I'm getting better. Thank you, Gary. I do feel much, much better,
I do, I really do. Best thing in the world is what
the Lord ordered. I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 51, Psalm 51. I'd like to look at a few verses. Before we look at a few verses
out of Psalm 51, I'd like to say that there's nothing that
is more comforting to a believer. A believer made to see something. of the mercy of God, made to
see something. I want to just share with you
something out of these scriptures that I think was born to my heart
by something that happened to me, and I'll tell you what it
is in just a minute. It was a good thing, it's a good
thing. But the sheep of God know that they're struggling creatures
of the dust. They know that. They know that
this world is not their home, and they admit that they know
something about what they are by nature. They know what they
are. They're just fallible, weak creatures of dust. but they never
know how to express it as they wish they could. I wish I knew
how to say, I'm gonna look at the scriptures here to see what
God the Spirit moved upon a man named David to write. I wanna look again at what God
instructed this man to say. I don't know what to say. But
God knows what to say. And I want to hear what God has
to say. And knowing that found in the
scriptures, there is an expression of the heart of a believer that
sees something of his frailty and his inability. and can set
forth those words through a man named David who penned these
things. That gives me some comfort to
know that God has been pleased to relate to his people, that
he knows how they feel. His people express how they feel
through this book. Now we all know the account that's
given in the Word of God about the king, David. We know the
account of David and Bathsheba. We know the setting forth of
what happened between David and Bathsheba, how David saw her
one night while she was bathing, took her, how David later had
her husband murdered. And obviously, the many months
of indifference that David showed, I'm going to bring something
out in the scriptures about this, but David went many months and
expressed a spirit of indifference She was with child, and scripture
says that after her husband, Uriah, had passed away, murdered. Actually, David just put him
up there in the forefront, and he was killed. She went through the mourning,
but in the midst of this whole situation, God Almighty, who
has compassion mercy on whomsoever he will, was pleased to rescue
this vessel of his mercy, David. The scripture sets forth this
man, David, was a man after God's own heart. And knowing that,
knowing what the scripture says, if God says that he was a man
after my own heart, And David was a man after God's heart.
God chose to show him mercy. Now, take your Bibles and turn
with me to 2 Samuel 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. I'd like to read a couple of
verses of scripture here on God's thoughts, God's attitude concerning
what David did. Now this is what God said about
what he thought concerning David's actions. 2 Samuel chapter 11
verse 26, 27. And when the wife of Uriah heard
that, when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband
was dead, she mourned for her husband And when the morning
was past, David sent and fetched her to his house. She became
his wife and bear him a son. But the thing that David had
done displeased the Lord. My marginal part of my Bible
says the evil that was done by Uriah, the evil. David did that which David wanted
to do. He took Uriah's wife. He had Uriah killed, he had him
murdered. He knew where he was putting
Uriah in the heat of the battle. And David took Uriah's wife, she was with child. David married
her, took her to wife. Now brethren, let me say this.
There is no excuse for our rebellion against God. David, though he
had done that which was according to these scriptures, displeasing
in the sight of the Lord. Almighty God was pleased to show
mercy. I've looked at these scriptures
again and again. I've made mention of this. Psalm
51 is a passage of scripture that we're all familiar with.
But I'm telling you, it was brought back to my heart in a very real
and lively way this week. I just wanted to just share it
with you. I found myself, I was at the
house, I was sitting at my house. And while I was sitting there,
I just, I found myself with such a spirit of unthankfulness, laxness toward
the Lord. It was an attitude, a spirit
of just insensitivity. And I realized what it was. I knew what I was thinking. And
immediately it came back to my mind. How could you have been
so disrespectful to the Lord? How could you have done that,
Mark? After thinking back on all that the Lord has done for
me, called me out of the darkness of false religion, and gave me
a heart after Christ, and put me in a place of honor to be
one that would sit before His people and preach the gospel
to them. The gospel is free and sovereign
grace. and found myself with a spirit
of ingratitude. I'm gonna use a part of a song
by John Newton. You that know the Lord. Is it
not so with you? Have you ever found yourself
like that? Indifferent, indifferent. How
could I have been so indifferent? There's no excuse for this, no
excuse for this. But there's an old man, an ever
believer, and that old man has not changed. He's never changed. He never will change. That old
man is still there. I've said this before. Hear me well. That old man is
not reformed. Talk about reforming. That old
man's not reformed. Like I've told you before, he
put somebody in prison, you know. Well, he's reformed. He's gotten
better. Not the old man. That which is
flesh is flesh. That which is spirit is spirit.
How could I have thought that way? Oh, but in mercy, in indescribable
mercy, Almighty God was pleased to show kindness and compassion. I should have told you just to
stay there in 2 Samuel. I want you to turn back to 2
Samuel. 2 Samuel. Now I'm gonna be looking
at chapter 12. I'm gonna read a few scriptures
out of chapter 12, but I want to make a statement before I
go to chapter 12. And I looked this up on a timeline
to find out about where the time was. From the end of chapter
11, to the end of chapter 11, in
2 Samuel 11, that part where we read a while ago, verse 26,
27, at which David did displease the Lord, from that part right
there until the beginning of chapter 12. That had to have
been at least nine months because Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, was
found to be with child. That which David did displeased
the Lord. He took her and she was found
to be with child. And so for the duration of her
pregnancy, she had that child growing with her. That portion
right there between the end of chapter 11 and the first part,
first few verses out of chapter 12 that we'll look at in just
a few minutes, was the time that Uriah's wife Bathsheba was with
child. And the scriptures are silent. Go back and look up the timeline. During that time of her pregnancy,
it said that she was found to be with child. David did marry
her, had her husband killed. But from that time when she was
found to be with child until the beginning of chapter 12,
the scripture says nothing that I could find concerning what
went on. He had a child, the child was
born, and after that child was born, the Lord was pleased to send a prophet
to David and to tell David what he had done. Scripture says in
chapter 12, and I'd like to read the first 14 verses, 2 Samuel
12, 1, and the Lord sent Nathan Unto David came unto him, and
he said unto him, there were two men in one city, the one
rich, the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many
flocks and herds, but the man, the poor man, had nothing save
one little ewe lamb, which he brought, nourished up, and grew
up together with him. With children, he did eat his
own meat, and drank his own cup, lay in
his bosom, was under him as a daughter. There was a traveler under the
rich man, spared to take of his own flock, his own herd to dress
for the wayfaring man that took that poor man's lamb, dressed
it for the man that was come to him. David's anger was greatly
kindled against man. And he saith to Nathan, As the
Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die. And he shall restore the Lamb
fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no
pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou
art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I anointed thee king over Israel. I delivered thee out of the hand
of Saul. And I gave thee thy master's
house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, gave thee into
the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been too
little, if that had been too little, I'm sorry, I would have
moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Therefore
hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do this evil in
his sight. Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
with the sword, and thou hast taken his wife to be wife, and
hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Therefore
the sword shall never depart from my house, because thou hast
despised me and has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to
be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, behold,
I have raised up evil against thee out of thine own house.
And I will take thy wives before thine eyes and will give them
unto thy neighbor. And he shall lie with thy wives
in the sight of this son, for thou didst it secretly. But I will do this thing before
all Israel and before the son, David, said unto Nathan, I've
sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. How be it? Because this deed, because by
this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the
Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall
surely die. All the time that David was watching
this child grow within Bathsheba, the scripture's silent on his
attitude, his thoughts, his words. There was no word. But when God
sent a prophet, God sent a man that knew him to talk to David,
a man after God's own heart. And he told him, this is what
you've done. You've caused the enemies of
God. You've called the heathen. You've
caused them to blaspheme. And it slew David. It broke him. It broke him. Whenever
he realized what he had done, I thought to myself, reading
that story, and I've entitled this message, Awakening Grace. Awakening grace. God could have left David to
himself. If David had not been one of
the Lord's own, he'd have still been king. If he'd not been God's
own, he'd have died and left this world. But God was pleased
to show mercy. I thought to myself, what long
suffering. What long suffering. What mercy,
what compassion. And as I read that part of this
passage, I thought to myself, Marvin, you're no different.
What if the Lord had left you to yourself? You'd have done
the same thing. You'd have found yourself. And
I thought on those, that time I told you about a moment ago
when I was sitting at my house, And I knew, I knew the feeling
that was going on inside me of indifference. I felt it. I knew
it. I knew it. And I thought to myself,
when God was pleased to bring me to myself, Lord, but for your
mercy, that would be my attitude from now on. That's the way I'd
have been thinking. And I would have not cared. I said, Lord, how could I do
such a thing? How could I do something like this? How can
I be like this? Knowing that, knowing what had
happened, knowing the story of David and Bathsheba, knowing
about the baby and the dying and the Lord being pleased to
show mercy to David, letting him go through all that he went
through. The Spirit of God moved upon David to pen Psalm 51. And having penned that psalm,
I want to just look, I thought to myself, I'm going to look
at just the first few verses. Five is what I'm looking at,
but knowing me, that's my plans at this moment, I'm planning
to look at just A few points out of the first five verses
of Psalm 51. And I ask you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, ask the Lord to speak to your heart. Ask the
Lord to speak to you. I want the Lord to speak to me.
Oh, God, do something for me. Lord, say to me what you said
to David. Lord, speak to me as you spoke
to him. Give me a heart. as you gave this man a heart,
to write these words down. Verse one, have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the
multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Now, beloved, David, was a man
like we are. He was a man that was seeing
and knew something of the nature of that old man. He had two natures
in him. This was a man that God loved,
a man that was after God's heart. The depth of that, it sounds
honorable to me. He was a man after God's own
heart. But this man, according to these
scriptures, did that which was so disrespectful that he just
causes all of us to look at that and honestly admit, but for the
grace of God. That'd be me. That'd be me. If
the Lord didn't snatch me from continuing to go, I'd go. I'd
keep going. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. There's nothing that a convinced
sinner would seek after. There's nothing that a convinced
sinner would seek after except the Lord, had the Lord not been
merciful. There's nothing that I would
fail to seek after. Let me say it like that. There's
nothing, there's no limit to what I would seek after. If God
didn't leave, if God didn't have mercy, if he left me to myself,
there's nothing. Have mercy on me, have pity,
pity me. Have pity on me. I don't know the depth. I read those words and I don't
know the depth of them. Have mercy on me, pity me. I
need, I need help. I need help. He asked the Lord
of all grace, Lord, don't give me what I deserve. I know something
of what I deserve, but have mercy upon me according to your steadfast
love and kindness, according to the abundance of your tender
Mercies, blot out my transgression. Wipe, wipe it, wipe it out. The
word is obliterate, exterminate. That's another word I looked
it up. Or take it away. I know, I know what I deserve.
I know what I deserve. I don't know the depth of what
I deserve, but I know I deserve, I know I deserve justice. I know
that. I know that. He promised to his people is
what the scripture says. Scripture according to this,
this blessed word found in Isaiah 43, 25. This is the Lord speaking. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgression. Now listen to this. For mine
own sake, for my sake, for the Lord's sake, for the Lord's sake,
I will not remember their sins. David asked the Lord in verse
one. Have mercy on me. Lord, blot
out. Blot out. According to thy tender
mercies, blot out, obliterate. Make it be gone. Make it be gone.
Blot out my transgressions. I'm guilty, and only you can
wipe it away. I know that. I'm sorry won't
do it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My sorrow
won't put it away. It's gonna have to be put away
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What can wash away my
sins? What's the next word? Nothing,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. And then the scripture says in
verse two, wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse
me from my sin. Wash me. Wash me throughly, throughly. I'm filthy. I'm filthy. I'm so filthy, Lord, that I need
you to wash me. I looked, I looked at that. I
looked at it again. Wash, wash me throughly. And here's what I could find
about that. Wash me throughly. Wash me again and again and again. It's repeatedly. Wash me repeatedly. For my sin is heinous. It's evil. Wash me as only you
can wash me. I can't wash myself in the blood
of the Lord Jesus, but God can. And David says, Lord, wash me
throughly until there's no spot remaining. Well, you know, you
say, well, once the Lord washes you, you're washed. You're done.
It's done. Not according to the truth that
was taught by the Lord. Yes, his blood has put away our
sin. The debt of our sin is paid.
There is therefore now no condemnation. Please don't misunderstand what
I'm saying right here. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. Who shall lay any charge to the
elect of God? Who shall lay any charge to their
account? Nobody, nobody. God has put away
their debt. But we're still in this flesh.
And we still sin every moment. All of us, if we were left to
answer for our sin, our debt, our shortcomings, since we started
this message right here, none of us would be left if we were
left to have to answer for it. We'd all be gone. So we need
a continual washing. That's what the Lord did. That's
what he showed his disciples. Peter told him when the Lord
began to wash their feet, he said, Lord, you'll never wash
my feet. The Lord said, if I don't wash
your feet, you don't have any part with me. I need cleansing. He has cleansed us eternally. Pour away our debt, no condemnation. But beloved, as long as we're
in this world, we're still struggling with sin. We're still failing,
frail creatures of dust. And we need to be washed again. That's what David said. Wash
me thoroughly. Wash me completely, totally,
again and again. It's a word, it means repeatedly. Wash me, wash me, clean me, clean
me. Verse three, for I acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. David made no allowance for his
rebellion. I can tell you right now, for
me sharing that disrespectful thought, and it
was a thought I don't even know where it came
from, except I know it came out of my old man, that disrespectful
thought that I had, just indifference. And I'm telling you, it bothered
me. It scared me. I thought, but
for the grace of God, this is the way I would think. And it
was so awful. It was so, but you that know
him, you know what I'm talking about. You know what it feels
like. You ever realize that presence
of sin and you think, how could I have done that? How could I
have thought that? How could I have said that? Against him,
against thee and thee only have I sinned. David, again, he made
no excuse for his guilt. He was just honest. I can't remember who said it.
It might have been Scotty. I might have read it from someone.
But you see, God makes his people honest. They're honest. And they
are. God's people are honest. They
know what they are by nature. And they know something of the
Lord's mercy. And to a believer, there's no
concealing of their sin. David heard the words of that
prophet, Nathan. Nathan said to him, you're the
man. It's you. You're the man. And David said,
I'm guilty. You're right. I'm guilty. I own
it. I recognize it. And I confess
it. God moved him to write this psalm
right there. Verse four, against thee, thee
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou
mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou
judgest. It wasn't that David denied that
he had wronged other human beings, which he had. He wronged Bathsheba. He wronged Uriah, he wronged
his people, those in his kingdom, those in his army, all of them.
He wronged all of them. He was disrespectful. But David
said, I've sinned against you, Lord. I've sinned against you
and you only. Ultimately, everything that I've
done has been against you. I'm wrong. It reminded me of that prodigal
son, went off to a far country, wasted all of his money, riotous
living. And the scripture says, and he
came to himself. He came to himself and he said, I'm going to go
back and I'm going to talk to my dad. I'm going to tell my
dad, tell my father, I've sinned. I've sinned before God. I've
done it right in front of you. And I'm wrong. Had it all planned
out, in his mind, had all of it just perfectly done. And his
father saw him a great way off from afar. Saw him from afar,
ran over and fell on his neck. He just kissed him. I just imagine
that boy trying to explain to him while his dad's kissing him.
He said, I'm dead. Can you imagine how it just broke his heart? How could I have done this? To
my daddy, to my family, how could I have done this? Against thee
and thee only, I've sinned. He acknowledged his sin. David did and every believer
does to be ultimately leveled against God. I've broken your
law, your pure law. love you with all my heart. I failed to, and I failed to
love my neighbor as myself. How could I have committed such
a grave aggravation of rebellion while God looked on? And God's
people, we do it, we do it, and we feel the pain of it. David
declared, I acknowledge you, you're right, I'm wrong. I deserve
all that your law declares me to deserve. I deserve it. Any judgment that you pass upon
me is right. You're right, I'm wrong. And
that you don't obliterate me right now for what I've done
is nothing but pure grace and mercy and compassion. This is
the God we serve. David admitted that his sin was
something that didn't just come lately. David acknowledged, and
I'll look at verse five, we'll stop. This sin, David said, it
just didn't come up overnight. He said, verse five, behold,
I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me. As soon as I was conceived, David
said, there's an old nature in me. I was conceived in sin, soul
and body. Sin was there. A sinful creature
from the beginning. Born in Adam, I'm not free from
pollution. But God has been pleased to show
mercy to sinners like us. Oh, the mercy of almighty God.
When I think about, Lord, how foolish that I am by nature to
think that I can do something that can put away my guilt. I
quote a few words, say a few little prayer, kind of repeat
something after some man tells me to repeat this. Or if I think
I might be able to get in the water and water somehow is gonna
put away my sin. No, sir. No, sir. Almighty God
only puts away the sin of his people. And David was made to
realize that afresh. By the grace of God, all God's
people are. And we realize, as long as we're
in this world, this is where we're gonna be, right here. This
world is not gonna get better, it's not gonna get easier, we're
gonna see ourselves more and more the older we get. Somehow
I used to think the older somebody got, the better they were. I
don't know, I just thought, you know, old mothers,