A Broken-Hearted Prayer of Repentance (Psalm 51) Powerful Prayers Southern Hills Baptist Church May 22, 2016

INTRODUCTION Welcome! Happy Sunday! I hope you have had a good week! I am always happy to be together on Sunday night, opening up God’s Word together. What a joy to be a child of God, gathered with my brothers and sisters in the faith, opening up our Father’s book to learn from His infinite and soul-mending wisdom. It is good to be here.

Powerful Prayers Series If you have your Bibles go ahead and start by turning to Psalm 51, put your finger there and also open up 2 Samuel 11. We will start in 2 Samuel momentarily as we continue in our series Powerful Prayers, where we have been studying some very meaningful prayers that we ought to be able to relate to and learn from. Tonight we will be studying a Broken-Hearted Prayer of Repentance from David.

Centrality of Change to the Christian As we start to think about the matter of repentance, let me ask you, • Would you say that you are committed to growth in your personal walk with Jesus? • Would you say that you are the kind of person that seeks growth and change in your life? As Christians we should answer this question quickly by saying, “Yes,” right? Change is at the center of the Christian life, right? We come to Jesus because we are a sinner in need of saving. There is something wrong with us. Sin has infected us. We need change, right?

This is what Paul commands in Romans 12 when he says…

Romans 12:2 [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is one of the reasons our church’s mission statement has the word change in it. Does anyone know our church’s mission statement?

“We are a family of believers who exist to glorify God to help people experience life change through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Assuming Someone Knows It: Well done! There will be a prize for you after service!

In the Event No One Knows It: Shame! Shame! Shame! Just kidding, we don’t say it often enough apparently. :)

Why the Focus on Change? Part of our focus as a church family is to help one another change through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why is that? Because that is the call of the Gospel. Jesus calls us to follow after Him and forsake the sin in our lives.

Change Starts with Repentance (Humanly Speaking) Where does change start? It starts with the work of the Holy Spirit, but from a human perspective it starts with repentance from sin, which means repentance is no small thing in the Christian life. Here is how the great Christian Reformer John Calvin said it…

"Repentance is not merely the start of the Christian life; it is the Christian life." -John Calvin

Here is the problem, many Christians don’t get this. Many Christians see repentance as something that happens at the start of their Christian life, but not something that should play a role in their daily lives.

Repenting Generically, Not Specifically Many don’t have a problem with confessing their overall imperfection when they are making a profession of faith in Jesus, because who is perfect, right? But when it comes to growing in the specifics of life and repenting of specific sinful behavior the whole matter of repentance has become a bit too personal and starts to infringe on their lives.

Blame-Shifting Or in the case of others repentance, isn’t necessary because their sin isn’t their fault. • They had a rough childhood • They only did this because so and so treated them this way • They didn’t have a choice because XYZ happened

Blind from Comparisons For others, repentance is rare because they never see the sin in their lives because they are too busy finding in the lives of others. Is this you? Are you quick to find fault in others and pick them apart in your mind or behind their back? It is hard to see areas where you need to repent when you are making a list of where others need to change. And they have decided that they are not all that bad in comparison to so and so, so they are doing pretty well.

Hopefully you hear these examples of blame shifting and spiritual blindness and cringe, hoping that they are not staples in your spiritual struggles.

Get Good at Repentance Church, we need to get good at confessing and repenting of our sins before God. Now, repentance involves more than prayer, but it never involves less than prayer. Prayer is the starting point of repentance. With this in mind, tonight we are going to study what is likely the most well known prayer of confession and repentance in the Scriptures, Psalm 51.

CONTEXT: DAVID AND BATHSHEBA Now to really appreciate this Psalm we have to understand 2 Samuel 11. Listen carefully to what led up to David’s Broken-Hearted Prayer of Repentance.

2 Samuel 11-12:7a [1] In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

[2] It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. [3] And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” [4] So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. [5] And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

[6] So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. [7] When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. [8] Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. [9] But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. [10] When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” [11] Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” [12] Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. [13] And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

[14] In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. [15] In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” [16] And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. [17] And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. [18] Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. [19] And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, [20] then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? [21] Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

[22] So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. [23] The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. [24] Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” [25] David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”

[26] When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. [27] And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

[1] And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. [2] The rich man had very many flocks and herds, [3] but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. [4] Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” [5] Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, [6] and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

[7] Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

The Bible: Showing Us the Ugly Side of Heroes This isn’t usually the side of David that we think about when we think about the great King David, is it? This is something that is wonderful about the Bible though. It doesn’t pull punches. While David is Israel’s most beloved king they still recorded his darkest moments of dereliction of duty, lust, adultery, lies, manipulation, and murder. Scenes like this only reinforce my trust in the Scriptures!

Dereliction and Lust Again, this is an ugly story. Our text tells us it was spring, when kings were at war, but where is David? Is he out with his troops? No, we read he was at home on his couch. Something isn’t right here. David isn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing and we now see him making matters worse when he sees Bathsheba on her rooftop bathing. Rather than looking away he lusts after her and sends his people to bring her to the palace.

Abuse and Adultery I am not going to go so far as some say and claim that David raped Bathsheba. We don’t have enough facts to make that claim outright, but I will say Bathsheba was put in a really hard situation. Her king called for her, was she going to deny her king? She should have, but there was unquestionably a lot of pressure on her and she may have even feared for her life.

Attempted Cover Up So David abused his power and slept with another man’s wife. David’s sin didn’t remain a secret though as Bathsheba became pregnant. So David tries to cover it up by bringing Uriah home from battle, giving Uriah opportunity to sleep with his wife so that he would think the child is his. Uriah, being a man of honor and integrity, chooses not to enjoy any of the comforts of home while his men suffer on the battlefield.

Murder David’s cover up fails so plan be is to eliminate Uriah. He has Uriah placed on the frontlines of where the most action was and instructs the commander of that battalion to pull back so that Uriah will be exposed and overtaken. That is exactly what happens. Uriah dies at the cold-hearted, murderous calculations of King David.

The Fully Seen, Secret Sin of David David’s sin is kept a secret. Wait, no it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. God saw it all. David may have hid it from many, but it wasn’t hidden from God. Remember that Brothers and Sisters, you can expertly plan your sin in secret, but it never happens in secret. Your God sees it all.

You Are the Man! God, hating injustice and loving David, sends His prophet Nathan to David to confront him over his sin. Nathan wisely presents a made up situation that presents an analogy of David and his sin. David doesn’t see the connection, but sees the injustice presented and is enraged. He tells Nathan that the man he has describes deserves death. Nathan replies with the famous words, “You are the man!”

Exposed and Broken David’s sin is now exposed. • His heart has been pricked. • Conviction sets in. • The wickedness of his actions haunts him. • He feels the weight of his sin. • He understands how dirty he is. • He is broken. • He is ruined and devastated. • He knows he has wronged many, but most of all God.

It is out of this heart that David prayers Psalm 51. Let’s now turn our attention to this Powerful Prayer of Broken-Hearted Repentance.

Psalm 51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. [1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! [3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. [4] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. [5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. [6] Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. [7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. [8] Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. [9] Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. [10] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. [11] Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. [13] Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. [14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. [15] O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. [16] For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. [18] Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; [19] then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

What I want to do with the remainder of our time is consider this prayer and what it has to teach us about how we pray when we are starting down the road of repentance.

Too Much Truth Let me share upfront that I love reading this passage, but as a pastor, as a teacher, this passage is a tough one. Something I can struggle with at times is leaving truth on the table. This passage is packed with beautiful truth and incredibly important implications for our lives. I want to get to all of it, yet alas, we only have an hour and I could probably use 4 hours. So what we will do is limit our focus. This is hard for me to do. I hate to leave truth from a passage on the table, but it gives us good reason to come back and I am thankful for that. So what we are going to focus on are the components of David’s Broken-Hearted Prayer of Repentance.

LEARNING FROM DAVID’S BROKEN-HEARTED PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

1. THE RESTING PLACE OF REPENTANCE: THE MERCY AND LOVE OF GOD Take note of where David opens up this prayer. Listen to verse 1 again…

Psalm 51:1 [1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

The basis of David’s prayer is God’s mercy and love. This is so important for us to see. We need to not only see it but we need to know it and embrace it in our own lives.

Who Was David at this Point? Who was David at this point? He was a bad King. He neglected his duty to his men to stay at home and lay about. He was also an adulterer. He slept with a woman who was not his wife and even worse was married to another man, a man who was faithfully serving him on the battlefield that very day. It gets worse, his adultery was abusive. King David used his power as king to put Bathsheba in an incredibly hard situation. He was an abusive King in this moment. He was also a deceiver, a liar, and a manipulator, working hard to cover up the pregnancy of Bathsheba. He cared about himself more than others to the point where he was willing to hide the truth the keep up his reputation and avoid being caught in this serious sin. So he was controlled by selfishness and pride. We see this selfishness and pride reach its zenith when David plots to kill an innocent man just to hide his sin. David is a murderer.

What Does David Deserve? This is who David is… a neglectful, abusive, adulterating, lying, selfish, murderer. What does a man like this deserve? • What should God give him? • Could he ever deserve to stand before God in His presence? • Should he ever enjoy the goodness of God again? • How could David ever go about making things right with God? • How could David find forgiveness? • Where could David find hope once again? There is only one hope for David and other sinners… the Mercy and Love of our God.

Calling Upon His Mercy Listen to how the Puritan Richard Baxter described this…

“O Lord our God, how excellent is your name in all the world! Your glorious majesty is excellent, but that brings me nothing; your justice is excellent, but that brings me nothing. It is your mercy that must do me good, and therefore your other excellencies I adore, but this I invocate. To invoke your justice, I dare not; your glory, I cannot’, but your mercy, I both dare and can.” -Richard Baxter

What Baxter is saying is that it is God’s mercy and love that are our greatest comforts. God’s glory is wonderful, but what does it do for me other than reveal how far from God I really am. God’s justice is perfect, but it condemns me rightly. It is God’s mercy and love that stoop down to us and offer us hope.

Defining Mercy What do we mean when we talk about God’s mercy? This is probably an important question to answer since we are saying we should rest in God’s mercy, right? God’s mercy is His withholding from us what we truly deserve. God’s mercy is abundant and is manifest with every breath we breath. You see, if God were to exact the fullness of His justice right now everybody who has ever lived, save Jesus, would be swallowed up in God’s righteous judgment. That is what our sin has earned us. Yes, God is merciful. His mercy is seen in that we have life. God stays His righteous judgment. He will judge all sin one day, but He mercifully allows us this life.

More than that God’s mercy is extended in a special way to those who have put their faith in Jesus. His wrath was satisfied in the death of Jesus.

David Understood God’s Mercy David knew what he deserved for his sin, but he also knew that the God that he served was a God of abundant mercy. He knew that he could go and cast himself at the feet of God, seeking mercy, and there was hope because his God loves to show mercy to the broken.

Mercy as the Covenant Foundation Listen to what the Scriptures testify of God’s mercy…

Exodus 34:6-7a [6] The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, [7] keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”

This was God speaking to Moses after Israel had broken their covenant. Moses was pleading for his people to be given another chance. Why does God renew His covenant with Israel? He is merciful. He didn’t give Israel what they deserved.

Mercies Never Come to an End Listen to how Jeremiah says this…

Lamentations 3:22-24 [22] The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; [23] they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

God’s mercies never come to an end. Wow! God’s mercy is infinite! This should inspire hope within you brothers and sisters. This is why we can go to God in prayer repenting of our sins. God’s mercy is infinite and is new every morning!

Love – Hesed – Covenantly Faithful Love David also says he comes to God seeking repentance resting in God’s love. The Hebrew word for Love in this verse is “Hesed,” which has a more rich and full meaning than our English word love. Hesed means a covenantly faithful love, meaning that God’s love will be forever faithful and steadfast because it is based on His covenant. There is nothing more sure, there is nothing more certain, there is nothing more guaranteed, than God’s covenants. To tie God’s love to His covenant faithfulness is to assure us that it is guaranteed to be there for us and never waiver. If God’s love left His children it would be a violation of His covenant, shaming His name. He can’t, He won’t allow this, His glory is on the line!

So David is calling on God’s Hesed, His covenant faithful love, a love that God has guaranteed His children.

Delights in Hesed Listen to how Micah describes this love…

Micah 7:18-19 [18] Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. [19] He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Micah says that it is because of God’s Hesed that God will not hold on to His anger forever and forgive.

David’s Only Hope – Mercy and Love David starts here in his prayer of repentance because God’s love and mercy are his only hope to find forgiveness. Brothers and Sisters, these attributes of God need to be truths that you hold to tightly. If you don’t know the love and mercy of God you will be crushed by hopelessness.

Ever Been Hopeless Over Your Sin? Have you ever had sin in your life and told yourself that you were just too big of a screw up or failure for God to be interested in you? Maybe you have told yourself that your sin is simply too big now and it has gone beyond where God will forgive.

God’s Mercy and Love are BIGGER! I think most Christians have thought these things before. These kinds of thoughts RIGHTLY understand the serious and heinous nature of sin, however the GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATE the ceaseless mercy of God and covenant-faithful love of God. They runs deeper than we will ever know. God’s mercy and love run deeper than our sin ever has. I don’t say this to minimize your sin. Your sin is more serious than you understand. Your sin is cosmic treason against the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I say this to help us to begin scratching the surface of understanding God’s mercy and love. It is bigger!

Never Too Far Gone Listen again to what Jeremiah wrote of God…

Brothers and Sisters, hold on to these truths. You are never too far gone to find mercy and love from God. When you are praying broken-hearted prayers of repentance, start by falling upon and resting in the great mercy and love of God.

2. THE HEART OF REPENTANCE: BROKENNESS The next thing I want to look at in David’s prayer of repentance is the heart that is behind this prayer, it is a heart that has been broken as he wrestles with what his sin means and has done. Listen to what David says that indicates his brokenness, starting in verse 3…

Psalm 51:3 [3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Ever Before Him – Haunting David, says his sin is ever before him. This paints a picture of a burdensome thought that weighs on you, a thought that haunts, a thought that you can’t shake. Have you ever been riddled with guilt that nagged and gnawed away at you internally?

Listen to the other ways that David describes himself…

Psalm 51:7 [7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Unclean and Dirty The fact that David is asking for cleansing speaks to how he sees himself as dirty. Have you felt this way? Not only do you know that you are unclean before God, but you just feel dirty because of the sin that you had been involved in.

David goes on in verse 12…

Psalm 51:12 [12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Joy Gone The joy that David once had in the Lord was gone. Sin will bring pleasure for moments, but it leaves you feeling unsatisfied and empty, even alone and joyless. It leaves you feeling hungry and restless. You have had that feeling before, haven’t you? It is often here where we find ourselves regretting our sin the most, wishing we could go back to where we used to be with God, enjoying His sweet fellowship.

Some Neglect Reality When Viewing Mercy We have spent a fair amount of time up to this point talking about God’s ceaseless mercy and covenant faithful love, which is foundational, but these hope-infused truths about who God is shouldn’t cause us to negate or ignore our sin. There are many who stare so intently upon the mercy of God that they tell themselves that their actions, their sin, doesn’t matter because God will forgive it.

Sin Should Break Us It is true God will forgive those who earnestly seek His forgiveness, however our sin should bother us, it should break us, it should leave us in ruins. • We shouldn’t be ok with the fact that we have rebelled against God. • We shouldn’t be able to emotionally detach ourselves from the sin that we willingly partook in that God had to suffer and die for to purchase our salvation. • When we sin we are telling God that we know better than Him. • When we sin we are telling God that we can find more satisfaction and joy outside of Him. • When we sin we are telling God that we have something better than Him. Can a Christian really do those things, recognize them, and go unphased? They shouldn’t be able to. Brokenness should exist.

The Sacrifice God Wants David goes on in verse 16 and 17 to share the role that brokenness over sin should play in the life of the Believer…

Psalm 51:16-17 [16] For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Wow! God isn’t interested in your external behavior if it is detached from a broken and contrite heart. Pleasing God isn’t as simple as changing your behavior. This means that confession without conviction is empty. Don’t fool yourself, believing that mere words to God constitutes real repentance. Words alone mean nothing, that isn’t the sacrifice that God wants. He wants more. He wants more than anything you can say or do. What does He want? He wants you!

Brokenness Reveals Your Heart The extent to which you are broken over your sin reveals the extent that God rules your heart. If your sin doesn’t really affect you in any way it reveals that your heart doesn’t belong to God. A heart that is broken over sin reveals a genuine love for God. This is why God delights in hearts that are broken and contrite over their sin. They are His! He rules in them!

Do You Break Over Your Sin? So let me ask you, do you experience brokenness over your sin or do you mechanically walk through the motions of asking for forgiveness? When you seek God’s forgiveness is more like a chore that you know must be complete or a heavy burden that you desperately want to unload? Real repentance is accompanied by brokenness and conviction.

The Holy Spirits Work With this said, I am not encouraging you to manufacture emotions. Let’s understand something about the broken and contrite heart that God looks for. Where does this kind of brokenness come from? It is the work of the Spirit of God. Listen to what Jesus says of the work of the Holy Spirit…

John 16:7-8 [7] Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. [8] And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

Pray for Brokenness Conviction of sin, brokenness, ruin over sin, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. So if you don’t find yourself broken over your sin you ought to be praying to the Spirit to bring this conviction. Jesus told us that this was what The Spirit has come to do, so seek Him out for it and surely He will bring conviction.

Don’t Go Through Motions What we have learned from David as we consider our own prayer lives is that we need to be careful not to merely go through the motions when seeking forgiveness of our sins. We need to bring more to God that mere words, we need to bring all of ourselves. • We need to bring hearts that understand the horror of sin before a holy God. • We need to bring hearts that have wrestled with what our actions say about who God is to us. • We need to bring hearts that have weighed the damage that sin causes. This kind of heart is going to be broken over its sin. Brokenness isn’t a state that the Christian need live in at all times. God does forgive and as He forgives we need to learn and move on, living for Him. But we must be broken over our sin when God reveals it to us.

Transition So far in David’s prayer we have seen how he rested in the mercy and love of God and was broken over his sin. What we see next is David’s admission in his prayer…

3. THE ADMISSION OF REPENTANCE: CONFESSING SIN The next thing we see in David’s prayer is his confession. We see it in a few places…

Psalm 51:3-4a, 14 [3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. [4] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, [14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

Not Enough To Feel Bad – Confess Sin It isn’t enough to feel bad over our sins, we need to confess them to God. Now, this is merely speculation, but I believe that this is one of many prayers that David prayed as he was wrestling with his sin and repenting. I would believe there were other prayers where he confessed his sin more straightforwardly to God, but even in the verse that we just read we hear confession of sin.

Knows His Sin He opens up by saying that he knows his sin. God has revealed it to him and that is what he is repenting over in this prayer.

Sinned Against God First He also confesses that before anyone else his sin was before God. Did he sin against others as well? Most certainly! Uriah, whom he killed, Bathsheba who he led and maybe even coerced into adultery, his army for abandoning them, his nation for his dereliction of duty. But before all of these people, sin is a direct attack against God. David knew this and confessed it.

Confessing Murder He also asked for deliverance from bloodguiltiness, which is a reference to the guilt that David had for the blood he had shed in killing Uriah. So here David is confessing the sin of murder to God.

Sacrifice of Words As I said a minute ago, it isn’t enough to simply feel bad for our sins, we need to confess them to God.

Hosea 14:1-2 [1] Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. [2] Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.

Did you catch how Hosea instructed Israel to repent before God? He said, take words. It is important to confess our sins as we seek forgiveness of them. John says it this way…

1 John 1:9 [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we confess our sins. Confession is a key aspect to seeking forgiveness and repenting.

Do You Confess Your Sins? Do you confess your sins to God? I know this can be a real struggle for some people. They tell themselves that God already knows their sins so there isn’t any real need to continue to drudge up the past because it only makes you feel bad.

There is a reason though, it is how God tells us to repent. Additionally, maybe feeling bad about your sin would be a good thing. Maybe you are not really broken over your sin yet. A broken and contrite heart has come to terms with its sin and would be scared off by the shame it would have to feel. Maybe you need to walk through the same of your sin before God so you will think twice when that temptation arises again tomorrow or next week.

Confess – Humble Yourself Let me encourage you, when you are seeking forgiveness from God, confess your sins specifically to Him. There is nothing that God doesn’t know. You are not hiding anything. He isn’t going to think less of you. In fact, we know from countless Scriptures that God loves humble hearts and exalts the humble. Be humble enough to confess your sins. Also know that God loves to forgive. We have already spoken of His endless love and ceaseless mercy. Confessing your sins only gives you greater opportunity to rest in that mercy and love.

4. THE REQUEST OF REPENTANCE: CLEANSING/FORGIVENESS The next thing that we see in David’s prayer of repentance is his request for cleansing or forgiveness.

Psalm 51:1-2, 7, 9-11 [1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! [7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. [9] Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. [10] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. [11] Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Understanding the Impact and Damage of Sin David uses so much imagery to express his need for forgiveness. • Blot out my sins • Wash me of my sins • Cleanse me of my sins • Scrub me of my sins • Don’t look up or see my sins This kind of imagery demonstrates that David understands the impact and damage that sin brings. Sin isn’t just a wrong action in a vacuum. It is an active attack against God, as David has already confessed. He knows he has wronged God so now he is asking God to forgive him, to remove the barrier that sin has built between him and God.

Fellowship Roadblock When I think of the impact of sin I think of Isaiah 59…

Isaiah 59:1-3 [1] Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; [2] but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. [3] For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.

Sin causes real damage to our relationship with God. We have wronged Him and our sin puts up a roadblock, separating us from God. Which is why we need His forgiveness. We need for God to remove our sin, to look past it, to wash it away.

Just and Justifier Through Jesus God has the power to do all of that and still be just because Jesus bore the wrath of God for our sins. So when we go to God in prayer asking for forgiveness, we are asking for God to look past our sins because His beloved Son has paid for them already.

Do You Understand the Impact/Damage of Your Sin? So the question I would ask you as we consider seeking forgiveness from God for our sin, is do you recognize the damage and impact that your sin has on your relationship with God? Do you understand your need for forgiveness and cleansing? Or is asking for forgiveness something you do because it is what is supposed to happen after you sin?

Summary Brothers and Sisters, sin is dangerous and it harms the most precious thing that we have in this life our fellowship, our communion with our Heavenly Father. When we fail and give into sin, let’s make sure we recognize the damage it has wrought and humbly seek God’s forgiveness.

5. THE GOAL OF REPENTANCE: RESTORATION AND TRANSFORMATION The final aspect of David’s prayer of repentance I wanted us to see was the goal of this repentant prayer, restoration and transformation. We can hear this in a number of spots in this prayer…

Psalm 51:13-15 [13] Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. [14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. [15] O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Transformed – Praise You So after David has displayed his brokenness, confessed his sin, and sought forgiveness, he shares that he is going to live differently now. He will be transformed and grow. • He wants to move from violating God’s law to teaching others about God’s law. • Instead of living in unrighteousness he wants to sing praises of God’s righteousness. I said at the outset of our study tonight that repentance is more than prayer, but never less than prayer. Repentance goes beyond our cries to God and to our lives. Repentance involves real change. The broken and contrite heart we carry over our sin drives us to live differently. David is pledging to live in godliness and asking for God to strengthen him to walk in righteousness.

Restored – Restore Your Joy Another goal is that of restoration. Listen to David ask for this…

Psalm 51:11-12 [11] Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

David’s joy has been sapped by his sin. This is only natural. When you cut yourself off from the joy-giving fellowship of God this is what comes.

Joy Will Come With God David’s prayer is often going to have to be our prayer as well. We will have to pray for God to renew our joy in Him. The good news is that joy is the natural outcome of fellowship with God, so stick close to God, make Him your portion, your satisfaction, your great love, and joy will be sure to follow.

Do You Pray for Restoration/Transformation? Let me ask you, are restoration and transformation your goals when you are praying prayers of repentance and forgiveness? Or are you simply saying sorry so you can check it off your list? Repentance is more than a prayer so part of your prayer ought to be that you will go live in repentance and not just talk it.

CONCLUSION

Seeing Mercy and Love Let me close tonight be admitting that so long as we are on this side of eternity sin is something we are going to wrestle with and lose to regularly. We are imperfect creatures that are infected and plagued by sin. This is discouraging in many ways, but one of the beauties of our situation is that we get to see the great love and mercy of God on display regularly as we go to Him, praying Broken-Hearted Prayers of Repentance. When we close in prayer in just a moment, let’s stop and thank God for His ceaseless mercy and steadfast love.

More Than Words Let us also remember that when we do to go God after we have sinned that it isn’t enough to offer up words to Him, we need to offer up all of us. Our sin, the impact it has, it should affect us, it should break us and it is this brokenness that should drive our confession of sin, seeking of forgiveness and goal of transformation and restoration.

Let’s Pray