All right, I want to do something
I hardly ever do. That is, in Psalm 51, let's read
the subtitle under the 51st Psalm. To the chief musician, a psalm
of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone
in unto Bathsheba. Now, verses 1 through 9. Have
mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. According unto the multitude
of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly
from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgression, and my sin is ever before me. Watch verse
4. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou might
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, Thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden part, thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. Purge me with his hook, and I
shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sin, and
blot out all mine iniquity. Look with me again at verse 4. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. I guess this is
one of the better known instances, passages of scripture in the
Bible. It was written after David who
had committed that great sin with Bathsheba and had gone unrepentant
for a certain time. And then the prophet of God came
and spoke to his heart. God smote him. and God granted
unto him repentance. But this morning, I want to talk
about sin being an infinite offense, and I might add, against an infinite
God. Now, the word sin and the fact
of sin is very loosely and very seldom used in our society. We see it sometimes in songs
and in plays, and in poems, and I think sometimes the word is
only used because it rhymes with something else. But seldom is
the term or the biblical word sin given the same meaning today
that it has in the scripture. When the word is used today,
it is not usually of the depth or the degree that it appears
in the scripture. And I think that's by purposeful
design, so thereby sin is lessened by the use of less harsh sounding
words terms. It's not called sin, but we hear
people talk about weakness, or that they made a slip, or that
they made a mistake, or that they erred in their judgment,
or that they chalk it up simply to being human nature. Most of
those who are attached to some church or some denomination are
also ill-informed about the essence and the nature of sin. Few there are today that fully
perceive the impact of the sin and the fall of Adam and mankind
in him. And the present state of man,
the cause of evil, the reason that society is in such chaos,
is seldom ever traced to human depravity. It's blamed on one's
environment, or their lack of education, or peer pressure that
pushed them over the edge, or prejudice in some way or another. Consequently, because of that,
the Bible is not consulted for the remedy of sin and the malady
of the human family. Rather, the remedy is sought
elsewhere in education. in social program, in psychology,
and in the philosophy of men that are considered wise in the
world. And this has spawned a critical
situation in that the Bible is not searched out for either the
cause or the cure of what ails mankind today. So let's begin
by emphasizing the fact As David said here, that all sin is first
and foremost against Almighty God. We read it in verse 4. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. In Genesis chapter
39, if you remember that incident, When godly Joseph was tempted
and seduced by the wife of Potiphar, he said in verse 7, she cast
her eye upon Joseph and invited him to come and to lay with her. Verse 8 and 9, it continued. Joseph's answer was this. How then can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God? That is, sin would be not against
her only, or her husband only, or the institution of marriage
only, but that it would be against God. There's a place in 1 Samuel
chapter 12 and verse 23. When Samuel said, moreover, as
for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing
to pray for you. There's an interesting passage
found in Luke chapter 15, if you care to turn there with me. In the 15th chapter of Luke,
verse 18 through verse 21. Here you have the story of the
returning prodigal. Remember the young man? He took
his father's inheritance. He went into a far country. He
wasted it in riotous living and came to be a feeder of swine. But in verse 18 and following,
when he came to himself, we read, I will arise. I will go to my
father. I will say unto him, father,
I have sinned against heaven and before thee. and I'm no more
worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of the hired servants.'
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran
and fell on his neck and kissing. And the son repeated his resolution. Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy
son. Let's carry this my idea further
that sin is first and foremost against God Lucifer sin was first
and foremost against God the angels that apostasy that we
read about in the scripture their sin was first and foremost foremost
against God when Adam and Eve ate of that forbidden fruit it
was first and foremost against God every sin we may therefore
say is first and foremost against the Holy God of heaven and the
reason I think that we don't have a proper view of sin is
because for one reason we don't have a proper view of the holiness
of God. That's something else that's
lost today. But when we have a proper view
of the holiness of God, we then have a proper view of sin. And I think we see this, that
it's first and foremost against God in the life of Joseph, of
David, and of the prodigal son in the New Testament. Now, surely
the thing that was proposed by Potiphar's wife would be a sin
against Joseph's very own soul, against her husband Potiphar,
against marriage, against decency, and against public trust and
perception. But first and foremost, sin is
against Almighty God. And surely, in the case of David,
he sinned against his soul, he sinned against Uriah, and he
sinned against Bathsheba, as well as the public trust of his
office. But in our verse, he acknowledged
it to be, first and foremost, a sin against Almighty God. It was done, he said, in the
sight of the Lord. Now surely, again, the prodigal
sinned against his own welfare, and against his own good, against
his lewd friends, and even against his brother, and his father,
but he owned his sin to be first and foremost against heaven,
which sinful conduct caused the forfeit of spiritual blessing
under that young man for a great while. Let's pursue the statement
of David in Psalm 51 and verse 4. Against thee and thee only
have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Now, let's consider. Let's reason. Let's be logical. If you murder, you sin against
the one that you murder and also against the family of that one. If you lie, then you lie against
that one that you have fabricated again. If you steal, you sin
against that one whose property and goods you have taken. And
if you commit adultery, you sin against everyone that is involved. But first and foremost, it is
against God, simply because these things are a sin against our
fellow because they are violations of the law of God. God has said,
thou shalt not do this. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. Thus David's confession is honest
and on the mark. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Literally, against
thee only. That's where we want to put the
emphasis today. His sin was directly against
God. And yet, when we look at his
sin and the essence of it, we find that his sin was not idolatry. He had not set up an idol to
a false god. It was not atheism, that he did
not believe in God. It was not taking the Lord's
name in vain or blasphemy. or the erection of one idol or
another. Just a few ways that we might
think that one might have sinned against God. Actually, the sin
of David was many sins in one. It was lust. It was adultery. It was the transgression of marriage. It was the taking of the wife
of another. And it evolved into the murder
of Uriah. And not the least of his sin
was giving an occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verse
14. Yet he insists that his sin is
against God only. It is solely and only against
God. For as one said, as one stands
toward others or sins against others, it is but a manifestation
of the fundamental relationship of that person unto God. Now, it was not David It was
not Uriah, and it was not Bathsheba, and it was not Nathan's law that
David broke on that occasion. It was the law of God. thou shalt not lust or covet,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not murder. Thus, Mr. Spurgeon said many
years ago, all his wrongdoing sinnered and culminated and came
under its climax at the foot of the divine throne, unquote. His comments on Psalm 51 and
verse 4. Now, this is not just true in
relation to actual sin, nor from a certain frame of mind of a
penitent, but it springs from the essential relationship of
sin as it stands to God and to His law. in that all sin as sin
must be reckoned to be against God for it is against the law
of God. Thus there is no hope of confining
David's sin to himself and Bathsheba or Uriah or anyone else. It is first and foremost solely
and only against God, and it must be viewed and it must be
dealt with from that standpoint. Here's a statement I read, copied
down. I'd like for us to chew on it
for a moment. Quote, that all wrong done to
our neighbor is wrong done to the God who created him in his
own image. Genesis 9 and 6 also tempting
of our neighbor to evil is taking the part of Satan against God
all wounding of another whether in body or soul is a sin against
the goodness of God unquote thus Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter
8 and verse 12. But when you sow sin in such
a way against the brethren and wound their weak conscience,
you sin against Christ. When you sin against your brethren,
you sin against Christ. Luther said a long time ago,
that instead of the preterperfery, have I sinned, it ought to be
in the present. Do I sin? All sin, do I sin against thee
and in the sight of God? We must confess. That our whole
way, our whole life is a course of sin. Before thee, I am nothing
but a sinner, ought to be our confession. Not only so, but
David adds this, I have sinned and done this evil in thy sight. That is, I have sinned the view
in the clear sight before the very eyes of the all-seeing God
whose eyes are everywhere beholding the good and the evil Psalm chapter
10 and verse 14 Proverbs 15 and verse 3 now Spurgeon again rightly
observed David felt that his sins were committed in all heinousness
and filthiness while Jehovah himself looked on." God sees,
God knows, God observes the commission of every sin. It may make a deep
and imbibing oppression upon David to realize that he had
sinned in the full sight of God, that no others did not see it,
though it was done in secret, though it was done on the sly,
yet God knew it, saw it, and observed it. What a thought is
that, that God's eye is upon us in every act, his ear listening
in every word, his mind knowing in every thought. Now imagine,
if you can, to illustrate David's confession. Imagine one seeking
to overthrow the king, working in the courtyard, fostering rebellion,
when the king is looking down from his balcony. Imagine a man
trying to steal another man's good while the man is in the
very house. Imagine a thief who steals while
the magistrate that will judge him is watching on. Even so,
sin is committed before God's eye. Isaiah 65 and 12, Isaiah
66 and verse 4. Now, you know, often the wicked
make the mistake of following Psalms 10 and 13. He has said
in his heart, thou will not require it. Some people say, well, I've
gotten by with it this long, God hasn't judged me or killed
me, therefore he will take no notice or require it. In Isaiah 29 and verse 15, woe
unto those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord and whose
deeds are done in a dark place and they say, who sees or who
knows us, unquote. All must confess the confession
of Hagar. Thou, O God, seest me. Genesis 16 and verse 13. While Hagar is there seemingly
perishing for water, David is more emphatic. I have done this
evil in thy sight. This evil, many admit, a few
wrongs. Most people will admit they've
done things wrong. Most people will admit that they
made a mistake. But that's not a full confession,
necessarily, that they see themselves and know themselves to be a sinner
in the sight of God. They're never very specific.
If you notice people talking about what they've done wrong
or what they're sorry about, They're never very specific about
it. I may have broken a commandment
or two along the way, we hear them say. I probably have made
some mistakes in my life, and there are some things that I
would do over and do differently. In fact, they are pleading innocent. rather than guilty. But there's
very little hope, very little evidence that such people with
that attitude of their sin before God are actually saved, who cannot
see the heinousness of their own sin in the sight of God. Very little evident that such
a person is indeed a child of God. There must be a sense. of the infinite magnitude of
sin as it stands against God. With David, it came to possess
it. This evil done in thy sight,
the whole affair with Bathsheba and with Uriah, his lust, his
desire, his fornication, the schemed murder of Uriah, his
time of impenitence and so forth. All of this was done with impudence
right in the very site. and the looking of Jehovah. David calls it this evil, specific
evil deeds that he had done. He does not use the language
of modern society. I've made an error in judgment. That's what the politicians say
when they're caught in some wickedness or in an affair or some corruption. I succumb to human weakness. I made an error in judgment. Then there are others who are
so impudent to say it's nobody's business. I'm only sorry that
I got caught. I didn't do anything that all
kinds of other people are also doing. Now, so long as sin is
regarded in this lighthearted and frivolous way, there is little
hope of finding forgiveness of that sin and fellowship with
Almighty God. David said it again, done this
evil in thy sight. A man named Samuel Heron said
of David's word in a sermon on this psalm in the year 16 and
17. Quote, this one evil, thoroughly
understood, brought David to his knees, broke his heart, melted
his soul, made him cry for pardon, begged for purging, and importuned
the Lord for a free spirit to be established within him," unquote. Can I be very clear? May I be very blunt this morning? We must regard our every sin
as worthy of infinite punishment because it is an infinite sin
against God. and we must regard our every
sin, if not for the saving grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ,
we must regard every sin with demerit enough to deserve hell. Sin never deserves less than
an infinite punishment infinite penalty and this it received
in the Lord Jesus Christ when he died upon the cross but now
let's pass to another part of this penitential confession of
David having made a full confession of sin and acknowledgement of
its evil such as in verse 3 if you look again I acknowledge
that My transgression and my sin is ever before me. And the fourth verse again, against
thee, the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Now, observe the next statement
of David and its connection and its relation to the penitential
confession of the King of Israel. that thou mightest be justified
when you speak and be clear when you judge, that is, without charge
when you pass sentence. This may well be among the most
significant part of the penitential confession of David. For to acknowledge
and confess sin is one thing, though a very significant thing
it is, to take one's place before God as a sinner is one thing,
even if it is a repentant sinner. To confess the full degree of
our depravity, even carrying it to the very time when we were
conceived, and that's what David did. My mother conceived me in
sin. Now, to stand before God naked
and without any merit on our part whatsoever is a fearful
thing. when we are brought to that place
and we will be brought to that place in the experience of our
conversion. But with David, we notice there
is more. He confesses that whatever sentence
God pronounces against him for his sin is just. Now that's something
seldom heard among humans and in human courts today. Most protest that the sentence
is too strict and is unfair. Forever, few stand before the
bar of reckoning to say, I deserve whatever sentence I get, whatever
is passed down. I'm unjust, and I am guilty,
and I am worthy. Now, we look here, and we see
that David uses to expression or to phrases which have basically,
I think, the same meaning. That you might be justified when
you speak and be clear when you judge. That is, David is saying
that God, who is the judge of all of the earth, Genesis 18.15
or 18.25, who will do what is right, that
when God judges, it is just and righteous whatever sentence God
passes against sin. To perceive the full impact,
we must make the connection between the first half and the second
half of verse four. The first half reads this way.
Against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight." Then a slight pause. That, says David, to the extent
thou might be just when you speak and pure when you judge. Perhaps, as Spurgeon said, David
could not answer God even if God condemned him at once for
his crimes. There was no question that a
foul thing was done by David. There is no question that it
was deserving of divine punishment. In fact, it was a sin punishable
by death under the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament. Sir Richard
Baxter understood David to be saying, thou canst pronounce
a sentence so hard against me you cannot pronounce so harsh
a sentence against me of which I am not worthy. If thou judge
me to torture, it is but mildness. If due to death, it is but my
due. If to die everlastingly, I cannot
say that it were unjust." And David is making that confession. And indeed, the damnation of
sinners is just. You find that in Romans chapter
3 and verse 8. None ever perish being innocent
in Job chapter 4 and verse 7. And yet, no doubt, David, in
speaking these things, is looking back upon that judgment which
the prophet, in God's name, had already passed against him. We recall it from 2 Samuel chapter
12. What does God, by Nathan, charge
David with? Well, in verse 7 and verse 8,
of stealing another man's wife, of transgressing the institution
of marriage. In verse 9, he had despised the
commandment of God, He had lightly regarded it. He had cast it aside. He had transgressed God's law. God said, thou shalt not. David said in his heart, I will. In verse 14, he gave fodder. You know what fodder is. He gave
fodder to the blasphemy of God's enemy. He gave them occasion
to blaspheme. What David did. claiming to be
a righteous man, gave an occasion for men to mock religion and
call the saints of God nothing but hypocrite and despising the
commandment of God. he despised God who gave him,
in verse 10. And now the sentence passed against
David, 2 Samuel chapter 12, verse 10. The sword shall never depart
from thy house. Verse 11, I will raise up evil
against thee out of thine own house and take thy wives and
give them unto your neighbors in the sight of all. Verse 12,
God would humiliate and embarrass David before all of the nation
of Israel. And the culmination of it, in
verse 14, the child born unto thee shall surely die. Now that's strange. David avoided
the sentence of death by God's sovereign purpose and pleasure,
even though it was a death penalty in Israel. To all these judgments,
David said, Thou in righteousness hath judged me. You have good
reason to decide against me. I'm deserving of it all. Again, Psalm 51, verse 4, against
thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Thus thy judgments against me
are just. What he had pronounced, his wives
taken, the sword never departing, his family ruined and dysfunctional,
and the child born of his adultery dead. Once David was a mighty
and a prosperous king, but by God's sentence, he was reduced
to disgrace. And yet David speaks in God's
defense here in this particular place. Calvin, the old writer,
put it like this. David takes this opportunity
of justifying the sentence and charging himself with the whole
guilt of the transaction," unquote. Now, this may seem very severe,
yet there are other cases where God passed severe sentences as
well. I'll name some. Israel was sentenced
to wander 40 years in the wilderness till all of them were dead that
doubted and did not fear God. You'll find that in Numbers 14.
Moses, for smiting the rock, was denied the blessing of leading
Israel into the promised land. Even though he had been faithful,
he had endured much trouble at the hands of the people, but
for that transgression found in Numbers 20 and verse 12, he
was not allowed to go over in the Canaan. Again, Zacharias,
remember in the New Testament, the book of Luke, chapter 1,
was struck dumb, couldn't speak for months for doubting the word
of God and the will of the angel. Surely all of these must confess
in the end the justice of the sentence of God imposed upon
them. Now, let us consider the sentence
which God has passed against sin being committed by Adam and
Eve in the garden. In the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. And when Adam had sinned, cursed
is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it,
all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it
yield. In the sweat of thy brow shalt
thou eat thy bread until you return again unto the dust. You have that? Genesis 3, 17
through 19. Finally, he drove the man out of the garden for the eating
of the fruit, Genesis chapter 3 and verse 24. So the question,
has not God passed sentence of condemnation upon all for the
sin of Adam? He's declared all guilty and
death visit and comes upon all by and through Adam, our first
father, and Eve, our first mother. And yet, we are bound to say
amen to what David said, that the sentence is just, God is
pure, and is clear, even in imposing that sentence upon all of the
world and mankind. Did not God require a sentence
of death against the Old Testament sin of idolatry, blasphemy, murder,
incest, bestiality, sodomy, adultery, and so forth? What sentence has
God passed against sin but that of death? In the day thou eatest. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Ezekiel 18 and verse 4. As in Adam, all die. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and
verse 22. And David confesses the justice
of the sentence from the standpoint of his actual sin but also his
original sin. Psalm 51 and verse 5. that I
have been sinful since my conception. In sin my mother conceived me. Now why is sin against God? Because sin is a transgression
of the law of God and therefore an affront to the law giver. And what fruit, what bitter fruit,
has sin born in the world? But thank God there is good news. In spite of this being true,
there is good news. God has sent his son into the
world and has laid upon him the iniquity of us all, that he might
bear our sin, that he might make a proper satisfaction and propitiation
unto God, and that God might then look with favor upon those
by means of the death of Christ, that our sins have been put upon
Him, and His righteousness has been brought unto us. If we stood
on our own, if we stood alone, If it were our endeavor to put
away or cover our sin, we would be hopelessly and forever lost. But our great God, in infinite
mercy, in grace everlasting, has provided one to bear our
sin, and he has made a full satisfaction to the curse of the law, and
God has punished him what our sins deserve, that they might
not be imputed unto us, and we come to that end that they deserve. Yes, sin is an infinite offense,
but our Savior has made an infinite satisfaction to God Almighty,
a sweet odor unto God, acceptable in God's sight for an offering
for sin. And my brother, my sister, my
friend, trusting in that and that alone is an escape from
the awful penalty of sin and its misery forever and forever. Thank God for that perpetuary
sacrifice.