Let's turn to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. I'm just going to read the first
verse right now because I'm going to go through a lot of the verses
here in this Psalm. So verse 1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions. We have here a psalm. A psalm
is that which is meant for singing praises to God, as Joe just went
through. It is truth that can be spoken
as well. But psalms were written and intended
to be sang or sung. I don't know the best way to
say that. We read in Psalm 95 too, we read, let us come before
his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto
him with psalms. And then Psalm 105 too we read,
sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous
works. Job's already went through that
for us. What we sing should be the truth of God. It is not okay
to get up and preach the truth of God in a message and then
get up and sing hymns or psalms or spiritual songs that lie on
God. Hearing lies on God in our message,
in our song, or in our prayers does not edify anyone and could
be that which is even a little bit eleven if it's unchanged. I'm sure we say things when we
preach or say things when we sing or say things when we pray
that are a lie against his word to some extent. I understand
that. But when we realize this, that
this is the case, then we change what we are saying. I'm sure
there are times when we have lied on God on purpose. God help
us. But God's people try not to lie
on God. Nevertheless, it's not edifying
when we hear lies on God. Colossians 3, 16, we read, let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. So from
this psalm, what is it that we preach, sing, and pray about? Paul said to us in 1 Corinthians
2-2, he said, he decided not to know anything else among the
Corinthians other than this one thing, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In knowing Jesus Christ and Him
crucified, we learn some other things through, or that is by
His Spirit. We learn who we are and what
we have done. The end result being supplications
to him and praise to him for what he has done, Joe. This psalm
is a psalm of a believer coming to know who he is and who God
is. It is a true bona fide believer
who wrote this, David. This is a prayer, a psalm, and
it is a message to be proclaimed as well. So we have the following. Number one, and an acknowledging
of who we are before God and what we have done. And I had
a few other points. God had me take it out because
Joe covered a lot of that. But an acknowledging of who God
is and what he has done and can do. So number one. And I wanna say a few things
before this first point. I want us all to notice that
David never asked the question why or how. It is all matter
of fact. He does not ask God how he does
things or why he does things. He just asks God to do these
things to him. As we go through this, there
are things that David asks from God that God has already done
for him. yet he still asked for them.
God does things in a certain order, but he may not allow us
to see them in that order. There are some things in God's
word I may not know until later on, although they may have happened
to me first. But here, just as David does,
all of God's people do in acknowledging who we are. We at the same time
acknowledge who he is, who can help and who can continue the
work, Joe. But let's look at the first verse
in detail. And I'm gonna look at, you know,
this is separated out into what we do and what God does. So in
the first point, we're looking at only what we do. So Psalm
51.1, we read, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving
kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies,
blot out my transgression. We see here in this first verse
the reason why David is crying out to God. He admits to God
that his transgressions, that is his revolt and rebellion,
and that is revolt and rebellion against God himself, it needs
to be blotted out. Without our transgressions being
blotted out, there is no mercy. wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. Here in verse two, we see the
fountain and we see the flow. Iniquity is sin and sin is iniquity. But we see that as it is mentioned
here as the fountain and the flow. We commit sins daily against
him and this flow of sins comes from us who are sin itself. Verse three, for I acknowledge
my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. When God begins
to work on an individual and when God is dealing with an individual,
but not just any individual, One that He has chosen from before
the foundation of the world. And those that He's paid the
debt of sin that they owe. When He begins to work on an
individual, the group sin goes out the window. We will admit to God that we
have transgressed against Him. We will cry out to God acknowledging
that our sins are so much in our face, that they are all we
can see and we know that sin is an offense against God. 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. We come to admit that it is God
Almighty, the holy, sovereign God, who does as He wills. We admit that we have sinned
against Him. We are told that this was written
by David, you know, after that time when he was with another
man's wife, with Bathsheba. And not only that, but that he
tried to have that man cover up his sin. Then when that man
would not, he had him killed by putting him in the front of
the battle and then having everyone else pull back. That way it would
ensure that he would be killed. Then God sends Nathan, all of
you are familiar with this, but God sends Nathan the prophet
to tell David, he is the man that sinned against God. Maybe
there are some that might say, I don't have sins like that. I've never done anything like
that. These are those who, at the very least, have not been
dealt with by God in such a way as David has here. At worst,
they are reprobate and will never come to know who they are and
who God is. We have all committed spiritual
adultery against God. We have all went after our own
way. In doing so, we have committed
adultery against the sovereign God. We have murdered the Lord
of glory at one time in hating him in our minds. We commit sin
in our mind all the time. There are some who God sends
someone to them to let them know they are the man. Scripture says
that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And
sin is the transgression of the law. And it says the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. When God brings you to this place
of acknowledging this, you will see it all before your eyes,
and it will seem like you can see nothing else. When God does
something for an individual, they will be just like old blind
Bartimaeus. When he began to cry out, there
were those around him who told him basically to shut up. But
just like blind Bartimaeus, it will only serve to cause such
a one to cry out even more and louder, knowing that they have
this need of the Savior. It will be like the finger from
God from the prophet Nathan is pointing right at them. You're
the man. These who are like this will
acknowledge that something has to change with them. What they
are, as they are born in Adam, is corrupt and will never bow
down to this sovereign holy God. Verse 10. Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. They know that
God must create a new heart in them. But I will say this. If someone is in this state as
David, the new heart they cry out for has already been given. We know what this kind of heart
is because we are told in verse 17, the sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, thou
will not despise. They will have a broken and contrite
heart. The heart we are born with in
Adam will never admit to or acknowledge that it is sin and does sin against
God. It will deceive us into thinking
we are doing something right before God. Go back up to verse
five. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity
and in sin did my mother conceive me. I was shapen. This word means to twist or to
twirl in a circular motion. To dance or writhe in pain is
something else it means. We are shape and it says. We
are this way and we can do nothing about it. It is there and we
cannot change it. The meaning of it's like a woman
birthing a child. It's something that just happens.
Or I think of something like when I get hurt and smash my
finger or something and I can't help it. I got it because there's
pain there. I have to do something. What were we shaping in? Iniquity. We come forth as a fountain of
sin. So that when we are born, we
come forth from the womb, we begin to sin against God. We can do nothing else. It is
what we are, so we sin. We are sin, then sin comes out
of us. What we need is God to do something for us. We cannot
do anything for ourselves. And we come to know, just like
old blind Bartimaeus, that we cannot miss the Lord of glory
passing by, or we will be eternally damned. So we acknowledge his
doings, through number two, and acknowledging of who God is and
what he has done and can do. Psalm 51.1, again. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. according unto the multitude
of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. The
first thing the believer acknowledges is the fact that we need mercy. Mercy is kindness to an inferior. That's what the word mercy means
here in this verse. So just in that, we can see that
David admits to God the Father that David is inferior to him,
to God that he is inferior to him, and that he needs mercy
from this self-existent one. Have mercy upon me, O God. He is the only one who can. It
is just a matter of will he. Then he says, according to thy
loving kindness, That is according to the one and only one who can
perform a good deed. Loving kindness is a good deed
done in mercy to an inferior one. But it does not stop there. He goes on to say, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. The mercy God bestows
on his people is compassion towards those who are his. and it is
done in a good deed towards them. Verse two, wash me thoroughly
from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. David says nothing
here of what he can do to clean himself. He acknowledges the
one and only one that can do this, which is God. He has to
be washed by God to have his iniquity covered, to have his
sin blotted out. Verse six. Behold thou desires
truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt
make me to know wisdom. It is God who will teach us who
he is. Jesus Christ is our wisdom. So he teaches us of himself. Jesus Christ is God. Go on to
verse seven. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. It is God who at this time would
sprinkle his blood, that is purge me with hyssop. He would wash
me with his blood and in doing so make me whiter than snow. 1 John 1 7 we read, but if we
walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses
us from all sin. It is God the one who has been
offended, the one who we have sinned against, the one whose
holy law condemns us to death. It is this God that had to pay
for those sins because I could not do it. In fact, no man born
of Adam could do it. It had to be God himself who
is absolutely righteous and good who had to come down and die.
We see all down through this Psalm that David is pleading
with God. He is not demanding of God. It
is like what others have said. We have offended God, are we
then going to demand God forgive us and have mercy on us? No. We plead with him and our hope
is that he wills to do this for us. Let's read verses eight and
nine. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Joe, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. hide
thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. More pleading from David to God. He is acknowledging that God
is the only one who can do this. Let's go into the verse 11 and
let's just read all the way down from verse 11, the rest of the
chapter here. Cast me not away from thy presence
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then
will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted
unto thee. Deliver me from blood guiltiness,
O God. Thou God of my salvation, and
my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open
thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou
desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest
not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure
unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with
the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole
burnt offering. Then shall they offer bullocks
upon thine altar. We went through an example of
a real believer who has come to know who God is, and in coming
to know him, he recognizes and admits to God what he is and
the need he has of him, of God. We know from scripture that there
is a certain order in which God works. It is not up to our opinion,
and the order in which it works is not the order in which we
might come to know things. There is more to God's order
than this one passage. But a passage that comes to mind
is Romans 10, and it tells us of some things that God orders. If you wanna turn there, Romans
10. In verse 13, I'm gonna start in. Very familiar to you, though.
Romans 10, and beginning in verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. We see there is an order here
and this does not cover all that happens, but we know this from
this passage. Here's what we know. God must
send someone to you with the message first. You do not come
to know God without him sending someone to you first. because
you're not going to believe someone of whom you have not heard. Once
a believer hears of Jesus Christ, they will believe. In doing this,
they will call upon the name of the Lord, just as David did
in Psalm 51. Because seeing him as the only
righteous one, we see that we are not righteous. So this causes
us to call upon his name to save us. We do not call on him to
allow us to do good work for him. We may in time ask him to
help us in those things, but we must first come to see our
need of him and our need of salvation in blotting out our transgressions.
None of this would happen had he not provided the sacrifice
that was needed to pass over us. God seeing the blood of his
son is the catapult for him to be able to look to us in mercy. But we as we are born in Adam
are born with a wicked flesh just like everyone else. We're
that lump, that same lump. We are born enemies of God and
we are ungodly. Something has to change because
in that state all we can do is hate him. He must create in us
a new heart. This has to happen first because
the heart we are born with is wicked and it deceives us. We
cannot believe Him with this kind of heart. Some think they
believe Him being deceived by this old wicked Adamic heart.
They confess God with their mouth but indeed they deny Him. Words
do not bow down to God. The ones who have been apprehended
of God come to fear him in truth and in spirit, and these bow
down to him. They begin to give sacrifice
to God. Here's what a man shown mercy
does for God. Verse 17 of Psalm 51. The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou will not despise. This new heart that he gives
breaks. It is crushed, so much so that
it collapses, a contrite heart. It bows down before him. That's
what it means. Having this kind of heart, we
then, when hearing his word, will cry out for him to open
our lips to show forth praises to him. Without him doing this,
we will not praise him. Men can make good arguments and
leave out what God says and be wrong, no matter how good their
argument is. Just an example of this. Paula
and I were looking through Facebook and got to talking about this,
but we saw a post where a man was praising an argument of some
man on there, and it was concerning made sin. And he said the argument
was well done to show how sin was imputed to Christ. You can
have the best argument in the world, but if you deny what scripture
says, then your argument is not just wrong, but a lie on God. First Corinthians 117 says, for
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. Now, some men are eloquent. I
mean, there are some of God's men who are very eloquent. But
in being eloquent, they are saying what God says in his word. What
I'm talking about and trying to point out is man making something
sound good with human reasoning, even though the scripture says
something else or does not say it at all. Now, we know what
scripture says about made sin, just to finish out this point.
Second Corinthians 521 says, for he hath made him sin for
us. What other argument do we need
to make? It says he made him sin so we
believe what God says by his grace and power. He does not
tell us how he made him sin. Therefore, I do not need to know
how he made him sin. just that he did make him sin,
so that I might be made the righteousness of God in him. So what are we
told back in Romans 10 about this heart that Psalm 51 is talking
about? Romans 10, 10 it says, for with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. That's what God's word says.
It is true no matter what kind of argument we may have. It is
with the heart that man believeth. But it is not with this old heart
of flesh that this is done. We don't have to argue this.
All we need to do is proclaim it. Scripture is clear. God has
said he will give us a new heart. Our Lord confirms this when he
explains the parable of the seed and the sower, when he equates
the different kind of ground with men's hearts. There is only
one type of heart that will produce fruit, and that fruit is believing
God. But only one type of ground will
believe. That is an honest and good heart. We know from scripture that we
are not born with that kind of heart. In fact, in our text passage,
David himself cries out to God to create in him a clean heart. God, in fact, had already given
him this heart. How do we know this? He may have
not known this at the time, but how do we know this? Because
with the heart man believeth, and this clean heart, then moving
the mouth to speak, confesses that Jesus is the Christ to the
saving of the soul. Scripture is our best argument.
With God giving us all things, We can do and will do just as
David did and confess with our mouth. We confess what we are
and what we have done to offend a thrice holy God. And we confess
who God, confess who God is and what it took to show mercy on
us and that it is him and him alone that can give mercy. If
he wills. This we do in prayer, we do in
singing, and we do in proclaiming him. All to the praise of him
who hath taken our iniquity far, far away, so that it is blotted
out before him. May he cause our lips to do this
until we see him as he is. Amen. Thank you, our dear Heavenly
Father, dear Lord, the sovereign of all things, dear Lord. Thank you for making it so that
we could make it here safely, dear Lord. Keep us safe as we
travel back on our way. Be with Walker as they travel
back, dear Lord. Bless these words to our hearts,
dear Lord, as only you can do. Because it's all up to your works,
dear Lord, not us. We can do nothing without you.
And all these things we ask in Christ's name, amen.