 5 are two of the hardest. Verse 4 says, Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight, so that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, and blameless when Thou dost judge. Spotlight one phrase: Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned. Some people say, My sin is between God and myself and doesn t affect anybody else! They will not say, I am sorry, to a wife, a husband, a child, or a mother. They will not come before the church and say, I have sinned. I need the prayers of the church. They say, My sin is against God only. What about the sin of David? Was it only against God? Think of what he did to Bathsheba; to Uriah the Hittite; to Joab, his commander-inchief; to the people; to his own children. His sin affected people in every direction. What then does David mean when he says his sin was only against God? As the king, as far as lines of authority are concerned, he is responsible only to God. Or again, maybe he meant only God can bring about a state of forgiveness. There were no sacrifices for his sins; no priest could help him. Either God forgave him strictly out of mercy or there was no forgiveness. Perhaps this is part of what he has in mind. I believe, however, that the primary point he is making is the enormity of his sin. Sin is first and foremost against God. It is true that my sin may harm my friend, my neighbor, or my family, but I must understand that sin is first of all against God. Whether it affects anybody else or not, it always affects God. What are the major concerns of people when they sin? They think, What if my friends find out? What if my parents find out? How will it affect this person or that? They do not seem to have the attitude It makes no difference if anybody finds out or not. After all, God knows it. I have hurt God! There is no such thing as a victimless sin. Sin hurts the sinner and sin hurts God. God has made all things. He has loved us and sent His Son. He has blessed us so abundantly. Therefore,

when we sin, we need to say with David, Against Thee... I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight. If we will recognize this truth, God s justice and fairness will be seen, as the last part of verse 4 declares. Verse 5 says, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. If you have talked with anybody who believes in Adamic sin or total hereditary depravity, you have probably heard this verse used to prove those doctrines. But David did not believe that a little child is born with the sin of Adam upon his soul. Do you remember the follow-up to this story? When the little baby, born of the union between David and Bathsheba, died as was predicted, do you remember what David said?... Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me (2 Samuel 12:23). In other words, David was planning someday to go to that little baby in the place we call heaven. David did not believe that if that baby died without undergoing certain ceremonies, he would end up lost. In Ezekiel 18:20, the prophet said, The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son s iniquity;... Jesus pointed out that a little baby is pure and holy:... for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:14). A little baby is ready, just as he is, for heaven. He is not born with anybody s sin upon his soul. Yet verse 5 is used to teach hereditary depravity. This is especially true in translations that allow the translator to insert his opinions. For instance, consider the Amplified Bible. I like the concept of the Amplified Bible; there are Greek words that cannot be translated by a single English word, so an amplification of a translation by using several English words can be a help. But this volume has brackets in the text. Inside those brackets are added the translator s interpretation. In Psalm 51:5, the Amplified Bible does not simply have, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity ; it adds the words a state of in brackets. The full translation is this, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity. Such an interpretation of the text goes against the plain teaching of the Bible in so many places. What then does verse 5 mean? David is not talking about his own sin, but rather he is talking about the sin of his mother (or his parents). Consider these parallel illustrations. In anger, my father hit me. Who is angry in that sentence? Dad is angry. In drunkenness, he beat his wife. Who is drunk in that sentence? The husband who is drunk beat his wife. Now look at the phrase in our text: In sin my mother conceived me. In whose sin? Mom s sin (or, possibly, both parents sin). David is just saying, I was born into a sinful environment. And I have followed in the footsteps of my parents. David is not trying to excuse himself. If David had said, I was born in a state of total hereditary depravity, that would excuse him because he would not be able to do any differently. He is rather simply saying, I have followed in my parents footsteps. Does that make it right? No, that does not make it right. He is still acknowledging his sin. Often young people say, One thing is sure, I am not going to be like my parents! They are mean to me, but I am going to be nice to my kids. They do not understand me, but I am going to understand my kids. Chances are they will end up much like their parents. That is the way it is. We are not robots, and we do not have to do everything the way our parents did; but to a certain extent, we will follow in the footsteps of our parents. David said, That is exactly what I have done. He is still acknowledging his sin. This is part of his penitence. What did David need? Verse 6 says, Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom. David is saying, If I am going to be able to make any significant change, it must come from inside. Most of us do not mind occasionally going through some outward ceremony. For instance, if we feel like people are down on us, we perhaps do not mind coming forward at the close of a service and asking for the prayers of those present. Do not misunderstand me. I am thankful for those who come forward in sincere penitence to clear up the past, but sometimes I wonder if this is not occasionally done as a substitute for true repentance. It is true that we have to do the outward things. We have to be baptized. We need to partake of the Lord s Supper. We need to live the right kind of life. If we sin publicly, we need to be restored. But our text would tell us that all of this 3

is meaningless unless it originates from within our hearts. Unless the heart is broken, unless the heart recognizes that sin is against God, there can be no restoration. A CRY FOR RESTORATION (51:7-12) As David talks about his need for restoration, he begins with the request Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;... (v. 7). He is asking to be purified and cleansed of his terrible sin. He said, I need to be clean, and I know I can be clean, but not through my own power, goodness, or anything I can do. God, You have to do this. Hyssop was a plant that was used in the Old Testament in certain ceremonial cleansings: when one had contact with the dead, when one was cleansed from leprosy, etc. In these, the use of hyssop was part of the cleansing ceremony. But hyssop was not used for the sin of adultery or murder. David is saying, God, even though there is no provision in the law for the use of hyssop for sins like mine, I know You can make me clean. Again, he says, Wash me. Wash is not referring to a superficial washing as when you might wash your hands before eating. This word was used for cleaning a filthy, defiled garment when it was so bad it had to be sent to the fuller. The fuller was a specialist in cleaning exceptionally dirty clothing. He was called a fuller because he used a bleaching agent called fuller s earth. He was skilled in this type of cleaning. To put this in modern day terms, David is saying, Bleach me! Wash me! Steam me! Clean me! He is expressing confidence in the Lord: God, You can wash me, and I will be white as snow. Verse 8 says, Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice. He says to God, You have crushed me. I am all broken up inside. His physical bones were not broken, but spiritually he was devastated. He is pleading for forgiveness so that he can again have happiness within. Oh, the terribleness of sin! We think of sin as something insignificant, a small mistake, but sin is terrible! Sin destroys happiness, lives, and hope. Verse 9 says, Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. He pleads for God to forgive his sins and then to forget them. The next verse says, Create in me a clean heart, a God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Again, he notes that the problem is within. 4 He needs a clean heart. He needs a right spirit. The NASB has steadfast instead of right. He says, I need a steadfast spirit, not a spirit that sometimes obeys God and sometimes disobeys Him, but rather a spirit that is constant and firm in the Lord s service. Verse 11 says, Do not cast me away from Thy presence,... No true life can be enjoyed apart from the presence of God.... and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. When a person became a king over Israel, he received a special measure of God s Spirit. God was with him in a special way. When David s predecessor, Saul, turned against God, God removed His Spirit from him and Saul literally went crazy. David knows that the same thing can happen to him. He was not exempt from this possibility. It scared him to death! Unless God helps him, his life will be a failure, and he will be lost! The following verse says, Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. The cry of repentance is followed by a cry for restoration. A CRY FOR RESOLUTION (51:13-19) In the closing verses, David makes a cry of resolution. David is not simply thinking about the moment. He is not saying, I just need to get my sins forgiven and all will be well. He is resolving, with God s help, to live a different kind of life. He says, I am going to be the kind of person I should be. As we go through the final verses in the psalm, pay special attention to the resolutions he makes to God. A Resolution to Preach (51:13) His first resolution is that he will tell others what God has done for him. Verse 13 says, Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee. David said, If you will forgive me, God, my joy will overflow, and I will tell everyone about it. I will teach transgressors. I have every confidence that, as a result of that teaching, those sinners will be converted. Is this not a potent passage on soul-winning? Sinners will not be converted unless they are taught. They will not be taught until we know the joy of salvation and until that joy overflows to all men. A Resolution to Praise (51:14) David s second resolution is that he will again

praise God. Verse 14 says, Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Thy righteousness. Some Bibles have a footnote on the word bloodguiltiness. The Hebrew is literally bloods. David is pleading for God to deliver him from the guilt of the murder he had committed, the blood that was on his hands. Remember that there was no sacrifice for the sin of murder. David could do nothing to remove that sin from his soul. God had to do it. But, David says, if you will deliver me from that guilt, God, I will sing. I will sing of your righteousness! He continues in verse 15, O Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare Thy praise. Sin had stilled his tongue. When sin is in our lives, when our sin is ever before us, when our conscience is tearing us apart, it is hard to sing as we should. It is hard to pray as we should. It is hard to open our hearts to God because we do not want God to see deeply into our sinful hearts. But David says, God, if You will forgive me, my lips will be loosed, and I will again sing praises unto You. A Resolution of Penitence (51:16, 17) Verses 16 and 17 contain David s third resolution: All his obedience will be from the heart. For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, a God, Thou wilt not despise. This does not mean that in Old Testament times God never desired sacrifices and burnt offerings. Read the first few chapters of Leviticus and notice the detailed instructions given concerning the various kinds of sacrifices required. What is David saying? First of all, as noted before, there were no sacrifices for David s specific sins. But second (and most important), no sacrifice was worth anything without a broken heart behind it. A question we need to ask ourselves is this: When we realize we have sinned, how does this affect us? Are our hearts broken? Notice what God desires: A broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. A Persian proverb says, The only thing that is broken that still has value is a heart. We need to realize how terrible sin is. Someone says, But my sin is not like that of David s. After all, David committed adultery and murder. I just have small sins. I gossip a little. I lie and cheat a little. I miss a few services. I do not give as I should. Just small things. Sin is sin! Sin is against God! Someone has said that white ants can pick a carcass clean faster than a lion. The sins within us can destroy us just as quickly as did the sins of David. Are our hearts broken? Are our hearts contrite? Do we cry unto God the cry of a broken hearted man? That is what God desires. Outward actions and ceremonies are not sufficient. God seeks the heart. A Plea for Protection (51:18) Verse 18 reads like a request for God to bless Jerusalem, but I believe it contains a resolution on David s part to be the kind of ruler he should be. Do you remember what Nathan said as he spoke to David? Indeed you did it secretly (2 Samuel 12:12). In other words, You thought no one else knew. But others did, as Nathan affirms: By this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme (2 Samuel 12:14). The prophet is saying, Because you are king of Israel, you have hurt the whole nation of Israel, the people of God! In verse 18, David is pleading that the harm he had done his people would be undone: By Thy favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. I do not believe he is talking about the literal walls of Jerusalem. The purpose of walls was to provide protection. David s actions had made Israel defenseless against her enemies. I believe David is pleading for God s protection of Israel to be restored. David realized that a nation is always affected by its leaders, a lesson that is taught throughout the Bible and illustrated throughout history. A leader s bad judgment, a leader s sins, have dragged nations into war and shame. David had seen many people in the past killed and destroyed because of poor leadership. Now he says, Don t let that happen here! I have sinned. I know I have sinned. But still put your protection around your people! David is coming to realize, perhaps more than ever before, the far-reaching effect of a single life. Sometimes we do not realize this truth. We think, What we do is our own business, not realizing that not only are we affected, but our families, friends, and everybody who knows what we do is affected. If we could only realize the power of influence, we would prob- 5

ably resolve to be better people as David is doing. A Resolution to Prioritize (51:19) In verse 19, David closes with this resolution, I ll give you my best. The verse reads, Then Thou wilt delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then young bulls will be offered on Thine altar. As we have said before, the Old Testament made no provision for sacrifices to bring about the forgiveness of the sins of murder and adultery. But there was provision for sacrifices of thanksgiving. David says, God, when I m forgiven, the sacrifices of thanksgiving will be made. The sacrifices he speaks of would not be just ordinary sacrifices; they would be whole burnt offerings. Whole burnt offerings were special. Most burnt offerings consisted of a few select parts of the carcass that were burned upon the altar, with the rest being given to the priest. To burn the whole animal was the exception rather than the rule. Again it was a special thing to offer a bullock, the grown bull a big, expensive animal. David is saying, God, if I m forgiven, I resolve from this point forth not only to worship You, but also to always give You the very best! May God help us to always give our best. CONCLUSION All of this is involved in the confession of David s: I have sinned against the Lord (2 Samuel 12:13). What was the Lord s response to the cry of this brokenhearted man? Did the Lord forgive David? Did he ever know the joy of salvation again? The short answer to that question is found in Nathan s words: The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die (2 Samuel 12:13). The complete answer is found in Psalm 32, which is thought to be a follow-up to Psalm 51: How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. That is what David had been praying for. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. When David failed to confess his sin, his sin devastated him! For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. David s sin made him 6 Copyright, 1988, 2005 by Truth for Today ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ill! But then: I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord ; and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. David is called a man after God s own heart not because he was perfect. He is not so described because he sinned, for sin is a reproach against God. He is called a man after God s own heart because he was big enough to acknowledge his sin, big enough to turn from that sin, and big enough to stay with the Lord. David is called a man after God s own heart because he did not quit. The sequel to David s sin is so sad. Nathan said to David,... you shall not die, and that was the case. The bloodguiltiness was removed. David was not stoned to death. God s mercy prevailed. But Nathan also said,... the sword shall never depart from your house... (2 Samuel 12:10). David s baby died. Many in his family never again respected him. David suffered the rape of Tamar, the revolt of Absalom, and other tragic events in his latter days. The consequences of David s sin lingered on, though his guilt was removed. But David did not quit. David had a relationship with God that was not affected by outward circumstances. No matter what happened, he stayed with God. Thus, in the New Testament, thousands of years later, David is still known as a man after God s own heart (Acts 13:22). The psalms contain so many lessons for us. They can help us see how terrible sin is. They can help us to look at ourselves honestly. They can encourage us to do whatever is necessary to get rid of the terrible guilt that can tear us apart. They can help remove false pride that keeps us from confessing our sins and throwing ourselves on the mercy of God. They can encourage that deep humility that says, My sin is before me. My heart is broken. Help me, O God! I want to make things right! QUOTATIONS T. Dewitt Talmage has said, Philosophic speculation has gone through heaven, and told us there is no gold there; and through hell, and told us there is no fire there; and through Christ, and told us there is no God there; and through the grave, and told us there is no resurrection; and has left hanging over all the future one great, thick London fog.