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You. Have your Bibles if you would
turn to the 119th Psalm this morning as we continue our
journey entitled Living a Life and in the Light of God's Word
here in the 119th today in verses 25 through 32, we will be
talking about something that is often neglected in the church.
We find this portion of this Psalm as we know to be an
alphabetical acrostic there just after the Hebrew letter Dalet,
which to us would be the equivalent of our D in our
English alphabet. And now what is going to
transpire is of course 8 verses that go along with this one
Hebrew letter. As we have been seeing the 119th
Psalm unfold. It will be like this throughout
and we will look at 8 verses in each segment because those
verses are contained there together and meant to be
together. Many have asked me why don't we
divide it up there? They are 8 verses that belong
together and we're going to look at them just as they were
written. And today we are going to be
discussing a topic that is all but ignored or forgotten in the
church. Of today.
And this topic is ignored. But I want you to understand
this. It's crucial.
It's forgotten, yet it is essential.
And I believe this that it is one of the main reasons is that
believers aren't thriving in the church as a whole today.
For many, it's thought as unneeded, and to others it's
just simply uncomfortable. They don't want to dive off into
the topic that we will be discussing today.
However, this topic cannot be ignored, neglected or
disregarded any longer. And that is the topic of godly
sorrow, the topic of godly sorrow.
And I know this, I know that many of you have spent quite a
bit of time in the church and, and many of you, if we were to
poll the congregation this morning, would say that I've
never really heard a message on godly sorrow.
And what a sad testimony to the church that is.
So when we talk about godly sorrow, we we go into this with
limited understanding as to what godly sorrow even consists of.
What is godly sorrow? And for starters, I want to give
you some clarity on this topic. I want you to see that it's the
mourning over sin that a person ought to have when they violate
one of God's commands or statutes or precepts.
In fact, it's that morning that Jesus speaks of in in Matthew
chapter 5, verse 4. He's not talking about mourning
for your lost loved ones here, as we have seen this taken out
of context many, many times at funerals.
But Jesus is literally talking about a deep mourning over sin,
not only the sin that you commit.
Yourselves, but also sin in its entirety the sin of the world.
Just as Jesus would have entered into Jerusalem mourning over
their unbelief and and mourning over their sin, is that mourning
that Jesus spoke of when he said blessed are those who mourn
there in Matthew 5 verse four and his beatitudes during the
Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are those who mourn for
they will be comforted. What hope there is in knowing
that godly sorrow will inevitably bring us comfort from
God. Many can't understand why they
don't walk in peace and they don't walk in the comfort of
God. It's because you have not first
walked in mourning. You've not first walked in godly
sorrow. This is the same godly sorrow
that we see displayed in the life of Peter and Matthew's
gospel in chapter 26 and verse 75.
There we have Peter denying that he even knew Christ, and it says
this. Then Peter remembered the word
that Jesus had spoken before the rooster crows.
You will disown me three times. Peter knew exactly what Jesus
had told him he was going to do. And Peter, in his pride and in
his arrogance, said No Lord. I'll die for you.
It wasn't the case. Peter remembered the words Jesus
has spoken that before the rooster crows.
You will disown me three times, and it says this.
And he went outside and he wept bitterly.
He wept bitterly because he was driven to sorrow.
God was right and he was wrong, and it drove him to a place of
mourning. It's the heart of the Apostle
Paul there in Romans Chapter 7, when he says, oh, what a
wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Most of you know full well the
context of Romans 7. The things that I don't want to
do. That's what I find myself doing.
The things that I want to do. I don't get those things right.
Paul brought to a place of godly sorrow.
What do I do about this? I am a wretched man.
And he sought deliverance, and he found deliverance in Christ
and in Christ alone. You see godly sorrow in the
heart of the apostle Paul. The godly sorrow is that deep
inward conviction over sin that breaks our heart simply because
we realize that our sin breaks the heart of God.
It is that. Sorrow and that agony.
That comes over any and all existing and abiding sin in our
lives. Is that sorrow that comes
because of. Our.
Lack of holiness before thrice Holy God is a sorrow that comes
because you realize that the thing that you have participated
in defends or offends. Excuse me, your heavenly Father.
It is that sincere sorrow that God brings through His Spirit
into our lives as true believers, bringing the sorrow
to simply, kindly and lovingly lead us to repentance, to lead
us back to where we belong. Godly sorrow is that forgotten
principle, a forgotten principle that is not prevalent in the
lives of those who profess Christ in many congregations.
The absence of godly sorrow in our lives at the end of the day
should cause us to question any thoughts, salvation and any
thought repentance that is actually ever thought to have
occurred in our lives. And today the Psalmist is going
to teach us much what godly sorrow really is, what it looks
like, what comes from it, what is the purpose of it.
I remind you that Jesus taught in his life a paradox over and
over again. If you were going to be lifted
up, you must first be brought low.
We're going to see the psalmist today in a low place.
I told you when we started this study that there's really no
clear evidence as to who literally pinned the 119th
Psalm. It's up for debate.
And I told you then that it really doesn't matter.
But if you are. One of those who side with the
scholars who say this is potentially David.
This would make great sense because David knew great sin.
But he also knew great sorrow, and he also saw great
repentance, and he also saw great restoration and great
revival in his life. And so let's read here in the
119th Psalm, verse 25, as we look at the forgotten principle.
Of godly sorrow 25 The Psalmist. Says I am laid low in the dust,
preserve my life according to your word.
I recount my ways and you answered me.
Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching
of your precepts and then I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow. Strengthen me according to your
word. Keep me from deceitful ways.
Be gracious to me through your law I have chosen the way of
truth. I have set my heart on your laws
I hold. Fast to your statutes.
O Lord, do not let me be put to shame.
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my
heart free. Let's pray together, Father, in
the name of Jesus, we come to you now.
We ask that by your Spirit and His power in the preaching of
your Word today that we would learn more about godly sorrow
and. That we would see that vein of
thought running through the entirety of Scripture.
That we would be men and women who grieve over our sin and
trust in You for restoration and revival in our souls.
God, we know that you will be faithful to bring it.
God, I pray for the lost soul who is here today who has never
been sorrowful for his or her sin.
I pray today that you show them offensive way of their nature,
how it offends their Creator and how there is.
No. Hope as they continue in their
sin. But that hope came to this
world, that your only begotten Son came to this world to die on
a cross, to be buried, and to rise again from the grave to
give hope to even the most wicked and vile unbelieving
Sinner who would repent in godly sorrow and turn to you, trusting
in you alone as Lord and Savior. I pray today that you would
save. The wretched soul from death and
eternal damnation. God, I pray today that as your
word goes forth, your will would be done in all aspects of our
lives and the life of this church.
We pray these things in Christ's name, Amen.
So as we approach the topic of godly sorrow, I want us to start
here in verse 25, in the initial verse, there in the first part
of this verse, as we look at the reasons for godly sorrow, why is
this principle that is forgotten?
Why is it so important? Why is it essential in the lives
of those who are truly believers?
The psalmist says this in 25, the first part.
I am laid low in the dust. The psalmist here is in a place
of obvious and deep sorrow and grief.
He's experiencing that godly sorrow that we will be Speaking
of today and analyzing today. He's been brought to near death
in this agony. We know that it was.
It is from the dust that man was created and from the dust that
they will return. And here the psalmist is in
agony over his own sin, revisiting the dust, the lowest
of the lowest places. He's brought there, clinging to
this dust as low as a living man can be in this life, as humble
and as humbled as a person can find themselves and still remain
alive. He is completely stripped of
every ounce of his arrogance and his pride and his
self-sufficiency. And he's brought to a place of
utter humility. Well, this is a common thing
that we see in the Psalms. In fact, in Psalm 22, verse 1515
says this in a prophecy concerning the Lord.
It says my strength is dried up like a potcher, and my tongue
sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
That was not Christ's sin that He bore sorrow in mourning for.
But it was. The sin of those who God would
save and the psalmist in Psalm 22 recognizing this, recognizing
and documenting what it means to lay in the dust of death, to be
in the lowest of low places, to be completely stripped and
humbled. And here in Psalm 119, we find
this man there. Let's look at the reasons for
this. What actually brought him and
would bring a person to the place of godly sorrow?
To the place of literally grasping at the dust only to
have the hope and looking up because they can't look down
any. Further.
Would bring them to this number one, we see this a conviction of
sin. He is obviously convicted of
some sort of sin. And before you ask me what sin
is it, I can't tell you exactly what sin it is, but we will
learn later that it is some type of deceitful sin in his life.
And isn't all sin deceitful? But we see that there is a
conviction that has taken place. We see that godly sorrow and
brokenness always starts with true conviction.
In fact, you will never experience godly sorrow until
you are first. Convicted of the sin in your
life? You will never continually walk
in godly sorrow until you are continually walking in
conviction from the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God.
What is conviction? It is recognizing the sinfulness
of sin. You know why many don't
experience godly sorrow in this world?
It's because they don't recognize the sinfulness of sin.
In fact, in many church circles, we don't even refer to it as sin
any longer. In fact, it's not popular to
even use the term from the pulpit.
We use terms like deficiencies or faults or shortcomings.
We change the words so that it it's more palatable to our our
hearing to our tasting be at the Lord's word cause of sin as sin
and. It teaches us to see the
sinfulness of sin, because until we see the sinfulness of sin, we
will never experience true godly sorrow.
And it is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that shows us
just how sinful sin is. And why is it sinful?
Well, sin offends our heavenly Father.
Sin offends our Creator. Sin offends our holy God.
Psalm 54 it says this. You are not a God who takes
pleasure in evil. With you the wicked cannot
dwell. It is sin that alienates.
US. Sin that cuts us off from a holy
God it is sin that separates us from his glory and His Majesty.
Sin offends the Father, and it ought to bring conviction.
The second reason that conviction should come to our
lives, bringing us the godly sorrow, is this sin caused
suffering and death for the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, when you think about that for a moment, we often think of
nothing in regard to Jesus except for the eternal life that
we receive from Him. Yes, he has promised that, but
before he could promise that and before he could secure that.
Please know this, that He had to suffer and He had to die.
And who did he suffer and and who did he die for?
He suffered and He died for those who would believe and
trust in Him as Lord and Savior. And so it is as Isaiah clearly
says in Isaiah 53. Five, It is my sin that pierced
His hands, and it is my sin that pierced His feet.
Is that not what Isaiah says? He says in verse 5 of Isaiah 53
But He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His
wounds we are healed. It is His wounds that heal us,
and He bore those wounds because of our sin.
Why would the God that we would live such lives of conviction
that every time we are faced with temptation to sin, every
time we are faced with the temptation to allow sin to
remain and to abide in US, after the Spirit has made it clear
that we are not to participate in that?
I would to God that every time we are about to use the grace of
God as a license to do whatever we want to do, that we would be
reminded that sin, the sin that you were about to participate in
is the sin that caused the Savior to suffer and to.
Die. Oh, someone who understands
godly sorrow understands the seriousness of sin.
Jesus wasn't just walking along one day and decided dying on a
cross would be a good idea. The Father saw our wretched
conditions since our first parents fell into sin way back
in the garden, and He had compassion on us.
And He demonstrates that compassion by sending His Son to
suffer and to die in our place, to bear the wrath that belonged
to us upon the cross. Or the next time is that you
willfully dive off into sin. May you remember that it was
your sin that caused suffering and death for the Savior of the
Lord Jesus Christ. May you remember the words of
William Perkins when he said this.
If Christ shed his heart blood for our sins, and if our sins
made him sweat water and blood. Oh, then why should not we
ourselves shed bitter tears? And why should not our hearts
bleed for them? He who finds himself so dull and
hardened that the passion of Christ does not humble him is in
a lamentable case. For there is no faith in the
death of Christ effectually in him as yet.
What was Perkins saying? He's saying this.
He's saying if there is no conviction of sin in your life,
and if you're not brought to godly sorrow, you don't yet know
Christ as your Lord and Savior. Because as we saw in our
Scripture reading this morning, godly sorrow brings us to
repentance. And if you are in Christ, that
there must be some level of. Repentance.
And so we see as we look at the first reason for godly sorrow,
it is conviction of sin. That's what brings this godly
sorrow into our lives, understanding, being convicted
that our sin offends the Father and understanding and being
convicted that our sin caused the suffering and the death of
the Lord Jesus. And thirdly, realizing that sin
grieves the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
Far too often we forget this principle that Paul taught in
Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30 and Paul making a statement to
the believers there in Ephesus and teaching them.
All that they are to know and to live in their new life and how
they are to abstain from the old ways in the old life that they
once lived in sin. Then in verse 30, he teaches
them that when we do pick up the things of our old sinful nature.
Here's what transpires in verse 30.
He says, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption.
We ought to think about that Christian professing believer
here today. We ought to think about that
when we hold on to our little pet sins, we hide those things
under the rug that we have no sorrow about.
Let us be mindful of the fact then, every time we do that, we
grieve the Holy Spirit who is our guarantor, giving us that
promise of salvation, living in and through US constantly.
But the sad fact is, in so many church circles today, we're OK
with grieving the Holy Spirit who is living in US and
sanctifying us. True conviction won't rest
there. True conviction will recognize
any and all sin as evil without exception.
If God's word calls it sin, you will see it as sin.
You will be a person, a man or a woman of conviction, and that
conviction will lead you to a place of godly sorrow every time
you participate in something that God does not approve of.
I find it quite difficult, frankly, to believe that someone
with little or no conviction is really saved at all.
You said that's a big statement, pastor.
Well, John says it like this in John 16 verse 8 in reference to
the ministry of Christ. He says when he comes, he will
convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness
and judgement. And if Jesus came to convict the
world? Of guilt in regard to sin.
Surely his people will be convicted of their sin.
Surely that conviction will bring them to a place of godly
sorrow in their lives. I don't think that that is.
A stretch at all. Neither did the men of old.
In fact, John Owen said this. He who is able to swallow and
digest daily sins in his life without conviction in the heart
is at the very brink of turning the grace of God into
lasciviousness and being hardened by the deceitfulness of
sin. Oh dear Christian, please pay
attention to those words, because without conviction over
sin, you will never come to a place of godly sorrow.
Therefore you will never come to a place of true repentance.
Therefore you will never come to a place of true restoration.
We see the second reason, the first being conviction of sin.
For godly sorrow, the second concern for holiness, and I
would ask this where is the concern for holiness in the
church? I know what happens when a
preacher nowadays preaches on holiness.
I get it. I live it every single day.
I get fingers pointed from every direction.
And you know what they say? They say he's a legalist.
Let me make this clear again once and for all.
I am not talking about holiness so that you can be justified and
saved. I'm talking about holiness
because you have been justified and because you are saved.
And a true believer will have a concern for holiness.
It will grieve them when they see the holiness of God, when
they see the holiness of Christ, when the witness of the Holy
Spirit living in them reveals to them how holy our God truly is.
They will be grieved in heart. They will be broken.
They will find themselves laid low in the dust as the psalmist
here, because they are so far removed from the holiness of
God. Person who desires true holiness
will be grieved by any present sin or potential sin in their
lives, because they know that sin is a very opposite the
antonym of who God is and who God has called them to be.
Or the reason that there's not much godly sorrow in the church
today is very obvious, isn't it? It is because so many so-called
professing Christians in the world today have no concern and
no desire for holiness at all. They simply ignore.
The commands of Scripture. I'm not talking about the Old
Testament commands of the Scripture, though they apply.
I am saying this, they blatantly disregard even the teachings of
the New Testament. In first Peter chapter 1, again
Peter quoting from the Old Testament in verse 14, he says
as obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you
had when you lived in ignorance, but just as he who called you is
holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written be holy
because I am holy. Oh, please know that a concern
for holiness. It will bring godly sorrow in
your life. Thomas Watson and one of my
favorite books aside from the Bible, the godly man's picture.
He said this. He said a godly heart grieves
that he can be no more holy. It troubles him that he shoots
too short of the rule and standard which God has set.
We'll see the depths of those words that a godly heart will
grieve because he continually in this lifetime falls short of
God's holy standard. And he longs more and more and
more to either be like Christ or to be with Christ.
And he is in a constant state of brokenness because he has not
achieved holiness. Where is that concern for
holiness in the church? Instead, today we're searching
Scripture to see what we can still get away with, be called a
believer, follower of Christ. What can we still participate
in? What can we justify instead of
doing as Scripture commands and abstaining from even the very
appearance of evil? Instead of searching the
Scriptures saying what is a holy God always required of his
people instead of seeing how. Short we fall of that so many
times and grieving in the very depths of our soul because.
We fall short, we give no regard to it.
So the second reason for godly sorrow that we see here, why a
person would be laid low in the dust, completely bankrupt in
spirit, mourning over their sin, it's because they have a concern
for holiness, which calls me to clearly make a claim that we
don't see professing believers in the dust any longer because
there is no concern for holiness, there is no conviction
of sin. And thirdly, the third reason
for godly sorrow is contrition of heart.
Contrition of heart. What are you even Speaking of in
a language that we don't understand?
Pastor, will you tell us something that we need?
You need this. You need this because many have
sold you a bill of goods that simply raising your hand and
walking an aisle and praying a prayer with no contrition in
your heart toward God, no brokenness, and no sorrow over
your sin has somehow LED you to repentance.
It has not LED you to repentance at all.
It has LED you to a false hope of eternal life that is not for
you to have. Because it does not come without
these things. Contrition of heart.
Oh, we see it in Psalm 88, verse 3.
It says, For my soul is full of trouble in my life draws near
the grave. I'm counted among those who go
down to the pit. I'm like a man without strength.
I'm set apart with with the dead, like the slain who lie in
the grave. Whom you remember no more, Who
are cut off from your care. You have put me in the lowest
pit and the darkest. That's your wrath lies heavily
upon me. You have overwhelmed me with
all. Your waves, The psalmist here
being overwhelmed by the weight and the conviction of his sin.
And the contrition of his heart, David in Psalm 51, what an
example of this broken over his sin of adultery and murder and
all of the deceit and the conniving that went along with
that. And broken he should be.
He says in verse 17 of Psalm 51, The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.
O God, you will not despise. May we see the danger that
brokenness and contrition over sin is absent from the modern
church. It's absent from the modern
so-called Christians life. They are most of the time
completely void of it at all. May we see the danger of that?
You say, why is it dangerous? Doesn't God still love us?
And doesn't God still forgive us?
And doesn't God grant to us eternal life?
Please pay attention to what He says, not to what you think or
what you've been told incorrectly.
Isaiah 66 verse one says this. This is what the Lord says.
He says it. Heaven is my throne and the
earth is my footstool. Well, there's so many people who
think that they're on their way to heaven where He resides.
Watch. What he says.
Heaven is my throne, in the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these
things? And so they came into being.
Declares the Lord. Watch what he says next.
This is the one who I esteem. This is the one who I approve
of, This is the one who is truly my child, watches he who is
humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.
Where's the contrition? Where's the trembling at the
word of God? No, the sad fact is we have made
the Word of God simply entertainment to many so-called
churches. When we come and we receive some
kind of pep talk for the next week and we go out, the doors
pepped up for only seconds. Our lives have never changed.
We're never moved to a place of godly sorrow because godly.
Sorrow comes when we're contrite of heart.
Acceptance from God and being esteemed by God comes when we
are contrite. We are made low, not thinking
that we are someone or something.
But knowing that compared to God we are but dust, and dust is
where we belong, Well, that's the contrition of heart that
brings us to godly sorrow. I would ask this question,
Church, where are the tears? Where are the tears?
Where are the tears that we see in Scripture, those that Peter
cried, those that Christ himself cried?
Where are the tears and? In Psalm 6, verse 6, where the
psalmist says I'm worn out from groaning all night long, I flood
my bed with weeping and drenched my couch with tears.
Why was he weeping and why was he crying?
Because he was a weak man. He wasn't a weak man at all.
He was a warrior, but. He was broken.
He was broken because of his sin.
And he wept. And that doesn't make him weak,
that doesn't make him effeminate.
That makes him a man after God's own heart.
He was broken and he was weak and he was contrite and he was
full of tears all night long. When's the last time you were so
heavenly, heavily weighted and convicted by your sin concern
for holiness that you spent the night weeping, weeping, broken
and contrite, in agony, knowing? That you had offended a holy
God. By your behavior, By your
tongue, By your social media post, By your gossip, By your
slander, by your inappropriate relations, By your covetousness,
By your greed. When's the?
Last time that you missed a moment of sleep and agony.
Because you have offended God in such a manner, where is the
anguish? Where's the anguish?
That we see all throughout the scripture, Psalm 38 and verse 4.
It says my guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to
bear. My wounds fester and are.
Loathsome because of my sinful folly, I am bowed down and
brought very low. All day long I go about
mourning. My back is filled with.
Searing pain. There is no health in my body.
I am feeble and utterly crushed. I groan in anguish of heart.
This man is not describing for you a person who just got into a
bad car accident. There were no cars.
He is in anguish and he is in agony because of his sin.
Where's the anguish? Where's the agony?
Where are the tears? Where's the true godly sorrow in
our so-called church culture? In fact, in our church culture,
sin, On the contrary, is often celebrated and rationalized and
justified and accepted and excused.
Unfortunately, many times the only regret that we have over
sin, it's the fact that we were caught in it and it brought
human embarrassment to us. Well, Church, please say see
that this is so much more than that.
Because often even in our embarrassment, there's still no
brokenness, there's still no contrition of heart, and
therefore there is no godly sorrow.
And so we see the reasons for godly sorrow, the conviction of
sin, concern for holiness, contrition of heart.
We move to the. Second point today, the response
to godly sorrow. What will this look like?
What will this be made of if godly sorrow truly exists in our
life? What is the proper response?
Let's see the psalmist response there in 25.
The second part, yes, congratulations, you made it
halfway through the first verse thus far, he says.
Preserve my life according to your word.
I recounted my ways and You answered me.
Teach me Your decrees. Let me understand the teaching
of Your precepts, and then I will meditate on Your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow. Strengthen me according to Your
word. Keep me from deceitful ways.
Be gracious to me through Your law.
What do we see here? What is going on?
We see the psalmist responding to the fact that he was brought
to a place of godly sorrow. The first part of that verse, we
see him. I am laid low in the dust.
And then something begins to happen.
Oh, I know that there has been this gloomy, dark shadow
seemingly cast across the entire congregation today, Right,
Because we're so prone to want to go to church so that we can
feel good. You must be broken and you must
be sorrowful before you can ever experience the true joy of the
Lord and hear the psalmist responding to the godly sorrow
that has come upon him. Not with whining, not with
complaining. But with first a desperate
turning toward God. Well, look at this desperation
here. Preserve my life according to
your word. He knew this, that were it not
for the mercy of God, the dust is where he would remain, and
that would be the only hope that he had to die and to return back
to the dust. But he asked the Lord in
desperation, preserve my life according to your word.
Could we please understand today that sin is a matter of life and
death. It's not just something that can
simply. Be ignored.
Sin is a cancer to your soul. It is acid to the skin.
And it must be dealt with or it will demand its payment.
We know what the Scripture says. The wages of sin is death, and
so all sin warrants death. And unless God be merciful to us
and preserve our lives, death is what we will receive, because
the wages of sin is death. Romans 623 goes on to say.
But though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Oh, the. Psalmist here, desperately
turning toward God. Seeing his sin, suffering under
the weight of his sin, and then desperately turning to God for
life. Preserve my life according to
your word. He's confidently trusting in
God's mercy and God's grace as defined by God's word.
Are you grateful today that we can trust in God's mercy and we
can trust in God's grace as defined by His word for the very
life that He gives us? The psalmist here.
Understanding what the writer of Hebrews meant in Hebrews chapter
4 verse 16 when it says, let us then approach the throne of
grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace
to help us in our time of need. O godly sorrow ought to cause us
to desperately run to the throne of God's grace to receive mercy
and grace from His hand, because that is the only place that we
will receive mercy and grace for our sin.
Psalm 50 verse 15 The psalmist says, and call upon me and the
day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will honor
me on the day of trouble. The psalmist calling upon the
name of the Lord and taking him at his word, knowing that the
Lord would not leave him in the dust, but the Lord would deliver
him, and that he would raise him up to be a man who honors him.
We see that a desperate turning toward God involves
understanding that sin is a matter of life and death.
But it also involves confidently trusting in God's mercy and His
grace according to His Word. And trusting by faith in the
promises of His Word. And allowing those promises to
root in the very fiber of our being gives true repentance from
sin. True godly sorrow will always be
marked with a desperate turning toward God.
How many times you have heard people say from the pulpits, and
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, they shall
be saved, that calling upon the name of the Lord is not just
some trivial, trivial saying the name of Jesus, hoping that He
will give you eternal life. That calling upon the name of
the Lord is a desperate call. It is a call that without Jesus
rescuing you, you know that you will perish, that He is your
only hope. And when you call upon His name
in that manner, desperately turning toward God, when you do
that, it is then that He saves you.
That is our response to true godly sorrow.
It's not to to just lay there in the dust, but it's to look up
and it's to cry out to the Lord in desperation.
Lord, I need you. Lord, I cannot live without you,
not in this life and not in the life to come.
It's a desperate turning toward God.
It is that desperate turning that we see from the prophet
Joel in chapter 2 and verse. 12 where it says even now declares
the Lord, Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and
weeping and mourning, rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God, for He is.
Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
And he relents from sending calamity.
It is that true desperation, turning to God and trusting in
the promises of His Word that He is.
Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
Oh, see this morning that God has allowed you to come to that
point where you are in the dust and you are full of sorrow, so
that you can then desperately turn to Him as the only one who
can lift. You out of that sorrow.
It is a desperate turning to God.
The second response to godly sorrow.
Is this a deliberate confession of sin?
Watch the psalmist here, he said in verse 26.
I recount my ways and you answered me.
I recounted my ways and you answered me.
This is a deliberate confession of sin.
In fact, in Psalm 51 we see David confessing his sin and he
says this in verse one. Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love, according to your great
compassion, Blot out my transgressions, wash away all my
iniquity and cleanse me from from my sin, for I know my
transgressions and my sin is always before me 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. You know what the psalmist was
saying there? God, you're right.
And I'm sinful. God, you were holy, and I am
wretched. He is giving a deliberate
confession of his sin. How did this come about?
How does it come about in our lives?
It comes about through a thorough examination, he says in
26. Again, I recounted my ways and
you answered me, he said. I.
Looked at my life. And you told me the truth about
me. I examined myself and I saw that
I fell. Short and you confirm that by
your word. And so, through the thorough
examination, recounting our ways, examining our lives, we
can then and only then, be moved.
To true confession, which is our response.
To true godly sorrow. To confess our sin, to accept
that honest evaluation, and to no longer argue with God about
it. Oh dear Christian, I'm sure you
are weary if you were continually arguing with God
about right or wrong. But yet it goes on day-to-day,
doesn't it? There's no need for us to argue
with God about right or wrong. He is right.
The end. What He says is right.
What He says is true, what He says is holy.
If we are in opposition to that by our words, by our deeds, by
our wicked lives, we need to honestly evaluate that, and then
we need to humbly agree with God on the issue.
Oh, you hear it week after week after week.
First, John 19, what does it say if we confess our sins?
He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify
us from all unrighteousness. Now, let me make this very
clear. Confessing your sin is not just
simply stating it. We'll see the transgression.
I mean the the transition here He transitions from.
A man full of conviction, a man full of a concern for holiness,
contrition of heart. And then he transitions here to
a man who is deliberately confessing his sin before God.
What is he doing? He's humbly agreeing with God.
No more in his arrogance is he trying to justify his sin.
No more in his pride is he trying to justify his wrong
deeds. He's been brought to the point
through godly sorrow where he says, Lord, you're right.
If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all and righteous.
You know what he's saying. If you agree with God how
utterly sinful your sin is, then and only then will you
experience true forgiveness. Psalm 32 five confirms that.
Davis says then I acknowledge my sin to you and did not cover up
my iniquity. Why would he even say that?
Well, if you know the story, he was trying to cover it up.
It was cover up after cover up after cover up.
And he had to come to a point in his brokenness where he honestly
and openly, deliberately confessed his sin.
He said then I acknowledge my sin to you and did not.
Cover up my iniquity, I said. I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Why do Christians walk around much of the time defeated
because of their past sin? Because you've not yet truly
confessed it. You've not yet truly been broken
over it. You've simply just brushed it
under the rug. You have hid it under the floor
of your tent, as Aiken did, and it will not go away.
It will not be washed until you openly and honestly acknowledge
your sin. You will never experience the
forgiveness that God desires for you to walk in.
You must humbly agree with Him. There must be a deliberate
confession of that sin. Then we see this.
Thirdly, in his response to godly sorrow.
It was a desperate turning toward God, deliberate
confession of sin. And then we see this man moved
to a deeper reliance on God. He says, Preserve my life
according to your word. I recounted my ways and you
answered me. He then goes into this.
Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching
of Your precepts, and then I will meditate on Your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow. Strengthen me according to your
word. Keep me from deceitful ways.
Be gracious to me through your. Law.
We see here a deeper reliance on God.
How does this come through understanding His Word.
Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching
of your precepts. The psalmist now has a heart for
a deeper understanding of God's Word.
And a deeper understanding of God's Word leads to a deeper
reliance on God. We know who He is.
We see His attributes. We see His faithfulness to His
people. We begin to then trust in him
all the more. The psalmist, you're moving to a
deeper reliance on God. That's what godly sorrow brought
him. For all of you who were in the
first part of this message thinking, oh this is nothing but
doom or gloom, oh his doom or gloom, God is now transferring
him from doom and gloom to a deeper.
Reliance on God and a deeper reliance on God's Word.
On Psalm 119. Just last week we we saw this
verse 8, he said I will obey your decrees.
Do not utterly forsake me. He was moved to a place of
obedience. That's what's going on here,
being moved to a place of deeper reliance and trust in God.
Look how the psalmist grows in his dependence before our very
eyes. How many people they would like
to think that the psalmist probably sat down and he wrote
all eight of these verses all at the same time?
I don't think so. I think that that.
Obviously this was a a period of time where he would write part
of this and then he would go back because he would start with
I'm in the dust. Then as God we began to bring
him to place of godly sorrow there in the dust.
Then he was at a place of conviction.
Then he was at a place of real contrition.
Then he was at a place, responding by desperately
turning toward God in an attitude of hopelessness.
We see that deliberate confession of sin and that
deeper reliance on God. Look how His attitude changes
here. He says in verse 26, Teach me
your decrees. Then he says, let me in verse
27. And then strengthen me in verse
28 and then keep me in verse 29. Keep me from the deceitful ways.
That's how we know that some deceitful way has caused him to
be in this position. And that deceitful way did not
come from God. I.
Assure you of that. He says teach me, let me,
strengthen me, keep me. Verse 29 Be gracious to me.
What is going on here? Everything that's coming out of
his mouth now is dependence upon God.
God, I need you to teach me. God, I need you to let me.
I need you to strengthen me. I need you to keep me.
I need you to be gracious to me. He sees that he is hopeless
without God. Oh, he would have never come to
this point had he not been in the dust, but because he was in
the dust. And he was broken there in the
dust. He's now saying, Lord, I depend
on you. I rely on you all the more I
need. You, Lord, I need you.
Every hour I need you. True godly sorrow will teach us
to rely on God more and more and less and less on our sinful
selves. We see the response to godly
sorrow, a desperate turning toward God, a delivered
confession of sin, and a deeper reliance on God.
Thirdly, as we continue this journey through these 8 verses,
you see the result of godly sorrow.
I want you to see the result of godly sorrow because some of you
have already tuned me out and dubbed me as a doom and gloom
preacher. And yes, you must first to
preach the doom and gloom. You must first preach the bad
news so that the good news is good.
The result of godly sorrow. Watch this verse 30.
I've chosen the way of truth. Oh, he knew what it was like to
choose deceit and sin. He says.
I've set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes.
Oh Lord, do not let me be put to shame.
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my
heart free. Oh, would you see that church?
The psalmist was moved from dust and sorrow and grief and agony
and pain over his sin. He was moved from there to a
place of revival. Did you know Christ came to
bring revival to those who truly mourn over their sins?
That's what Isaiah tells us in the prophecy concerning Christ,
that Christ repeated as He was here in His earthly ministry
about His purpose and why He came.
Isaiah 61 verse one. It says this.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim
freedom for the captives, and released from darkness to
prisoners to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
And the day of vengeance of our God.
Watch this to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who
grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of
ashes. The oil of.
Gladness instead of mourning, in a garment of praise instead of a
spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of
righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His
splendor. Oh, you know why the Lord brings
us to the dust in our sin, so that he can raise us up as
vessels for His glory and He can display His splendor in US.
And you know why the Church of today is not displaying His
splendor? Because no one is willing to be
broken for their sin. Because it is in brokenness and
godly sorrow. It is only then that God can
raise us up in revival. Godly sorrow always precedes
revival. Psalm 7120.
It's as though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter.
You will restore my life again from the depths of the earth.
You will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and
comfort me once again. Oh, the psalmist knew about
being brought low so that God could then exalt one for His
glory. Godly sorrow always precedes
revival. In fact, revival does not come
to any individual or any group of believers without some
element of godly sorrow. Let me make this very clear and
all the confusion today and all the things that would be called
revivals that are not revivals at all.
Revivals are not brought by fine music in fancy eloquent talk.
Revivals are brought by brokenness and godly sorrow for
our sin. Revivals are brought when the
people of God seek truth from God's Word.
Oh, it's just what James describes for us in James
chapter 4 verse 8 when he says come near to God and he will
come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and
purify your hearts. You double minded, grieve, mourn
and well. Change your laughter to mourning
and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the
Lord and He will lift you up. You know why the Lord is not
lifting anyone up in true revival?
Because there is no godly sorrow, there is no brokenness
over sin, there is no acknowledgement of offending a
holy God. Therefore, revival has not and
will not come. What we see in the life of the
psalmist here, a true revival. Watch this unfold.
A revival in direction. He says I have chosen the way of
truth. Wait a second.
Just a moment ago he was on the way of deceit and he was
sorrowful for this. And now God has done a work in
his life, and now a revival has happened in the direction and
the course of his. Life, there is a change of
course. Did you know this?
Godly sorrow will change your course.
Godly sorrow will cause you to never, ever, ever want to be in
the dust of the earth again in the way of deceit, but to desire
to be in the way. Of truth, 2nd Corinthians 7 we
read the tenth verse, but I would like to read the ninth
verse so that you understand what's going on.
It says this. Yet now I am happy, not because
you were made sorry, but because your sorrow LED you to
repentance. Paul addressing the Corinthians
in the first Corinthian letter urging them to repent of many
sin, and now he's commending them.
He's saying I'm happy not because you were made sorry.
I'm not happy just because you were sorry that you did wrong.
Isn't it true? So many times in the church we
accept just being sorry, but not sorrow full toward God, Paul
said. I'm thankful that you weren't
just sorry, but because your sorrow LED you to repentance.
Why was he thankful for this? For you became sorrowful as God
intended, and so we're not harmed in any way by us, he
said. I didn't have to come there and
I didn't have to continually rebuke you or remove you from
fellowship, he says in verse 10. Godly sorrow brings.
Repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret,
but worldly sorrow brings death. You know what Paul was saying?
Paul saying, I'm thankful that godly sorrow happened in your
life and that God brought you to a place of godly sorrow because
godly sorrow led to your change of direction, a revival in your
course. You are now on the way of truth.
That's true repentance. That's more than just being
sorry for your sin. It's being broken for your sin
and sorrowful to God. You've offended him by your
actions, but you can't stay on the same sinful path that you
have always been on and even attempt to call it repentance.
Please see this The psalmist moves from the way of sin and
deceitfulness to the opposite way, the way of truth.
There's never been any revival, not in Scripture, not in church
history, that did not result in true repentance driven by true
godly sorrow. Because true godly sorrow will
lead you to repentance, and repentance will lead you in a
revival in the change of direction in your life.
Result of godly sorrow, revival and direction, but also a
revival of devotion. Oh, this is the good news of it.
This is the part where we as believers ought to shout.
We get to experience revival when we deserve death.
We see secondly, a revival of devotion.
He says, I hold fast to your statutes.
Psalm 80 verse 18 says then we will not turn.
Then we will not turn away from You.
Revive us and we will call on your name.
Restore us. O Lord Almighty, make Your face
shine upon us that we may be saved.
The Psalm is your understanding of God who desires to revive His
people. And here in Psalm 119A revival
and devotion taking place. He said, I hold fast to your
statutes. You see a renewed devotion to
God's Word. Perhaps you have broken God's
commands. Perhaps you have blatantly spit
in the face of God's decrees in his Word.
Who may you know today that there is still hope for you.
That hope comes when godly sorrow moves you to a place of
revival and revival in not only your direction but in your
devotion. Revival will never come until
one holds fast to the Scriptures.
What does that mean? That's a biblical jargon.
What are you talking about? To hold fast is to diligently
cling with your whole heart to be completely.
Devoted towards someone or something, in this case, to be
completely devoted to God and His Word.
Clinging, holding fast to his statutes.
Why? Because this same psalmist knew
that I must hide His word in my heart that I might not sin
against God. He understood the importance of
holding fast to the Scriptures. A revival in devotion comes when
there is a revival in how we hold fast to the Word of God.
So the second result of godly sorrow is revival of devotion.
Thirdly, a revival of determination, a new
determination, a new purpose for living, new desire and
determination to do God's will. He says I have chosen the way of
truth. Oh, he didn't do this on his
own, did he? No, God brought him back to the
dust. He showed him the error of his
ways. He showed him his need for
redemption. And in seeing that need for
redemption, he cried out. To God.
God did a work in His life changing His will, giving him a
new determination. I have chosen the way of truth.
Godly sorrow moved a man who was deceived by his own sin to a man
who was determined to obey God in every area of his life.
I never get tired of seeing that where God takes the most
wretched Sinner and He breaks him, He brings him to the dust
and He shows him his desperate need for forgiveness and
redemption. And then he.
Shows him that his greatest need has been met according to his
plan through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
He brings him to a desperate place, and in his desperation
that center calls upon God to save his wretched soul.
He's changed, He's transformed. He is revived not only in
direction and in devotion, but is in his determination.
He now lives to please God with every fiber of his being, a new
determination to obey God's word.
Look at this determination in these last scriptures, in our
last moments together. He says, I have set my heart on
your laws. I will fast to your statutes.
I run in the path of your commands.
Now, wait a second. This is the guy who was just
wallowing in the dust and in his tears and in his sorrow, and now
he is running headlong into the will and the commands of God.
What a change that God has brought in this man's
determination. What revival we see here?
Oh, there's no hoopla, there's no shouting, there's no
instruments, there's no people running around the room.
It's simply the evidence of a change, man.
Well, if we go back just a few verses, we see that all this was
based on God's faithfulness to work in the lives of His people
in verse 26 through 29. What is the psalmist doing 26
through 29? Teach me your decrees.
Let me understand the teaching of your precepts.
Then I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary and with sorrow.
He says strengthen me according to your word.
Keep me from deceitful ways. He's asking God in prayer and
desperation to do these things. God now being faithful and doing
those things. Why do I bring that out?
Because. Today, perhaps you are that
person who is in need of God to do a work in you.
Ask Him to do that work and then trust that He will do that work.
Taking this man who was once in the dust because of God's
faithful work on behalf of his people, he proclaims, For you
have set my heart free. Oh, some of you today need to be
set free, but you will never be set free until God brings you to
a place of true sorrow over your sin, a place of true desperation
where you cry out to Him as your only hope.
So true godly sorrow will lead to repentance, and the result
will be true revival in the live of those who trust God.
So I close with this believer. Do you experience godly sorrow
in your life? Do you?
Or is it only when you do big sins, sins that would embarrass
you, sins that other people could possibly find out about?
Or does it grieve your heart to know that you have violated even
the most thought minuscule command of Scripture?
Does it grieve you knowing that one milli ounce of sin blatantly
offends the Holy God? Are you grieved by that?
Is there brokenness over sin in your life?
Do you even think about these things?
Have you ever desired holiness to the point of tears?
Or you cry out to God completely discontent with the fact that
you are not as holy as He desires you to be?
Is there true godly sorrow in your life to the unbeliever?
I pray for you today. I pray that this day you be
brought to godly sorrow by the knowledge of the fact that Jesus
Christ, the sinless Savior, willfully came to this earth and
He willfully suffered and He willfully died on a cross to
rescue all sinners who will trust in Him as Lord and Savior.
May you understand that though you are guilty as charged in
regard to sin, and you are deserving of death and you are
deserving of hell simply because you are a Sinner, May you
understand that Jesus bore the wrath and the penalty for all
sinners who will believe and trust in Him as their Lord and
Savior. He bore your punishment and your
death so that you can, as the psalmist said, be free.
Would you run to Jesus in desperation today?
Would you cry out to Him and know that He is faithful to save
all who call upon His name in desperation?
May this truth bring you to a place of sorrow, knowing that
you've not set yet surrendered to such a love as this.
You've not yet surrendered to the innocent Savior who came to
die for the guilty Sinner and made us grieve your heart.
May it bring you to a point of sorrow for your sins.
And may that godly sorrow bring you to a place of repentance of
your unbelief, repentance of your sin.
May it bring you to a place of faith toward Jesus Christ.
May you surrender to Him this very day.
Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
come to you now, thanking you for your word, thanking you for
our time together. Lord, we have done all that we
can do. Your word has gone forth.
We now trust in Your Spirit. Do what only You can do.
That is to convict the hearts of sinners and to bring people to
brokenness and sorrow for their sin.
But you will be done. We pray these things in Christ's
name. Amen.
You have been listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry
podcast. Join us each week for more
teaching from God's Word. If you would like to speak with
one of our pastors, please visit us on the web at
keylifefellow-ship.com. Thank you again for joining us
today.