To the Chief Musician.
A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him,
after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just [a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

by John Piper

Scripture: Psalm 51

Crushed with Guilt Well

The Psalms were the main songbook of the early church, and they were designed by God to awaken and express and shape the thoughts and feelings of Jesus’ disciples. We learn from the Psalms how to think about discouragement and guilt, and we learn from the Psalms how to feel in times of discouragement and in times of horrible regret. The Psalms show us how to be discouraged well and how to regret well.

My prayer is that you will form the habit of living in the Psalms so much that the world of your thinking and the world of your feeling will be transformed into full-blooded biblical thinking and biblical feeling.

David’s Downward Spiral of Sin

Psalm 51 is one of the few psalms that are pinpointed as to their historical origin. The heading of the psalm goes like this: “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” What happened with Bathsheba is well known. Here it is in crisp biblical words from 2 Samuel 11:2–5:

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. . . . Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

He tried to cover his sin by bringing her husband Uriah home from battle so Uriah could lie with her and think it was his baby. Uriah was too noble to go in to his wife while his comrades were in battle. So David arranged to have him killed so that he could quickly marry Bathsheba and cover the sin that way.

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In one of the most understated sentences of the Bible, 2 Samuel 11 ends with these words: “The thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Samuel 11:27). So God sent the prophet Nathan to David with a parable that entices David to pronounce his own condemnation. Then Nathan says, “You are the man!” and asks, “Why have you despised the word of the Lord?” David breaks and confesses, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Then Nathan says, astonishingly, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die” (2 Samuel 12:7–15).

“The Lord Has Put Away Your Sin”

This is outrageous. Uriah is dead. Bathsheba is raped. The baby will die. And Nathan says, “The Lord has put away your sin.” Just like that? David committed adultery. He ordered murder. He lied. He “despised the word of the Lord.” He “scorned God.” And the Lord “put away [his] sin” (2 Samuel 12:13). What kind of a righteous judge is God? You don’t just pass over rape and murder and lying. Righteous judges don’t do that. I was sharing the gospel with four guys on the street last week, and nothing I said could persuade them that a child molester could be forgiven.

I resonate with their skepticism. And I would be outraged at God’s behavior here — except for one thing. The apostle Paul shared my outrage and explained how God could be both righteous and the one who justifies murderers and rapists and liars and, yes, even child molesters.

God’s Outrageous “Passing Over”

Here is what Paul said in Romans 3:25–26. This is one of the most important sentences in the Bible for understanding how Christ relates to the Psalms — and to the Old Testament in general:

God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins [that’s exactly what 2 Samuel 12:13 says God did — he passed over David’s sin]. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In other words, the outrage that we feel when God seems to simply pass over David’s sin would be good outrage if God were simply sweeping David’s sin under the rug. He is not. God sees from the time of David down the centuries to the death of his Son, Jesus Christ, who would die in David’s place, so that David’s faith in God’s mercy and God’s future redeeming work unites David with Christ. And in God’s all-knowing mind, David’s sins are counted as Christ’s sins and Christ’s righteousness is counted as his righteousness, and God justly passes over David’s sin. The death of the Son of God is outrageous enough, and the glory of God that it upholds is great enough, that God is vindicated in passing over David’s adultery and murder and lying.

Daily Appropriating Forgiveness

Now that is the objective reality of how David is forgiven for his sin and justified in the presence of God. But what Psalm 51 describes is what David felt and thought as he laid hold on God’s mercy. Some might say that Christians after the death of Jesus do not pray and confess this way. They should not think and feel this way. I don’t think that’s right.

Jesus, once for all, by his life and death, purchased our forgiveness and provided our righteousness. We can add nothing to the purchase or the provision. We share in the forgiveness and the righteousness by faith alone. But in view of the holiness of God and the evil of sin, it is fitting that we appropriate and apply what he bought for us by prayer and confession every day. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:11–12). Daily request for bread, because he has promised to meet every need; daily pray appropriation of forgiveness, because it is fully purchased and secured for us by the death of Jesus.

David’s Responses to His Sin

Psalm 51 is the way God’s people think and feel about the horrors of their own sin. This is a psalm about how be crushed for our sin well. I will try to guide you through four of David’s responses to his sin.

1. He Turns to God

First, he turns to his only hope, the mercy and love of God. Verse 1: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” Three times: “Have mercy,” “according to your steadfast love,” and “according to your abundant mercy.” This is what God had promised in Exodus 34:6–7: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”

David knew that there were guilty who would not be forgiven. And there were guilty who by some mysterious work of redemption would not be counted as guilty, but would be forgiven. Psalm 51 is his way of laying hold on that mystery of mercy.

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We know more of the mystery of this redemption than David did. We know Christ. But we lay hold of the mercy in the same way he did. The first thing he does is turn helpless to the mercy and love of God. Today that means turning helpless to Christ.

2. He Prays for Cleansing

Second, he prays for cleansing from his sin. Verse 2: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Verse 7: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Hyssop was the branch used by the priests to sprinkle blood on a house that had a disease in it to declare it clean (Leviticus 14:51). David is crying out to God as his ultimate priest that he would forgive him and count him clean from his sin.

It is fitting that Christians ask God to do this (1 John 1:7–9). Christ has purchased our forgiveness. He has paid the full price for it. That does not replace our asking. It is the basis for our asking. It is the reason we are confident that the answer will be yes. So first David looks helplessly to the mercy of God. And second he prays that, in this mercy, God would forgive him and make him clean.

3. He Confesses the Seriousness of His Sin

Third, David confesses at least five ways that his sin is extremely serious.

HE SAYS THAT HE CAN’T GET THE SIN OUT OF HIS MIND.

It is blazoned on his conscience. Verse 3: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” Ever before him. The tape keeps playing. And he can’t stop it.

HE SAYS THAT THE EXCEEDING SINFULNESS OF HIS SIN IS THAT IT IS ONLY AGAINST GOD.

Nathan had said David despised God and scorned his word. So David says in verse 4: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” This doesn’t mean Bathsheba and Uriah and the baby weren’t hurt. It means that what makes sin to be sin is that it is against God. Hurting man is bad. It is horribly bad. But that’s not the horror of sin. Sin is an attack on God — a belittling of God. David admits this in striking terms: “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”

DAVID VINDICATES GOD, NOT HIMSELF.

There is no self-justification. No defense. No escape. Verse 4: “so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” God is justified. God is blameless. If God casts David into hell, God will be innocent. This is radical God-centered repentance. This is the way saved people think and feel. God would be just to damn me. And that I am still breathing is sheer mercy. And that I am forgiven is sheer blood-bought mercy. David vindicates the righteousness of God, not himself.

DAVID INTENSIFIES HIS GUILT BY DRAWING ATTENTION TO HIS INBORN CORRUPTION.

Verse 5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Some people use their inborn or inbred corruption to diminish their personal guilt. David does the opposite. For him the fact that he committed adultery and murdered and lied are expressions of something worse: He is by nature that way. If God does not rescue him, he will do more and more evil.

DAVID ADMITS HE SINNED NOT JUST AGAINST EXTERNAL LAW BUT AGAINST GOD’S MERCIFUL LIGHT IN HIS HEART.

Verse 6: “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” God had been his teacher. God had made him wise. David had done so many wise things. And then sin got the upper hand. And, for David, this made it all the worse. “I have been blessed with so much knowledge and so much wisdom. Oh, how deep must be my depravity that it could sin against so much light.”

So in those five ways at least David joins the prophet Nathan and God in condemning his sin and confessing the depths of his corruption.

4. He Pleads for Renewal

Finally, after turning helpless to God’s mercy, and then praying for forgiveness and cleansing, and then confessing the depth and greatness of his sin and corruption, David pleads for more than forgiveness. He pleads for renewal. He is passionately committed to being changed by God.

He pours out his heart for this change in at least six ways. I can only draw your attention to them. The main point is: Forgiven people are committed to being changed by God. The adulterer, the murderer, the liar, the child molester hate what they were and set their faces like flint to be changed by God.

HE PRAYS THAT GOD WOULD CONFIRM TO HIM HIS ELECTION.

Verse 11: “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” I know some say that Christians who are elect and secure in the sovereign grace of God should not pray like that because it implies you can lose your salvation. I don’t think so.

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When David or I pray, “Don’t cast me away, and don’t take your Spirit from me,” we mean: Don’t treat me as one who is not chosen. Don’t let me prove to be like one of those in Hebrews 6 who have only tasted the Holy Spirit. Don’t let me fall away and show that I was only drawn by the Spirit and not held by the Spirit. Confirm to me, O God, that I am your child and will never fall away.

HE PRAYS FOR A HEART AND A SPIRIT THAT ARE NEW AND RIGHT AND FIRM.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:10). The “right spirit” here is the established, firm, unwavering spirit. He wants to be done with the kind of instability that he has just experienced.

HE PRAYS FOR THE JOY OF GOD’S SALVATION AND FOR A SPIRIT THAT IS JOYFULLY WILLING TO FOLLOW GOD’S WORD AND BE GENEROUS WITH PEOPLE RATHER THAN EXPLOITING PEOPLE.

Verse 8: “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.” Verse 12: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

Sexual Sin: Symptom, Not Disease

Is it not astonishing that nowhere in this Psalm does he pray directly about sex? It all started with sex, leading to deceit, leading to murder. Or did it? I don’t think so. Sigmund Freud may think that all our hang-ups start with sex. But David (speaking for God) does not see things that way.

Why isn’t he crying out for sexual restraint? Why isn’t he praying for men to hold him accountable? Why isn’t he praying for protected eyes and sex-free thoughts? The reason is that he knows that sexual sin is a symptom, not the disease. People give way to sexual sin because they don’t have the fullness of joy and gladness in Christ. Their spirits are not steadfast and firm and established. They waver. They are enticed, and they give way because God does not have the place in our feelings and thoughts that he should.

David knew this about himself. It’s true about us too. David is showing us, by the way he prays, what the real need is for those who sin sexually. Not a word in this psalm about sex. Instead: “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing, firm, established spirit.” This is profound wisdom for us.

He asked God to bring his joy to the overflow of praise.

Verse 15: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” Praise is what joy in God does when obstacles are taken out of the way. That is what he is praying for: O God, overcome everything in my life that keeps my heart dull and my mouth shut when they ought to be praising. Make my joy irrepressible.

He asks that the upshot of all this will be a life of effective evangelism.

Verse 13: “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” David is not content to be forgiven. He is not content to be clean. He is not content to be elect. He is not content to have a right spirit. He is not content to be joyful in God by himself. He will not be content until his broken life serves the healing of others. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” Which brings us to the last point.

He discovered that God has crushed him in love, and that a broken and contrite heart is the mark of all God’s children.

Verse 17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Brokenhearted Joy

This is foundational to everything. Being a Christian means being broken and contrite. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you get beyond this in this life. It marks the life of God’s happy children till they die. We are broken and contrite all the way home — unless sin gets the proud upper hand. Being broken and contrite is not against joy and praise and witness. It’s the flavor of Christian joy and praise and witness. I close with the words of Jonathan Edwards who said it better than I can:

All gracious affections [feelings, emotions] that are a sweet [aroma] to Christ . . . are brokenhearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or men, is a humble brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires: their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable, and full of glory, is a humble brokenhearted joy. . . . (Edwards, Religious Affections, 339)

About The Author:

by Brent Kercheville

Introduction:

The guilt of sin weighs heavy on the heart and the mind of a person. Certain sins bring a greater burden on the soul than others. It is a pain that everyone has felt in his or her efforts to serve God. David expresses this great pain in the fifty-first psalm. The background for the writing of this psalm is after David’s murder of Uriah to cover up his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Nathan has confronted David with his sin and now he is dealing with a tortured conscience because of his actions. How David deals with his sin and guilty conscience teaches us what we need to do after we recognize our sins.

I. Plea For Forgiveness (51:1-2)

A. The three “three’s”

In the first two verses, David expresses his deep need for forgiveness for his sins. David writes his need by using Hebrew parallelism, which most English translations retain. There are three triples that are written by David to reinforce his plea for forgiveness.

First, David’s plea is based on God’s mercy, unfailing love, and compassion. David does not rely upon any of his past service in his plea. David does not ask God to look at how good of a king he has been up to this point and therefore grant his plea. David strictly relies upon God’s mercy, unfailing love, and compassion. Though David has failed through sin, God does not fail but continues his commitment to those who rely upon his mercy, love, and compassion.

Second, David also describes his error with three different words: transgressions, iniquity, and sin. David does not focus on any specific sin, but is comprehensive in his description. David does not need mercy just for his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. Rather, David needs mercy for his whole life because his life has been full of sin (see verse 5). David truly realizes his spiritual condition before God.

Finally, David uses this triple form to describe what he is asking God to do with his sins. David calls to God to “blot out,” “wash thoroughly,” and “cleanse” him from his sins. The movement of these three words is also interesting. The blotting out of transgressions speaks to David’s accountability before God. He asks that “the slate be wiped clean” before God’s eyes. But David not only wants the slate of accountability before God wiped clean, but he also wants his soul thoroughly washed and cleansed. He is asking to be made clean himself, so that he can be in God’s presence.

B. David’s response

It is important to see how David begins this prayer to God. David does not make any excuses. David does not try to justify himself. He does not state that Bathsheba should have never been on the rooftop. He does not declare himself human and everyone makes mistakes.

David is completely honest with God. He does not try to hide his sin now that he has been confronted with the error. He does not go on pretending that God does not care. He knows he must make confession of his sin before God.

II. Confession of Sin (51:3-6)

A. Sinned against God

In verse 3 David describes the burden of the guilt of his sins which he has been carrying. David says, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” David speaks of the great pain that people carry within themselves when they have done things that are grievous errors. Your conscience does not let you go. You know you should not have done what you did. The error rests before your mind. It keeps you up at night.

David openly proclaims to God that he has sinned. David is not in denial about what he has done. But he realizes the gravity of his sin when he declares that he has sinned against God. Sin hurts ourselves and sin hurts other people. But the ultimate violation is truly against God for we have violated his very character as expressed through His laws.

Any punishment given by God is just and blameless. David recognizes that punishment is due to him. He realizes that his actions are violations and are worthy of condemnation. The charges against David are right and the judgment will be fair.

B. Surrounded by sin

Verse 5 has been used to grant many different meanings by commentators and scholars. Modern versions have attempted to make verse 5 read something that is not said by David. The NASB, ESV, and NKJV read, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This is the literal reading of the original Hebrew from the psalm.

It should be obvious to us that David is not breaking into a theological discussion in the midst of his prayer of need for mercy. We ought to recognize that David is not attempting to prove or disprove original sin. In fact, based upon what David is saying, we must accept that David is not at all teaching original sin. If David was teaching original sin, then David is removing the guilt of his sin from himself and placing it upon Adam. Yet we know from the context that this is not at all what David is doing. David has declared powerfully, “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” David’s guilt is from his own actions and not from another’s sins.

In keeping with the first three verses of this psalm, David is stating that he has been sinning all his life. There is so much sin in his life that it is as if he has been sinning since the day of his birth. I know we have felt the same way when we fail toward God. We often feel like we have been “screwing up” ever since we have born. We feel like regular failures. This is the point David is making about his own circumstances.

Many have attempted to make this verse show that David is teaching the doctrine of original sin and that all children are born in sin because the sin of the parents (and Adam) are transferred upon them. Notice how some modern translation attempt to press this interpretation: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (NIV). “Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me” (NRSV). David is not saying that he was born guilt or born a sinner. Rather, David is saying he has led a life full of transgressions, iniquities, and sins and he needs God’s mercy, unfailing love, and compassion.

III. Appeal For Cleansing (51:7-12)

A. Purge me

Having confessed his sins, David is pleading for cleansing from his guilt. The word for “purge” means “to be free from (the effects of) sin.” In regards to being “purged with hyssop,” the Expositor’s Bible Commentary states, “The unclean, such as lepers, used to present themselves before the priest on the occasion of their purification. The priest, being satisfied that the unclean person had met the requirements for purification, would take a bunch of ‘hyssop’ and sprinkle the person with water, symbolic of ritual cleansing. Here the psalmist petitions the Lord to be his priest by taking the hyssop and by declaring him cleansed from all sin.”

David is asking God for full purification from sins so that he will not longer be considered unclean by God. Remember that in the Old Testament an unclean person had to remain outside the camp until purification was made by the priests (see Numbers 12). This symbolized the severing of fellowship with the rest of God’s people and from God Himself when one was found unclean. David, in a symbolic way, is asking for a restoration of fellowship with God.

Verse 11 strongly points out that this is David’s concern: “Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” David understands that he has separated himself from God but that is not the result he wants in his life. He wants to remain with God and not to be cast away because of his iniquities. But David knows he needs God to be gracious to him so he can remain in fellowship with God. David requests that he be washed so he can be whiter than snow. David carries a guilty conscience and bloodstained hands that only God can wash and make clean.

B. Restore me

David is pleading for spiritual restoration. David desires to hear joy and gladness again. Sin removes the joy of life and brings severe consequences. David wants to return to the days of joy and gladness. In verse 12 David requests a restoration of the joy of salvation. How keenly aware David is of his spiritual condition! David realizes that sin ends the relationship and only God’s mercy can restore David.

Perhaps the greatest and most beautiful request of David is found in verse 10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” David does not want to simply be made clean. He realizes that he needs some life and heart changes. Purge the heart of its wickedness and evil desires so that we can serve the Lord! David wants all that is impure removed from the heart.

Sometimes we need a wake-up call in life to realize that our spirit is not right and needs renewal. This idea of spirit renewal is not merely an old covenant concept. Recall Paul’s words to Titus: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4-6).

Do not the scriptures teach us that our spirits have been corrupted by sin? We have allowed evil to dwell in our minds and wickedness to make a home in our hearts. But we can be renewed by God when we seek God’s mercy. Paul uses all the same terms that David used in regards to the forgiveness of sins. God’s mercy has come through our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Christ has saved us according to his mercy and not by our actions, because our actions are sinful. We are saved by the “washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” The washing which we read about in the New Testament is baptism. This is when our sins are washed away (Acts 22:16) and when our spirits are renewed (made clean). I suggest to you that Paul’s words to Titus parallel Peter’s words to Pentecost crowd. Peter to the people to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Paul said the same thing. The washing of regeneration is to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the renewal of the Holy Spirit as we receive clear consciences. I will elaborate on this concept more in our Sunday evening lesson next week.

IV. God’s Desired Responses from Man (51:13-17)

A. Teach the transgressors (51:13)

We are called upon to teach others about God’s ways. We have to tell other people about God’s mercy and what God has done for us. We have to show people that we also have been mired in sins but that God has made a sacrifice for our sins so that we can be have our spirits renewed and our relationship with God restored.

We have duty based upon God’s mercy to tell this great news to others. How can we keep quiet when we have been given such a great gift? How can we not share with others the great news of God’s unfailing love? All of us are to be God’s teachers.

B. Sing praises (51:14-15)

Our tongues must sing aloud of the righteousness of God. I love when the hymns that we sing are not about us, but about God and what he has done for us. God calls for us to declare our praises to him concerning his great righteousness.

This is not saying that when we come together for one hour a week that we need to make sure that we sing a few songs. This is the worship of the heart morning and night. David declares that our hearts need to be tuned into God and our hearts need to be singing as we go through the day. Take the songs that we sing and continue to sing them in your heart, in your mind, at home, and in the car before the Lord. We are blessed people with many reasons to give thanks and praise.

C. A broken, contrite heart

This is the very essence of what God desires. God desires our hearts and not our sacrifices. Our worship has no meaning if our hearts are not involved. Our good deeds are meaningless if we do not have humble, thankful hearts to God. All that we do must always come from the love of our hearts or else it is despised. Only when those things are right will God delight in our worship to him.

When we’ve done wrong we’re constantly tempted to come before a God who is full of holy love and give a non-apology apology – just like Adam did in the Garden of Eden when God asked him if he had broken his commands and he answered, “The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.”

We often think that we’re not as bad as the other woman down the street, and that while we haven’t always kept God’s commandments, the words “sinful” or “rebellious” are a little strong to describe how we’re currently living. We think, “Perhaps those words are too harsh and represent unrealistic expectations.”

Discovering the Truth

But when we read the Bible, we’re confronted with the truth. We discover that we are the person – that man or woman down the street – that we love to judge and withhold mercy from because of their lifestyle. The Holy Spirit speaking in our hearts and through the words of scripture lets us know that we are people made in the image of a loving God, and yet we’ve been born into a world full of sin, sin that we each participate in, promote, endorse, and enjoy as we willfully rebel against God’s invitations, commands, and desires for our lives and our world.

This is a hard truth to face, yet it’s one that we all must face on our journey with God. And it is the truth about himself that David faces in our scripture lesson this afternoon.

You see, while many of us know King David as a man after God’s own heart, he had his own “problems” “issues” or “dysfunctions,” as people may say today.

David had an affair with a married woman named Bathsheba, he got her pregnant, saw that her husband was killed, had her move in with him, and then lived with their love child in his house. Things weren’t so bad until God sent a prophet named Nathan to confront him about his sin, and while David was resistant to hear his message at first, finally he was convicted about what he had done and he broke down. He broke down and admitted, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Psalm 51 is attributed to him as the prayer that he offered to God after this dramatic situation.

Throughout the Psalms we get the amazing opportunity to “overhear” the prayers that individuals and the nation of Israel have offered to God throughout history. And in David’s prayer, we catch a glimpse of his recognition of God’s character and his sin, his repentance, and his renewed life.

Recognition of God’s Character and His Sin

David begins his prayer by calling for God to have mercy on him according to the steadfast love and abundant mercy that is at the heart of who God is. God is full of love and full of mercy, and this is what gives David the basis for even coming before God with his requests. It’s the foundation of his prayer.

And yet, God’s character is also the basis for David’s recognition of his sin. Because as David faces this God who is full of love, whose laws are written out of love, who placed him in leadership over Israel out of love for the people, he recognizes that what he has done stands in stark contrast to the desired will and commandments of God.

God desires life not death. God desires truth not lies. God desires David to show generosity and pity towards his people, not selfishness and contempt. And in verses 3 and 4 David cries out, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.”

These are not the words of an expected non-apology apology from a politician like David. These are the sincere words of someone who has examined and faced the truth about themselves and arrived at a place of brokenness.

Repentance

But David doesn’t stop with recognition of God’s character and his sin, he moves forward in repentance.

David’s prayer illustrates his deep desire for the Holy Spirit to work in his life to cleanse him from his sin, wash him whiter than snow, and be filled with wisdom in his heart. He prays, as so many of you pray here in worship on a regular basis, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!” Here, David is making a decisive move away from his sin and his past and turning towards God and the renewed life available to him.

Renewed Life

And in the latter half of the psalm we see what kind of renewed life David is anticipating from God.

He is anticipating to be made clean. He is anticipating to be in God’s presence. He is anticipating having the joy of salvation returned to him and to sing praises because of the work God has done in his life. And we read in verse 13 that his recognition of his sin, his repentance, and his renewed life are all catalysts for him being sent out to participate in God’s mission – a mission that is focused on teaching sinners like himself about the God of steadfast love and abundant mercy who has transformed his own life.

Connecting Our Story with God’s Story

David’s journey in this Psalm is the journey God is inviting us on this season of Lent.

We’re beginning this journey with Ash Wednesday – a day in which we confront our sinfulness and the reality that because of sin’s presence in the world, we will all one-day die. But we know how this journey ends. We know that the journey of Lent includes Good Friday and Easter. And as we begin this journey with the end in mind, like David, we’re able to move forward with God’s loving and merciful character at the forefront of our hearts and minds. Because on the cross, we see God’s love for us as his only Son offers himself as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sin, my sin, and the sin that is present throughout societies and structures in this world. On the cross, we see God’s abundant mercy as Jesus Christ, the judge of all the world, receives the judgment that we deserve. And these truths are what enable us, like David, to recognize and repent of our sin before God.

As we enter into this season of self-examination, we don’t have to give into the temptation to offer non-specific, evasive, minimalized apologies to God. We can face the truth about ourselves and our relationship with God because we know that God’s grace is free, abundant, and available to all.

The Whole Truth

But even as we face the truth about ourselves that we are more sinful than we’d like to admit, we must never forget a second truth about ourselves – God’s love and mercy are greater than we often imagine.

Sometimes we imagine that God is willing to forgive our neighbor’s sin but not ours. Sometimes we imagine that God doesn’t forgive us the seventh time we come before him confessing the same thing. Sometimes we imagine that all God wants to do is forgive us and help “make our sin more manageable.”

But that’s not what God wants to do. God wants to renew us, deliver us from the power of sin, and truly create in us a clean heart. As John Wesley often reminded people, God’s sanctifying grace working in us enables us to truly love God and our neighbor with all of our heart, mind, and soul. And as we journey through this Lent, we must never lose sight of the empty tomb of Easter where we see the grace of God on full display as death is transformed into life.

It’s an amazing thing to be able to “overhear” this prayer offered to God by David. But perhaps it’s even more amazing that God has given us this prayer in scripture so that we can offer it back to him as a prayer of our own. In a few minutes, we’re going to pray it together. And I’d like to invite you to continue to pray it throughout Lent as you examine your life facing the truth about who you are and who you can be through Jesus Christ. Because as we recognize God’s character and our sin and as we repent, we’re positioned to live into the renewed life that God has for us, a life that is fully surrendered to participate in God’s mission in the world.

by Rev. Maurice Roberts, Inverness

Scripture: Psalm 51 vv.16-17

"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51, 16-17).

Two types of sacrifice

You will see in this text a reference to two kinds of sacrifice. It is said about one type of sacrifice that it is not what God requires. You will see about the other kind of sacrifice that it is the kind which God requires. Let me read it again: "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (text).

This needs to be explained because there have been some people who have misunderstood these words and similar words in the Old Testament. When the Psalmist here tells us that God does not require sacrifice or burnt offering, we are not to suppose that the Psalmist means that God did not institute the sacrificial system which we read about in the Book of Leviticus and parts of Numbers. In that Old Testament sacrificial system God himself demanded of the people that they should offer the blood of bulls and goats and sheep and other creatures - sometimes birds and other types of animals. There was a temple or tabernacle, there was an altar upon which there was fire, and when the worshippers came in Old Testament times they were required to bring with them these sacrificial animals. They had to be what are called 'clean' animals. Certain animals were clean and certain were not clean. Generally speaking, the clean animals were domestic animals - cows and bulls and sheep and goats and so forth, as distinct from the wilder types of animals. Now all of that was required by God and if we were now living in the Old Testament times then you and I would still be required to do that. Public worship demanded that we must bring our sacrifice with us and offer the blood of bulls and goats. So you mustn't understand this text as though David was saying that God never instituted that form of sacrificial system. There have been people who have misunderstood these words in that way.

So then, how are we to understand these words of David who writes here in this Psalm 51? Well, like this. He means that what is most important in worship is not what we do outwardly but what we do in our heart and in our soul. Granted that there is a place, He means, for these outward forms of worship, but that is not the main thing in worship. You'll see from the very last verse of that David has no thought of abolishing the sacrificial system, because he says: "Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar" (Psalm 51, 19). It's very clear that David does acknowledge there is a place for those outward sacrifices and offerings, but he means God first of all requires the worship of our hearts. And it's still true in the New Testament. We don't come any more with animal sacrifices but we do come to God's house. We do sit here and we do sing, and listen, and take in things from his Word.

The importance of heart worship

And what is the most important aspect of all our worship today, or in any other age? It is that when we worship God we should bring our hearts to him, that we should bring our innermost affection and desire before God, that we should be involved in this worship. You see, this was the mistake that many Israelites made. They offered their bull, they offered their goat or whatever it was; they came to the temple or tabernacle, and away home they went. They thought that just by doing these outward things, God would be satisfied. That wasn't true then, and it isn't true now. It's not a work of supererogation to sit in the church or in an assembly like this, and to come and to go home. Provided we bring our hearts with us, our worship will be acceptable. But if our minds and our hearts are far from the worship of God then it is of no value.

All of this is very relevant because this passage of Scripture tells us in an unforgettable way that we need, all of us, to have this broken heart. We must ask ourselves, 'Do I know the meaning of this idea, to have a broken heart?' I'm going to define it just in a moment, but that's the question I must put to myself and to us all. Have we ever been broken? Have we ever had our hearts broken? - because that's what it's talking about. Listen to these words: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (text)

What is meant by a broken and a contrite heart?

What it is not.My first concern then will be to explain what is meant by a broken and a contrite heart. What is it? Let me explain to you what it is. Negatively, we are not talking here about a bad conscience. There is such a thing as having a bad conscience; we feel guilty - we all know the meaning of that, and I assure you I know it absolutely as much as anyone living. It's an awful thing to have a guilty conscience and we know the meaning of that. We speak hastily and we could bite our lip afterwards. Or we lose our temper somewhat and we feel so wretched and so sinful. That is a bad conscience, and the thing to do is, when we have a bad conscience, to go quietly away to some little spot and confess your sin to God. Don't live with a bad conscience. Don't let the bad conscience continue without doing something about it. As soon as you have that feeling of bad conscience, go apart and ask God to cleanse you by the blood of Christ. So we're not here talking about a bad conscience; that's not what's meant by a broken heart. It's something else.

Another negative is this: we are not talking about being hurt. We all know what it is to be hurt. Someone says something which is stinging and unkind, and you feel it, and we've all had that experience. Somebody has been unkind to us in the way they have dealt with us. They have hurt our feelings, we say. We feel hurt by what they have done or said; that's a very real thing too When people unkindly deal with you and hurt you like that, then the thing to do in that case is to pray that God will bless them, to pray that God will forgive them, and to pray that God would do them good. Don't hold a grudge. I know it's very hard; it's awfully hard to forgive those that hurt us. 'But', said Jesus, 'turn the other cheek' (Matt. 5, 39), forgive as we are forgiven (Luke 11, 4).

What it is.Positively, what is this broken heart? Well it is first of all this: it is the heart of somebody who knows that God requires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. It is somebody who has understanding of the character of God, who knows what sort of God the Bible shows us God to be. You remember how God appeared to Moses in Exodus 34? The Lord passed by him and proclaimed the name of the Lord: "The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping covenant with thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments" (Exodus 34, 6-7; Deuteronomy 7, 9) That is the character of God, and a broken heart belongs to somebody who knows the true character of God, who knows the meaning of Jesus' words: "The Father seeketh men to worship him who will worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4, 23). It is the feeling of Isaiah, for instance, when in chapter 6 he saw the Lord "high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple", and Isaiah cried out "Woe is me! I am undone... I have seen the LORD of hosts" and he felt so unclean. "I am unclean," he said, "and I dwell among a people of unclean lips; mine eyes have seen the LORD of hosts.... who is holy, holy, holy." (Isaiah 6, 1, 3-5) That is a very spiritual experience, and all true Christians have had this experience, more or less. The way to grow in grace and in holiness is to see more of the character of God, to have more of this knowledge of God, more of this reverence, more of this grace, more of this love towards God, more of this understanding and desire to please God.

Those who have this broken heart, they are people who understand that what God is looking at in all worship, whether in secret or in the family, or in the congregation, or wherever - all worship which is worth the name of worship - is worship in which our hearts are engaged. It's not simply a matter of using words. This is, you see, why we don't go in for prayer books. There are some churches who believe in having everything written down; the minister has really no liberty whatever to offer his spontaneous prayer - everything comes out of a prayer book. You simply look at the calendar date. Ah, you say, it's the ninth of the month, so you turn to the prayer book which gives you a prayer to say for the ninth of the month. Next week it'll be some other date, and you read these prayers all the way through. Well, I'm not saying that there's not some use in reading the prayer book sometimes for your own personal edification, but the danger is, you see, in real prayer the heart leads the mouth, but in prayer books the danger is that the mouth leads the heart and that the heart really is not in it. It's easier to read off somebody else's prayer, and it may be edifying like a sermon in a way, but the heart may not be engaged in it. This is a lesson to us, to say that what God is looking for, in all our worship, is a broken and a contrite heart - that is the thing.

Old Testament animal sacrifices pointed to Christ.Let me go on and put it like this: it is the heart of somebody who sees why God has appointed sacrifices in the Old Testament. You see that raises a question, doesn't it? If God really was not so concerned about the blood of the bulls and goats, but was more concerned about people's hearts, why did He insist on people bringing the blood of bulls and goats? You see the point? Why did God require the blood of bulls and goats if that wasn't the main thing in worship? Well I'll tell you. It was because worshippers in the Old Testament did not yet have as their creed what you and I as Christians have, and that is: "I believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and died, and rose again the third day." They didn't know about that yet, as we do. Oh yes, they had the promise that one day He would come, but they lived in an age when this was not clear, as it is clear to us. So, the shedding of the blood of animals was to them a parable. It was to them an illustration. It was to them a prophecy of what Jesus Christ our Lord would do. All the blood of bulls and goats that was shed in the Old Testament was nothing more than a prophecy pointing to the coming of Christ. He is the only sacrifice there ever was or ever would be. His is the only blood that cleanses from sin. All the blood of bulls and goats, even oceans of blood of bulls and goats, it cannot take away one sin (Heb. 10:4), but God instituted that worship in the Old Testament so that the conscience of the worshipper should have something to inform it of the way in which the Messiah, Jesus, would deal with the sins of the world when he came and died for us upon the cross. Isaiah 53 therefore is the key to understanding the sacrifices of the Old Testament, because chapter 53 shows us Christ in a most glorious way, shedding His blood.

The broken heart and the contrite spirit is that of somebody who sees that the blood of sacrifice in the Old Testament was necessary only as it pointed to Christ, to the blood of Christ and to the cross of Christ. It is the heart of somebody who is sorry to have offended God; that's the kind of heart you need if you are ever to get to heaven. If you want God to listen to your prayers then you must have a contrite heart. If you ever want God to bless you and do you good then you must have this broken heart - broken because you know, and you confess freely, you are a sinner! You have done wrong! You have broken the laws of God. You have not lived to the glory of God, nor have I. And all true worship has this element within it. 'Lord,' we say, 'I deserve to go to hell. It is of thy mercy that I live another moment. I deserve to be cast into outer darkness. Lord, it is thy kindness which has provided for me a ransom for my soul.' That's why we have the Lord's Supper of course; it is a reminder to us of the blood and death of Jesus Christ. "This do," says he, "in remembrance of me" (Luke 22, 19) - a reminder to us that we owe everything to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

That then is what is meant by the contrite heart and by the broken heart. Everybody that has the broken heart is a true Christian. If you have got that broken heart, my dear friend, you are a true Christian. No-one could possibly have that broken heart, but only somebody whom God has taught. It is a mark of grace. Nobody has it, in all the world - we're not born with it, we don't cultivate it through education, we don't get it by accident - we only get it by the grace of God. The Holy Spirit himself must needs give us this spirit of contrition. So I say, make this a point for self examination with yourself.

Boys and girls and older people, let me put it to you - ask yourself right now, as I am speaking to you - do you have this broken heart? Are you truly sorry for the sins that you have done? Does it grieve you when you offend God? When your conscience points to you and blows the whistle like a policeman and says 'you shouldn't have said that; that was out of place'? Many times in a day - I have the same problem - many times in a day. Oh I wish I had not said that! Oh I wish I had not done that! We are such foolish, fallen, ruined creatures. All our hope is that God is merciful to those who confess their sins and forsake them. This is what's meant by the broken heart.

Secondly, I want to give you some reasons why a broken heart is acceptable to God. The text tells us this: "Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (text).

Why is God concerned about the broken heart and the contrite spirit?

Why does He love this? Why does He delight to see this in the worshipper, more than anything else? God will tolerate irregularities in the outward forms of worship, provided our hearts are right. Let me explain then why God loves this. Because those who have this contrite spirit are truly sorry for their sins and that is something which God loves. God loves to see people sorry for their sins. That glorifies God. It justifies God. It honours God. It accords with what God tells us himself.

I sometimes quote from an old writer in the church called Tertullian. He lived in North Africa in the early Christian centuries and Tertullian said this: 'I was born for repentance.' Now there's something very good in that. 'I was born for repentance.' In other words, the thing that I must do all the time in this world as a believer is to admit to God my shortcomings. Take Peter - what's the difference between Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot? They both sinned: one betrayed Christ; the other denied Christ with oaths and curses. One went to hell and the other went to heaven. What is the great difference between them? Ah! Peter truly, spiritually repented. Judas relented. Judas was sorry for what he'd done; his conscience smote him but he didn't repent in the sense of turning to God with a broken heart. Peter did. Peter went out when he heard the cock crowing and he wept bitterly.

Do you ever weep when you're in secret prayer? Do you have the tears in your eyes, running down your face? You should! We are a ruined race. Oh, I know that this is not something which is very commonly said today, but our forefathers who excelled us in spirituality, they would tell us if they were alive from the dead that the best Christians are the most broken Christians - always. The best Christians are those who grieve most over their sin. 'A heart is best when it is broken', said another old writer. That's interesting isn't it? Nothing else is better for breaking, is it? You have a window: it's not the better for breaking. If you have a motor car, it's not the better for being broken, is it? If you have almost anything you can think of, it's not the better for being broken. But, here's the exception! The best hearts are broken hearts. Oh! for a broken heart! Oh! to see society with broken hearts. That's what will happen, I believe, to the Jews one day - the beloved Jews, our elder brother - oh how we long for that! How I have prayed for that for many, many years. The day will come, says the Bible, when the spirit of grace and supplication will come upon the Jewish people as a whole and they shall look unto Him whom they pierced and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only son (Zechariah 12, 10). Their hearts will be broken when they recognise Christ one day in the future, whenever God's time has come.

That's what should be happening, really, in churches now everywhere. Oh, for the broken heart! To take seriously what it means that we are sinners in the sight of God. You see, God is honoured when a contrite heart says to God: 'Lord, I am wrong but thou art right.' We've no right to complain of our troubles in this world. We've no right to complain of our miseries. It sends a shiver down the Christian's back when he hears the world's way of talking when some catastrophe, some tragedy, some trouble occurs in the world. 'Well,' the people say, 'we didn't deserve this. What have I done that this should happen to me? What have I done wrong that this misery should come into my life?' That's not a Christian Bible way of talking! That's a worldly way of talking! The Christian says, 'It's a wonder worse things have never happened to me. It's only rain - it might be fire and brimstone! The earth might open her mouth and swallow us down. We have nothing ever to complain against God in His providence. The worst that can happen would never be too great to punish our sins.' That's how the Christian thinks. In doing so he justifies God. "That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest," says David in verse 4, in this very place.

You see how David takes all this to himself. He had sinned against God, as we know, and God chastened him. God chastised him severely. God said, "The sword, David, shall never depart out of thine house." (2 Sam. 12:10) - and that's what happened. Trouble came upon David's family. One son killed another son. All sorts of awful things happened within the family circle and these trials came. He had the news of Absalom revolting against him, trying to seize his father's throne. David had to go into exile to escape from the hatred of his own son, Absalom. All of that and worse happened. But David never complained. He wrote this psalm instead. Thou art righteous, O Lord. (Psalm 119, 137 etc.). I deserve all these things. God loves this contrite heart because it is the proper attitude that we ought to have. It is the disposition of mind and soul which is appropriate for those who have offended God - and we have all offended God by our transgressions.

We are sinners in three ways. Do we all understand this? What made me a sinner first? Well, I'll tell you: it was the imputation to us of the first sin of the first man. I know it's a very great mystery - don't expect anyone to explain it - I'm simply here to tell you what the Word of God has revealed to us. We'll understand these things better in heaven than we do here. But we must go by what God has said. The first sin of the first Adam is immediately imputed to all his children. We're all, in the womb, sinners. That's what David said: "In sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51, 5). He didn't mean there was any impropriety in his birth. He didn't mean that he was an illegitimate child - nothing of the kind. What he means is that in his mother's womb the sin of Adam was imputed to him, as it is to us all. We are all sinners in our mother's womb. Before we've opened our mouth to say a word, or stirred a hand to do any harm to anyone, we are sinners by the imputation of Adam's sin.

Secondly, we are sinners insofar as we, from Adam, receive our fallen, depraved, ruined, corrupted human nature. Isn't it unspeakable? Again this week, again, the police are after somebody who's killed a young girl, a young woman walking down a street - killed or stabbed or throttled or something - it will be the same this week, and the next week. Can you believe it, the society we're living in? Some poor young girl, a little bit late at night, foolishly, instead of being at home she was in a pub or somewhere; somebody chases her, follows her, throttles her - can you believe it? Why do people do it? Because the heart of man is rotten and ruined and depraved and hellish! And we're all capable of it!

I once met a man years ago who was a schoolteacher and he and I got into talk about religious subjects. He wasn't very enthusiastic to go that way but I pressed him. 'Oh,' he said, 'I know I'm not perfect,' he said. 'I'm not perfect. But,' he said, 'I would never murder anyone.' You see what he was saying? He did not know his own heart. Because we are capable of murder; any one of us is. At times you feel yourself tempted even to the worst of sins, because there is something in us which is profoundly wicked and we are capable of it. Even the Christian must watch and pray. If we know these things we're safe, and if we confess these things to God we shall be safe, but you see how all this glorifies God - because it tells God all the time that we have no hope of getting to heaven through our own goodness - no, not so much as a hundred millionth part of a hope of getting to heaven through our own good works.

In the Old Testament, when they offered their sacrifices, one of the sacrifices involved the offerer in coming to the altar with a lamb - and this is what he did. The priest was standing there, the altar was here, and they were going to kill the lamb shortly but before they did that the worshipper put his hands on the head of the lamb and he leaned hard on top of the lamb and then killed it. Now what was that for? It was to teach the lesson of imputation. The worshipper was commanded by God to do this so that he would understand that the sin of the worshipper was imputed to the beast, and the beast was killed as the substitute. All of that pointed to Christ! That's what we do when we come to be Christians. We have laid our hands upon the head of the Lamb of God who takes the sin of the world, and his blood is our only hope. We don't imagine we can appear before God with any righteousness of our own, or any goodness of our own - it is impossible and unthinkable. No, no! The contrite heart confesses that we can do no good of ourselves; it must needs be the grace of God. We want to sing God's praise and to honour Him.

Why is there so little power in the Gospel these days? It's all partly related to this very subject: there aren't enough broken hearts. I'll promise you, if we all came to this congregation with broken hearts in a month's time, there'd be more blessing - I speak to myself. That's why I think there are times when individually we should have days of fasting, go without food for some hours and pray for an hour or two, and plead with God in secret for grace to break our hearts more and you'll see a difference. That's why there's so little blessing in the times in which we live. It's all related to small repentance, small views of God and small views of sin.

Another question: Why did Martin Luther come to appreciate the doctrine of justification? How was it that at the Reformation Martin Luther, of all people, who was a monk, came to understand we are justified only by Christ without the works of the law? For a thousand years or more, the church had been in error on this point. What was the key to the way in which he found this secret out? Well part of the secret was this: he had a burdened conscience, he was aware of his sins. He kept on confessing his sins, all the time. He didn't know how to get rid of them. My friends, he discovered there is only one way to get rid of sins, and that is to believe in the free justification of God, to lay your hand upon the head of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and to believe in His blood. He died for me.

A Negro once put it very simply. He wasn't a theologian, as you'll see, but the Negro put it like this, referring to Christ. He said: 'Him die - me no die.' That's it in a nutshell. Christ died - I don't need to die. He died for me. If you want to put this in learned language, I'll tell you the language to use. We talk about imputation and counter-imputation like this: my sin upon him - his righteousness on me. For that, He got what I deserve! And what did He get? Damnation! The wrath of God fell upon Him; He was cut off out of the land of the living - for me, and you! You deserve that! I deserve that! My sin brought Him down to this sad and sorrowful experience. Thank God He did!

Because the whole righteousness, the entire obedience of Christ is mine, I stand in Him acquitted. There is no condemnation for his sake (Romans 8, 1). Oh my friends, we owe it all to Christ. The broken heart is the heart of somebody who recognises this. God doesn't require outward things in our worship so much as our heart. Here's the question God is asking when He sees the worshipper: 'Does this man love me?' When He sees the woman bowing her head: 'Does this woman love me?' When he sees a boy or a girl in church, what God is asking is: 'Is their heart a broken heart, a contrite heart? Are they offering the sacrifices of a contrite spirit toward me?' There's the question. If you are, then happy you are and blessed you are.

It's possible to go wrong on all of these things. There was a man called Christmas Evans, a Welsh preacher - over a hundred years ago now but it is a very interesting story - Christmas Evans was a very great preacher. When people heard him, many times the whole congregation would be in tears - he was a great, great preacher. However, he got the wrong theory about something - he imbibed an idea called Sandemanianism. We haven't time for the details on it but what it meant was this: it taught that what you need is faith without emotion; faith but no feeling. For a time he went in that direction. He put away this feeling, these tears, this emotion, and he began to imbibe and to bring into his mind this idea that all you need is faith - faith but no feeling, no emotion mixed with it. Something happened to his preaching. There were no more tears. Nobody felt anything as they had done in the past. For, I think, fifteen years, he preached like that and there was no blessing.

One day he was thoroughly sick of himself. 'Something' he said 'has gone wrong with my soul. What I must do is to get apart.' He went to a famous mountain in Wales called the Cader Idris - or Seat of Idris in English - and there for some hours he wrestled in prayer with God until - you can guess the rest! - until tears flowed down his face again. He got the presence of God back! When he went into the open air to preach - the old response - tears, broken hearts. Oh! That's what we need again.

How may we get this broken heart?

Remember God's holiness.How can we get it? I want just to mention three things. First of all, my beloved friends, we must remember how holy God is. You know, we're living in an age when the holiness of God is lost in the church, not only in the world. Oh they don't believe in God anyway - but even in the church, people act and speak and live as though God was not the holy Being He is. It won't do. If we want real blessing, if we want the presence of God, we must begin by recognising the holiness of God. He demands obedience! He demands that we reverence Him! He demands that we worship Him with all our being! Our whole soul must be given to Him, otherwise it's worthless. It's like a clanging bell or a tinkling cymbal. It's of no interest to God. The sacrifices of God are a broken heart. A broken and a contrite heart is what God is listening to.

He's not watching where the beautiful vestments are. He's not watching to see where the ceremonial is all explicitly done and marvellously orchestrated. He's not looking for great cathedrals and splendid organ recitals. He's looking at your heart, your soul! What do you think of the great God? It's almost certain that the most pure worship in this world is offered not by cardinals and archdeacons and dignitaries of the church. Almost certainly the best worship of the world is offered by widows, and people who love the Lord in their quiet, honest, sincere way. They'll be highest in the kingdom of God. And rightly so! We ministers will be somewhere along the queue at the back, but the broken-hearted widows are those who love the Lord! They will be at the top! Because many that are first will be last, and the last first. So let us estimate of people in terms of their broken heart.

Remember our sinfulness.The second thing we need to do to get the broken heart is this: to remember our sinfulness. 'Examine your soul,' says Paul. Examine yourselves. Don't let sin go unconfessed. As soon as you become aware of something you've done wrong or said wrong or thought wrong - even your thoughts - confess it to God, and forsake it. You are lying in bed, let me say, and somehow, you know, a line of thought may come into our minds, and before you know where you are, you're going from A to B, and B to C, and C to D, and you're going along the alphabet of thought. Suddenly you stop... Where am I going with my thoughts? This is shocking! God forgive me! Stop yourself in your thoughts. Don't allow your thoughts. Stop them! Say 'Get thee behind me, Satan!' Satan gives us these wicked thoughts often, into our minds. Stop the thoughts! Oh, if we have no sense of sin, we shall never have a contrite heart. It is essential.

Remember the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.Thirdly and finally, we need to remember above all the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remind yourself of the suffering Saviour in the Garden of Gethsemane. Do you remember how He staggered under the weight of our sin and fell headlong, sweating great drops of blood? "Oh! my Father! Let this cup pass from me! Yet not as I will, but as thou wilt." The cup was the damnation that He had to drink for you and for me. He could easily have said to his Father, "It's too much! I can't go ahead with this, it's too much." He drank it lovingly, for you. The reason is because He loves you and He loves all those that love Him. He loves all those that want Him. He freely offers himself to every single soul that wants Him. If you want Christ you can have Him - He's free! You can have Him as soon as you want Him. As soon as you want Him, you've got Him. There are no barriers to coming to Christ; he doesn't put any barriers in the way. If you want Jesus as your Saviour, you can have Him; He's offered to you freely in the Gospel. Believe in Him and be saved. Oh, this is how we get the broken heart - to remember how he suffered these pains upon the cross.

by Rob Guenther

A sermon based on Psalm 51:10-17

There are a lot of songs written about broken hearts aren’t there? The girl leaves the guy or the guy leaves the girl. They’ve found someone new, a new crush, a new love, a new infatuation, but someone’s heart gets broken. And it makes for a sad bestseller of a song.

King David actually wrote a number of songs about a broken heart as well. In fact, the Psalm of the Day for the day of Pentecost is just such a song. But his songs about his broken heart were a bit different than most. You see, King David’s heart was wasn’t broken because he was dumped by a girl or because his wife left him. No. His heart was broken because of his sin. He broke his own heart. The header to Psalm 51 gives us the setting in which David wrote it. It says: When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

You remember the story. After sleeping with Bathsheba, David tried to cover up his sin. After he unsuccessfully tried pass off Bathsheba’s baby as her husband, Uriah’s, he finally had the man murdered so he could take Bathsheba as his own wife. And he thought he got away with it too, until God in his love sent the prophet Nathan to call him to repentance. And it worked! David confessed his sins before God and God forgave him. Go home and reread the story in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 and David’s confession in the first half of Psalm 51.

But now in the second half of the Psalm, David described his new desire to serve God with renewed energy and zeal that came from the absolution that he had received. And God answers that prayer as well. When David came to God with his broken and contrite heart, God created a brand new heart in David—a pure heart.

And this morning as we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit on this Day of Pentecost we see that God does the same for us. We pray with David that prayer we use so often in our liturgy and ask God to “Create in Me a New Heart.” And even though our hearts are broken beyond repair, God does create new hearts within us. Listen now to the second half of Psalm 51, Psalm 51:10-17…

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. 14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 

I. Our Hearts Are Broken Beyond Repair

How broken David was! And through the prophet, Nathan, he finally understood it. In verses 4 and 5 of this Psalm he confessed, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

The reality of David’s sin really sunk in. He knew he could never undo what he had done. He could never take it back. He could never fix it. Uriah was dead and with him, maybe even hundreds of soldiers who went to the front lines when David had the rest of the army withdraw to leave them defenseless. His own child, the son of Bathsheba, was also dead and nothing he could do could ever change those facts.

No amount of good that he would do in the future could ever make up for the sins he’d committed in the past. No matter how many orphans or widows he would help out, no matter how much of the royal treasury he donated to the poor. Not even the sacrifices that God had prescribed could remove his guilt and fix his corrupt and broken heart. David confessed, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.” He had sinned. He was less than perfect. Nothing could change that fact. How broken David was! And how powerless he was to do anything about it! His heart was broken beyond repair.

And friends, he’s not the only one. We too are born broken. And the deformities we’re born with aren’t something that can be corrected by a simple surgery. The best surgeon in the country can’t fix our hearts. They’re too corrupt. They’re too far gone. The waste that our hearts produce demonstrates how broken we are. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”

He also said in Matthew 5(:21-22,27-28) “ You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell,” and, “You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

I’m pretty certain that everyone here has at one point or another been angry with someone else when your selfish desires were denied. And so, even if we haven’t killed anyone, we too are all murderers with King David. We too have had impure thoughts and so even if we haven’t had sex outside of marriage, we too are sexually immoral adulterers. We haven’t always worked our hardest at our jobs and so even if we haven’t robbed any banks, we are thieves—stealing time and money from the company. And the list goes on and on. Out of our hearts come these evils. And by these evils we too, along with Peter’s Pentecost audience have, “put [Jesus] to death by nailing him to the cross.” (Acts 2:23b)

And there’s nothing we can do to fix it. We are broken beyond repair. No amount of sacrifice on our part will make things right. Yet, that’s what other religions and even our own broken hearts tell us. While they no longer tell us we need to sacrifice virgins to the gods, our world around us and our corrupt hearts within us suggest that if we sacrifice having a good time and have good intentions, if we do good deeds and give our money to church and to charities, these sacrifices will please God and he will be forced to love us. But these sacrifices are just as ineffective at making him happy. We remain adulterers and murderers. We remain broken beyond repair and there’s nothing we can do to fix it.

As a dad of four small boys, one of my jobs at home is to be Mr. Fix-It. The electric train that quit working after it “fell” into the bathtub was brought to me, “Daddy, can you fix it?” The Spiderman toy with arms ripped off… “Daddy, can you fix it?” The Wiimote nunchuck with the cord pulled out… “Dad, can you fix it?”

But more often than not, I’m not able to fix the toy. The glue won’t hold, the part is broken, the technology a bit too advanced for my feeble mechanical skills. So often the answer to “Daddy, can you fix it?” is “No, buddy. I’m sorry. Daddy can’t fix it.” And the once loved toy is tossed in the trash.

Similarly, you and I need far more than a tune-up. Our hearts are so badly broken that we cannot fix them. But thankfully there’s one who can. When we take our broken hearts to God in prayer with King David and ask, “Daddy, can you fix it?” he does one better. He creates brand new hearts within us…

II. God Creates New Hearts within Us

Finally, when the prophet Nathan came to David he realized he could no longer pretend he got away with his sin. The Holy Spirit working through the law the prophet proclaimed to David led him to realize how broken he was. He finally confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:13). And that broken and contrite heart God would not despise. He would fix it. In fact, he would make David a new heart.

That word translated “create” in the NIV is a key word. In the Hebrew that word, barah, is used only of God’s activity. It’s something God initiates, something he brings into existence. When David did not have a pure heart but one that corrupted from within, God created a pure heart with him. As apostle Paul later wrote, “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)

In the coming Messiah, every one of David’s sins—his murder, his adultery, and all the rest—were completely forgiven. God changed him from within and declared him to be a pure, perfect and holy saint! And without any sin he was pure and holy and God, who cannot stand to be in the presence of sin, no longer had to cast David away from his presence or take his Holy Spirit from him. But God would remain in David’s heart and make his home there.

And by that act the Holy Spirit transformed David’s heart to one that could serve him in thanks. David couldn’t help but respond. The work of the Holy Spirit, first leading him to repentance, then restoring to him the joy of God’s salvation by grace from beginning to end, had its impact on him. He wrote, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. ”

David no longer lived to serve himself in sin, but lived for God. He would share what God had done for him with others. He would sing of the righteousness that God had given him. He would declare the praises of him who saved him from his sin and the hell he deserved. And through the restored and renewed King David and through the words he’s written the Holy Spirit still teaches transgressors the ways of God, and by these words he brings us back to him.

You see through these Words written by King David, spoken by me, read by you, the Holy Spirit works repentance in our hearts today leading us to realize how broken we are. Then, when we are contrite and grieving over our sin, he creates new hearts within us. Through the Gospel message in Word and in Sacrament, he proclaims to us, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off…”

Even though no amount of sacrifice on our part can make us right with God, there is one sacrifice that can: The perfect sacrifice and perfect obedience of Jesus. Jesus never thought or said anything unkind to anyone and so he never committed a murder. Jesus never had an impure thought and so never committed adultery. Jesus never committed a single sin and gave his perfect life to us. He took all of our sin on himself that we might be pure.

The Holy Spirit has enlightened us that we understand and believe that the cross of Jesus is what it’s all about. And by that faith, new hearts are created within us—hearts that are perfect and pure in every way. And God doesn’t have to cast us away from his presence. Instead we’re guaranteed to be in God’s presence for all of eternity in the glories of heaven. What joy is ours! The joy of our salvation is restored to us again and again each time we hear that gospel message!

And like King David, we can’t help but share that message. We teach other sinners the ways of God. We share the joy of salvation that’s ours in Christ. The God who saves us opens our lips that our mouths declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. We can’t help but sing of the righteousness he’s won for us on the cross. As Martin Luther wrote about these verses, “When we have received God’s favor and righteousness through faith in Christ, we can perform no greater work than to speak about it and proclaim it.”

And through such simple means, words spoken by the mouths and tongues of forgiven sinners like you and me, the Holy Spirit continues to work in the hearts of other transgressors and sinners, creating new hearts within them.

Rejoice, dear friends, that though we were once broken beyond repair, by his grace God has sent his Spirit to create new hearts within us. And let the joy of God’s salvation be restored in you as you teach others God’s ways and as you sing of his righteousness and declare his praises to all who will listen. Let’s now sing the words of this prayer, as they’re written in Hymn #272…

by Douglas Wilson

Introduction

If forgiveness of sin is one of the glories of the new covenant, and it is (Heb. 8: 8-12; cf. Heb. 10: 17), then this psalm is one of the glories of the entire Bible. In this psalm, we learn the greatness of forgiveness, and in the course of learning this, we learn the true nature of that forgiveness.

The Text

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me . . .”
(Ps. 51:1-19).

Summary of the Text

David begins with a cry for mercy, in accordance with the multitude of God’s tender mercies (v. 1), and not according to David’s just deserts. He asks for a thorough washing, a complete cleansing (v. 2). He is not trying to hide or cover up his sin (v. 3)—this psalm is for the chief musician, meaning that his confession is public. God’s law was the law that was broken, and so the sin, while it affected others, was sin against God alone (v. 4). David says that the sin extends down to his very nature (v. 5). Where the sin originated (in the inward parts), that is the place where God desires truth and wisdom (v. 6). He prays again for cleansing (v. 7)—hyssop was a plant used for sprinkling in ritual purifications (Lev. 14:4, 7; Num. 19:18-22). David prays that his crushed bones would be able to rejoice again (v. 8). He prays that God would turn His face away from his sins, and blot out his iniquities (v. 9). He then prays for a new creation, a complete renewal (v. 10). David then asks God not to hurl him away, and not to remove His Spirit from him (v. 11). He does not pray for his salvation back, but he does pray for the joy of it to come back (v. 12). When the cleansing is complete, then David can be used in the restoration of others (v. 13). The king cries out for deliverance from bloodguilt (v. 14), and then he will be able to sing. If God opens David’s mouth, then David will be able to praise Him (v. 15). There was no appointed sacrifice for the things which David had done (v. 16). But God delights in repentance in the inner man, and not just with regard to heinous sins like this one (vv. 16-17). God does not despise a broken spirit (v. 17). David’s sin had not just affected him alone; he was a king. And so David prays for mercy for his people (v. 18). True worship will then be offered to God (v. 19).

An Appalling Sin

We begin by noting that David really was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:4), and so this should make every last one of us mindful of our step (1 Cor. 10:12). David was around the age of fifty when this happened, and had no business staying home from the war. Uriah’s rejection of David’s temptation highlights David’s initial failure (2 Sam. 11:1, 11). The breech of one duty had begun with the neglect of another. Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was one of David’s cohort of thirty mighty men (2 Sam. 11:3; 23:34). If her father was one of David’s peers, then she was a lot younger than David, less than half his age. Without removing her possible culpability in this (no protest like Tamar’s is recorded), consider the circumstances. Nathan’s metaphor for this indicates something closer to rape than anything else. He says that the ewe lamb was killed (2 Sam. 12:4). Her grandfather, Ahithophel, was a counselor of David’s who later joined Absalom in his rebellion (2 Sam. 15:12)—and it is not hard to figure out why. The sin was appalling, and had its cascading effects. Amnon’s rape of Tamar happened shortly after this— why may a prince not do what a king may do? But it is when we get to Uriah that the horror really begins. He was a Hittite, meaning that he was a convert, and David had been a spiritual father to him. He also was one of David’s thirty great men (2 Sam. 23:39), and was a faithful convert. What Saul tried unsuccessfully to do to David, David “successfully” did to Uriah. The inscription of the psalm puns on David’s coming in to Bathsheba, and Nathan coming in to confront David about it.

The text is silent on the point, so we don’t know if Bathsheba was being a seductress, or as is more common in covenant circles, just a dope. It was not likely to have been simple voyeurism on David’s part. So in either case, we see from the subsequent history that her restoration was also genuine. We don’t need to dwell on the point—the point here is David’s sin—but as Christian women remember their responsibilities in modesty, they need to consider the basic alternatives. If a woman can’t leave the house without assuming that she is taking “the girls” for an outing, then she is either being really bad, or being really dumb. If others think they are going to the worship of God, but she is going to the heavenly Zion in order to headlight the saints, then the same alternatives are there. You can tell the difference if the subject is ever broached with her. If she is nonchalant, and knew all about it already, then she is the kind of woman that the book of Proverbs, your mom, and numerous blues songs warn you to stay away from. If she is offended and distraught, and can’t believe you would ever bring up such a thing, then she is just a dope. Either way, the sin should be dealt with before the kingdom is ruined, not after.

Take Not Thy Holy Spirit from Me

Once he received the rebuke from Nathan, David knew that he had become another Saul. And just as Saul’s house, Saul’s dynasty, had collapsed because of his lesser sin, David knew that his house, his throne, was forfeit because of his greater sin. Saul’s ability to govern had collapsed when the Spirit removed from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14), and David knew that he deserved exactly the same thing. So he is not praying for his personal salvation here (v. 12), but rather praying for the preservation of the messianic line (vv. 18-19). Ultimately, this prayer of David’s includes us.

Three Things

This does not mean that David does not pray for himself also. In the context of his plea for cleansing, David asks for three things for himself. The first is the creation of a new heart, a renewed spirit. The second is fellowship with God, and the third is a restored joy. But he is not just checklisting his way through this. He has asked for a thorough washing. The word for wash in v. 7 does not mean anything like rinsing a plate, but rather a washing of a deep stain that had gotten down into the texture of the cloth. He is asking that his crushed bones might be able to rejoice. The multitude of God’s mercies is greater than the multitude of our sins—but the potency of His grace is such that it crushes us in repentance first. It is crushed bones that learn to rejoice.

Then I Will Teach

Drunkards in taverns don’t understand the grace of God, and so it will be easy for them to continue to mock David in their songs. Uriah’s life could not be given back to him, nor Bathsheba’s purity. So now David says he’s sorry, and has the unmitigated gall to set up shop to teach people on the basis of his experience? God has to do it. If God opens a forgiven sinner’s lips (v. 15), then the testimony can be compelling. Otherwise it is just another sob story on Oprah.

Fellow Transgressors

This puts everything in perspective. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, but it does not do so in light and trivial ways. And when we see others who need to be converted (v. 13), and they really do need to be converted, we can speak to them with real compassion, and not with any air of superiority or self-righteousness. This psalm teaches us in profound ways, and the message is thoroughly evangelical. This is good news for a sinful race.

by Amy Duiker

I’m a person who tends to be acutely aware when I’m out of balance in one area of my life. I can’t go very long, for example, neglecting my own self-care, before I don’t function well and everything else starts to suffer. For me, some upset usually happens or something looms in the near future that alerts me with epiphany-like clarity that change is necessary. It takes a long time to find that balance again after having a baby; so much has changed. Now with baby #2 on his way, I realized recently I need to claim what balance I can now before it’s back to constant the trial and error mode of life with an infant. But the good news is I hear that two kids is just as easy as one. Right? … So, in an effort to examine my life, schedule and priorities, I sat in the doctor’s office on Monday morning for my 3 hour fasting glucose screening without the benefit of a wireless internet connection…and read a book on time management. No irony there, right?

I have said before that Lent appeals to me because it’s an invitation to reconcile my life to God, to get back on the way, to discover where I’ve strayed woefully out of sync with God’s will and take deliberate action to get back to following Jesus to the cross and the new life that waits beyond it.

King David has been prodded to change, too. According to the directions to the leader about Psalm 51, it represents David’s reflection after the prophet Nathan has confronted him with the gravity of his own sinfulness in sleeping with Bathsheba and tricking and killing her husband Uriah to cover up his transgression. In this moment, David has recognized that he has sinned in these specific acts and that leads him to further reflection. Surprisingly, though, the psalm doesn’t begin with David’s sin or even his sinfulness, but with God’s character: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. God is characterized by mercy, abundant mercy and steadfast love. Only in the face of the truth of God’s nature can David confront the truth of his own nature.

The psalm’s movement mirrors our own worship, doesn’t it? Each Sunday we begin with a Call to Worship and a hymn of praise that announce God’s goodness, grace and generosity. God is great! And in the presence of such awesome greatness we realize, we are not. We fall humbly to our knees in a Prayer of Confession, acknowledging together how we participate in sinful systems and stubbornly go our own way. In our silent prayer time, personally I never have enough time to be specific, only my most recent transgression (from that morning or the night before) making it to the front of my mind before we cling desperately to the assurance of our pardon. David doesn’t have a worship leader to come to his rescue in that moment of confession. As he reflects in solitude, the truth of how far he’s separated himself from God’s goodness stands out in sharp, glaring relief. Blot out my transgressions; wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, he begs. Cleanse me from my sin. The words he uses – blot, wash, cleanse – in Hebrew they are words that would be used to describe scrubbing dirty dishes or filthy clothes. Now he is haunted by this sin and the more he dwells on it, the more he realizes not only his specific sin but his sinful nature. “I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.”

In the book, Too Busy Not to Pray, Bill Hybels takes the reader through the simple but meaningful process of praying using the acronym ACTS – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. He urges the reader when they confess to be as specific as possible. Our tendency, he claims, is to say “Lord, forgive me for my many sins.” We throw them into a pile without much reflection and pray, “Please cover up the whole dirty heap.” It’s not painful or embarrassing and, frankly, it doesn’t elicit much life change. So, instead of admitting to God that I haven’t been the best wife, I would say, “Today I made up my mind to be self-centered, uncaring and insensitive. It was a calculated decision. I walked through the door thinking, “I had a hard day and I deserve to have things my way. I’m not going to think about Neal’s needs tonight.” I need your forgiveness for the sin of selfishness, Lord.”

Something happens when you start to pray that specifically. After the fifth day in a row that you’ve asked for forgiveness for the sin of selfishness, you start to realize that you’re selfish and you don’t have the power to change it yourself. You are a sinner in need of a Savior. I am a sinner in need of a Savior.

And that’s where our focus is at the beginning of Lent – on our desperate need for God to save us. Lent is an invitation to examine our lives and recognize the widening gap between us and God. God is great; we are not. God is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; we are not. God is strong; we are weak and in need of a Savior to rescue us.

Lent asks the question, “How is it between you and the Lord?” It’s a nudge toward honesty and courage in our self-reflection, like Nathan forcing David to face his wrongdoing by telling him a seemingly harmless tale of a rich man, a poor man and his little lamb.

How is it between you and the Lord? It’s not a question about your church participation. It’s not a question about how your kids are growing in their faith. It’s about you and God and your personal relationship. And it may be harder to answer honestly than we think. We may discover that we’re too busy for our inner lives and other relationships have taken priority over our relationship with God. Our tendency may be to be an easy grader on ourselves and hard on others – the old focus on the splinter in our neighbor’s eye and totally miss the plank in our own situation. Honesty in answering this question comes from avoiding comparing ourselves to others – at least I’m not an adulterer and murderer like David! – and comparing ourselves instead to Jesus, the only one who can hold up the mirror of truth about ourselves and our relationship with God. The final hurdle to answering this question honestly is our own fear of the answer which may paralyze us and keep us locked in old ways as we drift further and further away from God.

We need spiritual courage. And we find that courage to face our own sinful nature when we remember God’s merciful nature. And in humility, we simply come like David before God, broken open and ready to receive God’s correction, God’s cleansing, God’s forgiveness. And just as in our worship on Sunday, when we hear those words proclaiming our forgiveness, we say: Thanks be to God, in Jesus Christ we are forgiven and we erupt into a Song of Joy, words of praise and thanksgiving, an outward reflection of the heart transplant God has given us. And we vow to move forward with God’s help in a life characterized by such praise and thanksgiving for what God has done for us.