Sacred Songs - Psalm 51
Series: Sacred Songs
Speaker: Lead Pastor Dustin Aguilar
Scriptures: Psalm 51
Picture a few modern “confession” scenes:
Scenario 1: A famous Christian is confronted about sin by his friends, but when his friends confront him…he only confesses what his friends know (leaving other things out) — Is that real confession? Not really…
Scenario 2: A guy comes to a friend and confesses sin against his wife, then cries out to God. Now that he’s humbled, he’s able to say what he did without minimizing it, acknowledging what he’s done and how it’s hurt people. — True repentance and confession.
Psalm 51 = a great psalm of confession and repentance!
David slept with & impregnated Bathsheba, then killed her husband Uriah. Nathan confronts David about it. Psalm 51 is David crying out to God for forgiveness.
True confession acknowledges sin. True forgiveness comes from who God is.
David asks for forgiveness in light of God's attributes. NOT:
appealing to his own past righteousness, his “needs,” etc.
v.1 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love”
David does not minimize his sin. He calls it what it is — “iniquity,” “transgressions” (v.2). Transgression: crossing a line; iniquity: guilt; sin: anything that goes against God
God says that David has sinned against HIM (God). Not just Uriah.
v.4. - “against you, and you only have I sinned…”
2 Samuel 12:9-10 - “why have you despised the Word of theLord…you have struck down Uriah…you have despised me.” “Against you only I have sinned” is both poetic and a direct answer to what God told Samuel he was accusing him of.
v.5 - “In sin did my mother conceive me”
Some people say David was conceived in sin (a decent case for this), but even if that isn’t true, the point is that he has been a sinner since the beginning.
The beginning of true repentance is to see the depth of your depravity, and to see the holiness of God.
If you want to grow in intimacy with God, pray this: “Lord, teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”
v.6 - “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”
David inviting God into the most secret place/deep places of his heart.
^This is a great prayer for US TO PRAY TOO! (“God, go into the deepest part of my heart.”)
v.7 - “purge me with hyssop”
Hyssop was used to purify people with skin disease, to clean houses with mold, and, most significantly, to smear blood on the doorpost on the day of Passover!!!
Putting blood on something doesn’t literally make it appear cleaner. This is an area where David is pointing forward to Christ's work.
v.10 - “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”
Also, a great thing for us to pray for!
v.8 - “Let the bones you’ve broken rejoice”
Lots of churches would have a hard time with the idea of God bringing something like this. Lacking the fear of God.
But here, David acknowledges that God is the one who brought pain into his life, so he might repent.
In regard to pain and repentance, it’s possible that:
A) you may have pain in your life right now that God is trying to use to get your attention with a call to come repent… but you're attributing it to the devil instead of God.
B) You’ve already confessed sin but are still suffering.
v.11 - “Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me”
The idea of God taking His Holy Spirit from you strikes terror into many Christians. Afraid that they’ve sinned too much…
In the new covenant/New Testament, there are no warnings about a believer losing the Holy Spirit, but there ARE warnings about “quenching” the Spirit.
If you feel you’ve lost the Holy Spirit, it is likely you are just quenching the Spirit in you that is crying out.
If that’s you, and you feel like you’ve crossed some line, do this:
PRAY: “What am I doing or believing that is quenching your Holy Spirit?”
Then just wait for the Lord to answer… You may need to throw some old theology to the side of the road!
Evangelism and worship are both responses to the goodness of God.
Evangelism & Worship are listed as the response to David’s receipt of the goodness of salvation from a good God.
v.13 “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you” — EVANGELISM!
v.14 - “and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness” - WORSHIP
v.16-17 - David understands what God is really after, and it’s not sacrifice
Both Psalm 50 & Psalm 51 mention this
In the exile, the Israelites can’t even make sacrifices! They start to realize God wasn’t after sacrifices after all. It wasn’t the point. God wants their hearts.
v.18-19 - “build up the walls of Jerusalem”
This verse is strange because the walls were still intact when David wrote this; they hadn’t fallen yet. Some people think these verses might have been inspired/added during the exile.
v.17 - “the sacrifices of God are…”
He doesn’t say - a perfect life, a happy face with joy overflowing… we pretend because we think that’s what is the gateway into God’s presence
But the passage says it’s a “broken and contrite spirit”!
Everyone has access to a broken spirit, but you have to humble yourself and stoop down.
David knew that God was not actually after the sacrifices of bulls and goats but a broken spirit and contrite heart. Anyone can reach that, but it requires humility, which is why it’s difficult for rich or powerful people to come to God
CONFESSION IS HARD TO MAKE THOROUGHLY: A few steps/tips…
Confession to God
“God, this is what I did…” (don’t just say “I have sinned” —name the specific sin like David did)
“God, this is why I did it… and that was wrong.” (Not justifying our actions. All of the sinful thought patterns along the way that produced that sin.)
“This is how I hurt people”
After these 3 things, you start to see the full gravity of what you did.
THEN: “Please forgive me according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy.” (David’s prayer)
And we’re in the new Covenant, so we could even pray, “God, please forgive me according to the sacrifice of Jesus”
THEN: “God, what should I do to make it right?” (Note: it’s not ALWAYS possible to make it right)
Confession to a person
“This is what I did…” (they already know)
“This is why I did it… and that was wrong” (not justifying what you did, but naming all of the bad reasons why you did it)
“This is how it probably made you feel…” (this statement can be incredibly healing!!! Shows you’re trying to see them where you didn’t see them before. They can correct you if you get it wrong.)
THEN: “I’m sorry that I did this. I’m sorry for how it made you feel. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but would you please forgive me?”
A proud person won’t be able to acknowledge that they don’t deserve forgiveness
THEN: “You don’t have to answer right now, but what can I do to make it right?”