Spoiler alert! What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh, precious is the flow… that makes me white as snow… no other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
We all need Jesus!
All people are born with a sin nature.
Sin is the fundamental condition of our existence. No one is immune. We cannot overcome that sin nature, or pay
the price for our sin with good deeds. No
one, except Jesus, is sinless. And no
one can wash away their own sin. Only
Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God could take away the sin of the world! So, why isn’t the whole world embracing Him,
and accepting His FREE gift of eternal life???
Excellent question!
Today, we’re looking at Psalm 51. These 19 verses, penned by David when he was
confronted by Nathan about his adultery with Bathsheba, are about Sin.
We are going to see God’s
unfailing love cleanses, restores, and delights in my praise.
When we walk away from our time together today, I want
you to know God has a plan for dealing
with man’s sinful nature.
Father-God, open
our hearts and minds to the truth today.
The truth of Your word. The truth
of our sinful nature. The truth of our
denial, and our need for confession. The
truth of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our text is divided into three parts, today:
1. My state in my sin (Psalm 51:1-6)
2. What God can do about my sin (Psalm 51:7-14)
3. God’s desired response to what He does about my sin
(Psalm 51:15-19)
Let’s dive right in to this rich, life-changing psalm.
Read Psalm 51:1-6.
Verse 1 gives us context.
This psalm was written when the prophet Nathan confronted David about
his sin with Bathsheba. If you’re not
familiar with the account, take a few minutes to read 2 Samuel 11 and 12.
David immediately acknowledges that his actions deserve
judgment, and he asks God for mercy!
Mercy is when we don’t get what we deserve. David recognizes that God’s mercy comes from
His unfailing love and great compassion.
God’s great love in compassion is the only thing that can blot out our
transgressions. God’s love washes away
our iniquity and cleanses us from our sins.
Are you aware of your sin? We all have sin in our lives. But we can have the assurance that we are
going to heaven. We are not good enough
on our own, and we never will be. We
cannot perform enough good deeds that we will be allowed into heaven based on
our own merit. The only way to get into
heaven is by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior! If you’d like to do that now, please pray
with me:
Jesus, I recognize
I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I
acknowledge You are that Savior. And I
ask You to come into my heart and save my soul.
I believe You died on the cross to save me from my sin, and reconcile me
back to God as my heavenly Father. I
believe You rose from the dead, conquering death. I invite You to be Lord of my life, and ask
You to teach me how to let You do that.
In Your majestic name, I ask this. Amen.
If you just said that prayer for the first time, go tell
a Christian friend, and find a Bible preaching church to attend. Ask if they have any new believer
discipleship programs. Get to know Jesus
by reading the Gospels. I suggest
starting with John. That’s the fourth
book of the New Testament. Welcome to
the family! J
Now, back to our study.
David was aware of his sin. He
couldn’t hide from himself, from his guilt.
He knew he couldn’t hide anything from God, either! This is an important fact for us to
remember. There’s no point in trying to
hide anything from God. So, you might as
well confess your sin as soon as you realize it. Trust me.
It will free you!
In verse 4, David states he has sinned against God
alone. OK, I acknowledge that all sin is
against God because God is the Holy One, and sin separates us from Him! But, huh?
What about Bathsheba? What about
Uriah? What about David’s family? What about Israel? My study of this led me to several
insights. First, the Hebrew word in the
text for “alone” defines God as being in a class by Himself. Absolutely true. Second, as the Lawgiver, the breaking of the
law is against God. Third, David’s
acknowledgement of sin against God admits the depth and breadth of that sin. And if we really think about it, this is a
beautiful thing! It’s nice to have
forgiveness from a person we’ve wronged, but that doesn’t always happen. We can still experience God’s forgiveness
when we confess and repent. Hallelujah!
This leads us to our first principle:
God has a remedy
for man’s sinful nature.
Where do you need God’s mercy today? Where have you felt the healing of His
unfailing love and compassion? Is there
a sin in your life that you’re minimizing?
What do you need to confess to God and ask Him to forgive? Is there someone you need to ask forgiveness
from? Or someone you’ve been withholding
forgiveness from? With whom can you
reconcile today?
Take a moment to pray about this. Then let’s look at what God does for us when
we come to Him with a repentant heart.
Read Psalm 51:7-14.
This is such a beautiful part of the psalm! This is where healing takes place. God cleanses, God washes. God lets us hear joy, and leads our crushed
bones to rejoice. What a blessing this
is since God cannot be in the presence of sin!
For us to fellowship with God, He must blot our sin out! We cannot do it.
And how does God accomplish this in the lives of
sinners? The blood of Jesus!
If I were dividing this psalm in two parts instead of
three, between verses 9 and 10 is where I would divide. With verse 9 completing the “Before” salvation
in Christ, and verse 10 beginning the “After” salvation in Christ.
Beginning in verse 10, we see that God can create a new
heart in us. He can renew a steadfast
Spirit within us. He will never leave us
of forsake us. His Holy Spirit will
remain in us. He can restore joy to
us. He sustains us. And that should lead us to testify to others
about His goodness and mercy and compassion and forgiveness and salvation. And this should lead people to salvation and
encourage believers in their relationship with Jesus.
Ultimately, God delivers us. And here is our second principle:
God’s plan for
every life is powerful and beautiful.
How have you experienced God’s deliverance from your
sin? How has your heart been transformed
by walking with Jesus? How have you been
encouraged by God’s presence in your life?
Where could you tell others about times when God has sustained you
through difficult circumstances? Who has
God brought into your life to share the Gospel with? Who has God brought into your life as a
fellow believer who you could encourage?
Now let’s finish up with what God desires from us.
Read Psalm
51:15-19.
In verse 15, David asks God to open his mouth to declare
His praises. God fills our mouths with
praise! He is the provider of all good
things! All blessings come from
Him. In verse 16, David states that God
does not delight in sacrifice or burnt offerings. Verse 17 says a broken spirit and a broken
and contrite heart are the sacrifices that God does not despise. These are acceptable to God. God desires our obedience and repentance and
teachability.
In verse 18, David asks for blessings upon Zion and
protective walls around Jerusalem. And
in verse 19, David brings up sacrifices again, and this time says God will
delight in them. What changed? The status of the one making the sacrifice
changed. When it’s an expression of
faith, thanksgiving or praise from one God has redeemed, it’s appreciated by
God.
And here is our final principle:
God desires every
person’s praise.
How are you praising God?
What is your motivation for praising God? In what area are you suffering that you could
turn into praise to Jesus?
God’s unfailing love and great compassion were poured out on
the cross when Jesus died for our sins. Isn’t
freedom wonderful? Isn’t gentle, deep
conviction cleansing? Isn’t the example
of David’s heart beautiful? This type of
transparency with God is the only way to truly live! All sin is against God. Jesus paid for all of it! This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t apologize to
people we’ve wronged, but it does mean that we receive ultimate forgiveness
from God! Think about this for a
minute. It’s actually a beautiful
thing! It should be a comfort to know
that the person who refuses to forgive us cannot keep us from being absolved. Jesus does that.
As long as we are flesh and blood, we will sin. But forgiveness is available to those who
confess and repent of that sin. We can
experience God’s cleansing. The joy of
the Lord can be our strength. We can be
delivered. And we can express our praise
and thanks through obedience and humility and forgiveness. Let’s pray.
Oh, Lord, give us teachable
hearts like David’s. Convict us of sin
so we may confess and be cleansed. Search
our hearts, Lord. And renew a right
Spirit within each of us. In Jesus’
name. Amen.
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