Turn with me, if you will, to
Psalms 25. Psalms 25. The title of my message this
evening is For Thy Name's Sake. For Thy Name's Sake. And we find
that here in our text in verse 11. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. This phrase has been
on my mind for some time, and I pray the Lord would enable
me to preach the gospel to you by contemplating on this verse
for a few minutes. And I just have a few points. The first one is an admission
here from David. You know, the psalmist in this
verse acknowledges that his iniquity is great. David owns it as his iniquity. Mine iniquity is great. It's
of my doing. Everybody always has an excuse
for sin. You know, it's my circumstances.
It's the way I was brought up. But not David. David says that
the iniquity is his and that it's great. And of all the things
that we have, of all the things that you have, truly, our iniquity
is our own. And in reading this verse, I
can see this being in reference to something specific he had
on his mind. And, you know, surely if we examine
ourselves and even our best acts, we can see this. You know, when
you think about, think about your prayers, think about our
singing, maybe something along these lines is what he had in
mind. Mind iniquity is great. You know, we're so polluted by
nature and everything that we do has sin in it. And I think
of the high priestly robes of Aaron, you know, turn with me
to Exodus chapter 28 when we consider this. Exodus 28. We'll start we're not going to
read the full chapter, but God is speaking to Moses here and
and versus will read verses 1 through 3 first. And take that one to
the Aaron thy brother and his sons with him from among the
children of Israel that he may minister unto me in the priest's
office even Aaron Nabad and Abba Eliezer and Ismar Aaron's sons. And thou shall make holy garments
for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And thou shall
speak unto all that are wise hearted whom I have filled with
the spirit of wisdom that they may make Aaron's garments to
consecrate him that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Now the rest of this chapter
God gives Moses very specific instructions as to how the priest's
robes were to be made so that he could minister unto him. And
not only did God give Moses the instructions on how these robes
were to be made, you notice there that he equipped the people to
do this work. As he had ordained, he said,
whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom that they may make
Aaron's garments. Now, why did God give him specific
instructions on the making of these garments? Because they
picture the Lord Jesus Christ and His work. Just like He had
given very specific instructions on how the Ark was to be made,
the Tabernacle, all the instruments in the Ark, it's because those
were pictures of Christ. It's one of the ways that the
Gospel was preached. unto the saints of the Old Testament.
And he didn't leave anything up to
man's imagination. And we saw that today in our
Sunday school lesson, the ark had rings so that they could
be carried by the sons of Levi. And we saw what happened whenever
a man reached out to touch the ark. But we're not going to read
all these the description of these rows. But, you know, one
thing reading through this again, it's very clear to me that the
high priest was representing a specific people. You know,
when you read through this, there were names that were engraved.
He wasn't representing all of the world. This high priest,
he was he was doing this work for the tribes, for Israel. which
of course pictures the Lord Jesus Christ and Him representing His
people. He's the High Priest for His
people. But look down here at verse 36. This is why I wanted us to come
here. Verse number 36. This is, he's going to give us
a description of the headpiece. I'm more familiar with the word
turban, but here it's used, translated as miter. But this is the headpiece
that Aaron was to wear. And thou shalt make a plate of
pure gold, engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, holiness
to the Lord. And thou shall put it on a blue
lace that it may be upon the miter, upon the forefront of
the miter it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's
forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things,
which the children of Israel shall hallow in their holy gifts. And it shall be always upon his
forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord. The iniquity
of the holy things, the Israelites would bring gifts and sacrifices
to be offered by the priest. And even this act of bringing
gifts and sacrifices needed to be cleansed, that it may be accepted. What does that tell you? What
does that tell you? That even our best works are
contaminated with sin. God cannot accept even our best
works, best intentions, our service, because all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. The iniquity of the holy things.
So maybe David was thinking about something in particular, or maybe
he was thinking about all of his iniquities together and how
great they are. We sing that hymn at Calvary
sometimes, and the last verse talks about the big gulf between
holy God and sinful man. It said, oh, the mighty gulf
that God did spam. There's a mighty, mighty gulf
between holy, just, righteous God and sinful man. You know,
Job and Job 15, you're familiar with this verse. It says, what
is man that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous. Behold, he put no trust in his
saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much
more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like
water." So David saw that his iniquity was great. How about
me? Do I see that my iniquity is
great? Do you see that your iniquity
is great? Do you see this as a problem? Or are you indifferent about
it? Well, brings us to our second
point is a supplication. So David's request is for God
to pardon his iniquity. Pardon mine iniquity. Can God pardon iniquity? Can he do that? You know, every sin is committed
against God. So it would stand that if anyone
can pardon iniquity, pardon sin, it would be God. Certainly no
one else can pardon sin. You remember when our Lord was
at that house and there were four friends that brought a man
to the Lord. And the Lord looked upon the
faith of his friends, actually, and then looked upon that man
that had the palsy and said, son, thy sins be forgiven me. And there were some scribes there
that were sitting there and they heard this and they reasoned
within their hearts. They said, why did this man does
speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And they were right in thinking
that only God can forgive sins, but wrong in charging Christ
with blasphemy because he is God. But only God can forgive
sin because, first of all, sin is committed against him. So
no one else can forgive sin. Well, all right, then, then God
can just pardon iniquity. Well, wait a minute. He's also
the judge. He's also the judge, a just,
righteous judge. And the wages of sin is death. Separation from God for all eternity. And that's what we've earned
with our sins. He's the judge of all the earth. People don't
like to think that they're accountable to God, that there's a judgment
day coming, but the scriptures declare that it's appointed unto
men once to die, but after this, the judgment. after death judgment. People
are not like animals which die and cease to exist. Man has a
soul, a soul that is going to have to give account to the judge.
As Peter said in his first epistle, speaking to believers, he said,
the world thinks it's strange that you run not with them to
the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you who shall give account
to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead." So yes,
God is the judge of all the earth and everything is open before
him. He sees the heart and the intentions
of man. That's why our Lord said that
to be guilty of adultery, you don't have to physically commit
adultery, to just to lust after someone you've already committed
in your heart. And as I said, he's a just God.
Psalms 45, 6 says, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The
scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. So can God pardon iniquity? How can God, who is just and
holy, pardon men and women like you and me who drink iniquity
like water? You know, God, he can't just,
God is holy. He can't sweep sins under the
rug. He can't pretend like they didn't
happen. And God said that he will by no means clear the guilty.
And I'm guilty. And you're guilty. Everyone is
guilty before God. But thank God, not only is he
a just God, but he declares himself to be a just God and a Savior. So God, so can God pardon iniquity? Yes. Yes, he can, but not in
a way that compromises his justice or his character. You see, God will not pardon
sin because you're real sorry. You know, people imagine God,
they imagine God as like, like a grandfather figure who wants
to overlook their sin. That's what people think. They
think God just, you know, he really just wants to overlook
people's sin. As long as they're sorry and
accept Jesus, then, you know, they're welcome into his kingdom.
They think, they think that God, they think God is unjust. But God's not, you know, it'd
be like it'd be like if you maybe if you committed murder and you
went to before a judge and you were found guilty. of committing
murder, and you said, you know, you were really sorry, and the
judge told the family of the person you had murdered, well,
you know, he's really sorry about it, so I'm going to let him go
free. That wouldn't be justice. That would be an unjust judge. God doesn't forgive sin at the
expense of his justice. He's not, God will not pardon
sin because people are sorry. And God will not pardon anyone
because of their good works. God's not going to pardon people
because of their good works or their attempts to keep the law.
I know you're familiar with this, but turn over to Romans chapter
three. Romans chapter three. And verse
19. Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God." I was thinking about this. You know, if you're born in the
U.S., you're born under U.S. law. If you're born in Canada, you're
born under Canadian law. But no matter where you're born
on this earth, you're born under God's law. This is his world. This is his world. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. That's justified in his sight.
That's what matters. Not how you feel about yourself.
Not how somebody else feels about you. Justified in his sight. God pardons sinners for Christ's
sake. God pardons sinners for Christ's
sake. In Ephesians, this used to be
one of our memory verses, Ephesians 4 Verse 32 says, And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. You see, it's in
Christ that God is able to both be just and justify the ungodly. And that's what leads me to my
third point, the basis for this plea. David says, if you turn back
there in Psalm 25 verse 11, for thy name's sake. For thy name's
sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Not for my merit's
sake, not for anything in me, but for thy name's sake. What
does David mean by his name's sake? The name of God is his
person, his attributes, and his nature. Lord, pardon my iniquity
for your mercy's sake. Pardon my iniquity for your righteousness'
sake. Pardon my iniquity for thy glory. To glorify all of your attributes,
pardon my iniquity. I want you to look at a few of
these other verses along these lines. Turn with me to Psalm
79. If you have a concordance, you
should take the time to look up all of the requests that are
made in the book of Psalms for thy namesake. But we'll look
at a few. Psalm 79. beginning in verse eight. Oh, remember not against us former
iniquities. Let thy tender mercy speedily
prevent us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our
salvation, for the glory of thy name, and deliver us and purge
away our sins for thy namesake. What a prayer. Help us. We need
help, don't we? We need help to pray. We need
help to come to church. We need help to read. We need
help in trials. We need help in temptations. We need help. Help all the time. Help us, oh God of our salvation. He's the God of our salvation,
beginning to end. He's the author of it, the finisher
of it. He's all of our salvation. Help
us for the glory of thy name, because your name is great. Help
us. Deliver us and purge away our
sins for thy namesake. Look over in Psalm 143. Verse 11. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's
sake, for thy righteousness' sake, bring my soul out of trouble. This verse here, quicken me,
O Lord, for thy name's sake, really, really struck me. You
know, when you read this, this full Psalm and look at David's
request, I believe he was going through something that a lot
of believers experience. And let me try to explain or
articulate that feeling because of his request, it says, quicken
me. In my experience, I never live
up, I never live up to what I think a believer or a Christian should
be. When I look at myself, I see nothing but my sin. And my sinful
desires are a constant source of self-loathing. And at the
same time, I pursue them. I don't love God like I should.
I don't pray like I should. I don't trust God like I should. And my heart is often cold. And
my faith is weak. And when something occurs that
shines a little light on one of these things, or sometimes
all of these things, This question comes up and it's, well, are
you a believer? And are you saved? Maybe you're
a fake after all. And have you ever felt like that?
And the way David articulates it in this psalm, he says, For
the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life
down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness
as those that have been long dead. As if, like he's saying,
as if I didn't have life at all. Our adversary, the accuser of
the brethren, who goes about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour. Says, therefore, is my spirit
overwhelmed within me and my heart within me is desolate. I'm full of fears and doubts. That's the that's the condition
that David is in. And David asked the Lord for
several things in this song, but two two of them really stood
out to me. He says, cause me to hear that
loving kindness. Cause me to hear that loving
kindness. You know what a child of God
needs to hear all the time, but especially whenever you're in
that state? The gospel. The gospel. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness
in the morning. First thing, first thing, Lord,
cause me to hear thy word. Open up my heart and my ears
to hear your gospel. I need to hear how you save sinners
by your grace. how you're a merciful and gracious
God, and that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
I need to hear that. Lord, I'm a sinner, save me.
And the second thing he says, and quicken me, oh Lord, for
thy name's sake. Lord, I can't find a single reason
within me as to why you would do this for me. That's what he
said. I can't find a single reason
within as to why you would do this. I don't deserve it. I can't earn it. I've grown cold
and gone astray. Quicken me for your name's sake,
because I don't have, I don't have any other reason, but for
your glory, for the sake of your name. And turn with me to Psalm
106. Last example I want us to look
at, beginning in verse four. Remember me, O Lord, with the
favor that thou bearest unto thy people. O visit me with thy
salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen. that I may
rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with
thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the
multitude of thy mercies. but provoked him at the sea,
even at the Red Sea." You remember God had just delivered them with
a mighty, mighty delivery from the Egyptians. I mean, you imagine
all these Israelites were slaves there and God makes it such that
the Egyptians are hurrying them out. They're trying to rush them
out of the land and giving them gold and silver and clothes and
whatever else they required. Just whatever you need, take
it and go. And they had just witnessed this
and they get to the Red Sea and they're in camp there and God
hardened Pharaoh's heart. God hardened Pharaoh's heart
so that the Egyptians were like, what did we just do? We just
let all these Israelites who were serving us go. We're going
to go after them. So they take off after Israel
and Israel sees the Egyptians coming. And this is what they
say to Moses. and therefore complaining to
God. Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us
away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt with
us this way? It would have been better for
us to serve the Egyptians that we should die in the wilderness. Didn't we tell you to leave us
alone? We told you to leave us alone and you brought us here
so that we could die here. I guess there were no graves
in Egypt, so you just brought us into this wilderness. They provoked him. That's what
this is saying. They provoked him even at the
Red Sea. Verse eight. Nevertheless. Nevertheless, he saved them.
Why? For his name's sake. He saved them for his name's
sake that he might make his mighty power to be known. Now, let me
close with a few thoughts on God saving and God pardoning
for his name's sake. If you've never, if you've never
come to Christ, if you've never come to Christ and you're waiting
on something that you hope to find in yourself, don't. Don't. Don't wait until you feel sorry
enough about your sin. Don't wait until you've cleaned
up your act. Don't wait until you have all your doctrine figured
out. God doesn't save sinners because of any other reason than
for Christ's sake and for his glory. Are you a sinner? Is your iniquity great? Come
to Christ, recognizing that you have nothing to offer or bargain
with, and ask God to save you for his name's sake, for Christ's
sake. Because that's the only thing
you can do. Now, for believers, let's keep
this wonderful truth that God saves sinners for his name's
sake on the forefront of our minds. And because none of us
would ever be saved if God expected anything from us. None of us
would ever be saved if God expected anything from us. Now, this will
do a lot of things, but number one, this is going to humble
us. This will humble you because self-righteous people are always
looking down on other people, comparing themselves to other
people, thinking higher about themselves than they should.
But someone who knows that all they did in being saved is show
forth how great the grace of God is, is a humble person. That's
all you bring to the table. That's all I bring to the table.
And this should cause great comfort. This should cause great comfort
because this is salvation by grace. A new nature, free pardon,
perfect righteousness, and all of this given to his people,
not because of anything in them or anything they can do or that
you can earn, but for his glory, for his namesake, because he
would. Because he would. Pray the Lord
would bless these thoughts.