Scripture reading: Hebrews 5:5-10.

Sermon text: Psalm 51.

“What have you done?”

No one wants to hear that phrase, because we never have a good answer to that question.

The author of this psalm, David, lacked a good answer, too. Instead, David had a list of sins that would make anyone wonder how God could consider him a man after His heart. This psalm begins with a description of the reason for this psalm: “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet when to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” David’s description doesn’t explain the whole situation, because David left out a major reason for the occasion of this psalm.

David had remained in Jerusalem when he sent the army to beat on the Ammonites, a neighboring country who had broken a treaty with David. While the army went on the campaign, David had gone on to the rooftop of his palace for a bit of relaxation. From the vantage of his rooftop, he saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his captains, taking a ritual bath in preparation for a visit to the sanctuary. (Yes, I know you may have heard Bathsheba blamed for the event, but I encourage you to read the story in 2 Samuel 11, especially verse 4.) One thing led to another, ending with adultery, conspiracy, and murder. Adultery and murder both carried the death penalty under the Mosaic Law; no sacrifice existed that would purge either offense until the day of Yom Kippur, when all sins were atoned for in the day of purification.

Then, God stepped in. God didn’t need to ask David what he had done; God already knew. When Nathan the prophet visited David, he brought word of God’s judgment. He also brought word of God’s mercy: “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).

David later composed Psalm 51 as a reaction to his sin and to God’s resulting mercy. This psalm still resonates with us today because we all find ourselves both deserving God’s judgment for our sins and also receiving His mercy when we call on Him for forgiveness.

David called on God for “mercy” because only God’s mercy could help him in his crisis. David also called on God to remember His “steadfast love,” the covenantal, unconditional love God shows all those who call on Him, believing He will forgive them.

God’s “abundant mercy” alone could save David. Forget everything you’ve heard about the sacredness of the Hebrew language; it’s actually a very descriptive language when it comes to the human condition. Hebrew has a word to describe every possible kind of sin, and David uses every one of them.

David asked God to “blot out,” or ease, his “transgressions.” The Hebrew word for “transgression” is a military term for open and intentional rebellion. David realizes he intentionally rebelled against God in his sin. David asked God to “wash” him from his “iniquity.” The word for “iniquity” means “to go astray;” David strayed far from the Law of God in his sin with Bathsheba, breaking at least 5 of the 10 Commandments. David implored God to “cleanse” him from his “sin.” The word for “sin” means “to miss a goal.” Given that God expected the king of His people to serve as a righteous example, David clearly missed the mark in keeping God’s law.

David declared that he knew his “transgressions;” “my sin is ever before me.” We know what it’s like to carry our sins with us; even if someone forgives us of what we’ve done, we often have a hard time forgiving ourselves, and we sometimes have trouble forgetting what we’ve done to others. (I probably don’t have to mention that we almost never forget what someone else has done to us.)

David spoke a powerful truth in verse 4: “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.” In some way, every sin we commit, every offense we inflict on others, also goes against God Himself. God created humanity to enjoy relationship with Him, and our sins have broken that relationship. David was “born in iniquity,” as are we all; humanity went astray in the Garden of Eden, and we’ve suffered the consequences ever since. God desires “truth” from us, but we continually stray from Him and even lie to ourselves regarding our need for His love and forgiveness.

In verse 7, David begins crying to God for restoration. The priests used the hyssop plant to sprinkle the holy utensils during rituals in the sanctuary.  David cried to God to “wash” his sin from him; David asked God to launder his sin from his life. In his sins, David had incurred pain and aguish, but he desired “joy and gladness.” David wanted God to “hide” His face from his sins so that He would no longer see them. David also called for a “clean heart” before God; he desperately desired a “right spirit” that would signal a restored relationship with the God he loved. Rather than suffering the rejection of being “cast away” from God, David cried for restoration: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

In the end, David offered to “teach transgressors” and “sing aloud” his praise to God, if only the Lord would pardon him. David would offer his sacrifice of a “broken and contrite heart” to God; as I said previously, no regular sacrifice existed for adultery or murder; only the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement would clear David, and then only if he demonstrated true repentance. The Law was clear: David must die unless God pardoned him and spared his life. No other penalty would remove the blood guiltiness from the land.

Psalm 51 ranks as the most well known of the so-called “Penitential Psalms,” but other psalms also call for God’s forgiveness. Psalm 51 lacks a major component of all the other Penitential Psalms; alone of these hymns, Psalm 51 lacks a statement of confidence that God had forgiven the sinner and restored the relationship between God and the penitent.

I think this omission points to the ultimate fulfillment of this psalm. Almost 1,000 years after David’s sin with Bathsheba, his Descendant, Jesus, would come into the world in Bethlehem. During Jesus’ life and ministry, He performed miracles of healing; He taught thousands; and He raised the dead. None of these feats of divinity demonstrated Jesus’ true identity as much as one important part of His ministry: He forgave sins. As C.S. Lewis wrote,

1. One part of [Jesus’] claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins.... What should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws were broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), pp. 56-57
   

As the Gospels tell us, Jesus died by crucifixion for the sins of the world. When Jesus died, He made the ultimate sacrifice for David’s sin and for ours as well. Jesus’ death paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins; His resurrection confirms God’s acceptance of that sacrifice.

There’s an old song in the hymnal back in the churches where I was reared that states the joy that comes from the mercy of God in our lives and His forgiveness of our sins:

1. There is joy divine that is ever mine Since the Lord has forgiven me;
   

2. And I work and sing for my blessed King By His grace I have been made free.
   

3. 
   

4. Oh, this wondrous grace is for all the race, It is boundless and full and free;
   

5. And I trust and cling to my blessed King Who by grace now is keeping me.
   

— J.M. Henson, Byron L. Whitworth, “Grace for Every Need,” Church Hymnal (Cleveland, TN: Tennessee Music and Printing Company, 1951), p. 56.

If you stand guilty before God, acknowledge your sin, repent of your sin, and receive His forgiveness when you believe Jesus will forgive your sin. If you’ve already believed in Jesus but fallen into a pattern of disobedience in your life, repent of your sin and accept His restoration of the relationship. Then, live in the joy of God’s mercy; live in the joy of salvation accomplished by Jesus’ death and resurrection, salvation freely offered to all who believe.