Go with me back to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. I go to the scriptures just like
everybody else out of need. Just like everybody else out
of need. I go to prepare a message for
all of us, but I go out of need. Sometimes we don't need an outline. You know what I mean? Sometimes
we don't need a doctrine. Sometimes we just need him. Sometimes I just need him. And
then when we find Him, we realize He is our outline. He is my doctrine. If I could
just see Him and hear Him and believe Him and preach Him, if
I could just preach Him, then that's all I need. I don't care
how good the outline is. I really don't. If I could just have Him, that's
all I need. Recently I was reading through
the Psalms and I came to one of my favorites, Psalm 25. This
has been one of my favorites for a long time. Just like Psalm
22, just like Psalm 23, just like Psalm 24, Psalm 25. This was just what I needed.
Man, this was just what I needed. It blessed me. I pray this is
a real blessing to you. We're going to take one verse
for our text tonight. One very, very, very glorious
verse. It's verse 11. Psalm 25, verse
11 says, For thy name's sake, O Lord, Pardon mine iniquity, for it
is great. Now if we truly think about what
that's saying, that is a glorious verse of scripture. If we truly,
truly understand what the verse of scripture is saying, it is
one amazing verse. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. David said, My sin
is great. Great. I thought about the fact
that I am so glad that my sin is not recorded somewhere for
everybody to walk up to and read it. These men and women in the
scripture, their sin is recorded right here in God's Word for
all of God's children to walk up to and read. Aren't you so
glad? These poor men and women, they
exposed, totally exposed. David said, my sin is great,
and it was. It really was. David was a great,
great sinner, just like the rest of us. We think about these men,
and boy, they are precious, blessed saints of God, aren't they? But
sinners just like the rest of us. When I think of David, I
think of a man after God's own heart. That's what I think of. I think of a young boy who was
chosen to be the king of Israel. Started at the top. That's not
him. That's not him. That's not him. Are they all
done? Well, there's a shepherd boy out there. Bring him in.
God said anoint him. He's the one. The king of Israel. When I think of David, I think
of a young boy who had courage. A bear came in to the sheepfold
one time. David jumped on him and fought
him off. A lion. David fought a lion. A giant. Courage. When I think of David,
I think of a man who brought the Ark of the Covenant back
to Israel. We're bringing it back. I have
so much respect for David. I really do. God's chosen king.
But David was a sinner. He was a sinner. I thought of
the man Naaman. You know that story of Naaman?
Boy, he was captain of the king's host. A great man. He'd done so many great things. But he was a leper. You can't
get around it. He had leprosy. Just covered
in leprosy. And that's David. David was a
great man, but he was a sinner. He lied to get that showbread
from God's priest, recorded in God's Word. Walked right up to
God's priest and lied to his face to get that showbread. And then to save his own skin,
it's in the same chapter, to save his own skin. He did not
trust his God. He didn't have faith in his God. He pretended to be a madman and
he scratched the doors of the gates and he let spit fall down
into his beard. And they said, who is this? And then there was Uriah, this
man Uriah, a man who was fighting for David. David's a king. David
declares war. This man goes out and fights
for David, a man who was literally fighting for David, laying his
life on the line for David. David took his whole world. He
took his whole world. David was a married man. He committed
adultery on his own wife. He did that the day he married
more than one woman. But he committed adultery on
his own wife. He committed adultery against
Uriah's wife. And then when he was caught,
when he was caught in the act, Bathsheba said, came to him and
said, we have a problem. When he was caught, he tried
to cover the whole thing up. Tried to lie and just cover the
whole thing up. He tried to get Uriah to go,
you need to go home to your wife, that's what you need to do, to
get himself out of trouble. When Uriah would not do it, he
said, my king, I'm not doing it. I'm going to stay right here
at your door and defend you. And when Uriah wouldn't go home,
David had the man killed. And his conscience was so seared
to it all, That's the amazing part. That's the amazing part.
This man, after God's own heart, his conscience was so seared
to it all, he didn't feel one drop of remorse. Not one drop. Until God, in mercy, sent him,
Nathan the prophet. Aren't you glad God sent you
a prophet? Man, I'm so glad. Nathan said,
David, let me tell you about a great sinner. When Nathan got to the end of
his story, David said, you tell me who that is and I will make
him pay. And he said, thou art the man. It's you. Thou art the man. And
when Nathan said that, God's two-edged sword, his own word,
the word of God told me to tell you, thou art the man. And as
soon as he said that, that sword pierced his heart. Pierced his heart, that center. At that exact moment, this is
what David cried. Turn with me over to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, right under the title
there's a heading and it says, To the chief musician, a psalm
of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone
in to Bathsheba. David cried, Have mercy upon
me, O God. It is not until God shows us
our sin that we cry that. It's not. It's not. I can read this right now, but
I'm not reading it like David was crying it. You know it? I'm not. Not like he was crying
before God, have mercy on me, oh God. According to thy loving
kindness, According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions. I'm begging for mercy. You know,
mercy cannot be given to somebody who deserves it. That's not mercy. Only to somebody who does not
deserve it. He said, wash me throughly from
mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. I want this gone. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. 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."
Lord, you're the judge. You're the judge. And I stand
before you a guilty sinner. That's all I am, is a guilty
sinner. Now turn with me back to Psalm 25. Psalm 25, verse
11 says, For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Now let me show you why this
verse is so amazing. Here's why this verse is so amazing. Could you imagine a prisoner? a convicted prisoner, going before
a judge and saying, Your Honor, the reason I'm begging you to
release me, I'm asking for you to pardon me. Pardon means excuse,
set free. And the reason I'm begging for
you to set me free is because I'm the greatest sinner I've
ever known in my life. I'm such a great sinner and my
transgressions are so many, you have no idea all the things I've
done. All the laws I've broken. I acknowledge every single one
of them. And I'm guilty of every single
one of them. I stand before you guilty, the greatest transgressor
of the law you've ever known in your life. So I'm asking because
of that, because of that, I'm asking for you to pardon me.
Could you imagine? Most every prisoner who has ever
gone before a judge for pardon goes on the grounds of, I'm not
guilty. Or my transgression is paid for
and I'm not a transgressor anymore. I paid for that. And I'm just,
I'm not, I'm not what I used to be, your honor. I'm not a
sinner. But David is crying right here,
I'm the worst. I am the worst. Please set me
free. Why? Because I'm the worst. I'm the worst. Why on this earth
would I ever do that? Verse 11 says, For thy name's
sake. For thy name's sake. That's why
I'm asking for thy name's sake. I'm asking you to do this for
thy name's sake. What is his name? Call his name
Savior, Redeemer, friend of sinners. Look at Jeremiah 23 with me. Jeremiah 23 verse 5 says, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David
a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah
shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his
name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. You know what's so glorious about
that? It does not say the Lord is righteousness
even though he is. And it does not say the Lord
has earned His own righteousness, even though He has. What it says
is, the Lord is our righteousness. He's our righteousness. Lord,
for Thy name's sake. Pardon mine iniquity, you're
my righteousness. You're my good, you're my right. Everything about me is wrong. But your name, this is the name
whereby you shall be called the Lord my righteousness. So pardon mine iniquity for it's
great. Lord, here's my plea. I'm begging
you to forgive me and set me free and here's the grounds of
my plea. You came into this world to save
sinners and I'm the greatest sinner I've ever known in my
life. The greatest one I've ever known in my life. We sometimes
think the Lord wouldn't save me. I'm too great of a sinner. That's the greatest plea a sinner
could ever have. I mean that's Get your paper out, stamp pardon
on it. I'm the greatest, I'm number
one. Go with me over to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 1 says, Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction. who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with
good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed." Every single one. Every sinner who comes to Christ
begging for pardon, every single one, and his only grounds being
the oppression of his own sin. I'm just coming because my sin
has pressed me down. Not the good works that I've
tried to do. I'm here because I deserve to be. I'm here on
all the good deeds that I've done. It's not that I stand here
acknowledging all my sin, but I've come to you. for forgiveness. I've come to you for pardon because
of who you are. For thy name's sake, every sinner
who comes on the grounds of being a sinner is going to receive
something from the Lord. Every single one. And this is
wonderful. Go to Isaiah 61. Now this is our Lord speaking,
Isaiah 61 verse 1 says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the
meek. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. Now here's what they get, okay?
They're going to come to Him, they're crying, they're mourning
over their sin, they're bound by their sin, they're prisoners
to it. To appoint unto them to give unto them beauty for ashes. Every sinner who comes standing
in the ashes of his own sin, you know they used to cover themselves
in sackcloth and ashes, they just pour ashes on them. Every sinner who comes in the
ashes of his own sin is going to receive in exchange for those
ashes The beauty of the Lord. Every
single one. He takes our ashes. He gives us His beauty. Verse 3 says, To appoint unto
them that morn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning. Every sinner who comes shedding
this tear of sorrow over sin. Every single one. Man, this is
the best. All I carry around is sin. That's
all I have. What do I have to offer God?
Nothing but sin. That's all I can give him. Nothing
but sin. That old preacher said, I can't
pray but I sin. It's all tainted with sin, every
bit of it. But every sinner who comes in the sorrow of his sin
is going to receive for his namesake the oil of joy. This is almost
like, is this too good to be true? That's like saying, if you bring
me dirt, I'll give you a billion dollars. But that doesn't even
come close to comparing the unsearchable riches of Christ. The joy of the Lord, the balm
of Gilead, he calls it. You come here in pain, in sorrow,
with wounds, hurting. I got some balm right here and
I'll pour it all over you. oil of joy, the joy of forgiveness. Man, forgiveness is such happiness. The joy of a freed conscience
from all that guilt. You carry that guilt around. Verse 3 says, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness. And that's what we carry around
is a spirit of heaviness. He said, you come to me crying,
Lord, help me. He said, I'll take it right off
of you and I'll wrap a garment of praise that they might be
called trees of righteousness. the planting of the Lord that
he might be glorified. He's going to do every bit of
that for his namesake. That's why, for his namesake.
Go with me to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 and look at verse
31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. A new covenant, a new testament. Right before our Lord went to
that cross, he held that cup up. He held up that cup and he
said, this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for
you. I'm going to forgive you. I'm going to pardon you. because I'm going to redeem you.
That's why. Verse 32, he said, Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will
be their God, and they shall be my people, and they shall
teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Amen. I'll remember their sin no more.
How is that even possible? How is that even possible? The God who knows everything,
the end from the beginning. Here's how. He said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. I won't even look at you. I won't
even look at your deeds. I will keep my eyes on Christ
my Son and His precious blood which was poured all over you.
I'll just look at the blood. You're going to be hiding in
Him. Now if you want to be judged
on your own works, people they want to be judged on their own
works. If you want to be judged on your
own works, I won't put you in Christ, I'll put you beside Christ. I'll stand you right up next
to Christ, right beside Him. And I'll compare you to Him.
And if you don't live up to the standard He set, you will die
in your sins. But if you come begging, if you
come begging to be under the blood, If you come begging to
be robed in his righteousness, then the eye of God Almighty
will be fixed on that payment that Christ made. And there's going to be no more
sin to remember. No more. There's no sin in that blood.
And all he can see is that blood. That's the only way to come to
Christ. That is the only way to come to Christ as a sinner. Come to Christ, but come as a
sinner. Come as a sinner, begging, Lord,
for thy name's sake, pardon mine iniquity, for it's great. Here's
what he said. All who come to me like that,"
he said, I will in no wise cast out every single one of them.
That is good news. Man, that is good news. That's
good news, isn't it? All right, let's stand together.