Place: I.Hall 5:1:97 Reading: Psalm 51: 1-19 SIN IS TO BLAME A little boy went to a grocery store to buy some detergent. The shop assistant asked, " What do you need the detergent for?" The boy responded, " I want to wash my dog." The assistant replied, " Son, that detergent is pretty strong for washing a little dog." The boy insisted, so the shop assistant acquiesced and sold it to him. As the boy left the store, however the shopkeeper gave this parting shot, " you be careful when you wash your dog, that detergent is very strong. It might kill him." About a week later, the boy was in the store again. Recognizing him, the assistant asked, " How's your dog?" The little boy replied, " I'm afraid he's dead. " I'm sorry," said the clerk, " but I try to warn you that the detergent was pretty strong to wash your dog with." The boy shook his head and said," I don't think it was the soap that did it. I think it was the rinse cycle that got him." My... one cannot look at the world today and compare it with the picture of ( Gen 1 ) without realising that something grabbed humanity somewhere along the way. What was it? What happened to people and to our world? Let me give you the answer in one word! SIN! Now sin is not a pretty word, and it is not easily accepted by our sophisticated generation. Some say that sine is merely the unpleasant byproduct of man's evolution upward. Others say that sin is " theological fiction." Some call their sin a mistake, or a stumble, or an erring in good judgment. We give all kinds of titles to sin. Instead of drunkenness we call it alcoholism. Instead of lust we call it an affair. We are constantly trying to minimize and nullify what the Bible says about sin. Men say that sin is an accident. God says it's an abomination. Men say that sin is a blunder. God says its a blindness. Men say that sin is a chance. God says it's a choice. Men say that sin is a defect. God calls it a disease. Man says that sin is an error. God says it's an enmity. Man says its fascination. God says it's a fatality. Man says that sin is just a luxury. God says that sin is leprosy. Man calls its a mistake. God calls it madness. Man says it's a trifle. God calls it a tragedy. Man says that is a weakness. But God declares in the Bible that sin is wickedness. David knew this by personal experience. For here in ( Ps 51 ) David faces up to his personal sin. You see instead of fighting on the battlefield, David was walking on the rooftop. His eyes wandered. He saw his neighbours wife. He coveted her. He took her. He committed adultery with her. Later, she sent word to him saying, " I am with child." My... David faced a serious situation. A problem that he had created himself. He called her
husband, Uriah the Hittite in from the battlefield but Uriah would not go home. He said. " Joab and the soldiers are on the battlefield I'm not going home to enjoy my wife." ( 2 Sam 11:11) David's plan didn't work. So David made Uriah drunk but even when he was drunk he was a faithful soldier. So David arranged to have Uriah murdered. Shortly after that, David married Bethsheba, a baby was born and then the baby died. And now 12 months later David is facing up to his own personal sin! My... have you ever faced up to our own personal sin? This is what this psalm is all about SIN. Notice it gives us: (1) THE DEFINITION OF SIN What is sin? Well, if you were taught the catechism, you'll recall this answer, " Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God." David tells us something else in this psalm. He says: (a) SIN IS AN ACTUAL MATTER: Its real. Indeed did you notice the three words that he uses to define sin? Transgression: Iniquity: Sin! The word transgression means " rebellion," for in defying the law of God which he knew David was a rebel. ( 1 Jn 3:4) The law of God said, " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife," ( Exod 20:17) but he coveted. The law of God said, " Thou shalt not commit adultery," ( Exod 20:14) but he did it. God's law also said, " Thou shalt not kill," ( Exod 20:13) but he murdered! He was a rebel against the God of Heaven. Does this describe you? My... the command of God to you this... is to repent, have you repented? ( Acts 17:30) God's call to you is to seek the Lord? Have you sought Him? ( Is 55:6) Gods Word to you is " be ye reconciled to God." ( 2 Cor 5:20) My... are you reconciled? David also uses the word " iniquity," here ( 51:2) and that refers to the Crookedness of sin! For there is something devious and crooked about sin. David committed adultery and then he became very devious and crooked and tried to conceal his sin. Ills: Walter Scott put it well when he said, " O, what a tangled web we weave: when first we practice to deceive." The Bible says: " He that covereth his sin shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." ( Prov 28:13) The third word David used to describe his actions was " sin." ( 51:2) It means " to miss the mark." My... this is what sin is. It's missing the mark! When you think about your natural condition before God the tendency is to compare yourself with someone else. " I'm not as bad this fellow," you say. But my... the standard of comparison is not with other human beings. God's standard of comparison is Jesus Christ! And when you place your life against the Lord Jesus, you discover that you're a sinner, that you've missed the mark, that you've fallen short of the glory of God, which is Jesus Christ! (a) (b) SIN IS A PERSONAL MATTER:
Did you notice how many times David uses the personal pronoun. He says " Blot out my transgressions... cleanse me from my sin." ( 51:2) He's taking responsibility for his own sin. David is recognizing the truth that sin is a personal matter and when you come down to it, you really cannot blame someone else for your behaviour. Passing the buck for sin is as old as mankind. Adam blamed Eve for his sin. Eve blamed the serpent and the serpent did not have a leg to stand on! But David blamed only himself! My... do you realise this... that sin is a personal matter? Do you recognise that when you stand before God, you will not give an account for me, nor will I for you? (a) (b) (c) SIN IS AN INTERNAL MATTER: It's a matter of the heart! Sure, it expresses itself outwardly but it begins in the heart. That's why the Lord Jesus said, " Out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications etc, " ( Mk 7:21) That's why David says, " Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts." ( 51:6) He is saying that sin is a matter of the heart! Maybe you're seating smugly in your seat this... saying, " Well, I've never been guilty of such ugly sins as David." Perhaps not, but listen to the words of the Lord Jesus: " Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." ( Matt 5:28) Now tell me can you still hold your head up? My... you may not be guilty of the outward act but what about the inward attitude? Every time you have lust in your heart, God writes down adultery, every time you have bitterness in your, God writes down murder! My... do you see what kinf of heart you have? The Bible says: " The heart is deceitful... it." ( Jer 17:9) (a) (b) (c) (d) SIN IS A VITAL MATTER: Because when we sin, we are sinning against God! Now let me ask you a question. Against whom did David sin? Well, he sinned against his family, he sinned against another family, and he sinned against the kingdom over which God had given him rule! But in the final analysis, David came to realise that sin is fundamentally an act of rebellion against God. That's why he says in ( 51:4) " Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned." Joseph said to Potiphars wife, " How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God." ( Gen 39:9) Samuel said to the people, " God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." ( 1 Sam 12:23) My... do you see what sin is? Sin is a slap in the face of God! Sin is spitting in the face of a loving God! Sin is open rebellion against the God of Creation and Redemption! This is what SIN IS: and this is the sin that lies in all our hearts! (1) (2) THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF SIN Ills: Years ago an old country preacher said this about sin. " Sin will take you further than you want to go: sin will keep you longer than you want to stay: sin will cost you more than you want to pay." I think David would say Amen to that because he knew from personal experience that sin destroys everything it get holds of. We see the results of sin in the lives of individuals. We see it in the face of the alcoholic, we see it
in the nervous twitch of the dope addict: we see it in the loose stare of the impure. My... all of the sorrow, all of the heartache, all the anguish, all the problems assailing our world are either directly or indirectly results of the destructiveness of sin. You see: (a) SIN DESTROYS US SPIRITUALLY: My... heres a King who bathing in his marble tub. Here's a King who's wearing his royal robes. Here's a King who's sleeping upon his silk sheets. Yet he feels dirty. He prays, " Wash me, Cleanse me, Purge me... create in me a clean heart." ( 51:10) Now it was not his body that was defiled it was his soul. Sin had broken David's fellowship with God! Is this not exactly what happened at the beginning? My... prior to the entrance of sin into this world, Adam and Eve enjoyed fellowship with God, but when they sinned the first thing they became conscious of was that a holy and happy relationship had been broken! ( Gen 3:8, 24 ) Do you recognise that this is where you come in? You see as the result of Adams sin his children shared his sinful nature and my... this same sinful nature has been transmitted to every generation since. That's why David says in ( 51:5) " Behold I... " Do you believe that this...? Do you realise that you're spiritually cut off from God because of your sin? (a) (b) SIN DESTROYS US PHYSICALLY: For David says in ( 51:8) " Make me to hear... rejoice." Sin had its awful effects on Davids body. Because he covered his sin, he became physically old. ( Ps 32:4) For sin degrades man! Ills: When Leonardo Da Vinci was painting his masterpiece " The Last Supper," he sought for a model of his Christ. At last he located a chorister in one of the churches of Rome who was lovely and feature, a young man named Pietro Bandinelli. Years passed, and the painting was still unfinished. All the disciples has been painted save one... Judas Iscariot. Now the artist looked to find a man whose face was hardened and disfigured by sin. At last he found a beggar on the streets of Rome with a face so villainous, he shuddered when he looked at him. He hired the man to sit for him as he painted the face of Judas on his canvas. When he was about to dismiss the man, he said " I have not found out your name," " I am Pietro Bandinelli," he replied " I also sat for you as your model of Christ." My young... the Bible says: " He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." ( Gal 6:8) Have you started out on a life of impurity? Have you become a slave to drink: drugs: sex? Listen: (a) (b) (c) SIN DESTROYS US ETERNALLY: No wonder David out, " Have mercy upon me, O God." ( 51:1) Do you what mercy is? God in His mercy does nor give us what we do deserve Hell, and
God in His grace gives us what we do not deserve Heaven! But my... make no mistake about it. Sin will take you to Hell! The Bible says: " The soul that sinneth it shall die." ( Ezek 18:20) " Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." ( Jam 1:7) What a black picture I have painted this...! What's the cure? Well note: (1) (2) (3) THE DETERGENT FOR SIN What is the cleansing power for sin? The Blood of Sacrifice. That's why David says in ( 51:7) My... this DETERGENT for sin: (a) WAS EXPENSIVE: Hyssop was the little shrub which the Jews used for applying the blood of the lamb to the doors of the houses on the Passover Night in Egypt! ( Exod 12:22) What's David saying here? He's saying, " Lord, make me clean through the blood of sacrifice." My... forgiveness may be free but it was not cheap for the Lord Jesus had to come: to live: to die: to shed His precious blood, for " without the shedding of blood there is no remission." ( Heb 9:22) But bless God, the blood has been shed: price has been paid and this... " There is a fountain filled... " Where can I find forgiveness? At the Cross! Where I can I find pardon? Through the Blood! Where can I find cleansing? Through a Crucified Christ! My... (a) and it: (b) IS EFFECTIVE: David is confident here that when he is purged he shall be clean, when he is washed he shall be whiter than snow. ( 51:7) His sins not only forgiven but blotted out forever! Ills: In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was guilty of muder and in her deranged mental state she imagined that the blood of the victims was still on her hands. See her as she walks through the corridors of the palace wringing her hands: rubbing her hands and trying to wash awy what she supposes is still the blood of her victims. Hear her as she cries out, " All the perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand." Someone says, " What men needs to be cleansed from sin is EDUCATION. But my... education won't wash away your sins. Another says, " What men needs to be cleansed from sin is ENVIRONMENT. Give people new homes: new jobs: more food! But my... it will do no good to put a new coat on a man. You have got to put a NEW MAN into the coat. Well, what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! (1)(2)(3) Ills: A man said to a preacher, " You say that all are sinners, and I resent that statement. I have never done anything very wrong. How dare you say I'm a guilty sinner." The preacher said, " Sir I want to tell you are guilty of the greatest offense ever committed by any man." The man was taken aback, " What do you mean?" The preacher said, " Sir I declare you guilty of the high crime of the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ."
My... do you recognise that you and I put Him on that Cross? Do you see that your sins and mine nailed Him there? YOUR sin is to blame! When Christ was on the Cross, God took our sin and laid on Him! Why? " That He might bring us to God." ( 1 Pet 3:18) This,..." There's a way back to God... to Jesus."