If you have wanted to understand Psalm 51 better that you might possibly be more adequate at identifying your sin and repenting, then this sermon will undoubtedly benefit you: after all, these things are foundational to Christianity, to walking with the Lord.
The following Kenneth Stewart sermon is from the YouTube site, Christian Sermons and Audiobooks. It is a wonderful site which I highly recommend. There, you can find current sermons as well as those of C H Spurgeon, Calvin, Luther….
Sermon highlights below, are mostly in my words. Bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine:
- In verse 1, David prayed, “blot out my transgressions” and in verse 10, “create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me”
- Repentance is a turning from something to something
- His sins (which were covered in parts 1-3, including a focus on Psalm 32) included, neglecting duty; spiritual sloth; surrendering to temptation, lust; deceit; betrayal; covetousness; scheming murder; self-justification and lying
- He had guilt for all of those sins; turning from his sin to God is a positive thing
- Turning from sin is a saving grace initiated by God; in this case, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront king David
- That saving grace comes via God’s word, which Nathan spoke in the form of a rebuke
- In that experience, David got a true sense of his sin and an awareness of God’s mercy, experiencing those makes repentance possible
- The turning of repentance is done by the sinner, as when the prodigal son said, “I will return to my father’s house”
- David had wronged Uriah, Bath Sheba, the nation, but firstly, God. A sinner’s relationships cannot be right until he is right with God
- David wanted the cleansing of forgiveness (legal) and the cleansing of renewal to cleanse his defiled heart
- Sin causes guilt; having guilt from sin makes one subject to God’s punishment; forgiveness cleanses one of such guilt; to get that cleansing, one must ask God for forgiveness
- Being freed from the guilt of sin, can generate a sense of peace
- The director of a mental institution stated recently that most of his patients could go home tomorrow if they knew forgiveness
- Yes, some do not feel guilt, one’s conscience can become numb to guilt via a belief in no God; a belief that he can process guilt himself, as in psychology/psychiatry…
- When you do feel guilty before God, you will understand that only God can forgive sin: an example given of the paralytic Jesus healed when his friends let him down through the roof in Mark 2; another personal example given
- David did not ask God to pretend he didn’t sin, to forget about it, etc. God’s justice demands that sin be punished
- There are only two places wherein sin can be punished: in yourself, the sinner; or in the Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ (if you have trusted in Him)
- Pastor Steward explained the meanings of “blot out;” “purge;” and “washing;” and “create,” as in create a clean heart
- David wanted his name blotted out from God’s book of the recorded sins of humanity
- Blotting, purging…are only accomplished by blood; hyssop is a leafy plant used to sprinkle blood from sacrifices in the Old Testament; a well-known example was during the Passover, when hyssop was used to apply the blood of the lambs to the doorposts in Egypt (Exodus 12)
- Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
- Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
- The apostle Paul’s statement about handwriting was a reference to the fact that people who were crucified often had their crimes posted on their cross, as they also did on Jesus’ cross, writing that He called himself king of the Jews; Paul’s metaphor indicated that we have sins written against us and Jesus’ blood spilled on the cross blotted those out
- Pastor used Isaiah 44:22 to describe blotting out of the ‘cloud’ of our sins that come between us and God; God’s grace disperses that cloud of sins, making reconciliation with Him a possibility
- God’s grace repairs our relationship with Him, we cannot
- David wanted his transgressions blotted out and a renewed heart; that is, he wanted his sin blotted out of God’s book (in God’s universal courtroom, there is a book out of which He indicts for sin – the legal aspect); David also wanted the sin out of his heart (the defilement of sin taken out of his heart)
- God forgives when a sinner repents; but the defilement of sin is removed when God deems it so, it could remain for some time after one is forgiven by faith for his sin
- David wanted his heart renewed because he did not like how his sin had changed him; that is, sin was an expression of his character, BUT it also made his heart worse – it derives from what a person is, yet it also makes one worse when it is committed [likely because it always seems to be progressing]
- We are not in a static state; we are deteriorating as a person if we are not going forward and improving; that is, in your sanctification, unless you are working to go forward, then you are backsliding; one cannot stand still in the Christian race
- David knew that he had harmed his soul and he wanted God to make him the kind of person he was before, a consistent, god-fearing person
- Are you a Christian who no longer has zeal, earnestness, passion for Christ?
- Are you praying that God would give that to you again?
- We cannot forgive ourselves nor renew ourselves
- Short catechism definition of repentance: Question: what is repentance unto life?
- Answer: It is a saving grace from God whereby a sinner turns, out of a true sense of sin and an awareness of the mercy of God in Christ.
- True repentance moves one to turn to purpose and to endeavor for new obedience
- You may ask yourself; do I really hate my sin?
- You experience temptation because your view of sin is distorted; you may hate it, but like it at the same time, for example
- David likely thought about the pleasure he would have from Bathsheba, and not about the consequences that would occur – your sin will find you out, so scripture says, God will bring that about
- Sin always destroys, humiliates, degenerates your soul; if you could see that then your perception of it would be more realistic
- That David hated his sin when he was seeking forgiveness and renewal, does not mean he would continue to hate it
- As Paul said in Romans 7, the good that I would, I do not; and the evil that I would not, that I do
- Ephesians 5: 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
- The word of God is the water with which the Holy Spirit washes sinners; as He does so, He changes your soul; your thoughts, affections and will
- Again, you cannot clean / renew yourself; but you can ask God for that in prayer. His book is like detergent to your heart
- Reading His word prayerfully is like scrubbing your heart with godly cleanser – nothing else in this world can do such a thing; no psychologist, psychiatrist, self-help group…
- Next time you read your Bible, remember to read it prayerfully and to consider what is happening via God’s Spirit
- For those who say they have prayed and have not been cleansed; ask yourself: when you got up from your knees, did you continue to live your life as usual? Then question your sincerity
- Have faith that God will answer your prayers [if you are praying in accordance with His word] and fight like a winner, the rest of your life
- Closing prayer and song
The following link is to the above sermon, via it you may listen to the other 3 sermons in his series if you should desire. I listened to 3 and 4, and found them to be very worth my time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DrBTzF5oWI&list=LL&index=1
Links below are part of those that accompanied the video:
…Blot out my transgressions…Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:1,10)
David: Sin and Repentance (4 of 4) – Kenneth Stewart Sermon
Have Mercy upon me, O God / Psalm 51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2JE…
Glasgow RP Church of Scotland http://glasgowrpcs.org/
Kenneth Stewart Sermons playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=…