I don't know why I was thinking about this, but I remember when I was in college, coming here when you were meeting in the school building. And one day I went to the service and it was Pentecostal, everybody speaking in tongues. And I thought, what happened to this place? And I didn't realize you'd moved. And I just went in there and I thought, I'm getting out of here. That was scary. How long ago would that have been? That'd be in the 70s, so a long time ago. Psalm 51. Have mercy upon me, O God, According to thy loving kindness. According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly for mine iniquity. And cleanse me from my sin. 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. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desires truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part, thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop. That was the branch that was used to put blood over the door. When God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Purge me with hyssop. 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 has broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart. O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 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. Oh God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Oh 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 wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure and desire. 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. I've entitled this message Psalm 51. I bet most of you, maybe all of you, if I would announce I'm preaching on Psalm 51 would know which Psalm that is. I have no doubt in my own experience that this is the passage of scripture that I have read more than any other passage of scripture. I read through the Bible systematically. starting at the beginning of a book, go all the way through. But if I'm just looking for something I want to read to comfort my soul, Psalm 51. Several days ago, I was struggling with the reality of my present sinfulness and sins that I have committed. And I believe the Lord put it in my heart to pray this prayer. Have mercy upon me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness. I'm not asking for mercy according to my sincerity or my sorrow over sin. I've never been sorry enough over sin. I'm not asking you to forgive me because of my intention to do better. The only reason I can find for you to have mercy on me is found in you, not in me. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Now the word loving kindness, hesed in the Hebrew, is the word that most embodies the New Testament word, grace. Have mercy upon me, O God. according to thy grace. Now let's look at verses one and two real briefly. We're going to look at the whole psalm, but notice three things that he mentions. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. and cleanse me from my sin." Now, here are three words that are often found together in the scripture, sin, transgression, and iniquity. Look back to Psalm 32. Here's an example. Blessed is he, look for these three words, whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." There we have those three words again, sin, transgression, and iniquity. Now, George Whitefield, some have said that he's the greatest preacher since the apostles, I wouldn't argue against that. But he made this statement, a man has never repented until he's repented of his sin, of his sins, and of his righteousness. Sin, my nature. My sin, David said, is ever before me, nonstop, continually, perpetually. My sin, my sinful nature is ever before me. Now remember, repentance is a change of mind. It's a change of mind about your sin, It's a change of mind about your sins. It's a change of mind about your iniquity. Now, sins are transgressions. That's the breaking of God's law. The breaking of God's holy law. In reality, we haven't kept one commandment one time. And if you think you have, you're very ignorant. of God's law, because as David said, I've seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad. Transgressions are the breaking of God's holy law. Go with the Ten Commandments and you'll see you've broken every single one of them. You can't read one and say, I've kept that. No, you haven't. Not if you understand it. You haven't. And then iniquity. What is iniquity? Well, this is a scripture that helped me tremendously found in Exodus 28, 38, where Aaron was called upon to bear the iniquity of the holy things of Israel. Iniquity is the good things. So you have a sinful nature, sin, transgression, the bad things, iniquity, the good things. I need him to do something about all of those things in me." Now, you'll notice the title of the psalm, and this title is inspired. This was a part of the original to the chief musician, a Psalm of David, when Nathan, the prophet, came unto him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Now, would you turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 11 for a moment? And we're going to read about what took place. And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabah. But David tarried still in Jerusalem. He should have been out at battle, but he tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eventide that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman, and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Now, Uriah was one of David's 300 mighty men. He was a faithful man, by the grace of God, a loyal man, a special man. So what does David do? And David sent messengers and took her. David could do what he wanted to. He was king. Nobody could tell him no. Whatever he wanted, he did. He sent messengers and took her. And she came in unto him and he lay with her. For she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned into her house. And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I'm with child. And David sent to Joab saying, send me Uriah the Hittite. He was out in battle as he should have been. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did and how the war prospered. How hypocritical. He was trying to butter him up when he was really had some evil intention in what he was doing. This is David, the man after God's own heart. And David said to Uriah, go down to thy house and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his Lord. and went down to his house. Obviously, David wanted him to lie with her so he'd think the baby belonged to him. And when they told David, saying, Uriah went not down into his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down into thy house? And Uriah said unto David, The ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my Lord Joab, and the servants of my Lord are camped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.' And David said to Uriah, Terry here today also, and tomorrow I'll let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him, and he made him drunk. And even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his Lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He was made to carry his own death sentence, not knowing he was doing this. And he wrote in the letter saying, set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire ye from him that he may be smitten and die. He ordered his execution. Here we have cold blooded premeditated murder. And it came to pass when Joab observed the city that he signed Uriah into a place where he knew that valiant men were, and the men of the city went out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite died also." Uriah wasn't the only one that died. Through his having Uriah come up there to cover it up, he had other men come up there that died too. He was actually guilty of multiple murders. Then Joab sit and told David all the things concerning the war, and he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matter of the war unto the king, and if it be so that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approach ye so nigh unto the city when you did fight? Know ye not that they would shoot from the wall? Who smote Abimelech, and the son of Jerebosheth? Did not a woman cast a piece of millstone upon him from the wall, and he died, and Thebe asked, Why went ye nigh the wall? Then say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. That's why this took place. So the messenger went and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said unto David, surely the men prevailed against us and came out into us in the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering in of the gate. And the shooters shot from off the wall, and upon thy servants, and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another. Make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it, and encourage thou him. What base hypocrisy, the way this man is speaking to Joab. And 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, and she became his wife, and barren a son. The thing that David had done displeased the Lord. David had been guilty of horrible abuse of power in sending for this woman. He was guilty of adultery. He was guilty of cold-blooded premeditated murder. He was guilty of implicating others in this sin, Joab. Joab's the one who had to give the order. No wonder Joab never felt the same about David, as you will see. And he expressed remarkable hypocrisy and demonstrated great hardness of heart. And chapter 12 was almost a year after this had taken place. You remember the title of this psalm. It was written after Nathan came into David. Now let's see what took place. Chapter 12. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said unto him, there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought up and nourished up and it grew up together with him and with his children and did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd. to dress for the wayfaring man that was coming to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was coming to him. They ate his lamb. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. We can always see the sin in others, clearly. David could, he saw what a horrible thing this was. 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. And David was smitten immediately. He'd been hard-hearted for some time, but this was the occasion which he wrote this 51st Psalm. Can you imagine how he felt when Nathan said to him, I'm talking about you, thou art the man. Now let's go back to Psalm 51. And I pray that this will be not only a psalm of David, but a psalm of Todd, and a psalm of everybody in this room, this precious psalm, Psalm 51. Now, what I think is very interesting, if you read this psalm, I counted 20 things that David asked the Lord to do about his sin. Now, when you are made to realize that there's nothing you can do about your sin, that's when you'll ask the Lord to do something about it. And you can go back and read this psalm yourself, and 20 different things he asked the Lord to do about his sin. Now, verse one, have mercy upon me, O God. Be gracious to me, show me favor, not because of anything in me. I can't come up with one reason in me as to why you would show me favor. But according to thy loving kindness, I've already said that's the Old Testament word for grace. What is grace? The grace of God. It's best described by the attributes of God. If you want to know what God's grace is, it's eternal grace. God's eternal. It's sovereign grace. God's sovereign. It's omnipotent grace. So powerful. It won't take no for an answer. It is independent grace. It doesn't need you to do something before it can operate. It's immutable grace. It never changes. It's all wise grace. It's righteous grace. It's gracious grace. Whatever attribute God has, as He's revealed in His Word, can be used to describe the grace of God. Have mercy upon me, O God, not because of anything in me, but according to Thy lovingkindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies." Your tender compassions. Remember when the leper came to the Lord full of leprosy and said, Lord, if you will, you could make me clean. And the scripture says, and Jesus moved with compassion. reached forth his hand and touched him. I bet he hadn't been touched by a human being in who knows how many years and said, I will be thou clean. I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Now, what does David ask him to do? Blot out my transgressions. exterminate them, wipe them away, erase them, cause them to not be. That's what I want done with my sin. If you do this for me, blot them out. I can't go back and make them not to be. I can't make any promises with regard to the future or how I'll never do it again. Please blot them out. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. Remember, iniquity is your good stuff, your righteousness, which the Bible calls filthy rags. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Now, the word cleanse is the same word used with regard to the cleansing of the leper in Leviticus chapter 13. And I love that story. You might want to go back and Look at it in your leisure. But when the leper was pronounced clean was when he came to the high priest completely covered with leprosy. If he came with a square inch of healthy flesh, he was turned back to the leper colony. It was only when he was completely covered with leprosy that the high priest would pronounce him clean. Now that's the same word he uses here. wash me, cleanse me from my sin. Verse three, for I acknowledge my transgressions. This is the confession of sin, taking sides with God against yourself. I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Now here he's talking about a sinful nature. He's talked about his transgression. He's talked about his iniquity. Here's the real problem. His sinful nature. Somebody says, can a believer Do things like this? If you ask that question, number one, you must not have read the Bible. I don't know what else to say. You're not going to get that from the scriptures. And number two, you know very little of the treachery of your own heart. You see what David did, the man after God's own heart, you can do it too. My sin, my sinful nature at all times is ever before me. There's not a time here on earth in my present state that this will not be the case. He says in verse four, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Now, wait a minute. What about Uriah? He was murdered. What about Bathsheba? What about Joab? He was implicated in this. You've only understood and I've only understood sin when I find that it's against the Lord. That's the problem with it. Against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. And I love what he says next, that thou mightest be justified when you speak and clear when you judge. Here's what that means. If God decided to not show me mercy and let me go to hell, just and holy and righteous is his name. When people complain with the fairness of the gospel, how could God let this happen? How could God do this or not do that? Well, what an arrogant attitude toward the Lord. You're sitting in judgment on God. Now, here, David doesn't sit in judgment on God. He said, you're clear when you're just, whatever you judge, you're justified when you speak. Behold, verse five, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. I was born bad. The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go about as soon as they be born. Speaking lies, born bad, born evil. Because of Adam's fall, and Adam all die, I was born with a wicked heart. I was born in unbelief. That is my nature. That's the way I was born. And every believer knows this is so. I was shaped in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desires truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part, thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Now, what is this inner part and hidden part? It's the hidden man of the heart. It's the new man. It's the hidden man, Peter calls it, of the heart. the new nature. You know, the only place I'm going to learn wisdom is in the new man. And he says, make me, he says, behold, thou desires truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom, the wisdom of God and how he can be just and justify the ungodly. Verse seven, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow. Now the hyssop branch, was used to be dipped down in the blood of the Paschal Lamb and put it over the doorpost. And God made this promise, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. He didn't say when you see it. He said, when I see it. He didn't say, when I see your sorrow, he didn't say, when I see your repentance, he said, when I see the blood, that's the one thing he was looking for. The blood of his dear son. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, what if somebody committed murder that day and they got in a house with the blood over the door? Would he have passed him by? Well, let me give you a hint. Everybody in that house had committed murder that very day if they understood what murder was in the first place. Read Matthew chapter five when the Lord speaks of it. If you were in the house with the blood over the door, you were passed over. Hide, purge me with hyssop, I'll be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than the snow. You notice all these things he's asking the Lord to do about his sin. He doesn't make any promises about what he's going to do. He's asking the Lord to do these things about his sin. Now, I hope me and you can enter into this and ask the same things for the Lord to do with regard to my sin. He says in verse eight, make me to hear joy and gladness. I can't even hear unless you make me to hear and cause me to hear and enable me to hear. Make me to hear joy and gladness. that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins. Don't look at them, don't see them. Now the only way he can hide his face from my sins is if my sins are put away and I'm in Christ. And he says, hide thy, don't look at them, don't look at me in any way in my sins. Aren't you thankful that you've always been viewed in the lamb's flame from the foundation of the world if you're a believer? That's how he, you've never been viewed independently of him, but that's what David is asking for. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Now earlier he said, blot out my transgressions, the bad stuff. Now he says, blot out all my iniquities, the good things. I love what Charles Spurgeon said. He said, with regard to my good works and my bad works, I can't tell the difference between the two. I can't distinguish between them, so the only thing to do is throw them all away and go into heaven on the plank of free grace. Blot out my transgressions. Blot out my iniquities. Create, verse 10, look what he's asking the Lord to do. Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. My heart's no good. It's beyond repair. Jeremiah 17 9 says the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. And that word desperately means incurably wicked. It's translated quite often that way. The only way I can have a clean heart is if you create a clean heart within me. I can't make this happen any more than I can create the universe. Oh, would you create a clean heart within me? Mine's filthy. Mine's no good. Would you create a clean heart within me and renew a right spirit within me? My spirit is wrong. Verse 11, cast me not away from thy presence. Now, David, don't you understand the eternal security of the elect? Of course he did. But he's talking about how he felt. Cast me not away. I deserve to be cast off. Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord. Take not thy Holy Spirit for me. Well, don't you know that if you have the Holy Spirit, you'll have him eternally? Well, he might've known that, but I know how he felt. I've sinned against you. I've grieved. I've quenched the Spirit. I can see where he would be with me no more. Please don't take him away. Verse 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. I've lost it. All I can see is my own sinfulness and brokenness, and I can't fix myself. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, that salvation which is of the Lord, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Now, you'll notice with thy is italics, It's put there by the translators, and I don't think it helps us to understand what David means when he says this. When he says, uphold me with thy free spirit, he says, make me willing. That's what that means. Make me willing. It's God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Make me willing. Thy people should be willing in the day of thy power. Will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee? Now, here's what preaching is. One beggar telling another beggar where he got bread. That's what's going on here. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, And sinners shall be converted unto thee. You know, they're the only ones that are converted, sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. And then he says in verse 14, deliver me from blood guiltiness. Oh God, thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Deliver me from being guilty of the crucifixion of your son. Now that's what blood guiltiness is. Somebody says, now I can't be charged with that because I wasn't even there when it happened. You would have if you were there. You would have. God holds all men responsible for the murder of his son. Him being delivered by the determinant counsel and for knowledge of God, you with wicked hands," that's talking about every one of us, have crucified and slain. But look what he says. This is so interesting. He says, deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy mercy. No, thy righteousness. You see, his grace, his deliverance is righteous grace. If I was a judge, and you committed a crime, and I said, I'm a merciful judge, I'm a forgiving judge, going out, it'd be unjust, wouldn't it? You see, the Lord has made a way to be just and justify the ungodly. His grace is righteous grace, and the gospel declares the righteousness of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it's the power of God and salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. The righteousness of God demands the salvation of that one who has had blood guiltiness. What a gospel we believe. Oh Lord, open now my lips. I can't even get my mouth open. Open thou my lips. I can't praise you unless you enable me to. You think what the Lord said, without me you can do nothing, isn't that so? I can't even praise you except you open my lips and enable me to do so. Oh Lord, open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice. Else would I give it. Thou delight us not in burnt offering. He's talking about the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. He realized that. I'm sure he practiced the morning and evening sacrifice every day the way he was supposed to. He observed the Passover and the great day of atonement and all of those sacrifices. And he realized those simply point to the one who's coming. He believed the same gospel Abel did. Abel knew that the only way he would be saved is by the blood of the coming lamb. He says you don't desire these physical sacrifices. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart. Oh God thou will not despise. A broken spirit. Now what is a broken spirit? Well, if something's broke, what do you do? If you can't fix it, you throw it away. It's worthless. A broken spirit. If it's broken, it doesn't work. It can't work. When you have a broken spirit, you realize that you cannot be saved by your works. You're broke. You're damaged goods, and it's all your fault. You're a broken spirit. What is the one thing that's in its best state when it's broken? The heart. A broken heart. To him that worketh not. He realizes he cannot be saved by his works, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. The contrite, the crushed spirit has nowhere to look but Christ. Not only will the Lord not despise it, he's pleased with it. Because this is his work. If you have a broken heart, he gave it to you and he's pleased with what he does. I'm so thankful that every aspect of my salvation is what he does. Now, look what he goes on to say in verse 18, do good. Salvation is what he does. Now, what you do is what he does. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Salvation is altogether what he does. It's not due. It's done. Don't wait for a feeling. Don't wait till you get better. Look to Christ right now. It is done. It's already done. Do good in thy good pleasure and design. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. If we build the walls, it won't do any good. It's him building the walls of protection and safety and security by his grace. Then, when you do good and when you're the one building the walls, 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. He's pleased with what he does. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. I pray that that is the prayer of every one of us tonight. Let's pray.