1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,640 It's good to be back and I'm thankful for the fellowship that 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:05,400 we've had today. I'm thankful for the time that 3 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,040 we've had to spend together and getting to catch up with many of 4 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:16,000 you and to spend time together in being an encouragement, being 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,480 encouraged by you, and hopefully our presence here can be an 6 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,120 encouragement to you as well. We're thankful for everybody 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,880 who's here. As Brother Frank mentioned this 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,200 morning, I've known them and they've known me as long as I 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,480 can remember. And so I'm, I'm thankful to have 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,360 this opportunity to get to worship with them. 11 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:40,280 And it's, I'm very thankful for the impact that they've had in 12 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,800 my life, in my family's life. And it is one that I am blessed 13 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,560 to be a part of the church, to have experience. 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,280 And so I'm thankful for them in every way. 15 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,640 This afternoon we're going to talk about Psalm 51. 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:02,920 And the reason for that is when I go places and teach, my goal 17 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:09,920 is ultimately to talk about things not necessarily that are 18 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,880 controversial in any way, shape or form. 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,320 That's not who I am, but really to talk about things that maybe 20 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:22,400 we don't get to talk about very often, just to kind of entice us 21 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,240 to further read and study Scripture, which is why Philem 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,120 this morning is a common lesson I teach places just because it's 23 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:30,800 one that we don't touch on very often. 24 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,160 Typically in the evenings I would talk about Mephibosheth, 25 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,400 but I was told that that was kind of touched on recently 26 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,280 here, and so I was going to shy away from that. 27 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:45,000 Psalm 51 is one of the most impactful Psalms in my life as I 28 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,560 grow into myself and recognise the mistakes and the sins of my 29 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,120 past and recognize the constant mistakes that I I try and avoid 30 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,960 but still sometimes make. Psalm 51 is a constant reminder 31 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,840 that God is gracious, God is loving, and God is a good God in 32 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,840 so many ways. Now maybe you're thinking, 33 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,760 what's Psalm 51? I imagine you know, it's a 34 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:13,480 pretty famous Psalm. Psalm 51 is this outcry from 35 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:19,240 David after he had acted wickedly with Bathsheba and then 36 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,920 on top of that gone and had her husband Uriah sent to the front 37 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:29,160 lines and killed. And if we remember from the book 38 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,040 of Second Samuel, then Second Samuel, Chapter 11 and 12, this 39 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:36,400 narrative happens and the prophet Nathan comes to David 40 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,920 and he tells him this parable almost, but just a a figurative 41 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:44,680 story in order to reference a realistic event about a 42 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,760 shepherd, drawing on David's compassion as a shepherd and his 43 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,400 love for shepherding and caring for the sheep and the flocks. 44 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:55,480 And there is one who has one sheep who he cares for and 45 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,560 loves, and another man who has 100 sheep. 46 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,320 He's plentiful in sheep. And yet when his friend comes, 47 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,760 he he takes the sheep of the man's one, slaughters it and 48 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,560 offers it as a meal for this visitor. 49 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:15,760 And this enrages David and he is furious and he pronounces death 50 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,480 upon the individual who would do such a wicked thing. 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,920 To which then Nathan turns the conversation around on to David 52 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:27,600 and says, but the man is you. And in Second Samuel chapter 12, 53 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,320 David immediately goes into mourning, goes into this moment 54 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,240 of of sorrow, and then it's over. 55 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,000 We don't see the following conversation. 56 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:44,840 We do find out that Bathsheba is pregnant and they lose the 57 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,520 child, and David mourns for the child while it's alive. 58 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,720 But as God receives the soul of the child back, David accepts 59 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,520 the consequences of his action and moves on, pursuing a 60 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120 relationship with God that would someday allow him to rejoin that 61 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,760 child in heaven. Now, Second Samuel 11 and 12 62 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,080 don't give us a lot of what goes on within the mouth of the heart 63 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,520 of David, but I think that's where first or Psalm 51 comes 64 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,240 into play. I sometimes wonder where Psalm 65 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,480 51 was written. Is it an afterthought in which 66 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,320 David was remembering back the way that he reacted? 67 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,600 The way I read Scripture is I typically interjected in this 68 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:29,480 first, second Samuel 12, that when it says and he mourned or 69 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,240 David mourned that that is where Psalm 51 picks up. 70 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:37,520 Psalm 51 has some controversial points within it that we won't 71 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:39,040 really touch on. If you want to talk about 72 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,720 afterwards, maybe we can for a little bit, but I want to just 73 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,600 read through it and highlight some important aspects of what 74 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,720 repentance looks like. Because as Brother Frank 75 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,440 mentioned in our prayer, we are weak people, we are flesh, we 76 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,560 make mistakes and we sin. So one of the greatest tools 77 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,880 that we can have in our tool belt is how do we repent and how 78 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,520 do we repair our side of the relationship with God? 79 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,200 Because as we noticed this morning, God is, is there ready 80 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,280 and wanting to repair his side. And he's, you know, he's wanting 81 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:10,280 to, he's accepting, calling us back. 82 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,280 Jesus has paid the price, He's covered the cost. 83 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,520 We just have to go back. So how do we go back and what 84 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,320 does that look like when we do go back and have a relationship 85 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,320 with God that is once again holy and good. 86 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,440 And so Psalm 51. So again, I'm going to read out 87 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,360 of the Your Pew Bible, page 869 is where that starts. 88 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,880 And it begins like this. And it begins by recognizing the 89 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,800 appropriate grounds for request, requesting, excuse me, I get my 90 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:42,840 words right, requesting forgiveness. 91 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:49,480 So David says this, It says, Have mercy upon me, O God, 92 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,680 according to your loving kindness, according to the 93 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,960 multitude of your tender mercies, Blot out my 94 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,560 transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and 95 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,040 cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgression, 96 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:07,920 and my sin is always before me. So first, when it comes to 97 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,800 repentance, the act of repentance and the act of 98 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,760 repairing our relationship with God begins by understanding that 99 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,320 it is not grounded in ourselves, but it is grounded in the 100 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,320 goodness and the character of God. 101 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,880 David asks for forgiveness not based on merit, not based on 102 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,800 anything that he has done. And we'll back up for a second 103 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:30,720 too. There is an interesting 104 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,400 narrative about David and Goliath and the book of Psalms 105 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:35,880 and the things that David writes. 106 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,160 One of the things that David never writes about throughout 107 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:44,160 the entirety of the verses in the scripture that he writes is 108 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,680 he never writes or records about his victory over Goliath. 109 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,600 David very rarely highlights his victories and his wins. 110 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,800 He doesn't write First Samuel 17 in which David and Goliath come 111 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:58,800 into play. Probably Samuel or one of the 112 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,880 other prophets did, but David doesn't write or record his wins 113 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,200 or his victory. But what he does record is Psalm 114 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,960 51, which is probably one of his greatest lows, in which God 115 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,560 picks him up and restores his relationship. 116 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,040 And what that tells you about David's character is he 117 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,160 understands he's not working on a merit based system. 118 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,200 He is forgiven. He can have a relationship with 119 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,600 God not because of all the things he's done and he's done 120 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,800 some pretty great things, but because God is a loving, kind, 121 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:35,360 gracious and merciful God. And he knows that in comparison 122 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,320 to God and all the things he's done, everything David's done 123 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:44,240 is, is is small and the same for us. 124 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,120 We don't slowly Golias, we don't do anything great of that 125 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,280 nature. And so we had nothing to go to 126 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:56,200 God and offer in a favour for our sins to be forgiven. 127 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,360 Just like David doesn't begin this Psalm by saying, do you 128 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,080 remember all the things I'm starting to build you a temple, 129 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:04,600 even though Psalm is going to finish it. 130 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,560 I'm doing all of these things for you God. 131 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:14,120 He says, no, have mercy upon me, Oh God, according to your loving 132 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,560 kindness. So David asks for mercy. 133 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:21,560 He asks to not receive the consequences of his actions and 134 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,840 instead receive a blessing that is a relationship with God. 135 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,040 Based on what? Based on God's character? 136 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,120 One writer put it like this. He said David's hope is based 137 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,400 not in his own evaluation of self, but in his evaluation of 138 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,760 God. Because God remains faithful, 139 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,200 hope is possible even in the face of justifiable death. 140 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,520 And so David has hope, not because he has an opportunity to 141 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,280 barter with God, but because God remains faithful even when he 142 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,880 has failed to. And we have that same hope. 143 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:57,040 Whatever sin, whatever transgression that we commit, we 144 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,360 have hope for forgiveness because God remains faithful. 145 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:03,480 But in this endeavour, David also understands that he 146 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,520 recognizes an important aspect of what it means to make a 147 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,160 confession, and that is primarily that he does not 148 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,880 minimise the acts in which he committed. 149 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,800 Notice how he describes his sin. He says, blot out my 150 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,720 transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and 151 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,680 cleanse me from my sin. Those are three different words 152 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:30,640 to describe an action. To describe the sin 153 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,360 transgression in Hebrew means to rebel against God. 154 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:40,040 Iniquity is this idea that draws our attention to a distortion of 155 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,280 what is right and to sin is a very common word that we think 156 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:45,640 of. It means to miss the mark. 157 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:51,960 And so Paul or excuse me, David, David says what I have done is I 158 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,160 have rebelled against God by distorting what is right and 159 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,640 therefore I've missed the mark. That is the actions in which 160 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:03,640 David committed sin, and that's what sin at its base really is. 161 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,800 It is a rebellion against God when we distort what is right 162 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,160 and therefore we miss the mark of holiness and goodness and 163 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,200 righteousness, and we sin and we make mistakes. 164 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:18,280 But what David does so beautifully is instead of 165 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:23,440 minimizing that, he just comes out with it and he just is open 166 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,480 with it. The reason David can commit such 167 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,680 atrocious actions throughout the book of Second Samuel and First 168 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:36,320 Samuel, and we see some of them in other places as well, and yet 169 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:41,040 constantly be called the friend of God, is because when he sins, 170 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,560 he turns back to God and he seeks forgiveness and he seeks a 171 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:50,080 right relationship with God. Whereas think about the man who 172 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,160 came before him, Saul. When Saul is told to go and kill 173 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:59,040 the Amalekites utterly and wipe them out, he goes and he does 174 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,960 everything he's supposed to do, except he spares the animal. 175 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,200 She spares some of the Royals. He spares whoever he feels needs 176 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,920 to because the people have told him to, apparently. 177 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,320 And then when Samuel the prophet comes to him and says, What am I 178 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:15,680 hearing? The bleeding of sheep? 179 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,360 Why am I hearing cattle? Why am I seeing King Adia? 180 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:26,240 Who are these people? Saul's response is he tears the 181 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:32,320 robes from Samuel the prophet, and he then turns that into a 182 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,320 beautiful phrase that as you've torn these robes from me, God 183 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,160 has torn the Kingdom from you. And so Saul's reaction when it 184 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,280 comes to being presented face to face with his sin is to push 185 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:47,440 further into sin and to further separate himself from God. 186 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,720 And yet David is to draw back to God. 187 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:57,120 And when we learn to do that within our lives, we can 188 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,320 withhold or have within ourselves that same relationship 189 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,000 with God, that we are his friends and his family. 190 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:05,720 It is not dependent upon our perfection. 191 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:09,440 It is a dependent upon our pursuit of Him. 192 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,720 And that's where David constantly gets it right. 193 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,360 Despite the fact that he rebels against God, he distorts what is 194 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,080 right and he misses the mark of holiness by pouring himself back 195 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,920 into God. David is in able to be the 196 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,520 friend of God and when we make mistakes and when we sin, we can 197 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:34,720 model that within our lives. That idea of not minimizing sin, 198 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,040 but recognizing it and putting it out there for God who already 199 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,360 knows and is already wanting to call us back. 200 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,160 You know, I mentioned this morning first John one verse 9. 201 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,560 In first John one verse 9, John writes about those who are 202 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:50,640 walking in the light who are going to fall away and sin. 203 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,000 They're going to make mistakes, maybe not fall away, that may be 204 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,280 too dramatic, but they're going to make mistakes and sin. 205 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,760 And John says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and 206 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,320 just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all 207 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,960 unrighteousness. That word confess comes from a 208 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,240 Greek word that just means to say the same thing. 209 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,840 That is, if we say the same thing about sin that God says 210 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,160 about sin, what is God willing and able and wanting to do? 211 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,000 Forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness? 212 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,920 He is waiting, wanting, and hoping. 213 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,000 But it begins by us not minimizing our sin and coming 214 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,840 back to God with appropriate repentance. 215 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,360 And so true confession does not minimize sin. 216 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:42,040 But also true confession, as David does here, takes ownership 217 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:46,760 of sin. Notice all of these are their 218 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:51,240 follower their they begin with an ownership statement, blot out 219 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,720 my transgressions, wash me of my iniquity and cleanse me for my 220 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,720 sin. 4 verse three I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is 221 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,880 always before me. This isn't Bathsheba was 222 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,680 tempting she was really pretty. I couldn't control myself and my 223 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:10,520 flesh is weak. Lord, I'm sorry, this is I 224 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:16,400 messed up, I sinned and maybe she needed to do some stuff 225 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,200 within her life. That's a whole different 226 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,760 conversation. But in David's part, which is 227 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:23,880 all that matters, we are responsible for ourselves. 228 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,600 David says I messed up. He's not Adam who says this 229 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:33,920 woman you gave me is is foolish and I followed her. 230 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,440 He's not soul who tears the robes. 231 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:44,120 He says I messed up, I sinned. The great King David is not so 232 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,160 great that he does not remember to be humble in the presence of 233 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:53,440 God and takes ownership of his mistakes, but also true 234 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,880 confession recognizes who has been wronged. 235 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,680 It says in verse 4 and all this this verse in this chapter in 236 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,720 general is filled with amazing verses. 237 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:10,160 This has always been the one that I think for me can be the 238 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:15,080 most confusing or at least the most impactful when he says 239 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,640 against you and you only have I sinned and done this evil in 240 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,880 your sight that you may be found just when you speak and 241 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:29,080 blameless when you judge. So first, David recognizes that 242 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,320 God is just and blameless. Whatever he's going to do or has 243 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,640 done, he's just and blameless in his endeavours and in punishing 244 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,720 sin. But he starts that by saying 245 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,560 against you and you only have I sinned. 246 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,960 And Uriah may have an argument against this when he said, what 247 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,600 about me? What about the wrongs that 248 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,320 you've done to me in acting wickedly with my wife and then 249 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,880 having me killed? But David understands an 250 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:03,720 important thing and that is we have to recognize that all sin 251 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:11,400 is not just a not just something that violates another person in 252 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,080 our relationship with other people, but all sin, no matter 253 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:19,800 to what extent we think always violates and hurts our 254 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,440 relationship with God, no matter what it is. 255 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,120 And that's an important distinction to understand, 256 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:31,720 because until we view sin as both horizontal and vertical, 257 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,400 there is going to come a point in our life in which we're OK 258 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,960 with wronging somebody. If they do something great 259 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,560 enough to me, I may wrong them back. 260 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,840 If Uriah was a wicked man, he may not feel guilty about taking 261 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,840 his wife, but because he understands that it doesn't 262 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,400 matter about your riot, it matters about my relationship 263 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,080 with God. That's the relationship that is 264 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,680 primary. And so it doesn't matter the 265 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,440 character of your riot, it doesn't matter the character of 266 00:16:58,440 --> 00:16:59,880 Bathsheba if she would have come on. 267 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,080 No, that doesn't matter. What matters is my relationship 268 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,040 with God. Joseph says the same thing when 269 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:10,640 Potiphar's wife comes on to him. Potiphar says how could I do 270 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,640 this great evil and sin against God? 271 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,119 Not Potiphar, not myself, not about you. 272 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:20,560 How could I do this and sin against God? 273 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,359 Our relationship in the way that we treat others, the way that we 274 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:31,280 show kindness and love towards others is called to be a 275 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,560 reflection of our relationship with God. 276 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,320 We love people without consideration of their love 277 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,320 ability. In one way to put it doesn't 278 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,800 matter how good of a person they are, how bad of a person of they 279 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,040 are, we show kindness to them because that is affecting our 280 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,120 relationship with God. And David understands that 281 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:53,880 although yes he has sinned against Uriah, yes he has sinned 282 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,800 against Bathsheba. The relationship that he has 283 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,240 really hurt is his relationship with God. 284 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,480 And when he gets that one right, the other ones are going to fall 285 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,840 in line and so against you and you only have ice end. 286 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,440 So David recognizes who he wronged. 287 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,680 He didn't just wrong Uriah. He didn't just wronged 288 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,200 Bathsheba. He wronged God and therefore he 289 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:18,200 has to make it right with God and work to be who he can be. 290 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,920 But also true repentance and repentance in general recognizes 291 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:30,240 the difficulty and the guilt that sin puts in our lives. 292 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,840 He says in verse 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity 293 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:35,640 and in sin my mother conceived me. 294 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,480 Behold your desire. You desire truth in the inward 295 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,400 parts and in the hidden part. You will make me known to 296 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,560 wisdom. Purge me with hyssop and I shall 297 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,400 be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter 298 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,800 than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness 299 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,680 that the bones you have broken may rejoice. 300 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:55,920 And so David is feeling the weight and the pressure of sin, 301 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,120 so much so that he draws upon his birth as if he has always 302 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:03,160 been this person, although he's speaking figuratively, and 303 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,040 that's what we can talk about later if you ever want to. 304 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,960 He is drawing upon the guilt of the things that he has done and 305 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,360 how that is affecting his life. He says, you've broken my bones. 306 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,120 That's what the weight of sin feels like when we realize the 307 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:21,800 effect that sin has in our lives and in our relationship with God 308 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,800 and upon other people. As far as we know, God didn't 309 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,360 break David's bones, but he is drawing upon this fact that sin 310 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:34,480 weighs us down and sin burdens us and it crushes us, which is 311 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,760 again why he goes to God for the fix and not to Nathan, not to 312 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,000 somebody else, not to anyone. He goes to the source. 313 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,360 He goes back to the loving kindness of God's character. 314 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,240 I was brought forth. But behold, you desire for a six 315 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,920 truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make 316 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:58,520 known to me wisdom. Behold, purge me with hyssop, 317 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:00,720 and I will be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter 318 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:03,840 than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness. 319 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,040 Hide your face from my sins and blood out all my iniquities. 320 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,920 Created me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast 321 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:15,480 spirit within me. True repentance. 322 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,400 Is repentance then that David is showing seeks out purity. 323 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,520 It doesn't just seek out forgiveness so that things can 324 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,400 go back to the way they were. It seeks out a new life. 325 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,200 He says create in me a new or a clean heart. 326 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,960 Oh God, he doesn't say, hey, fix the old heart, fix the one that 327 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:41,160 fell into this temptation. He says create, make new in me a 328 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:43,920 clean heart. David what doesn't want to just 329 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,680 go back to the old person with bandages and wounds and fixed up 330 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,160 and patched up. He says I need to be a new 331 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,080 person. I do not want to be that person. 332 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,920 I want that person to never be a part of my life again. 333 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,640 That is the drive of where repentance should be taking us 334 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:06,920 to be a new person, not just the old person who's been forgiven 335 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,680 and kind of buffed out. David said created me a clean 336 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:17,360 heart and give me purity. Seeking forgiveness means 337 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:22,040 seeking a relationship with God. Notice what he says. 338 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,480 He says hide your face from my sins and blot out all my 339 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,160 iniquities. Create in me a clean heart. 340 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,040 O God, every new a steadfast spirit within me. 341 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,680 Verse 11 do not cast me away from your presence and do not 342 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,040 take your Holy Spirit from me. So he says sin take it away. 343 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,680 Put it as far away from me as you possibly can, but please 344 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,480 stay with me, God. And I think that's the call that 345 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,440 we all need. Sin is going to take us further 346 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,600 and further away from God. And David is feeling that in his 347 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:53,560 weight and in his soul and in his bones. 348 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,840 So he says take the sin away, but please do not leave me. 349 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,520 I know I left you, but please do not leave me. 350 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:13,400 And then what then I will teach transgressors your ways, and 351 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,240 sinners shall be converted to you. 352 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,240 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my 353 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,800 salvation, and my tongue shall wring aloud all of your 354 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,800 righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my 355 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:30,400 mouth shall show praises. Shall show forth your play 356 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,800 praise. There's kind of an interesting 357 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,640 barter system that seems to go on a little bit here where David 358 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:43,640 does say, do this and I will do this, forgive me for bloodshed, 359 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:46,000 restore me. Don't leave me. 360 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:50,320 And what am I going to do? I'm going to sing your praises. 361 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:56,320 David doesn't sing his own praises about Goliath, but what 362 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,880 is he saying? He sings the praises of a God 363 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,920 who will forgive him despite all of the wickedness that he has 364 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,520 ever had in his life. And what is that going to do? 365 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,440 It is going to convert sinners. He says we have to be 366 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,840 comfortable talking about how God has changed and transformed 367 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,640 our life and shown grace to us. And that means sometimes being 368 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,720 comfortable talking about the hard things in life now doesn't 369 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,040 mean we share everything with everybody, but we have to learn 370 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,440 to talk about how God's Word and the Holy Spirit in God's 371 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,840 presence in our life has changed us and sing those praises 372 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,800 because that's what David said is going to convert people. 373 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,960 When the apostle Paul in Acts Chapter 9 and Acts chapter 22 374 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,880 and Acts chapter 26 is converted, the Bible teaches 375 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,880 that others were converted alongside of him because this 376 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:53,520 great persecutor of the church is now preaching the gospel of 377 00:23:53,600 --> 00:24:00,320 Jesus. Your transformation is one of 378 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,560 your greatest assets in bringing people to Christ because people 379 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,160 don't want to just hear about how you've won and how God's 380 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,800 blessed you. That's great because that's not 381 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,320 where they're at in their life. You know where they're at. 382 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,560 They're typically at the broken hearted, at the broken bone, at 383 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,240 the burden part of their life. Who needs a Saviour who can draw 384 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,160 them out and put them into a place of righteousness and 385 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,080 goodness? Learn to talk about how God's 386 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:32,160 Word has transformed your life and my tongue. 387 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,680 Verse 14 shall single out of your righteousness. 388 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,480 O Lord, my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. 389 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,360 For you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. 390 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:43,000 You do not delight and burnt offering. 391 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,440 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and 392 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,600 contrite heart. These are God you will not 393 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,560 despise. David begins this by saying you 394 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,680 do not desire a sacrifice. And his point there is that God 395 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,840 is not looking for some ritualistic effort that is 396 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:06,880 missing the heart. This is not some kind of merit 397 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,280 based forgiveness that David can offer. 398 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:10,840 He says you don't want to sacrifice. 399 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,800 What you want is a broken and contrite heart. 400 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,560 You want a heart that's coming to you for change. 401 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:25,760 And if I OfferUp a lamb or a sheep or a cow, but my heart is 402 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,840 content with my sin, that means nothing. 403 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,960 He says You want a broken and contrite heart, and you will not 404 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,680 despise it. Do good in your good pleasure to 405 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,640 Zion, build the walls. Then you shall be pleased with 406 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,040 sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offerings and whole 407 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,680 burnt offerings. Then they shall offer bulls on 408 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,280 your altar. David notes. 409 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,240 Once the broken and contrite heart is there, once you're 410 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,040 seeking repentance for the right means and out of the right, that 411 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,880 purpose that is coming to God for forgiveness because you're 412 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,480 owning your sin. He says then you want the 413 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,160 sacrifice, then offer worship, then offer praise. 414 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,720 Sometimes we feel like we can just come to church enough, we 415 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,480 can do enough good things, and all of a sudden it's going to 416 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,520 make everything OK and God's going to be fine. 417 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,320 God still requires come to church, do the right things, be 418 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,400 a good person. He still requires that, but 419 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,920 those things alone are not going to help you have a right 420 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,480 relationship with God if your heart is not seeking it and if 421 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:33,360 your heart is not pursuing Him authentically and vulnerably. 422 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:38,720 And David is calling out and crying out, my heart is broken, 423 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:42,960 do not despise it. And when that occurs, I'm going 424 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,560 to offer you all the worship you want. 425 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,000 Then I'll offer bulls on your altar. 426 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:50,160 Then I will praise you and I'm going to tell the world about 427 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,360 how gracious you are and how amazing you are. 428 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:58,160 And so when we fall short and when we sin, repentant is what 429 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,120 we are called to do is the action and the lifestyle that we 430 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:07,040 are called to emulate from the life of David within our own 431 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:11,080 life. And that looks like David. 432 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,400 In taking ownership of our sin, no one else made you do 433 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:21,080 anything. It'd be nice if we could blame 434 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,600 it on other people. No one made you sin. 435 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,320 Even if there was two people involved in the sin, they didn't 436 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:31,120 make you sin. Joshua and Caleb did not have to 437 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,640 vote with the other ten. They knew to be faithful to God 438 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,360 despite the majority. Jesus did not have to fall into 439 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:44,200 Satan's temptations. We are responsible for our 440 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,640 actions, so take ownership of them. 441 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,800 We are then called to recognize God as our Savior, as our source 442 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,160 of life, and as the one who wants us to come back to Him. 443 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:02,440 Remember, David's grounded and was firm in his call to God for 444 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:03,720 for forgiveness. Why? 445 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:06,080 Not because David is slain Goliath. 446 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,880 Not because of the great things David had done or would do, but 447 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,160 because God is a God who is loving and kind. 448 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,520 That's his character. And to know that when you make a 449 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:22,160 mistake, you don't have to run. You can go to God, own your 450 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,920 mistakes, let your heart and its brokenness be fully expressed to 451 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:31,320 God, and God will not despise that. 452 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,920 And then as David said, I will praise you and I will tell the 453 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,160 world about what you have done. You know, the apostle Paul does 454 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,840 great things as well throughout the entirety of the New 455 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:44,920 Testament. He wrote to my, wrote most of 456 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:49,320 what we call the New Testament. And yet he continually 457 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,640 highlights, especially in first Timothy chapter one, that he was 458 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,160 a blasphemer, A persecutor and an insolent man. 459 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,760 And yet I was saved, he says, by grace, by mercy. 460 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,840 Why? So that I could be an example to 461 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:08,160 you that the grace of God, the mercy of God is extended to all. 462 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,120 David and Paul are these two characters who sin greatly, but 463 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:19,400 by returning to God change the trajectory of their life forever 464 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,720 and ours as well. And so we have that same call 465 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,520 and power and ability to change the trajectory of our life from 466 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,520 one that leads away from God to one that leads to God. 467 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,280 That begins by hearing His word, believing, repenting, 468 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,160 confessing, and being baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. 469 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,680 And when we fall short after we've been added to the body of 470 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:48,240 Christ, which we will will make mistakes, then we're challenged 471 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:54,320 to emulate Paul, Peter, David, these great men of the Bible who 472 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,080 make mistakes, come back to God with a broken heart and say, 473 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,280 forgive me. And if we do that, God is 474 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,920 faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from 475 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,880 all unrighteousness. This afternoon, if you're of 476 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,640 either case, please come as we say and sing the song that's 477 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:09,960 been so.