As Matt said, I'm Steve, and it's a great privilege to be able to open up God's Word
with you this morning as we walk through the Psalms together.
Welcome, if you're here in person or joining us through our Facebook page.
It is great to be together.
As we work through the Psalms, may God strengthen us.
May he make us real people.
The prayer book is, as J.I. Packer liked to say, is a prayer book for real people in real situations,
and especially as we look at Psalm 51, we see how it speaks right to our condition,
and it gives us God's remedy.
Shall we pray?
Father, we thank you that we can gather in your name to sing your praises, to hear your Word,
to break bread together, to encourage one another,
and we ask that by your same Spirit and your Word you would help us to trust in you,
help us to hear what you would have to teach us this morning.
May our thoughts and our conversation bring glory to you.
This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Some of you know I spent some time studying Russian
and reading some of the good books of Russian fiction.
I'm always recommending those.
It's a great thrill to read good fiction.
That's not the point of my sermon.
The point of my sermon is Psalm 51 and what God has to say there.
But I have this illustration from a Russian story that I read some time back.
It's about a Russian military officer and prince
who, when learning that his fiancée had been the Tsar's mistress,
you know who the Tsar is, of course, had been the mistress of the Tsar the year before,
he called off his engagement, declared he was ready to kill the man,
if it weren't for the fact that he was his beloved Tsar,
and decided, in his words, to go into a monastery to get away from the world.
Now, once he's a monk and priest, seven years later,
he realizes that worldly temptations have a way of getting there into the monastery too.
So he becomes a hermit monk, not just an ordinary monk,
but he goes off into the wilderness.
I won't say desert because I don't think Russia has any.
Even out there in the wilderness, the world had a way of coming to him.
As it happened, a woman who found him attractive,
he was, after all, a handsome prince in his earlier days,
came right to his cell.
And I'll spare you the details.
But she just practically flung herself on this monk
and offering herself to him.
Now, on that occasion, strict discipline,
even going so far as to chop off a finger with an axe, worked.
But when a second opportunity came along,
just not too many years later,
his disciplines didn't serve him, and he gave in.
Now, that story was told by Leo Tolstoy.
He's no special authority for us because,
well, he invented his own form of Christianity,
which has parts of it which are helpful,
but parts of it which aren't.
But I think his basic point here,
that the ascetic way of dealing with sin is a dead end.
His basic point is right.
Because all he can say to us is,
just try really, really hard.
And then if that doesn't work,
well, just try harder.
And apart from the ascetic way,
you can probably think with me of other ways
of dealing with the fact of sin.
There's this, let's call it the libertine way,
where we really deny that sin is a problem
and we just go on sinning.
It's not a problem.
Then there's,
a little bit better than the libertine way,
there's the permissive way,
where we accept that sin is a problem,
but we deny its devastating effect on us.
And the fundamental issue with each of these
can be looked at from different angles.
But I want you to consider with me
what it says about the image of God in each case.
In the first case,
God is a God who really spends his time weighing our merits,
as we have it in the prayer book,
where we ask him not to.
We pray that he not weigh our merits,
but that he pardon our offenses.
That is,
he finally accepts us into his kingdom
in this ascetic way,
if our spiritual struggle
turns out to be just a little bit heavier
than that container that we have
that's full of sin.
We're born again into his kingdom,
finally,
if we deserve it.
In the second case,
he's a fickle God,
because while it seems
there's some sort of moral standard,
well,
it turns out that there isn't.
And in the third case,
he's really that forgetful old granddad.
I get to be a granddad a lot these days
around my grandchildren living next door.
And,
well,
I could play the part
of the forgetful old granddad if I want.
Let everything slide.
the forgetful old granddad
who has boundaries in principles,
in principle,
I should say,
but who in practice
just keeps blurring them
or letting,
letting us blur them.
So,
let's consider God's way
of dealing with sin
as we learn about it
in Psalm 51.
And not just Psalm 51,
but,
but the story that's behind it
as told in 2 Samuel 11 to 12.
You're welcome to keep an eye
on that passage too.
I just want to
hit,
hit the main points of that.
One spring evening,
when kings,
we read,
are supposed to be out fighting,
David finds himself
there in the security of his palace.
He said to his nephew,
Joab,
I think,
you know,
I'm going to let you go out
and fight the Ammonites.
And so,
David is there
confidently
surveying his realm
there from,
from the high point
of the high,
the roof of his palace.
Now,
had he had on his mind
what he wrote in Psalm 19,
for instance,
he,
he would have been considering
how great the,
how,
how the heavens declare God's glory,
you know,
there from the heights
of his palace.
had he had even the next Psalm
on his mind,
he would have been
giving thanks
for numerous victories
in battle.
And we read in Psalm 20,
some trust in chariots
and some in horses,
but we trust in the name
of the Lord our God.
He could have had
either of these things
or many other things
on his mind,
but he,
he had put those thoughts
to the side
and had opted instead
to focus on Bathsheba.
And from there,
I'm almost certain
that everybody here
knows what happened.
So here,
here's just the bullet points.
King makes the wife
of another man
sleep with him
and she gets pregnant.
King eliminates
the inconvenience
of the husband.
She comes to be
King's wife.
King imagines
that he's done
a great cover-up job.
Well, at least
until Nathan
pays him a visit
and we don't know
how soon.
We don't know
going from
chapter 11
to 12
what kind of
time lapse
there's been.
Maybe it's been a month,
maybe it's been a year,
maybe more.
But anyway,
Nathan pays him a visit
and Nathan
tells David
this story
to entertain a guest.
A certain rich man
could not be bothered
to slaughter
one of his own
many animals
that he owned.
So he took instead
the lamb
of a certain poor man
and took that lamb
and cared for it.
Sorry,
the man
who had cared
for this animal
as if it were
his own child.
At first,
of course,
David
doesn't realize
that he's
in that parable.
He doesn't even know
it's a parable
and that he's
a character in it.
And yet,
consider the power
of that parable
in God's hands
as told by Nathan
because
it brings David
to declare
the just
verdict himself.
As the Lord lives,
that man
who took,
who stole
that lamb,
that man
deserves to die.
2 Samuel 12, 5.
And so,
once the penny drops,
David's sin
is made plain.
And on one level,
it's a theft,
isn't it?
He's guilty
of theft.
And that act
was bound up
with adultery
and murder.
But in a more
profound sense,
David's problem
was one
of idolatry.
We can say this
because there's
something
that far
surpasses
the evil
done to other
mortals
and it's his
sin against God.
In 2 Samuel 12, 13,
we read this,
then David said
to Nathan,
I have sinned
against the Lord.
In a moment
of complacency,
David hadn't
just failed
to look
in the other
direction.
He had failed
to keep
his eyes
on God.
And as a
consequence,
God allowed
him to
experience
that direct
link
that's there
between
covetousness,
sexual sin,
and loss
of fellowship
with God.
Now,
if you wonder
why these
three things
in particular
have a way
of sort of
being bound
up together,
consider Hebrews
13, 4, and 5.
This stood out
to me as I was
considering the
passage and
you see these
themes come
together.
Marriage should
be honored
by all
and the
marriage bed
kept pure
for God
will judge
the adulterer
and all
the sexually
immoral.
Keep your
lives free
from the
love of
money and
be content
with what
you have
because God
has said,
never will
I leave
you,
never will
I forsake
you.
All three
of those
are in
there.
Loss
of intimacy
with God,
loss of
contentment
with the
things we
have,
loss of
sexual
purity.
Start with
any of
those and
you'll come
to the
others.
You can
almost count
on it.
Now I'm
not sure
that the
challenges
of our
own day
make things
any better
or in
fact any
worse,
I suppose,
for us
than David's
day did
for him.
The human
race has
hardly made
great moral
strides
since his
time.
And while
we're
daily
bombarded
with images
and promises
of all
kinds of
wonderful
experiences
that we
deserve,
in actual
fact,
we know
that it
takes very
little to
distract us.
Some
things we've
definitely
become good
at in
our day,
we reduce
sin to
mistakes and
indiscretions.
Notice our
language about
sin sometimes,
how we
downsize it.
we tend
to focus
on the
evil that's
out there
in the
world rather
than on
the hardness
of heart
and lack
of gratitude
that's in
us and
in all
our plans
and in
our imaginations.
And even
when we
acknowledge
sin,
we say
we're in
no worse
shape than
the next
guy.
Well,
so what's
the good
news?
And that's
what we want
to hear
today.
What's the
good news?
Well,
let's look
at the
gospel as
it's set
forth in
Psalm 51.
We'll look
at it under
three headings.
We'll see
what David
learns about
sin itself.
We'll learn
about the
remedy and
we'll learn
about the
blessings of
repenting or
of repentance.
So what does
David learn
about sin
itself?
I think he
learns two
things,
at least.
That he
hasn't simply
broken a
rule or
committed a
crime.
And B,
that the
effect of
sin is
devastating.
He hasn't
simply broken
a rule and
he learns that
sin is
devastating.
In verse
four,
David says,
against you,
you only have
I sinned and
done what is
evil in your
sight.
Nathan's
rebuke has
shown him that
apart from
stealing, he's
committed murder,
and that apart
from murdering a
man, he's
committed an
offense against
God.
And what's the
nature of that
offense?
It's there in
Nathan's
question.
I don't
know if you
recall back to
that narrative,
but Nathan
says to him,
why have you
despised the
word of the
Lord to do
what's evil in
his sight?
See what's
fundamental there.
Why have you
despised the
word of the
Lord to do
what's evil in
his sight?
In other
words, Nathan
is saying, in
doing this evil
thing, what
you've really
done is you've
exposed the
fact that you
found God's
word detestable.
evil.
Now, what a
diagnosis, what a
thing to say to
a man who is so
used to delighting
in God's word.
And what a
statement about
us, who know
so well and how
easily that
pendulum swings
from side to
side.
If we've
learned that the
essence of sin is
the rejection of
God's word, what
we learn from
there is how
extensive it is,
how far it
reaches.
And here David
really spells out
the human
predicament that
we're in.
Behold, I was
brought forth in
iniquity, verse
five, and in
sin did my
mother conceive
me.
Well, the idea
of sharing in
the fall of
Adam is not
that we just
copy Adam and
Eve.
We just copy
their sin.
Because in that
case, we wouldn't
really need a
savior, would we?
We just need a
good teacher to
imitate, a model
to follow.
But the problem
we see clearly in
this psalm is
more severe.
We inherit
Adam's guilt.
Now, some
traditions don't
like to speak so
much of guilt,
but it's there.
And I think the
remedy has to
get to the heart
of the matter.
For as in
Adam all die,
says Paul in
1 Corinthians 15
22, so also
in Christ shall
all be made
alive.
In Adam all
die.
So from what
sin is and how
extensive it is,
we see what sin
does.
Have a look with
me there in
verse eight, if
you will, and
following.
In verse eight,
David declares
that sin
deprives us
of joy and
gladness.
How true
that is, isn't
it?
Verse 10
implies that sin
leaves our hearts
filthy and our
spirits without
direction and
confused.
And then to
complete the
picture, verses
11 and 12,
remind us what
sin feels like.
that's why, well,
we feel far from
God without the
least bit of
will to obey.
And that's why
David pleads,
cast me not
away from your
presence and
take not your
Holy Spirit from
me.
Restore to me the
joy of your
salvation and
uphold me with a
willing spirit.
This is wonderful
how Nathan's,
how God's justice
and his mercy is
displayed in
Nathan's ministry
to David and
how God's mercy
and love for us
is displayed in
the words that
name our problem
and give us
words and give
us the language
to turn to God
in repentance.
If that's really
where sin leaves
us, then we can
understand why
Paul says that
the wages of
sin is death,
Romans 6,
23, and why
the libertine
or the
permissive way
really that
way or the
ways they
really don't
deal with the
problem.
They really get
us nowhere.
So what's the
remedy?
Well, that's
part two.
Well, it comes
down to a
denial that
the performance
of good works,
the way of
just trying
harder and a
little harder
after that will
fix the problem.
Where do we
see that in
the psalm?
Well, it's
there in
verses 16 and
17.
For you, you
will not
delight in
sacrifice, or
I would give
it.
You will not
be pleased with
a burnt
offering.
The sacrifices
of God, I
hear this, are
a broken
spirit, a
broken and
contrite heart,
O God, you
will not
despise.
Under the
old covenant,
as we know,
temple sacrifices
were still
the practice,
and we see
that in the
last verse.
But here
David is
already teaching
us, isn't
he, that
external things,
not that they're
nothing, but
they're of no
use at all if
there is no
heart change.
And that
takes us to
the solution
to our
predicament.
Look back at
verse 10.
create in me
a clean
heart, O
God, and
renew a
right spirit
within me.
It's our
inner parts,
it's our
inmost parts
that God is
concerned about
because the
first part of
verse 6 says
it, behold
you delight in
truth in the
inward being.
The only
kind of change
that really
lasts is the
kind that
starts there
with the
heart.
So as we
see in verse
8, once we
acknowledge our
sin and we
repent, we
can again
rejoice.
We find the
way of
rejoicing,
having repented,
and it's such
freedom to
know that and
to experience
it.
Oz Guinness,
one of my
favorite thinkers,
is fond of
saying that
contrast is the
mother of
clarity.
He likes that
phrase, and I
think we can
appreciate what
a joyful thing
it is to
return to
delighting in
God's word by
considering how
dark,
things can
become when
we ignore it
deliberately and
persistently.
Let me illustrate.
Some years
back, my
wife, Stella,
and I, we
attended a
very post,
let's call it
post-Christian
funeral.
We were
living in
England.
Our friend's
mother had
died, and I
say that the
funeral was
post-Christian
because it
recalled at
least some
of the
forms of
Christian
burial, so
we had
certain fragments
of it, if
you like.
We were
taken into
the woods
where there
was a
little chapel,
and from
a pulpit,
family and
loved ones
spoke of
her life as
an exemplary
mother.
the urn
containing her
ashes were
placed on
something that
appeared to
be an
altar or a
table, and
after the
formal part of
the ceremony,
her immediate
family took,
just her
immediate family
took that
urn and
buried it
outside beside
a tree as
a symbol of
well, what?
The meaning
wasn't clear,
and that's
where the
post-Christian
element came
in.
We didn't
learn why the
ashes were
buried, for
instance.
Our friend
said that
they all
stood there
in silence
as they put
the ashes
in the
ground.
So we
never learned
why they
needed to
be buried
specifically,
as opposed
to, say,
just tossing
them into
the river.
The faith
of his
mother was
never
mentioned,
and neither
was there any
word about
the one
who came
and died
on the
cross for
our redemption
so that we
might know
the hope of
eternal life.
All these
Christian fragments
were there
somehow, and
yet God's
word was
never heard.
No promise,
no hope,
no promise
of new
creation,
of resurrection,
of life
with God
through the
cross and
repentance.
So it was a
doubly sad,
even dark
occasion,
that was
made darker
still by the
pleasant and
fresh surroundings
out there in
the woods.
It made me
think of our
cultural rejection
today of the
God who speaks,
of who actually
speaks,
and doesn't
leave it to
us to make up
truth as we
go along.
It's as if
God's word
had been
collapsed into
all words,
into any word
in the end,
so that there
would be no
word really
that ever
comes to us
from outside
our own
resources.
It made me
think of how
post-Christian
we will
become if
we, as J.I.
Packer has
written, if we
embrace a
theology that
knows nothing
about the
God who
speaks to us
in Scripture,
that knows
nothing of the
sin that's there
in the human
heart and mind.
the remedy
then is with
God, and it's
full of the
mercy that
flows from
his grace.
And we can
be confident
that with
Jesus the
burden is
light, because
that's what
he's promised.
We hear that
often as we
break bread,
and as we
hear the
comfortable
words.
So we come
in the third
place to the
benefits of
repentance.
They're spelled
out.
Some of them
are spelled
out there
in the rest
of the
psalm.
The blessings
that are
ours as we
ask God to
cleanse us
and renew
us.
I've mentioned
the joy and
the gladness
that come in
verse 8, and
that's linked
to an
awareness that
we're walking
with God once
again with
the assurance
of our
salvation in
verse 12.
But there
are at least
three more
blessings that
are promised.
See, if you
can see this
in verse 13,
the first is
that knowledge
of God will
spread to
others.
David says,
then I will
teach transgressors
your ways,
and sinners
will return to
you.
In other words,
since you and
I have experienced
God's forgiveness
and have come to
a deeper
understanding of
his ways,
this will help us
then to lead
others to him
as we explain
God's way
to them.
We'll see
lives transformed.
And the
second thing is
that God will
be glorified.
Verses 14 and
15 say this,
Deliver me from
blood guiltiness,
O God, O God
of my salvation,
and my tongue
will do what?
My tongue will
sing aloud of
your righteousness.
O Lord,
open my lips
and my mouth
will declare
your praise.
So with our
voices we'll
praise the God
who saves
publicly.
God will be
glorified.
The third is
that we'll
have a renewed
desire to see
God's city,
his church,
in fact,
flourish.
Verse 18,
in verse 18
David prays this,
Do good to
Zion,
in your good
pleasure.
Build up the
walls of
Jerusalem.
As hearts are
renewed,
so we see
signs and
even anticipation
of God's
kingdom that
is forever.
What really
struck me about
these three
blessings is
how they point
us to Jesus,
to his work
as prophet,
as priest,
and as king,
that threefold
work of our
Savior,
and to the
way that by
grace we
are privileged
to participate
in that work
as we remain
in him.
Where do we
see this?
Well, in
Christ who's
prophet,
what do we
do?
We declare
and teach
God's will
in the world
so that others
too will come
to trust in
him.
In Christ
who's our
high priest,
we offer a
sacrifice of
praise as a
people,
declaring his
salvation.
And in Christ
who's our king,
we do works
that build up
his church.
That's what
kings do.
Kings gain
victory.
Kings protect.
Kings defend.
Kings build up.
And here we are
privileged in
Christ to see
the church built
up, his holy
city, and so
to look for
his kingdom
to be extended
throughout the
earth.
And it's there,
I think, that we
can answer that
lingering question
that some of
you, perhaps
all of you,
might be
puzzled over
right now.
That lingering
question that
comes up when we
think about that
inner struggle,
that constant
struggle that we
experience, that
struggle with sin.
And we can put
the question like
this.
Paul wrestles
with it in
Romans, but
we can ask
this.
If we've
really been set
free from
sin, as
Paul says in
Romans 6 and
6-7, in fact,
then why do we
continue in sin?
What's the point
of being set
free if we
continue to
sin?
Now, I know
I'm going
against a
certain tradition,
and it happens
to be a
tradition that
was very much
in the air
when I was
growing up
and in my
family background,
when I say
that I don't
think in this
life we're
ever sanctified
wholly or
completely.
Some traditions
long to see
that happen,
and I think
they've always
been concerned
to see that
salvation is,
I should say,
discipleship is
taken very
seriously, and
that's important,
but I think it
has the tendency
to confuse the
things God has
seen fit to do
in a moment
as when he
regenerates the
human heart
and what he's
seen fit to do
gradually as
when he
sanctifies us
by the same
spirit fitting
us for heaven.
We leave it to
God as to why
he has done it
that way.
He's the
author of
salvation.
He knows
what he's
doing because,
in fact, we
know that he
could do, if
he so
choose, to do
a whole bunch
of things
instantly.
He could have
turned Eden
into paradise
in a second,
in a moment.
He could put
us as his
people permanently
on the mountain
of transfiguration
so that there'd be
no more longing
and waiting for
his coming.
He could do,
he could heal
all the world's
diseases and
conflicts in a
flash, but he
hasn't.
And this doesn't
remove the
seriousness of
sin, our
predicament, but
it does teach us
to depend on
God.
It teaches us to
turn constantly to
his word and to
depend on the
Holy Spirit who
uses us to
further Christ's
kingdom.
him.
And along the
way to the
promised land, we
learn this, that
it's the awareness
itself.
Have you been
aware, have you
been made aware
that you have
done wrong, that
what you've done
is an offense
against God?
The awareness
itself is what
God uses to
bring us back
to him.
And once we're
back in the race,
as justified
sinners, we're
given boldness to
teach others.
That's why David
can say that
then he will
proclaim, then he
will share with
others what God
has done.
Then we have the
joy and boldness
to tell others that
God is a good and
gracious God and
rich in mercy.
So let me end
with a challenge.
As we think of the
basic human need to
find peace with
God, after all,
that's what he
made us for.
He made us for a
fellowship, to be at
peace with him, the
options for dealing
with sin really come
down to three.
Here I'm coming
back to that theme
I started with.
We can go the way
of that Russian
monk.
We can go that
rigorous, ascetic
way, try to get
away from the world
and all its
temptations and
distractions.
But what do we
find in that case?
Well, we find that
relocation, you know
I've relocated a lot
through our line of
work.
Relocation of the
body does not
necessarily translate
into a reformation
of the heart, which
is what we need
most.
We can go the
opposite way.
We can take that
broad and easy way
that doesn't take sin
into proper account.
And here we adopt a
philosophy that says
something more or
less like this.
You know,
discipleship and all
that sort of thing
is really for those
super Christians,
those pastors and
those missionaries
who are called to
the front lines.
Surely God doesn't
hold the rest of us
to the same
standard.
At any rate, if he
does turn out to do
that, we can take
our faith seriously
once we come into
that final stretch
of the race.
Well, there are at
least two problems
with that second
way.
If we're in Christ,
we've been made
new.
We simply can't
remain in sin
because, as John
says, if we say we
have fellowship with
God while we walk
in darkness, while we
walk in darkness, we
lie and do not
practice the truth.
The second problem
with the broad
way is that it's
just plain
irresponsible.
It's kind of
making us think that
sin just affects
me, right?
But when we let
ourselves off the
hook persistently
and deliberately,
we're hurting
others.
As David learned
so well, sin has
that wider family
and social impact
than we can
imagine.
It started when he
decided to watch
things from the
sidelines and not
go to battle.
The third option,
and the only one
for you and me,
if we have truly
known God's mercy
and have given
our lives to him,
is this.
Don't despise
God's word,
but instead,
and here's the
wonderful thing,
it's not just don't
despise God's word,
but here's the
positive command.
Delight in it.
This is the same
as giving thanks,
as simply giving
thanks, and
through that
gratitude, we
find the strength
to flee from
idols.
And it will be
the only way
to truly look
forward to the
promised city
of God as we
long with joy
and with patient
hope for the
kingdom that is
coming.
So shall we pray?
And I ask you
to bow your
heads there where
you are, and we'll
pray together,
using the psalm to
kind of help
fashion our
prayer.
According to
your steadfast
love, O God,
have mercy on
us.
According to
your abundant
mercy, blot out
our transgressions
and make us
clean.
When we face
temptation, help
us not only to
look the other
way, but to you
and to your
word.
By your spirit
working in us,
keep us in the
race.
remind us that
we're here but
for a moment, and
grant us joy and
gladness as we
look to Jesus, the
author and finisher
of our faith.
For it's in his
name that we pray.
Amen.