Psalms 51

Psalms 51THEME: David’s great penitential psalmThe superscription on many of the psalms is actually a part of the inspired Word of God. The title of Psalm 51 is self-explanatory, and it is essential to the understanding of this psalm. “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” The reference, of course, is to the great blot on David’s life. It is not our intention to go into the lurid details of David’s sin. Suffice it to say that David broke two of God’s commandments. He broke the seventh commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” He did with Bathsheba. He broke the sixth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” He broke it indirectly in that he arranged for Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, to be put in the front of the battle that he might be killed. And this was a dastardly and cold-blooded deal on the part of David, because Uriah was one of his mighty men and one of his most faithful followersor he would never have gone into the front of the battle at David’s command. Now after this disgraceful incident, David did nothing, and he said nothing. Actually, both incidents would be considered business as usual down in Egypt, or in Babylon, or in Philistia, or in Edom, or in Moab. What David had done was a common practice and was more or less accepted. As a great preacher of the South said years ago, “When you put together a bunch of crooked sticks, they seem to straighten each other out.” Have you ever noted that? And in this case when many monarchs engaged in things like this it gave it an air of not being as bad as it was. But it was as bad as God said it was. On the surface it looked as if David had gotten by with it. But let’s put down one thing: David was God’s man, and David was not going to get by with it. The fact of the matter is, during the interval when he kept quiet, he was a tormented man. He told us later what really went on in his heart. Over in Psalms 32, David says this: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long” (Psa_32:3). I think if you’d been in the court of David during that period when he was silent, you would have seen him age. This man went through awful anxiety. “For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Psa_32:4). This describes his feelings during that interval. Then God sent Nathan to David demanding an audience regarding an urgent matter. And Nathan approached the subject by telling David a story: “And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity” (2Sa_12:1-6). Then we come to one of the most dramatic moments in the Word of God, and it reveals Nathan as one of the bravest men in Scripture: “And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man …” (2Sa_12:7). Nathan pointed his finger at David and said to him, “You’re the man!” When he said that, there were three courses open to David. He could deny the charge. He could say, “Nathan is entirely wrong and is attempting to smear me.” Or he could have merely pointed his scepter at Nathan, without saying a word because the guards would have understood, and would have led Nathan out and summarily executed him. David would not have needed to say anything. And, I suppose, if it had been carried to any kind of tribunal (which in those days it would not have been), the “supreme court” would have handed down a decision that undue pressure was used by Nathan to extract a confession from David, and David would have been freed from all charges. There was a third course open to David, and that was to admit the charge. David followed the latter course. He made confession of his sin. Now David was not just a man; he was the king. And the king can do no wrong; he is above reproach. No one points the finger at the king. But Nathan did. And the very interesting thing is that David confessed. Now continuing with this encounter, let’s pick up at verse 2Sa_12:10, with Nathan giving him God’s message: “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because of this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die” (2Sa_12:10-14). This now is the background of Psalm 51, because after this, David went into the privacy of his own chamber and made the confession which this psalm records. All the great men of God have confessed their sin before God. Augustine wrote his confessions. But Psalms 51 is one of the greatest confessionals that has ever been written. Psalms 51 divides very nicely into three divisions: (1) Cry of Conscience and Conviction of Sinverses Psa_51:1-3; (2) Cry of Confession of Sin and Clemency (Compassion) of Godverses Psa_51:4-8; (3) Cry for Cleansing and Communionverses Psa_51:9-19.

Psalms 51:1

CRY OF CONSCIENCE AND CONVICTION OF SINLet us now listen to David’s confession: Sin is always complicated. It never is simple. And there are several words that David uses to describe his sin. In the Scriptures God uses many more words than this to describe sin, by the way. Sin is that which is complicated; it is goodness that is simple. Let me give you an illustration. Suppose I were holding behind me a stick and I told you it was a crooked stick. How do you think it would look? No two people would think it looked like it really does. No two would agree because it could be crooked in a million different ways. But suppose I say that I hold a ruler behind me that is perfectly straight. Everyone would think of it in just one way. It can’t be straight in more than one way. It is sin that is complicated; it is goodness that is simple. David, first of all, called his sins transgressions. To transgress is to step over the boundaries of God. God has put up certain boundaries in this life. He has certain physical laws. He has certain moral laws. He has certain spiritual laws. Any time man attempts to step over any of them, he’ll have to suffer the consequences. To do this is always called transgression. Also David called his sin iniquity. And iniquity means that which is altogether wrong. You can’t excuse it; you can’t offer some sort of an apology for it; you can’t in any way condone it. That’s iniquity. Then there are two words translated with the English word sin. In verses Psa_51:2 and Psa_51:3 it is the Hebrew word chattath, meaning “sin offering.” In verse Psa_51:4 it is chata, translated in the Septuagint by the Greek word hamartia, meaning “to miss the mark.” That’s alljust miss the mark. We don’t come up to God’s standard, and it is in that sense that all of us today are sinners. None of us come up to the standard of God. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom_3:23). Then the word evil that is used here by David means that which is actually wrong. In our day we even have ministers who are trying to condone all kinds of immorality, but let it be understood that the Bible is still very clear on what is right and what is wrong. There are questionable areas on which the Bible is silent, I grant you, but there is also clear-cut black and clear-cut white. God is unmistakably certain on these things. Evil is that which is actually wrong. David uses this word to speak of the fact that he was wrong. He admitted it. There is a dispensational aspect to this psalm, but I am not going to deal with that here. Actually, you cannot cram this psalm into one dispensation. It voices the experience of a man who is a member of the human family. This is the experience of a man in any dispensationat any time since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden and on until eternity begins on this earth. The experience of David is that he has come under deep conviction of sin. You and I cannot enter into the horror of the guilt of David. To him his sin was repugnant. He hated it, and he hated himself because he did it. He felt dirty all over. His conscience was outraged. And he had a feeling of guilt as big as the Rock of Gibraltar. There was anguish of soul in this man. Conscience was pointing an accusing finger at him, and there was a cry of conscience within, telling David he was wrong. Now I know someone will say, “But conscience is not a good guide.” That’s true. But let’s notice that conscience has a function; the function of conscience is not to tell us what is right or what is wrong. That is not the purpose of conscience. The purpose of conscience, and the function of it, is to tell us that we are right or that we are wrong. It doesn’t tell us what is right and wrong. Let me give you an example in the New Testament.

Paul uses it in his letter to the Corinthians: “Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” (1Co_10:25-26). Then he goes on to say: “Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other …” (1Co_10:29). What Paul is saying is this: “As far as God is concerned whether you eat meat or you don’t eat meat makes no difference. But if you go into the home of someone and meat is served to you, don’t ask them where they bought it. If you knew they bought it at the heathen temple, then your conscience would tell you that you were wrong in eating itbecause you may have a wrong influence. But if you don’t know, if your host doesn’t tell you, then it’s not wrong for you to eat it.” Conscience, you see, doesn’t tell you what is wrong; it tells you that it is wrong.

There are some folk who have a conscience about one thing and some have a conscience about something else. And it is dangerous for any person to violate his own conscience. Now David’s conscience was speaking to him, and the cry of his conscience was a conviction of sin. He was wrong, and there was no explanation he could offer at all. Listen to him: The king said he was wrong.

Psalms 51:4

CRY OF CONFESSION OF SIN AND CLEMENCY (COMPASSION) OF GODThe second division is the cry of confession of sin, and the clemency and compassion of God. David has been criticized because he made this statement. There are those who say he should not have said it was a sin against God; he should have said it was a sin against Bathsheba. Wasn’t it? It sure was. Also it was a sin against his family, for he had a family at that time. It was a sin against them, and David should have said that, so the critics say.

They also say that it was a sin against society and Jerusalem at that time, and it was. It was a sin against the nation of which he was king. He was breaking God’s commandment. But, my friend, in the final analysis sin is always against God. Bathsheba is gone. I do not know where her family is.

The society of that day has disappeared. Actually, the nation is no longer under the line of David. But that sin still stands on the escutcheon of the Word of God and against God. Let’s read the historical record again, as it is very important. This is what God said to David: “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife” (2Sa_12:10). “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die” (2Sa_12:13-14). For three thousand years now the enemy, the critic, has been pointing his finger at the Word of God and saying, “You mean to tell me that David is a man after God’s own heart?” I heard this on Pershing Square in Los Angeles several years ago. A man had gathered around him a crowdhe was a disheveled, dirty-looking fellow, with a leer in his voice and on his face. He said to them, “Now they say God is holy!” Then he gave a suggestive laugh and made some filthy statements about David, and said, “They say He is a holy God!” God said to David, “David, you’ve hurt Me.” One night I went with some friends to Bughouse Square in Chicago (that corresponds to Pershing Square in Los Angeles, and that’s a better name than Pershing Square, by the way), and there was the worst filth I’ve ever heard. I never have heard a man as filthy as he was. And who was he talking about? David. God said, “David, you’ve given great occasion to My enemies to blaspheme, and because of that the child will die, and the sword will never leave your house.” And it never did. To his dying day David paid for his sin.

Not only that child died, but the son he loved, the one he wanted to succeed him as king, also died. When David heard that his son Absalom had been killed in battle, he wrapped his mantle about his head, walked to the top of the wall, up those winding stairs, and as he went up he wept, “…O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2Sa_18:33). David did not think Absalom was saved; he wanted him to live. My friend, David paid for his sin. Now notice that David makes it very clear that this sin goes back to a sin nature.

Psalms 51:5

David, as well as the rest of us, came into the world with a sin nature. Paul, recognizing this, says to believers today, “Brethren, if a [Christian] man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal_6:1). And Goethe said that he saw no fault committed which he too might not have committed. And Samuel Johnson said, “Every man knows that of himself which he dares not tell his dearest friend.” Even Seneca, a pagan philosopher of Rome, said, “We must say of ourselves that we are evil, have been evil, and unhappily, I must addshall be also in the future. Nobody can deliver himself; someone must stretch out a hand to lift him up.” And the Word of God confirms this. Even the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecc_7:20).

Also in the Book of Proverbs we read, “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Pro_30:12). There are people who think they are all right, but they are not sensitive to sin. They are like the man in the far North who, as he got colder, wanted to rest. He felt very comfortable sitting down. But those with him knew what was happening to himhe was freezing to death. They wouldn’t let him sit down but kept him moving so he would not die.

Today there are many sitting in our churches so cold and so comfortable that they do not realize that in God’s sight they are sinners. We not only need a Savior, but we need cleansing. Paul says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing …” (Rom_7:18). David, you see, went right down to the root of the matter. He confessed that he had a sin nature. David’s confession continues:

Psalms 51:6

God is not interested in what you have been on the surface. You may be baptized and be nothing more than a baptized sinner, still unsaved. You may be a member of a church, but, my friend, that is all exterior. You still could be lost. He says He desires truth on the inside. The psalmist goes on:

Psalms 51:7

Follow me now very carefully. Here is without doubt one of the greatest passages in the Word of God. There are those who say that the reason David was forgiven was because he confessed his sin. If you say that, you’ve told only part of the story. That’s not the reason. Turn back to the historical record: “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die” (2Sa_12:13). God took the first step: He sent Nathan. I think David would still be sitting over there keeping quiet if Nathan had not come in. Maybe he couldn’t have kept it much longerI don’t know. But he didn’t make the first step; God made the first step. And how was God able to forgive him? Because He had revealed Himself. Now follow this closely. God revealed Himself to the nation Israel: “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exo_34:6-7). Somebody asks, “Doesn’t it go any further than that?” It sure does. It will keep going, but that is as far down as any man will be able to seethe third and fourth generations.

A man may see his sin carried down that far. But I want you to notice here two things that are conflicting and contradictory. God says He forgives iniquity and He shows mercy. Then He turns right around and says, “that will by no means clear the guilty.” There is a paradox. Listen to David again: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Hyssop was a little plant that grew on rocks in damp places. An interesting sidelight is a statement from a scientific journal that penicillin was found growing on hyssop.

However, hyssop had to do with something penicillin can’t cure: sin. Back in the Old Testament hyssop was used for three purposes. First, when God took the children of Israel out of Egypt, He said, “There is one thing you must do at the Passover. You are to take a lamb, slay it and take its blood in a basin out to the front door and, with bunches of hyssop, apply the blood to the doorposts and to the lintel, then go back inside.” Second, when God was giving instructions for cleansing a leper, He told about taking two birds. One was to be slain; the live bird was taken with hyssop, dipped in the blood of the slain bird, and then let fly away. This portrays the death and resurrection of Christ.

But the application of it was by hyssop. Third, when the people of Israel were on the wilderness march and one of them sinned, they couldn’t stop and put up the tabernacle and offer a sacrifice. So provisions were made for purification of sin by killing a red heifer, burning it (with hyssop added), gathering the ashes and taking them along on the wilderness march. When a man sinned, the ashes were put in water, then hyssop was used to sprinkle them on him. There was the application of a sacrifice that brought forgiveness. You have to go to the cross to find the interpretation. On the cross the Son of God said, “…My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat_27:46). Why did He say that? I’ll tell you why. Because God cannot by any means clear the guilty. He can’t.

He never will. And when the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross, was made sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Himwhen He was delivered for our offensesGod had to treat Him as He must treat sin. God spared Abraham’s son; but God did not spare His own Son when He had my sin and your sin upon Him. He had to slay Him, because God cannot pardon the guilty. Let’s be clear on that. He does not operate like our Supreme Court.

God hates sin. God will punish sin. By no means will He clear the guilty. And His Son died. On the cross Jesus also said, “…Father, forgive them …” (Luk_23:34). Forgive them! How can He forgive them? How can He extend mercy to thousands? How can He forgive iniquity? How can He forgive David?

And how can He forgive you and me? “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph_1:7). And every time you find forgiveness in the New Testament, the blood of Christ is close by. God never forgives sin apart from the death of Christ. Never. Never. God is not forgiving sin because He is big-hearted.

He forgives because His Son paid the penalty. And now with open arms He can say to you, “I can extend mercy to you because my Son died for you.” Oh, David knew the way into the heart of God. David says, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” It is the application of the death of Christ to the life.

Psalms 51:9

CRY FOR CLEANSING AND COMMUNIONNotice now David’s cry for cleansing and communion. Blot outDavid needed a spot remover. In getting ready to make an extensive trip, every little book and folder I read advised, “Be sure to take along a spot remover because you are going to get gravy on your suit.” How in the world did they know me? But I appreciate their advice because I know I’ll need a spot remover. All of us do. David needed a spot remover.

Psalms 51:10

The word for “create” here is the same word as in Gen_1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"bara, out of nothing. “I need a new heart,” David said. “Create in me a new heart,” and the word create means “out of nothing.” In other words, there was nothing in David’s heart that God could use. He was not asking for renovation or reformation. He was asking for something new. Sometimes we hear the invitation, “Give God your heart.” May I ask you, “What do you think God wants with that old dirty, filthy heart of yours?” He doesn’t want it. God is not asking anybody to give Him his heart. He wants to give you a new one.

That’s what He wants to do. “Create in me a new heart” is what David is asking for. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph_2:10). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Co_5:17). Let God give you a new heart. David has another request:

Psalms 51:11

The spirit of God came upon David as king that he might be God’s man. By the way, no Christian today can pray that prayer, because if you are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He will never leave you. You can grieve Him, you can quench Him, but you can never grieve Him away or quench Him away. We are told, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph_4:30). Therefore no child of God can lose the Spirit of God. However, the Holy Spirit can be inoperative in a Christian’s life, and that is what happened to David. He is asking that the Spirit of God may continue to work in his life. Then he says,

Psalms 51:12

David did not lose his salvation. He lost the joy of his salvation, and he wanted communion with God restored. For he found out, as the prodigal son found out, that there is not nearly as much fun in the far country as there is in the Father’s house. He wanted all this for a purpose:

Psalms 51:13

He wanted to praise God again.

Psalms 51:19

He not only wanted to praise God, he wanted to please God. The Lord Jesus went to dinner in the home of a Pharisee. A woman who had been saved came in there from the street. But Simon the Pharisee only knew her in the past, and he would have passed by on the other side rather than meet her on the street. But according to the custom of the day, when he had guests she had a right to come into his house and even stand and observe. She got to the place where our Lord was reclining (they used couches rather than chairs in that day), and she stood at His feet behind Him, weeping. She washed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with ointment.

Simon, His host, became critical. He began to find fault. And our Lord really rebuked him. He said, “When I came here you didn’t even furnish me water to wash my feet. You didn’t even extend to me the common courtesies. But this woman has not ceased to wash my feet with her tears.

She’s been forgiven. You have not” (Luk_7:44, paraphrase mine). Then He said to him, “…Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luk_7:47). We think we are all right. My friend, God cannot clear the guilty, and He says you and I are guilty before Him. The only way he could save you and me is to give His Son to die.

For the worst sinner in the world that is all that is needed. And this is the way you and I are saved also. “…To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” To whom much is forgivenoh, he loves much. What is the measure of your love? Well, it is your estimate of your own sins. Is it possible that you do not confess your sins? When was the last time you wept over your sins? When was the last time you cried out in the night because of your failures? Thank God, there is forgiveness with Him. But there needs to be confession on our part.