Because of our sinful nature, we tend to want to avoid facing up to sin and the problems it brings when we allow it to go unconfessed and unrepentant. This penitential psalm has the most open and frank way of facing up to and dealing with sin in the psalms. David had thought his sin was unknown or not serious until the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to him with the parable of the man with one lamb. David’s anger against injustice condemns him when Nathan says, “Thou art the man.” God allows us to repent and forsake sin when we are honest with ourselves, but if that doesn’t happen, He has His way of getting our attention. The results of that visit of the prophet and the willingness of the king to deal with the loss of joy, the depth of guilt, the hurt caused by others, and the loss of fellowship with God are why this psalm is so effective in making us face ourselves.
The psalm begins with a cry for mercy. Then, there is a confession of sin followed by a plea for cleansing. At the psalm's end, there is a vow of consecration and a prayer for the restoration of himself and others who will learn from the psalmist.
David had some options open to him when Nathan came with His message from God. He could have denied Nathan’s charge. He could have had Nathan taken out and executed. But he did the right thing when he admitted to the charge and assumed full responsibility for his sin, beginning with his thoughts and going through the whole series of events that led to breaking the law of God in so many ways. In his cry of conscience and conviction of sin, he faced his transgressions, which are acts of rebellion. When one transgresses, they cross the boundary of God's righteous laws, which are impressed on the human heart. Iniquity refers to being crooked, twisted in thinking, and totally wrong. Sin and evil are wrong actions in which we fail to meet divine standards by going beyond what is right, coming short, or turning to one side or the other of the target of righteousness. David knew he needed mercy that comes from God’s loving kindness and tender mercies and wanted his transgressions blotted out, to be washed thoroughly and cleansed from his sins.
To examine ourselves without making excuses will keep us from half-hearted repentance. Sorrow for sin can be real or put on, depending on our honesty of heart and confession. It is the function of our conscience to bring us to a place where we are open before God without subterfuge of any kind. When that happens in the life of a child of God, there is the cry of confession to the Lord, as happened in the case of David. “I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.” We are to identify and deal with sin by confession and repentance. When sin is forsaken, then we find the mercy we need.
Not only was David’s conscience smitten to the point where he was willing to face his sin, but he was also open to expressing that sin before God. The next part of the psalm is a cry of confession and clemency from God. The sin nature all of us have inherited makes the statement, “There is none good, no not one,” a real fact we have to face. We are not good. David said in essence, “I am no good. I have been born in iniquity.” Sin springs from what we are by nature. Sinful thoughts come because of that nature, and sinful acts come from those thoughts. What is needed in every person in order to get back to God is moral integrity, wisdom, honesty, and pardon. When we lose our joy and our song because we allow our thoughts to lead us into sin, it is only right to come to God in sincere repentance, admission of guilt, with a broken and contrite heart. A plea for cleansing is then real. Sin begins with an attitude and then the refusal to do what is right.
We need God’s help to even think right. Purging by God is real cleansing. Washing by the Lord is not some cosmetic change. God does forgive sin, whether it is terrible and affects others, or whether it is personally known only to us and to Him. He forgives but does not always erase the consequences of our sins. David’s family was never the same. His renewal did not just cover sin but “created” a new heart so he could start over. God does not want us to give in to our sinful, dirty hearts. He creates a new one with a whole new spirit that desires a holy heart. A spirit of faithfulness and a willing spirit of service anticipates a readiness to be used by God. All sin is against God and may be against other people as well. There are victims when we sin. People do get hurt.
The last part of the psalm is a cry for cleansing and communion. He wanted the joy of salvation back. He wanted real communion with God. He wanted to be able to truly praise God again. In this part of his recovery, there was a vow of consecration to do good, to build again, and then bring pleasure to the Lord once more. He could teach others what he had learned so they would love and trust the Lord. By nature, we are inclined to please ourselves rather than God. Right conduct comes from a clean heart and pure spirit. When we sense we are only going through the motions of spiritual life, we need to stop and consider what we have allowed and confess our sins to God, the only One who can restore our joy.
When we know and experience forgiveness, God restores our relationship with Him to what it should be. Then, we can reach out to others who need forgiveness and reconciliation with God. What we experience, we can pass on. The inward heart attitude is what really counts. Outward worship only pleases God if it expresses the inward spiritual conditions of my soul and heart. Full, frank confession justifies and vindicates God’s judgment and reveals His holiness.
PSALM 51 David pleads for mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing. God wants our hearts to be right with Him. This psalm is one of the clearest examples of repentance in all of scripture. Many broken sinners have identified themselves in the words of this psalm. Confession helps people examine their excuses, half- hearted repentance, and lack of sorrow. A CRY OF CONSCIENCE AND CONVICTION OF SIN Sin is always complicated. v. 1-3 (compare a crooked stick with a ruler)
- Transgressions: to step over the boundaries of law - physical, moral, spiritual
- Iniquity: that which is altogether wrong; you can't excuse it, can't apologize for or condone it
- Sin: v.2-3, sin offering; v.4. miss the mark - in the sense that all of us have sinned
- Evil: that which is actually wrong; David admitted he was wrong
Conscience accuses
- Conscience doesn't tell us what is right or wrong
- Conscience tells us that we are right or we are wrong. It tells you what is wrong.
- The cry of conscience was the conviction of sin
A CRY OF CONFESSION OF SIN AND THE COMPASSION (clemency) OF GOD v.4. Sin against God: "a man after God's own heart" - God's enemies will blaspheme
- Sin against his family: his sons die
- Sin against the nation: he was the king
- Sin against Uriah and Bathsheba: v.5. Confession of a sinful nature
- We need a Savior and cleansing
- "In our flesh dwelleth no good thing" [Ro.7:18] v.6. God desires truth in the inward parts
- More than surface words.
- More than baptism or church membership
- Truth inside, not exterior v.7. God took the first step to bring confession
- He sent Nathan
- God reveals Himself
- Purge with hyssop: penicillin was found growing on hyssop - the Passover, the live bird, the red heifer
- God cannot clear the guilty: guilt must be paid for
A CRY FOR CLEANSING AND COMMUNION v.9. Blot out iniquities v.10. Create, out of nothing, a new heart v.11. "Cast me not away" is impossible today but the Holy Spirit can be inoperative v.12. David lost the joy of salvation and wanted communion restored v.13. He wanted to be able to praise God again v.19. He wanted to please God again. "To whom much is forgiven the same loveth much."