David's psalm of Repentance

David was an important figure in the Judaism. In the Jewish tradition, and so it was told. Adam, the first man was supposed to have lived longer than any man, a thousand years. One day Adam begged God to let him see the future and God led him through the celestial chambers, where the souls that were to be born awaited their turn. Each soul was a flame. Adam saw some flames burn purely, some barely flicker.
Then Adam saw a beautiful flame, clear, strong, golden orange, and healing. Adam said. ‘Oh Lord, that will be a great human being. When shall it be born?’ The Lord replied, sorry, Adam, but that soul, as beautiful as it is, is destined not to be born. It has been pre-ordained that it will commit sin and tarnish itself. I have chosen to spare it indignity of being besmirched.’
Adam pleaded, ‘But Lord, man must have someone to teach and guide him. Please, do not deprive my children.’ The Lord gently answered, ‘The decision has been made. I have no years left to allocate to him.’ Then Adam boldly said, ‘Lord, what if I am willing to bestow on that soul some of the years of my life?’ And God answered Adam, saying, ‘If that is your wish, then I will grant.’
Adam, we are told, died not at 1000 but at 930 years. And eons later, there was a child born in the town of Bethlehem. He became ruler over Israel. After leading his people and inspiring them, he died. And the Bible concludes; ”Behold, David the King was buried after having lived for 70 years.” (2 Sa 5:4; 1 Ch 29:26-28)

No Christian can testify that when he became a Christian, sin was erased. The tendency to sin is still as real as before the conversion. Even though we are save we still sin and worst is that we still derive pleasure from our sin. We still struggle with sinful habit. Sometimes we fall into shameful scandalous sin. Our thoughts and our words are always not what they are supposed to be. Our minds and affections are set on things that will pass away. Our hearts grow cold to things holy and evangelistic.
David was such a person.

David was one that really walked with God and he clearly always had God in his mind. At the time of facing Goliath, he cried out who dare to defile the name of the Holy God. He would not touch Saul for he believed he was God anointed. Of things that he said and done, you would have thought that there is no way he can sin against God. On the plus side, he was a Sheppard, a war hero, an inventor, a worshipper, a giver, a building designer, a true friend, a song writer, and a musician. On the minus side, he was an adulterer, a murderer, a lousy husband and an over indulgent, yet unconcerned father. He broke 6 of the 10 commandments. With a passing mark of 40%, you can hardly call him a man after God’s own heart. Yet he was.

We are also imperfect like David. We too sin. Don’t ever think that we will never commit a sin like David. Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Malcolm Muggeridge, the famous British journalist, author, Christian convert and writer was a fascinating man. His influence in journalism as well as Christianity was quite powerful. He was particularly well known for making Mother Theresa known throughout the world. At the age of 79, together with his wife, they converted to Catholics.

In his autobiography as told by Ravi in a recent sermon, Malcolm Muggeridge recalled a time when he was in India. He was there living some years at the school of journalism as a young man. One day he came out of the building in the early hour for a morning swim. The building was by a river. Way out in the distance, he saw an Indian woman beginning to disrobe and get into the river to take her bath. Malcolm began to eye her and wonder if this is the moment for him to cross certain line. Seduction became stronger and he began to swim towards her. He says his mind is telling him this is wrong, this is wrong, yet on the other hand he can give her a meager offer. She would take his proposal after all she is a village woman and he is a rich man from another country. He swam harder and harder. He knew this was wrong but he persuade himself this is the moment to cross the line As he came closer, she became fearful because she wonder who this person was coming to violate her privacy. As he came close to her, she raised her hand to cover herself. To her own shock, saw this white gentleman emerged from the water, Shocking as it was to the woman, it was even more shocking to him when he came within a foot of her.. As the woman raise her hands to cover herself, he realized that he was looking at the face of a leper. The fingers were all worn away and the nostril were all gone with the eye brow and eye lashes. He said it was like looking at an animal peering out from her cheek bone. And he said I look at her nauseated for the moment and thought to myself .what a lecherous woman. When I hung my head in shame and realize it wasn’t the lecherous woman that was the problem, it was my own lecherous heart with which I was living. For the first time he saw his heart under God microscope for him.

David was a great worshipper. He was a great writer and singer of psalms. He had declared the blessedness of God. But he had a problem. He was a sinful man even though he had been forgiven by God. He had problem with woman for he can take anyone no matter who she belongs to.

It was at the height of his power and blessing under the goodness of God that he was infatuated with a beautiful Bathsheba, who was the wife of one of his military officer named Uriah. Bathsheba was not innocent as much as David as she put herself in the scene of David. Neither was David innocent as he also placed himself in a position where he was tempted. He should be out fighting with his men. We were told he sent for her and later found out that she was pregnant. He now had a dilemma. So he arranged for Uriah to come back so that he can claim to father the Child. When that plan failed, David conveniently arranged for Uriah to be killed in the battle. It was cold blooded murder. David later gave a honor military funeral for Uriah and proceeded as if it was a noble act to marry his widow. But the child died and they have other children.

For David when confronted by Nathan, the whole scene began to weight him down and he became obsess with the burden of the sin. It preyed on his mind until he got the relief through confession. This is what we see in Psalm 51.

We can learn from David. A total acknowledgement and take full ownership and repentance from whatever sin in our lives will make us men and women after God’s own heart. Someone once asked a preacher that you said the unsaved people carry a great weight of sin, but I don’t feel anything. The preacher answered if you lay a 400lb weight on a corpse, would he feel the load? Only a Christian has the capacity to feel the weight of sin. The guilt of disobedient interrupts the fellowship with God. That’s why confession of sin needs to be the ongoing thing in our life.

Psalm 51 is the true confession of a broken and contrite hearted person. It sums up how David feels after he realized his sin has put him separated from God. This psalm bears the mark of deep guilt. It was written in remorse out of pain, anxiety and fear. It reveals the essence of a true confessor.

Sin had made him dirty and he wants to be clean. Guilt had made him sick and he wants to be well. Disobedience has made him lonely and he wanted to be reconciled. Rebellion had made him fearful and he wanted to be pardoned. A man who feel dirty, sick, lonely and fearful. The consequence of sin. Out of that, he poured out his confession.

His confession brings out the 3 components. Firstly, he sees the sin as what it is, secondly, he see God for who He is and thirdly he sees himself for who he is.

David knew his sin deserved judgment and is against God (v 4). Sin also removes joy and gladness (V8) and cut off fellowship with God (V11). But he appealed to God’s grace and mercy (verse 1). He pleaded for God’s compassion. He knows his guilt and he asked God to blot out his transgression. David acknowledged his sin – my guilt, my sin, my rebellion (verse 2,3). He blames no one else and took full responsibility. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. He knows that he cannot blame God in his judgment. (Verse 4,5) Acknowledge that you can only appeal to God’s grave because you cannot merit God’s mercy and restoration. This is a broken and contrite heart. And that the Lord will not despise.

Secondly, True confession brings out the view of God. He move from the view of sin to the view of God in Verse 6. God desires holiness. True confession recognizes that I am sinner and appealed to God to clean on the inside. God look in the heart and you don’t want a superficial change (V10). David not only recognizes the holiness of God, but he also sees the power of God. God can clean him and God can purify him (Verse 7). More importantly, God is willing to forgive. He wants restoration and reconciliation (verse 8,9). David sees that His God can purify and clean his sin because He is powerful, merciful and full of compassion (V2,7)

David continues his prayer in verse 10 to verse 12. He had seen sin as it is and he knows who his God is. He asks for clean heart, steadfast spirit, not isolation from God. David also see how his forgiveness impact others. (Verse 13) The fact is that if my life is not pure, I cannot be useful to others. What is at stake here is our usefulness to the church.

So, in summary: After David sinned, when he failed miserably, he took the blame and repented. He did not try to put blame on anyone else. He repented and seek forgiveness from God. A God who is full of grace and mercy. Most importantly, his repentance is genuine as it was from his heart, he completely turned away from the sin. Bathsheba was his last wife and there were no more adulterous affairs. Even at his old age and on his death bed, his servants brought him virgin girl to lie with him to keep him warm, he did not touch her.

This is where I believe lies the greatest truth revealed in the God that we trust. He is a God with a very big heart. Compassion and full of grace, ready to forgive. We learn it from this from the Psalm of David. Our God will not cast you away when you go to Him in repentance after you have sinned.

There is a saying among the Sages that we are to repent exactly one day before we die. But how do you know it’s the day before you die? Exactly. Now is the time. Everyday.

Let’s go back to the third point. Ie How does the forgiveness of God for us impact others? We need to cover 2 issues here. First, we must trust God and really surrender and know that He can relieve our sin and secondly, we must transfer that forgiveness to others who may have sin against us.
There are many Christians who feel defeated because they cannot get rid of guilt or feel forgiven. C.S. Lewis says Satan's strategy is to get Christians preoccupied with their failures; from then on, the battle is won.
Many are only sorry for the consequence of a sin. A lot of people are going to church today without real repentance. According to John Macarthur, the mistake we make to day is to treat sin in 3 ways. First we hide it. Adam and Eve did it immediately when they realized that they have sinned against God. They sew fig leaves to cover and hid themselves from God. The second way we treat sin is we try to justify it. This is exactly what David did. Today we don’t even want to use the term sin. We call it mistake and find excuses for it. And finally we make light of sin.

Eugene Peterson, who paraphrased the Bible for his children, known as the message edition today, was a pastor in New York. In his book, running with horses told of a story about a man who was the janitor at his church. Willie Orser was a hard working but difficult to reach person. Although working as the janitor, he was actually a good artist. Eugene Peterson came out with a brilliant idea that he will ask Willie to paint a portrait of him. He will spend 2 to 3 hours a week for him to paint and he will have the chance to reach out to him. Willie started work on the portrait but will not allow Eugene to look at the portrait until it was finished. Finally the portrait was done and Willie’s wife came in to take a look. Suddenly she shrieked and uttered in her native tongue that it did not resembled Eugene Peterson. Eugene rushed over to look at the portrait. The portrait depicted a very sad looking Peterson. There was no compassion in the eyes. No pathos in his expression and there was no tenderness in his smile. Eugene asked Willie why had him painted him in such a manner. Willie slowly answered, ”Mr. Peterson, I have painted you the way I picture you the love of God had departed from you.” Eugene Peterson said that he had kept the portrait in the closet and every now and then he will take a look at the portrait to remind himself the love of God and how important it is to maintain the fellowship with our God.

In 1969 Simon Wiesenthal penned his thought-provoking book, The Sunflower, which captured the agony he personally experienced in one of history's darkest moments. Relating one encounter with the Holocaust, Wiesenthal described how he had been taken from a Nazi death-camp to a makeshift army hospital. He was ushered by a nurse to the side of a Nazi soldier who had asked to have a few private moments with a Jew. Wiesenthal warily entered the room and was brought face to face with a fatally wounded man, bandaged from head to toe. The man struggled to face him and spoke in broken words. Wiesenthal nervously endured the anxious monologue, finding himself numbed by the encounter. At the hands of Nazi soldiers like the one now dying before him, Wiesenthal had lost 89 of his own relatives. Here, the soldier confessed to the heinous act of setting ablaze an entire village of Jews; at his whim, men, women, and children were burned to death. With great anxiety, he described his inability to silence from his mind the screams of those people. Now on a deathbed himself, the man was making a last desperate attempt to seek the forgiveness of a Jew. The man begged him to stay, repeating his cry for forgiveness, but Wiesenthal could only walk away.

Yet even years later he wondered if he had done the right thing. Should he have accepted the man's repentance and offered the forgiveness so earnestly sought? Had he neglected a weighted invitation to speak or was silence the only appropriate reply? Seeking an answer, Wiesenthal wrote to thirty-two men and women of high regard—scholars, noble laureates, psychologists, and others. Twenty-six of the thirty-two affirmed his choice to not offer the forgiveness that was sought. Six speculated on the costly, but superior, road of pardon and mercy.

I don't know what it would take to absolve anyone of so monumental a crime. I don't know if it is possible to offer forgiveness for something so far beyond our moral reach. But I know that even in the most unfathomable places the God of Scripture somehow carries the burden of grace. Who can fathom the Son of God on the cross pleading with the Father to forgive the guilty for killing him? Who can conceive of a God who comes among his people, trusting himself to the hands of a fallen world, even knowing the troubling outcome? Who can grasp the heart of a God who chooses to love an undeserving people? To live as one marked by this disruptive grace is not easy. The command to forgive is thoroughly unsettling; in fact, it is sometimes haunting. To persist in love when we are tired or overwhelmed, or even rightfully angered by injustice, is a massive and costly request.

I have often found it easier to fit into shoes of the prodigal son than the shoes of the remaining older brother. Yet in this well-known parable of Jesus, both sons are invited to celebrate and rejoice. To the wayward child who has squandered and defamed, God's grace is lavish. It is extravagant and poured out on those who neither expect it nor deserve it. The celebration is thrown in the honor of the run-away, in honor of the return of just one lost sheep. When these shoes are ours, we are both humbled by the Father's attention and compelled by his mercy.

Yet to the child on the other side of justice, the Father's grace is jarring and disruptive—indeed, prodigal, reckless and wasteful. His invitation to the feast is both awkward and demanding, a seeming call to overlook the potential of our reckless brother to strike again at our expense. These shoes are much harder to walk in. The Father's call to forgive the one whose sincerity is questionable is often agonizing; his command to love the habitual prodigals in our midst is both costly and exhausting.

But it is his request. "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" asked Peter. But Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21-22). God's grace disrupts our sense of righteousness and summons us to respond in similar kind. Whether we find ourselves in the shoes of the prodigal or treading the difficult ground of the older brother there is good reason to rejoice and celebrate the unveiling love of the Father. His unfathomable grace and mercy shatters our sense of who is worthy to enjoy the benefits of God's kingdom, inviting us to the celebration regardless of where we stand.

Conclusion

DL Moody once said that You and Christ cannot be one until you and sin are two. We need to come clean before God to confess and repent of our sin even if it is habitual sin as we do not want the fellowship with our God to be interrupted. In the same way, we must live to forgive others who may have sin against us.