WEBVTT 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.240 Why don't you turn to your neighbor and say you look good? 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.880 That was not very enthusiastic. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:23.600 I don't know who you're sitting by, but we are so honored that you're worshiping with us this morning. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:28.320 If we haven't had a chance to meet, my name is Clayton, the pastor here at the Ark. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.399 I'm excited to share with you this morning. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:36.159 We've been in a series on the book of Psalms, and I'm excited this morning to share with you from Psalm 51. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:42.960 So if you have your Bible, you can turn your Bible to Psalm 51, about the middle of your Bible. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:44.880 Has anybody ever blown it before? 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:46.079 Absolutely. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:46.479 Today? 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:47.920 Today. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:49.200 Yeah, today. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:56.560 If you've ever blown something, you know that you find yourself in the midst of a very difficult situation. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:58.799 What do I do from here? 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:04.079 The message today is not a matter of whether or not you're ever going to blow it or mess up. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:08.560 The question today is what will you do when you mess up? 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:11.359 What will you do when you mess up? 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.120 I sometimes I like to think I'm more handy than I really am. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:24.879 And if I get into the middle of a project, I just any men in the room testify to this, uh, you just think you can do anything. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:30.239 And you get in the middle of the project, you know about the part where after you've already torn down the wall and gutted stuff? 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:35.120 That you start having this question Am I going to be able to put this back together again? 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:47.359 Maybe you're an auto guy or and you start disassembling some parts and you think, I got this, and you forget which part went in which order. 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:49.359 Right there, you are. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.000 Yeah, don't go to his mechanic shop. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:02:02.000 Oftentimes I find that the hard part is not getting in the mess, the hard part is figuring out what to do when you're already in the mess. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:05.599 And this morning, Psalm 51, I believe, speaks to that. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:13.199 I um I was thinking this morning a little bit about a time in my life in 2020 in March of about March 1st of 2020. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:24.080 I went to the doctor because I had a lump growing on the side of my neck, and and uh when it you can feel it and see it, you start to think, I don't need a doctor to tell me I'm in a mess. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:31.919 And I remember going to the doctor, and the doctor said, Yeah, you have a tumor on your neck, it's a there's a mass in there, and we need to remove it. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.159 And um, he gave me some news. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:38.159 He said, It's actually wrapped itself around your vocal cords. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.439 And I don't know about you, but I kind of speak with my life. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:47.919 That's kind of what I and I remember feeling in that moment like, how are we ever gonna overcome this? 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.439 And he began to explain it to me. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:51.599 He said, Uh it's easy, no big deal. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:53.840 I said, easy, no big deal. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:03:01.599 I mean, he said, I'm just gonna lift up your vocal cords and I'm gonna unwrap it from it, and then I'll put them all back together. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:12.639 That's easy for him, but for me, and about 10 days later, the world shut down to COVID, and that surgery that was priority was now no longer a priority. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:18.080 So I remember sitting in my house thinking thoughts in my head, I know you've never thought thoughts like this. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:29.199 I mean, God, I trust you, but God, I know you're a healer, but and I had a lot of reservation in my heart. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:36.319 How many of you know in that moment, I I'm well, right now I'm so thankful for a surgeon who was able to remove it. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.199 I'm I'm thankful that nothing was scarred or damaged. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:41.599 And here's what I realized in that process. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:43.280 I'm thankful for his skilled hands. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.199 Y'all, my hands shake, and it's not because I'm nervous up here, they just shake all the time. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:51.840 I don't want my shaky hands performing a surgery on myself. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:56.800 What I realized in this process, and as we talked this morning, is I think it's a lot like that. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:04.400 Because I didn't just need the surgeon to deal with my past medical issues, I didn't need him to just deal with my present medical issues. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.400 How many of you know it also impacted my future? 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:17.680 And that's the thing about messes, is oftentimes we know our messes affected our past, and sometimes we carry our messes into our present. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:28.000 But how many of you know that the thoughts of what we had done and the things that had happened to us and the mistakes that we made, they can travel with us well into the future. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:36.959 That's why you can have had an experience 50 years ago, but still be living today as if you had made that mistake just yesterday. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:42.560 So this morning, I I've titled the message The Power of Restoration. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.439 I couldn't perform surgery on myself. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:49.680 I needed somebody who had a skilled hand to do what I could not do. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:53.360 And the power of this morning's message is the same. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:05:10.959 That when you find yourself in the middle of a mess, when you've made mistakes, when you've failed, when you've sinned, when when you have things in your life that need cleaned up, the truth of it all starts this morning with Psalm 51, and that is that you can't get out of it by yourself. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:20.720 The trap of sin is to get you to buy into or believe the lie that you can handle it yourself. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:26.000 Now, listen, I I know, yeah, some of you men are like, I can I can build a house, I can fix things. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:38.399 And so sometimes the mentality when we get to this is so hard to overcome because we're so used to trying to solve our own problems, fixing our own mistakes. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:43.360 I want to read Psalm 51 to you this morning because I believe it is the answer. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:53.360 I believe it is God's word of encouragement to us that it's not a matter of if you're gonna find yourself messing up, it's a matter of what will you do when you do. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:56.240 Psalm 51, verse 1 through 17. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:58.800 Here's what David, the psalmist, the writer, says. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.920 He says, Have mercy on me, O God. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:14.319 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. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:19.199 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.519 Have you ever played your mistakes on a rerun in your mind? 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.439 You didn't ask for it, but it's the first thing you thought of when you got up today. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:29.839 It's the last thing you thought of when you went to bed last night. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:31.680 This is what David's saying. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:33.439 I know my transgressions. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:35.759 My sin is ever before me. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:45.279 In fact, I know Courtney said, His goodness follows me all the days of my life, but some days it feels like my past follows me all the days of my life. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:54.399 Against you and you only, verse 4, he says, Have I sinned and I've done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:58.639 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sinned, and my mother conceived me. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:04.160 Behold, you delight in truth and the inward being, and you teach me wisdom and the secret heart. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.879 If he didn't say it once, he's gonna say it again. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.839 Says, Purge me with hyssop, I shall be clean. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:10.720 I love this line. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.240 Wash me, and I shall be wider than snow. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.680 It's not just a song you sing, you're singing scripture when you sing that. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.360 Wash me, he says, I will be wider than snow. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.279 Let me hear joy and gladness. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:27.920 I don't know about you, but in the midst of my failures and mistakes, joy and gladness are far from me. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:33.519 In the midst of my failures, in the midst of sin, often the opposite is true for us. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:35.199 And he says, Let me rejoice. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.399 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:43.199 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:47.439 He says, Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.959 I don't know about you, but if you've ever made a mistake, sometimes you feel far from God. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.399 And David is begging with God. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:55.439 He's pleading with God, please, I don't want to be far from. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:00.319 Don't take the presence of your Holy Spirit away from me because of what I've done. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:03.519 He says, Restore to me in verse 12 the joy of your salvation. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:05.519 Uphold me with the willing spirit. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.319 And then he goes on, he says, Then I will teach transgressors your ways. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:10.720 I know this is just David in the Bible, and none of y'all ever do this. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.240 Any of y'all ever say, Lord, if you'll do this for me, I'll do this for you. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:16.399 He's right there. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:18.160 Lord, it's on me. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:18.959 It's heavy. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:20.160 I don't know what to do with it. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:21.040 It's a mess. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:22.079 I'm in my sin. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:23.120 I'm in my pain. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:24.800 I'm in my shame and my guilt. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.920 But I promise, if you'll just take this away, I'll do anything you want. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.160 You can have me my whole life. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:33.679 David prays the same prayer that many of us have prayed. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:36.799 He says, I'll teach transgressors your ways. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:43.600 In other words, what he's saying is, What you did for me, I'll tell them what you did for me. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.159 That you can do it for them too. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:54.480 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, oh God, oh God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.799 Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:10.240 He's saying, God, if you will deliver me, God, if you'll set me free from this bondage, if you'll set me free from my sin, he's saying, then I'm going to be the loudest one at church. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.279 I'm going to be singing at the top of my lungs. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:14.960 I don't care what people think about me. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:16.960 I don't care what people say about me. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:19.919 I know where I've been and I know where God has brought me. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:21.919 Therefore, I'm going to sing as loud as I can. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:27.679 You know, sometimes at church, I I love watching people who just got saved. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.039 You're like, that's kind of weird. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:30.080 No, it's not. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:40.799 I love at church, there are some times I will look over and I'll see somebody worshiping with such a fervor and such a vigor, and I'll say, they haven't been in church for 50 years. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.200 They've been in church for three days. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:44.480 How do I know? 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:51.519 Because when you just get delivered from something that was painful, how many of y'all know you sing loud about it? 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.399 And I'm I'm as guilty as the next guy. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.159 Sometimes I'm like, I've been around church. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:57.600 I was born in church. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:58.639 I grew up in church. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:09:59.679 I live at church. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:01.120 I'm up here all the time. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:09.120 And I can take for granted the very thing those who just remembered their deliverance are so willing to say, thank you, God. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.120 So what David is saying is, I'm going back to that place. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.159 I'm not going to be the guy that forgot what you did for him. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.879 I'm not going to be the guy who gets in the pit and stays there. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:22.720 I'm going to be the guy that comes out the other side that still has a future. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.799 And here's what he goes on to say, for you, God, do not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:29.279 You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.879 It's not that God doesn't want offerings. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:31.919 This is the Old Testament. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.720 They made offerings and sacrifices before the Lord. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:39.759 And what David's saying is it's not that those don't matter at all, and throw the baby out with the bathwater. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:48.000 What he's saying is, none of that matters if I don't have a broken spirit and a contrite heart, he says. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:56.799 That's a good word. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:58.879 Psalm 51. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:00.879 It's David's story. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:06.480 Now I don't know about you, but when I think I think about the guy who has it all together. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:09.279 I mean, David, I mean, put him up there. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:18.080 You got Abraham and Moses, maybe Joshua gets thrown in there, but I'm if I'm judging by myself, I think, you know, I think David's pretty up there. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.679 This is why we can't come to church and look at somebody and think they got their life all figured out. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.720 This is why you're not the judge. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:32.799 This is why you can't judge somebody based off what you see, because how many of you know David was going through it? 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:36.080 What I love about David is we remember him as this. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:39.200 This is the tagline that we remember David by in the Bible. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.840 A man after God's own heart. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:43.919 You know what David is remembered for? 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.320 He's remembered for what he got right. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.399 And what he got right was not what he did, what he got right was his heart. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.519 His heart and his posture before the Lord. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:55.200 And here's what I'm here to tell you today. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:56.799 I'm thankful my life isn't in the Bible. 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:57.759 Anybody else? 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.799 Because I'm about to read his real story today. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:02.480 Y'all know the king. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:09.919 Y'all know the guy who followed after God's own heart, but what about the guy who royally messed it up? 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:12.159 You see, David wrote Psalm 51. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:13.440 I was thinking about this this morning. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.080 You know, we don't really do journals a lot as much anymore. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.840 I mean, I used to journal a lot, and uh, but now I do it all on my iPad. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.320 And I hit this lock button, and ain't nobody reading my diary. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:29.759 This morning, this week, I my iPad was and I had to write most of my sermon out on paper. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:31.759 Hadn't seen paper in years. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.200 And uh all my papers were scattered all over. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:39.039 So I hope this sermon doesn't come out backwards today because it's all out of order. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.639 But I got to thinking this morning as I was gathering my papers together. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:50.960 You know, there was a day when somebody would pass away and you could open up their desk and their files and you could read everything they ever wrote. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:55.279 And I'm thinking that because that's how I feel this morning as we read Psalm 51. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.919 I feel like we're reading David's papers. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.080 Papers I don't know that he ever thought everybody was going to read. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:06.240 And in Psalm 51, we're reading about the story of David in Bathsheba. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.000 If you've been around church for a minute, you know. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:12.399 If not, I'll jog you here to help you catch up to what we're talking about this morning. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:20.399 But David, when he was supposed to be out at war, most people, most theologians would say David's first mistake was he should have been at war instead of at home. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.480 He sent out his men, he didn't go with them to battle, and he stayed home. 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:28.000 And when he got bored, he saw a pretty woman on the rooftop over there. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.279 He invited her over, and next thing you know, they're having a baby. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.759 And David's thinking, oh no. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:34.799 What do I do now? 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:36.879 Have you ever been in a situation like, how did I get here? 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:37.600 Oh no. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:38.720 What do I do now? 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:44.320 He asked the same question we all ask when we make mistakes, and that is, what do I do next? 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:50.960 The problem is not that we made the mistake, often the problem is that we now make another mistake because of the first mistake that we made. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:58.720 We counsel people all the time, and as we talk with them, we say, hey, listen, listen, one bad choice is not permission to have a series of bad choices. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:04.799 In other words, just because you heard wrong or got it wrong or didn't step in the right direction doesn't mean you should keep going in that direction. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.480 Well, I guess I'm already here, I gotta keep going. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.039 I guess I gotta commit because I already I already fell this way. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:09.919 No, no, no. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.919 Part of what David we're gonna understand with his story is he's a lot like us. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:15.600 And he had a response to make. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:18.960 And how many of you know he tried to cover his tracks? 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.480 And so after they're gonna have a baby, and he thinks, what am I gonna do? 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.320 And so David does the best he can do. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.080 He comes up with his best bride idea. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.879 How about I just pull her husband Uriah off the battlefield? 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:30.320 I am the king after all. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:36.639 And and as her husband Uriah comes home and he says, Hey, I'm just thinking, if he'll go home for the weekend, it'll all be good. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.759 They'll be having a baby in nine months and nobody will ever even know. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:43.600 Uriah was a man of integrity. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:49.519 Uriah was a man of upright heart, and he said, No, no, listen, all my men are out fighting at war in battle. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.879 I will not go home and enjoy myself while they're out there fighting. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.320 And so Uriah decides to sleep outside the palace, and Uriah doesn't go home. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.159 And David thinks, what am I gonna do now? 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:03.440 So Uriah gets invited by King David over to his palace for a nice buffet dinner. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.399 All the wine he could drink, and David thinks this will solve the problem. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.759 Now he's happy and merry, he'll go home, and we'll all be blessed. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.799 Uriah refuses to go home. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:14.799 Now David thinks, What do I do now? 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.480 Have you ever been so far in a pit? 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.879 You feel like the only way to go is to keep going? 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:21.519 So David makes this decision. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:28.960 He writes a letter and signs it with the king's stamp and seals it and sends it off to his commander, Joab, in the hands of Uriah. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.360 Uriah delivered his own death sentence to his commander. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:39.600 King David said, Hey, listen, I want you to put Uriah out in the front of the battle, and when in the heat of the battle, here's what I want you to do. 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.759 I want you to call the armies off and call them back and leave Uriah out in the middle. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.960 And King and Joab, the commander of the army, did just that, and Uriah died in battle that day. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:55.919 In other words, David's sin led to more sin, and that sin was having a man killed who did nothing. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:57.759 An innocent man. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:00.799 And King David then covers it up. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.679 He goes, he goes to Joab, he said, Hey, listen, it's war. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:05.840 Stuff like this happens in war. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.480 What is he trying to do? 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.159 He's trying to wash his hands of his mistakes. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:14.000 I want to encourage you this morning. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.480 I'm thankful my life's not in the Bible, and so are you. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.519 But I just want you to know that David messed it up big. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:25.600 Anybody in your life ever feel like if I'm gonna mess it up, I just somehow, somehow, I always mess it up big. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:27.840 And David is in this situation. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.240 And his life is in the Bible. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:38.480 And I want to point out a reminder to you before we dive into this this morning, that it's not about what you've done, it's about what you're going to do next. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.279 This is where David got it right. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:49.039 We're putting his life on blast this morning, not because we care to talk about where he messed up, because we care to talk about what he did right. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:17:02.399 And all of Psalm 51, as hard as it may be to read, and as hard as that story may be for you to hear, or as hard as your own pain and your own past may be, I want you to know it's not what has happened to you that determines your future, it's what you do right now. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:07.920 It's not just about the things that you've done in your past that are gonna stay with you forever. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.000 It's about what you're gonna do right now. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:16.480 And David in Psalm 51 says everything about what he chose to do in the midst of his mess. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.759 I got three things for you this morning on how to write a wrong. 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:21.519 How to right a wrong. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:23.759 We took my wife on a date this week. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:28.400 Um, it was her birthday, and I got the kids together and I said, Hey, what do you want to do for mom? 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:30.960 And my son said, I want to go to Target. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:34.000 And I said, Okay, and trying to buy her Batman and all this stuff. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.079 I said, Son, this ain't for her, this is for you. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:38.559 And I looked at my daughter and I said, What do you want to do for mom? 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.319 And she says, I want to get fancy. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.160 Mom likes to get fancy. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.079 So she wanted to go home and get dressed. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:47.839 And, you know, it used to be that my kids would think that chilies was fancy, you know what I mean? 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.960 So, like, I was really winning those days, but this one's for mom. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.079 So I took, I did something that was a little risky. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:58.000 I made reservations for Perries for my entire family. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.440 Praise God, the pasta for the kids still only cost$10. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.920 But we go to this fancy restaurant, and I'm just like, dear Lord, please let my prayers work. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:11.359 Let my kids for one night just act like they're 10 years older than they are. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:16.480 There's not another kid in the restaurant, but I was enjoying my steak thoroughly. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:23.440 We get to the end, and uh we had kind of been teaching them how to have fancy things, your napkin and your lap, and where the silverware goes. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:29.680 And at the end, I looked at Cohen and my four-year-old and I said, Hey son, now we, the boys, we pay for the meal. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:34.640 And so he got my wallet out to pay, and my wife leaned over to my daughter and she says, Hey, sweetie, who's sick? 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:35.680 She said, Hey, sweetie. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:39.359 She goes, if a boy ever says he forgot his wallet, what do you say? 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:41.839 And she goes, without skipping a beat. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:44.000 That's not my responsibility. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:46.079 Oh boy. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:50.880 At six years old, I don't know how you raise them in your house, but that's how we raising them in my house. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:56.079 So all you all you with boys my daughter's age, you just start training them now, okay? 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.480 Uh that's not my responsibility. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.559 I thought that that was heaven right there. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.200 That bill is not mine. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.759 How do you how do you overcome the mess that you're in? 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:22.160 The key to overcoming the mess that you're in is understanding what's your bill to pay, what's your part to play, and what's somebody else's responsibility. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:23.440 That's the key. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:35.440 As you deal with this, as you grapple with this, part of the challenge oftentimes that I see in Christian, God-fearing, loving circles who are trying to be doing good or do what is right, here's what happens. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.640 They will try and play God's part for God. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.640 That if I can clean this up, then it'll all be alright. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.480 That's not your part, that's God's part. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:50.160 The challenge this morning that we that we learned from Psalm 51 is we learn what your first step should be. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:51.759 And number one, it's repentance. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.599 What do you do when you messed up? 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:55.920 It's not if you mess up, it's when you mess up. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.920 What is your part to play? 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:00.319 Now, David said, My sin is ever before me. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.359 My sin confronts me all the day long. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:04.880 What's he keenly aware of? 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:06.240 His guilt and his shame. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:07.680 What's he keenly aware of? 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.359 He's aware of his mistakes. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:18.319 Listen, how many of you know you can think about your mistakes and your failures all day long, but thinking about them does not make it right with God. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:24.640 Repentance is not the same thing as guilt. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:31.039 I can be guilty for something, I can feel bad about something, but still not make it right. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:37.759 And what David got right, what I love about David is even in the big pit of mess that he was in, he made the decision. 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:44.079 He said, Against you, verse 4, against you, Lord, have I sinned? 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.000 In other words, what's he doing? 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:46.880 He's confessing. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:48.799 He's owning it before the Lord. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:50.240 Lord, I did this and it was against you. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:53.200 Now, some of you may be thinking, no, this is against Bathsheba. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:21:02.160 How many of you know, how many of you know you can sin against yourself, you can sin against your neighbors, but no matter what the sin is, all of it is rooted in sin against God. 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:14.000 At the root of it, everything that you would do to harm another person, to go do something that is derogatory towards someone or hurtful or harmful, all of that is to the Lord. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:19.920 And what David is acknowledging in this moment is saying, Lord, I have I have sinned against you. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:22.559 Now, I want you to be encouraged by this today. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.279 Like, I uh this is not a point-your-finger message. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.599 I'm not, I don't have my Bible in my hand for one specific reason. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:29.519 I don't want to start wagging it at you today, you know? 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:33.440 Maybe some of y'all grew up hearing a message on sin and this was all that was ever done. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.160 Uh this is supposed to be an encouragement to you today. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.440 Because this isn't about your past, this is about your future. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:41.680 This is about what you do today. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:43.519 It makes a difference. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.160 And I want you to see David's progress because David didn't start good. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:59.759 In the middle of all of this, David is trying to cover his tracks, and he moves from covering his tracks. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:03.119 To confessing his failures. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.880 And that progress is key to your healing. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:08.559 It's key to your growth. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:11.039 It's key to your spiritual health. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:14.079 It's key to your relationship with God. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.400 He was trying to cover his tracks. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:17.039 What did he do? 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.640 He had Uriah killed in battle. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:18.960 Why? 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:22.400 Because he thought, man, if I just take Bathsheba to be my wife, guess what? 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:23.920 It's mine anyway. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:24.799 It won't matter. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.759 That is covering your tracks. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.839 And then David's greatest gift came walking through the door. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.359 The prophet comes walking through the door and says, The Lord told me what you did. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.400 How many of y'all are thankful for your spouse? 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:40.799 Until they say something like that. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:49.599 But in this moment, the greatest thing to help him was actually this very strong hard word. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:56.079 Because David made a realization I've been trying to do everything I can to cover my tracks. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.440 But the problem was trying to cover sin is you can't cover sin with sin. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:04.960 You can't cover mess ups with more mess ups. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:07.519 You can't cover failure with failure. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:12.400 My son, when he was a little bit littler, he uh was on the kitchen counter one day. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:16.000 Mom must have been out at Target or Parry's, apparently. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:19.119 Uh my son was on the kitchen counter. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:27.279 I was in the room next door paying a lot of attention, and uh all of a sudden I hear glass breaking on the floor. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:33.200 He had thrown the flower or a vase or something off of the countertop just for fun, you know, just boy being boy. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.720 He had thrown it off. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:44.720 By the time I could get situated and ready and I ran in there, he was already down on the floor sitting in it, trying to pick the pieces up himself. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:51.599 Now, how many of you know I ran into the room and when I saw him, my first response was, stop why? 00:23:52.559 --> 00:24:00.160 Because what he was doing in that moment was only going to make it worse, it was only going to bring more pain. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:02.319 It was not how you pick up the pieces. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:02.640 Why? 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.119 Because he's not skilled in how to pick up glass. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.400 He's one. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:09.279 It's only gonna make more of a mess. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:09.680 Why? 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.640 Because he doesn't know how to dispose of this issue. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.640 It's only gonna cause more pain. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:15.200 Why? 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:20.480 Because he's not trained, he doesn't have the skill set to handle a problem this big. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:23.279 And I think God oftentimes is doing the exact same thing. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:31.839 He's watching us, and we're just sitting in the pile of saying, if I just do this and move this lever and pull this and try this and tell them that and do this, and the Lord is saying, if you'll just stop right where you're at. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:35.200 Because you don't want to make a mess even messier. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:43.200 And so what David did in this moment is he had to come to a point where he was no longer going to cover his choices, he was going to confess them. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:46.319 And I uh what I love about this is Adam and Eve did the same thing. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:50.400 So the point of this message today is this they messed it up, and so do we. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:51.440 We're all in the same club. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.480 Let's have a good time on the other side. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:03.200 Adam and Eve did the same thing when they disobeyed what God told them to do, and the Bible says that they realized that they were naked and they were ashamed, and so what did they do? 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:05.440 They covered themselves with fig leaves. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:08.000 They covered themselves with leaves, and what did they do? 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.240 They went and they hid from God. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:12.799 This is the interesting part about it. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:17.359 That when you don't do what David does, your first response is to hide from God. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:22.079 And they tried to cover their own problems with what they knew to do. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:31.200 What's so interesting and powerful about this is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ starts in Genesis chapter 1, when God said, forget the fig leaves. 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:36.880 And what God did was he knew something that you don't cover sin with sin, you cover sin with blood. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:41.440 And God, in Genesis chapter 1, killed the first animal himself. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.039 And what did he do? 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:45.839 He took their skin and he covered them. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.400 The shedding of blood happened right away. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:50.160 Why am I telling you this is important? 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:51.519 Because you need to know something. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:58.319 The only way out of your messes and your failures in life is not by you digging with a shovel your way out. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:02.160 The only way out is through the covering of his blood. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:09.279 Psalm 51, verse 17 the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, contrite heart. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:12.160 Oh God, you will not despise. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.279 Here's where David got his steps right. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:17.119 Repentance is this. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.759 Repentance is I'm walking in this direction. 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:25.599 And it's not that I just feel bad, it's that I make the decision, I'm gonna turn around and go the other way. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.200 And here's what David did. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:35.519 David was going this way, saying, I'm gonna do whatever I can to cover this mess, and he had to make the conscious decision, Lord, I've sinned against you. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:39.920 And when he did, he was able to turn around and start walking the other way. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:46.000 My challenge for you this morning is this your part in the middle of the mess starts with your repentance. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:53.279 Unless you think it just happens on the day you said yes to Jesus for the first time or came to the altar, I want to encourage you. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:55.759