Our Hope

Have your Bibles with you later with 51 to Psalm 51 will be looking at verses 339 front of my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you. You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgments, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me to hold you to light and truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the Sacred Heart perjury of hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be wider than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness with the bones that your broken rejoice hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities scout our Lord in prayer.

Heavenly father. What a glorious Psalm we have before us today is not just a declaration. It's not just rules and principles. It's a prayer of repentance by David help us to understand the human heart and the day's passage we see trees that break us and trees that revive us. We also see that revival doesn't come outside of repentance. Father I pray a scary prayer this morning and it's the S show us our hearts. I have a tendency to be proud, not humble tendency to be overly sensitive and petty, like others pointed out my shortcomings. I can hunger for human acceptance not be concerned about your acceptance help us all to quit worrying about pleasing people get dead serious about pleasing you help us to run from the fallacy of hiding sin and to run to you that our sin might be washed away.

Please keep my lips from air this morning. May Christ be exalted. This congregation be edified, for it is the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

You know, be seated. Two weeks ago we started a study on Psalm 51 of this Psalm is not the greatest chapter in the entire Bible on the subject of repentance. Charles Spurgeon said when you're studying Psalm 51 you are standing on holy ground.

That case you are here two weeks ago. Let me share a little quick background with you.

David is committed adultery with Bathsheba.

He is then had her husband Uriah the Hittite killed in order to cover up his sin and for several months he's been living in spiritual apathy and hardening of heart.

It's at that point that God sends the prophet Nathan to confronting and Nathan goes before Dave and he tells them the famous story of how there was a rich man doing great herds of cattle and great flocks of sheep and he lived beside a very poor man who had pretty much nothing but a little Petland that his family absolutely adored and and the rich man had traveler to come by and the traveler came by and wanted supper so the rich man went out. But instead of going to get one of his own lambs. He went right by all of his sheep. He went right to his neighbor's house stole his little Petland slaughtered the lamb through and in the pot and they ate it for supper when David heard this he was absolutely livid. He was incensed the scheme was just coming off David's head. He was furious about this and he said to Nathan so you bring that man to me.

And justice will be done. He said that man deserves to die for what he's done and then at that point in time Nathan the prophet lifted up his arm and he pointed that long bony finger profits finger right into the face of David and said David thou art the man you're the rich man in the story David. You were the one who to stole someone's wife and then killed him in order to cover up your sin David thou art the man and David fell apart, spiritually, physically, emotionally, just absolutely fell apart finally was able to pick himself up off the floor and he went into his bedroom. He got on his face before God and he prayed this prayer that we call Psalm 51 in the first verses of this great Psalm. David is praying and begging for mercy bring it back in God for forgiveness and then he begins to confess his sin and he confesses openly and honestly and he he confesses specifically then we get the first three I want to share with you today. In this passage that were looking at 3394 points that I believe are very important. Number one is a godly conviction look with me at verses three through four. He said, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you. You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment date is not pleading innocence. Here he is doing the exact opposite. He said I know my transgressions, the conviction of God's Spirit was so heavy upon David, the guilt was laying on him so deeply that he couldn't stand it and it was like he just couldn't get away from it. AA David said not by my sin is ever before me was all he could think about this, the shame that he brought to his own family. How we broken up Bathsheba's family.

Terry killed one of his most loyal soldiers and this was running through his mind again and again and again like it was on videotape the couldn't run from it. He couldn't ignore it. He couldn't justify that convicting spirit of God that convicting truth of his sin was just eating a hole through his heart. Let me ask you something you ever been there.

I have been there I've sin that I've known it was sin I wouldn't do anything about it and it was like God brought it up at every turn in my life you maybe I'd spoken harshly to somebody maybe had gotten bitter against somebody maybe gossip. Maybe I had lusted. I knew what I should do.

I should confess that I should forsake it but for some reason I just kinda backed off and when I backed off, God would just promo me with the thoughts of my sin and he would pummel me to the point that I felt like I had no recourse to repent and I did. That's was going on with David Davidson's O Lord, my sin is ever before me.

That's where David's heart is right there only ask you something why God do that what I gotta do that to David.

What is that God do that to me. What does God do that to you and the answer is because God loves his children. Hebrews chapter 12 verse six says says this, for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives brothers and sisters. God loves his children so much. He is not going to allow us to get away with sin. Verse four David pray something that is often misunderstood. David prays and he says this against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, we read that was sitewide a minute David Cindy guess a lot of people David Cindy gets his own family he sinned against his nice unity sinned against up Bathsheba ascending his Uriah the Hittite what you mean. These sinned against God and God alone. The Reformation study Bible. The footnote there for the SI thought he did a good job. He he said this David committed adultery with Bathsheba and sent her husband to his death. How can David say that he sinned against God only.

This is an example of hyperbole. The point being that David sin was ultimately not exclusively against God rebellion against God was the root of his sin and his prime injured people who belong to God and transgressed a social order created by God .2 ungodly conception look with me at verse five. Bold.

I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me several years ago. Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, preached on Psalm 51 verses one through four. Got through this message man in his church came up to him and said Dr. Jones. It was a powerful message and he said if I had been a bank robber or a murderer or a sex maniac or an adult or that sermon would've really touched my heart. But he said he didn't mean too much to me because I am basically a good man and Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones with his steel gray eyes looked at him and said no you are not basically a good man. You are basically a deceived man and he said if this passage didn't deal with your heart today. Come back next week and will deal with verse five in the first four verses of Psalm 51. David is broken.

He is crying out, begging God for forgiveness, begging God to have mercy. He is confessing his sins openly and is at the God and there's great emotion.

They are his prey had with his heart in those first four verses we get into verse five and David is praying with his mind is very contemplative here and and as he prays he ask a question and this is the question why did I do it while that I do it. He wonders how could this have happened to such a good guy like me. I love the Lord on the apple of God's I'm a man after God's own heart for all these years I've been obedient and committed and loyal and faithful to the Lord. How could this happen to a good man like me. In verse five the Holy Spirit gives David his answer is obedience and his commitment.

His loyalty and his faithfulness to God were not the fruits of his own effort but they were the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It was a product of God's grace to all of a sudden David comes face-to-face with the shocking reality. He's not basically a good man. He doesn't naturally love the things that God loves.

He doesn't naturally hate his own sin. David does not realize this. Up to this point, but now he see in it. The only reason his whole life he had been acting like the devil, and the only reason he doesn't act like the Philistines who is been fighting all his life is simply the grace of God I don't think David realize this here, but there was self-righteousness in his heart like Eric shared with us in Sunday school this morning.

Self-righteousness leads to to spiritual pride and spiritual pride leads to deception that David was able to say things about his sand that were just not true.

They get mad, get angry and said well that's not a sin. That's just righteous indignation that he would last after a woman so was not my fault. That's her fault for wearing such a modest clothing aside that the devil made me do it, then verse five the ask the question why did I do it and God tilting I think out of all the things that David learned from from this prayer of us did that was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Think one of the greatest lessons that he learned is this. He is not basically a good man and brothers and sisters. The same is true of us all of us 45 years ago I went to evangelistic crusade of Rink Annapolis is held at football stadium at a L Brown but before school and evangelist preached a very powerful message very convicting message. I was sitting down right in front of us. There was a family boy about 1617 years, always there, and when the sermon was over in the in the evangelist gave an invitation that young boy stood up, his mother reached up, she grabbed his hand she pulling back down. She said what you know into them going down there and she said what are you going down there. He said I need to be saved and she said you don't need to do that. She said you're the best boy on the and he looked back at his mama and Lisa mama, that's what you think.

But you don't know my heart I will never ever forget that in verse five we are going to be looking at a doctrine called the doctrine of original sin. Verse five David said this, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.

That doctrine says this we are all born with a sin nature. We's we don't sin but because we start that over.

We don't see it in order to become sinners, we sin because we are sinners.

To begin with. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. It affected not only them, it affected all of their descendents, their sin was a deliberate act of rebellion against God. Any change their nature and it changed and remove their innocence. No longer did they long to fellowship with God. Now they wanted to run from him and hide from me. No longer did they hate their sin. Now they kind of had a bent toward that sin. Their hearts have been corrupted and and because of that. Now they gotta a propensity to want to to sin and folks that sin nature was genetically passed down to all of the descendents of Adam. We look at a little baby and I don't know if you ever done this or not but there's this first thought all look at a sweetie is that he's just so innocent he so homely look at him. He's never lied is never committed adultery is never stolen anything is ever murdered anybody go in heat in the sweetened and the innocent, all while that's not true. Is it you see that little baby, although he's not mentally capable of committing the sum of the sins that we as adults do.

PS the nature of Adam that he was born with my ceiling rattlesnake just born that will rattlesnake may not have a lot of venom in them yet but guess what, when he grows up he still be filled with nasty poisonous venom because he has a rattlesnake nature of this is a doctrine that we call federal headship and federal headship means that Adam was our perfect representative that God is so unconditioned that God knew that if I was in Adam's place. If you are in Adam's place.

We would've done the exact same thing that Adam did verse five David said, behold, I was shape and in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Martyn Lloyd Jones said the following is explained in David's helplessness. I thought this was good sick conscious is a terrible thing.

David is here trying to quiet his conscience but he cannot do it.

He would give everything to quiet quiet in his conscience is a wealthy man. He has flocks and herds, but he cannot do it when you look back across your life and you see certain things would you not like to get rid of them to race and blot them out to remove the stain but it can't be done. David realize that in every man who has become a Christian realizes it to be likewise cannot find peace. He's doing everything he can but he cannot find peace. He cannot sleep. This thing is there is always before in the cannot get away from it. I do not say that a necessity you need have a particular feeling but I do say that no man is a Christian… Sometimes he is known that terrible searching for peace for rest and for quiet the great St. Augustine knew it for quite a. He had this restlessness and soul, and at last he cried out there was made us for thyself and our soul. Souls are restless until they find their rest in the and you know that restlessness have you known the search for peace and quiet of conscience and of mind and heart and attempt to get real of that sense of guilt. David feels helpless because he knows he can't do a thing personally to change it. Psalm 51, was not written just for the murder and the adulterer in the bank robber. It was written for every single one of us. When you read Psalm 51 what you see is what your heart is really like white .3 divine clarity, divine clarity. Look at verse six, the old needlelike truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the Sacred Heart.

What does David mean when he says that God desires truth in our inner parts in our inner being a means that that God desires for us to be honest with him. He desires for us to approach him with a clear conscience. One of the sins that Jesus railed against over and over again was a sin of hypocrisy and in this Psalm. What were being told is don't be hypocritical about 35 years ago I met a young man who was on fire for the Lord told me that he felt like God might be calling him into the ministry, but he shared with me that he had been through pretty recently and grill terrible struggle in his life and he said that he worked at company was the engineering company. Very prestigious company. He too was an engineer and he said that he went to a time of temptation that if he had given into that tent temptation. He said were destroyed any possibility of him going into the ministry said that there was a young lady that came into the office said she was going to be one of their new secretaries and said she walked in, and every man they are just stopped what he was doing and just gawked at her that she was absolutely beautiful. They said she was there for about four or five weeks and he was in his cubicle by himself answered.

She came over to doing and she stood down she whispered in his ear and she propositioned and she said I know you're married but I like to have a relationship with you and I'll never tell anybody and it will be our little secret. If you're interested just let me know he said. She walked away, and his knees got weak. Hey, said he went home that night. He said he got on his face before the Lord any cry that he said Lord you know I don't want to do this thing and all of a sudden verse six came up verse six of Psalm of Psalm 51 in that verse that is not the verses that that says you desire truth in the inward parts, and he says, oh Lord, I just say that I don't want to do this thing that was a lie. I do want to do this thing. My old wicked heart desires that girl. I can't lie to you I don't want to hurt my family. I don't hurt my wife. I don't want to hurt my children. I don't want to ruin my testimony but Lord this thing is a great temptation to me and I just don't know how to handle it. The Lord led him at that point in time to a another verse in James chapter 5 verse 16 James said this. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. As he was meditating on a verse he started asking himself why did he use the word faults instead of the word sin what what in the site were confess our sins to one another to use the word faults we looked it up and when he looked it up.

He found that that word faults Miller geological fault like a crack in the earth, and if an earthquake were to hit it would cause a great shift in the land and do great great damage in any said my faults or gaps in my character they're not full-blown sins, but there cracks in my spiritual armor.

Their propensities to see and they are leanings to sin. God said that if he would confess his faults one to another, that he would be healed, so he went out and found him a man that he knew he had great respect for very spiritually mature man and he asked him about this he said though the Lord said, we confess our faults one to another, that he would heal us cannot confess my faults to you and the man said yes and he just opened up and he began to just share his heart and he beat Shay shared with them. He said look, I've got a problem with lust at any said my dad had this problem. His dad had that problem. His dad had that problem and he said all three of those men gave you know that temptation and all three of them ended up having marriages that ended in divorce and he said I don't want that. I love my family and I love my my wife and I love my children on. I have a desire to go into the ministry and he shared about this woman and how great a temptation.

This was a sin. We you pray for me man said yes I would be glad to pray for you, but I want to do more net. He said not only am I gonna pray for you, but I would hold you accountable pay said I want you to meet with me once a week for the next six months. Every week, and said, every week I'm to look right into your eyes and I want you to be honest with me. I want you to share with me what's going on your thought life. I want you to share with me if you had any communication with this woman. They did that, he said. After about three weeks.

It was very interesting because he was honest and he said it was very interesting. What happened the power that temptation begin to subside.

He said after about three months. It was completely gone. He said it was absolutely amazing.

He said when I got honest about my sin and I had just to share my heart with a with a man that had great respect for.

He said when that took place. He says some great things begin to happen, but that's truth in the inward part that's truth in the inward being here was a man who knew that he was no match for the power of the flesh and being honest with himself and being honest with God being honest with the brother in Christ pave the way for victory. You know what most of us won't do that and you know why because it's embarrassing we don't tell let let somebody else think that there's something wrong going on in my mind that I might be sinful. We don't want people to took to hold us accountable because we don't want them to think that we're not everything that we want everybody to think that we are folks brothers and sisters at the real part of genuine repentance. David had to be honest with God, why did he sin he won Bathsheba's fault.

It wasn't his wise fault. It was his fault, he sinned because he wanted to sin descend because he enjoyed that sin.

Have you been that honest with God's and Lord. I've got a problem in my problem is this.

I enjoy that sin genuine accountability will help you immensely .4 is holy, cleansing look at verse seven through nine. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness with the bones that you have have broken rejoiced. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities David to say Lord I'm in a bind. I've sinned. I've committed murder. I have committed adultery I have lied about it. I have tried to cover it up. And Lord, I can't change it. I can't go back in time and make things right thing race. What is happened, like Jeremiah when Jeremiah said cantilever change his spots. No can Ethiopian change the color of his skin, absolutely not. People listen. Verse five may be the most sobering verse in the entire Bible footprint says to me, I'm a sinner by nature and on the sender by my actions, my heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. In the end it says this this verse shouts to us. David, you are guilty done, you are guilty you are guilty what what did that did for David. It drove him to the Savior and brothers and sisters. That's what this Psalm should do to us. It should drive us to the Savior. It should make us realize at the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Look at verse seven. Again, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow who can wash your heart. Only Jesus can wash your heart, purge me with hyssop.

The word purge there it if you check it out. In the Hebrew it comes from the root word in Hebrew for the word propitiation what is propitiation. It means appeasing the wrath of God does God care that our hearts are wicked.

We tell you God care so much that if you die in that state. You will be separated from Almighty God for all of eternity in the everlasting hail, but he also cared so much that he provided the hyssop force and who is the hyssop hyssop is Jesus, and the payment that Jesus made to wash away the sins and is the shedding of his own blood. In the book of Leviticus we are told that when the leper was cleansed was always a miracle that leprosy didn't just get healed if it was cleansed. It was a miracle.

It took place. But if it did take place like that. Then the leper had the responsibility of confirming that the law that the leper had been made whale and what would he do symbolically. He would take the light of a lamb's blood put on his finger put a drop on his ear a drop on his thumb and a drop on his tone.

What was he doing he was saying this to the leper. Now you can function your bodily parts can function like they should. You have hands that can feel you have think they can walk you have ears that can hear brothers and sisters. That's what David is saying he sent old Lord, I want my spiritual faculties back.

He said Lord I want my spiritual side back that I can see your glory. Hello my spiritual ears back, I can hear your truth. I want you to repair my bones that I can carry the burdens of others like I used to.

He was crying out for fellowship with God. He says in verse nine, Lord hide your face from my sin, heard the little girl that was playing with her mom's makeup and as she was playing with it. She got lipstick all over her face and her mama walked in and she kind of surprise or she is what you doing and that little girl's head just fell down in her hand and she said don't look at me. Don't look at me.

Don't look at me, never been there. You know that you've done something to hurt someone sinned against someone you've offended someone, how easy is it to look them right in the not easy at all bucks when David said to God, hide your face from my sins. What was he doing he was looking down the corridor of history a thousand years. He was looking down to that day that Jesus Christ went to the cross and he was nailed of that cross to die for us. He died for us is our substitutionary atonement. What does that mean it means he took my sin and he gave me his righteousness. What's that all about.

It's all about the last day for when we stand before our God on that last day when I stand before him, God will look at me and he won't see the sinfulness of Doug Agnew.

He will see the righteousness the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

My sin will be hidden in Jesus. You are sin will be hidden in Jesus. I love verse nine. I love the gospel friends. I love the fact that Jesus Christ died and shed his blood that my sins might be washed away for me ask you question, are you here today and you're not sure if your sins have been washed away as you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior.

Had he repented of your sins have you come to him, crying out to him, Lord, you are my only hope. If you have not done that. I would encourage you with everything that's in me to. Don't leave this building today without crying out to Jesus spray heavenly father.

David told us to pray for spiritual cleansing wash me and I shall be whiter than snow for there's nothing on earth that is wider than snow but your promise is that you can make my heart that clean. That's a miracle human effort could never accomplish it is not a work of man, it's a miracle of God and father where wailed by it, but we could never be appreciative enough we call it amazing Grace, but we don't realize how amazing it really is. She could take our fealty sin and replace it with your perfect righteousness. So when you look at us on that final day the judgment day you won't see us. You'll see the perfect righteousness of your son Jesus in the light of that spur us on to honor you nail put a deep desire in our heart that we might strive for a holy walk with you.

Help us to be satisfied in you realizing that you are most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in you.

We asked this prayer in the precious and holy name of Jesus. Amen