Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
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Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Psalm 51:1-19; A Psalm for Sinners
Andy Jones July 20, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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If you have a Bible, I invite you to open with me to Psalm 51, where we'll be studying this morning. And as you do that, let me just say that the church where I serve on Lookout Mountain does not have central AC, and so any church that would have invited me to preach in July I would have gladly accepted, and if you're looking for a little refiner's fire, you're more than welcome to join us these summer months up on Lookout for Worship. But this morning we're going to be considering what's most definitely probably, for any of you who spent time in God's Word or among God's people, a familiar psalm, if not a familiar story that lays behind it. Because this morning we're going to be looking at Psalm 51, and this is the story we're told at the beginning of the psalm that arises out of David's sin with Bathsheba, and so we want to see what does it hold for us to learn this morning as God's children? So let's give attention to the reading of God's word from Psalm 51.
Speaker 1:Have mercy on me, o God. 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, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you you only have I sinnedned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall Verse 1. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, o God, o God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise, for you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure, build up the walls of Jerusalem, then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bowls will be offered on your altar.
Speaker 1:May God bless the reading of His Word. Let's turn to Him and ask Him to give us understanding of it. Father in heaven, we come before you this morning, gathered here as your children, and pray that it might be your voice we hear speak to us today and that we might not refuse your voice, but that, father, we would take everything we see in your word today as truth and that we would judge what is true, good and beautiful by what you say. But, father as well, we pray for your Holy Spirit to indwell us and to be what you say. But, father as well, we pray for your Holy Spirit to indwell us and to be in our midst, that he would remove all the impediments in our hearts that resist your word, that he would guide us into the truth and the truth into us. That in coming days, weeks and months we may bear fruit that brings you glory. And we ask this in Christ's name, amen.
Speaker 1:A few years ago I read a book on the safety of the airline industry and how it has exponentially improved over the last 50 years, that essentially every year over the last 50 years it's become safer, year by year, to travel by air. And this book explored that subject, wanting to understand why, in the hopes that there was things that could be learned in other industries. And so, after analyzing all the data, the author of this book says that the single most influential thing that accounts for the safety that has improved in air travel is the introduction of the black box. Some of you may be familiar with the black box. It's also called a flight recorder, but it's mandated now in commercial aircraft and it records all the data that's happening during the flight and any communications involving the pilots. And the purpose is so that when there is an air traffic incident, examiners can explore the black box to come to understand what happened, why it happened, and then publish their findings industry-wide so they can help prevent such things from happening again.
Speaker 1:And the author of this book concludes that really the reason air travel has improved is because there's been a culture created of acknowledging and addressing failures, that this is how any industry and any human grows, improves and develops in life, and that is the willingness to acknowledge and address failures. We know this is true in other sections of life. We know we know coaches, after a game, will have their team watch game tape, not only to celebrate what was done correctly but also to point out mistakes, so those mistakes aren't repeated, so the athletes can grow, develop and improve over time. We know it's true in marriage. If you want to strengthen and grow your marriage, I would advise you to acknowledge and address your failures in your marriage and you will find it to have a strengthening effect. And that's because failure has been and continues to be one of the best teachers we have.
Speaker 1:And that truth is not only true professionally and personally, but this morning, in Psalm 51, we discover it's also true spiritually that if we want to grow and improve in our relationship with God, then it requires us to acknowledge failures, to come before him and to acknowledge the ways that we have failed in our relationship with Him. Now it's easy for us to think about those concepts and to assent to them mentally, but the truth is we all resist with great effort at ever acknowledging failure. Our minds are engineered to protect us from the thought even that we have failed someone, especially God himself, because we're afraid that acknowledging failure is going to mean judgment, in our relationships at work and in other aspects of life, that it's going to lead to destruction. But this morning we're reminded that, as David does here, as he owns and brings his failures to God, it doesn't lead to destruction. It leads to health, it leads to growth, it leads to forgiveness, it leads to restoration. And so we want to look at this psalm and to consider for ourselves what can we learn from David's experience here? What does it mean for us to come and acknowledge and address our failures before God? And what we're going to see is that the very God that our hearts, when we're aware of sin, tell us to run from, is the very God we must run to, because, instead of being met with judgment, we're going to find that he stands there ready to forgive and restore when we come to Him and ask Him for mercy.
Speaker 1:And so I want to just consider three things from this passage today as it applies to our lives. What can we learn from this psalm about sin, what can we learn from this psalm about God, and what can we learn from this psalm about forgiveness? So let's think about that first point. What do we have to learn about sin from this psalm. You know, the first thing that happens in us when we fail whether it's in our personal lives, spiritual lives is that we tend to do two things, one of two things. We downplay what happened so that it's really not a failure, if you really understood the situation, or we assign blame to someone else or something else. Yeah, there was a failure, but it's not really my fault. But take note that what David does, as he's aware of his sin, is he doesn't do either of those things, he doesn't minimize what he's done and he doesn't assign blame to anyone else. Against you, you only have I sinned and I've done what is evil in your sight.
Speaker 1:David uses four different words for sin in this passage. He refers to it as sin, as iniquity, as transgression and then finally, in verse 4, as evil. But you probably know this. But in some form or fashion all those words are getting at the same thing, which God sets a standard, and sin is when we don't meet the standard, and sometimes we defy the standard. We see what God has said and we just outright do the opposite, and then sometimes we just neglect to pay attention to the standard God has said. And David is guilty of all of those things Because, as you probably know, this story of David and Bathsheba that David has taken this beautiful gift from God in the form of this woman and has used and misused her in ways that God never intended or instructed.
Speaker 1:And then David uses and misuses his power that's been given as a gift as king over Israel. He misuses that power against her husband, uriah, for his own selfish gain and selfish protection. And so David's open before God. He owns that what he's done is evil. Now I should note I said earlier that you know we all resist acknowledging failure, and David did as well, which is why we're told at the beginning of the Psalm this confession only happens because Nathan comes and confronts him about what he's done. David thinks he's in the right, but now he comes and confesses his sin, that he has indeed missed the mark when it comes to righteousness before God.
Speaker 1:But David says something interesting in verse 4, against you, you only have I sinned, you know. It would seem as though it might be appropriate for David to talk about what he did against Bathsheba. It feels like he also sinned against Uriah. But here he says no, against you, o God, you only have I sinned. Now I think David is not trying to say there weren't destructive effects on those people or their lives by any means, but what he's trying to get at is that, at the end of the day, who he offended and violated was the God who created them, the God who entrusted him with power and a role and responsibility, that, at the end of the day, he violated the great commandment love the Lord, your God. And he had failed to do that. And so it's because of that he can say against you, you only have I sinned.
Speaker 1:And David is not satisfied with thinking about sin merely as an outward behavior, because, you may have noticed, in verses 5 to 6, he turns his attention inside of himself. It says it's not just that I behave in wrong ways, but he says there's something terribly disordered within me and he says this has been true since his conception. Verse 5, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin. My mother conceived me. And then in verse 6, he talks about the inward being and the secret heart, which are missing things that he needs God to put in there. But David's point is that there are far deeper issues than just the adultery, than just the murder, than just the abuse of power, that he has a heart that is pulled in the wrong direction, that his heart isn't headed down straight paths, but it is inclined to wander off the path towards things that are destructive and evil.
Speaker 1:A few years ago, one of our cars was pulling to the left and you know, of course, I waited as long as I could, but finally succumbed and took it into an auto repair shop, and the mechanic came out after examining the car and informed me that my front left tire had a radial pull. And, like any self-respecting man, I acted as though I understood what he was talking about and then waited for an appropriate time to ask someone. But a radial pull is when the steel in your tire is not perfect, that it's off-centered, that there's a defect and imperfection in it, and so, no matter what you do, it's always going to pull that direction. And he said, the only way to fix this is you need a new tire.
Speaker 1:And in that same way, christians throughout the centuries have talked about this concept of original sin, that our hearts, that we're born as a result of our first parent's sin, that every human born from our first parents has a heart with a radial pole, that our hearts are naturally going to drift off into lands that are dangerous and destructive, and that the only cure for it is a new heart, and that's what David prays for Created me a clean heart. And so, as we go to God to talk about our sin, we need to acknowledge that our sin isn't just occasional, but rather there are depths to it, and that we need God to speak into and change our hearts so that we can bear fruit that gives Him glory. But you know, as we do think about David's sin, that gives him glory. But you know, as we do think about David's sin, it of course is very appropriate to describe it as scandalous. It was scandalous and that's important for us to recognize the gravity of what David did. But as we think about our own sin I don't know who needs to hear this this morning it may sound overly simplistic to say this, but Christ came to die for actual sins.
Speaker 1:In other words, christ didn't come to die for the concept of sin. He came to die for people like you and me who do real, specific sins, just like David. Christ came to die for people like David who commit murder, who commit adultery, who abuse their power. Christ came to die not for small sins that we can manage and improve on and not do again. But he came also to die for large sins that we don't know how to get a hold of. Christ didn't come merely to die for sins that are out of sight, that no one notices, but he came to die for sins that are put on big screens at concerts and made viral across the internet. Christ came to die for the sins that we're scared to think about and tell others about. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ came was to die for real, actual sins, and as David talks about his sin, he's talking about a real, actual sin that he committed against God.
Speaker 1:But that brings us to the second thing we want to think about. Not only what do we learn about sin from this passage, but what do we learn about God? Well, it comes out in verse 1, where David says have mercy on me, o God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy. Now notice what does David appeal to? What's his only confidence as he goes to God with this sin that he calls evil? His only confidence is in God himself, he says. He doesn't say God forgive me because of the quality of my confession. He doesn't say God forgive me because I'm on a performance improvement plan and look at the progress I've made so far. But no, what does he say? If I'm going to be forgiven, the only reason is is because you Father, son and Holy Spirit are full of steadfast love and full of abundant mercy.
Speaker 1:Now, the good news for us, as we sit here today, is God does not need a reason outside of himself to forgive you. He is filled with steadfast love and abundant mercy. He doesn't have to be cajoled, manipulated, put into the right mood or anything. This is who he is. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercy can't be brought to an end.
Speaker 1:You know, I used to think that God has to love me because Jesus died for me, that it compels Him to love me because of what Jesus died for me, that it compels him to love me because of what Jesus did for me. But as I studied the Scripture, I realized I had that backwards. God loves me and because of His love he sends His Son to die for me. That, in other words, god, father, son and Holy Spirit have been conspiring from all of eternity to secure our forgiveness and our salvation and everlasting life. This is what has occupied God for all of eternity, that he conspires to send His son to bear the judgment that we deserve. You may have noticed David speaks about this in verse 4.
Speaker 1:He says God, you would be right to bring judgment against me. That's what I deserve. But he says but in you there's mercy. I can come to you knowing you're not going to give me what I deserve. You're going to give me what I don't deserve, and that is mercy and steadfast love that, instead of holding my record against me, what I know I'm going to find in you. Jehovah is a God who will blot out my transgressions. That this is the God of the Bible, and this is why the very God that, when we fail, we resist running to, we want to run away from, we must go to, because only in Him will we find abundant mercy and steadfast love.
Speaker 1:Of course, the glory of the gospel is that God doesn't give us what we deserve. He gives us what Christ deserves, and he gives Christ what we deserve, and this is the great exchange and the glory of God's redeeming work. And so this morning we need to be reminded the cross does not compel God to love me. God's love for me compels the cross, and what we learn about God is that, no matter how great our sin is and David says here his sin was great because it was ever before him, that was all he could see that when he went to God with his sin, what he found was a grace that abounds all the more.
Speaker 1:You know, you and I, in our sin, we are finite. In sin, we can only sin at a maximum of 24, 7, 365, for however many years we live. But God's mercy and God's steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting. It precedes us and it will outlast us for all of eternity. There is no measuring His love, and so, however great our sin may appear to us, this is why we can go and say have mercy on me, o God. According to your mercy, according to your steadfast love, blot out my transgressions.
Speaker 1:But finally, we also want to think here for a moment of what do we learn about forgiveness? What do we learn about forgiveness? And that comes out in the second half of the psalm, where David says that forgiveness is going to mean full restoration not partial, but full restoration. That he's now going to be able to return to be among God's people, that he's not going to be cast out, that he's going to be near, that he's going to be able to even go and offer sacrifices before God. And this is important. And this truth, that forgiveness means full restoration, actually comes out in verse 7, where there's the statement purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.
Speaker 1:Often we read that passage and that might not mean anything to us, but to the first people who heard that phrase, they would have thought back to the book of Leviticus, because in the book of Leviticus there were laws given as to how the Israelites were to handle people with leprosy and of course, as you probably know, people who had leprosy in the Old Testament were forced to live outside the camp. They were cast out, they were cast away, but after a time of healing, the priest, we're told in Leviticus 14, was to go out to them and determining that they were ready to reenter was to take a branch of hyssop, dip it in blood and sprinkle the leper and pronounce them clean, that you are now ready to return, that you have been restored to fellowship, that you're to be treated as all the other Israelites, as though you never had leprosy. And this is what David's getting at Purge me with hyssop, o God, and I shall be clean. I shall, with all confidence, be able to reenter to your presence, reenter your temple, reenter into the work that you have called me.
Speaker 1:You know David says something here in his prayer that God will not despise the broken and contrite heart. You know, in our lives when something breaks, that means it's time to get rid of it. It no longer has usefulness to us. But in God's economy God is drawn to the broken. That this is when God brings people into his inner circle is in this moment of brokenness. This is when they get more of his attention, not less, is in that moment of brokenness and contrition. You know in our own lives physically you may know this that you know, if you work out, if you lift weights or go for a run, that what your body does while you exercise is it strains and it tears muscles and fibers, and that what happens is your body is designed to rush resources to those parts of the body that are straining, that have been bruised, and that the recovery process leads to strength. That part of your body will get more resources, more attention and be more stronger and more useful as a result of what has happened, as a result of this process, and we find out that that's true in God's economy.
Speaker 1:It's true in God's economy that when we are strained, stretched and broken spiritually, that's in that moment that God is pleased to rush more of His resources to us, and so that, the result being that there is a greater usefulness to His purposes and to His kingdom. That's what David says, starting in verse 13,. What's going to happen? I'm going to teach transgressors your ways. Sinners are going to return to you. I'm going to open my lips and my mouth is going to declare your praise.
Speaker 1:And so David has this renewed spirit within him not to go off and abuse the forgiveness that God has given him, but to go off and be even more useful as God's ambassador to God's people. You know, as we said already, we're going to fail other people this week. We're going to fail our spouses, our co-workers, whoever it may be, our kids. We fail in many ways, and the scripture tells us, all have sinned and will fail God and fall short of his mark. And this morning we need to be reminded that God is not in the business of changing his standards, but he is in the business of changing you and me, and the way he does that is by showering us, when we come to him with abundant mercy and steadfast love.
Speaker 1:And so this morning, as God, through his spirit, explores the black box of our hearts and we are scared to think about what might be found there Like David, we can come, however small or big our sins may be, and come with confidence as we bring them to God. We can ask Him for mercy and know that he will not meet us with His judgment, but he will give us forgiveness and restoration and a greater usefulness for His purposes and for His kingdom. As much as I want you to believe this morning that David did these things and that David experienced real and lasting forgiveness for what he did, what I really want you to believe is that God forgives you for the sins that you and I have done, that are very real and actual, and that, as we come to see these failures, may we not be stuck looking at our failures. That's not where the Bible leaves us. We are having our eyes turned, like David, away from our sin to gaze upon God, and as we do, we will see that he stands ready to forgive, receive and restore us.
Speaker 1:Father in heaven, we thank you that your nature is far different from ours. Father, we praise you that it is in your very nature to forgive sinners like us. And, father, it's not in our nature as well to believe that, and so we need a profound miracle this morning. Give us the very faith we need to receive the gift you give us through your Son, jesus Christ, to believe and rest assured in his completed work on our behalf and to live as becomes His followers this week. Father, some of us this morning need to hear the loud thunder of your law, of your standard, and be awakened to dangerous things that may be in front of us. But, father, we all need to hear your fatherly voice speak words of comfort and assurance. So give us your Spirit, give us assurance that, indeed, our sin, the bliss of this glorious thought, our sin not in part, but the whole, has been nailed to the cross, and we bear it no more. Grant us such grace. We pray for Christ's sake, amen.