Truth in the Inward Parts

Psalm 51, verse 6. Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. These words were written by David, King David, after he had played a dangerous game of untruth in the inward parts. He had committed adultery with another man's wife, while the other man was out fighting David's war for him.

The woman turns up pregnant, so David arranges to have her husband killed. Put Uriah up near the wall and then withdraw. And of course the archers on the wall, the enemies, caught Uriah.

Now the surprising thing is that David didn't even feel a twinge of guilt. Who's getting around here? I can do what I want. He goes up to the temple and prays and sings hymns and worships God himself.

That he and God are still close until Nathan the prophet nails him. You're the man. God knows what you have done.

You had all these wives and all these concubines. This man had only one. From now on the sword will never depart from your house.

David paid a high price for what he did with Bathsheba. But he learned an essential lesson. David learned that if we're going to live the life of faith and what other life is there worth living, there is one thing we absolutely must offer God.

Truth. If there had been truth in the inward parts in David, he would never have got himself into that mess. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Truth in the inward parts, meaning nothing hidden, nothing covered, nothing crooked. If there's something in there that's crooked, straighten it out. If there's something in there that's covered, bring it out to the light.

Confess it. Let God see it from your mouth and from your own heart so that the mercy of God can flow in and cleanse and the spirit of God. So Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar near the field that Jacob gave his son Joseph.

Jacob's well was there and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about noon. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water.

Jesus said to her, give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, how is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself and his sons and his cattle? Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst.

The water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst or come here to draw. Go call your husband.

I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you're right, you have had five husbands and this you said truly. The woman said to him, sir, I perceive on the surface, this is a lady who knows how to take care of herself.

She has a sharp mind and a quick tongue, but beneath the surface, this is a woman who's deeply troubled and in great need. Her life is a mess. She's dissatisfied.

She's thirsty for living water. She meets this Jewish stranger by the well who offers her living water, offers her something to transform her life, to heal her, to satisfy her. But in order to receive this living water, there's one thing she has to give him.

Truth in the inward parts. Go call your husband and come here. I have no husband.

You're right in saying I have no husband. You've had five. This you said truly.

Now notice the woman does not deny it, nor does she try to defend herself and give a thousand reasons why it is this way. What a terrible childhood she has. Nothing like that.

She says, sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. In other words, Lord, you told me the truth about myself. And because she admits the truth about herself right off the bat, opens up.

She's now able to receive this living water and Jesus gives it to her. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

There is no limit to what Jesus will do in this body. No limit to what he'll do in our personal lives. He will answer our prayers.

He will baptize us again and again in his spirit. He will break us out of our prisons. He'll anoint us with power from on high.

But he can do this only if we give him what this woman gave him. Truth in the inward parts. You know, everything crooked in here made straight.

Everything covered up and hidden, opened up and shown and confessed to him. Now, our first reaction, of course, is to say, oh, that's easy. I have nothing to hide.

My life is an open book. And many of us probably believe that when we say it. But the truth is that the major barrier to faith in God, the primary thing holding us back from being able to draw near to God and let God's life come up and live inside us, is our dread, our fear of opening our hearts and confessing to him what's really going on in there.

From childhood, most of us have lived our lives concealing, often even from ourselves, but surely from others, what's going on inside our hearts. There are attitudes we hold, grievances we nurse, compromises, camouflage forms of extreme selfishness. And the Lord keeps putting his finger on these things.

And instead of saying, sir, I perceive you're a prophet. Lord, you told me the truth about myself. We back away offended.

When's the last time you confessed to the Lord? Yes, Lord, you're right. I'm extremely selfish. Help me.

Yes, Lord, I have a bad attitude. Help me. Yes, Lord, that is compromise.

Help. It's so much easier to go right on pretending everything's okay because all these people around us are so much worse. God, I thank you that I am not as extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even this tax collector.

But we will not have a living fellowship with Jesus. We can't. Until we get desperate enough, thirsty enough for that living water that we begin to confess.

When Jesus said to us, go call your husband. I'm here. In other words, when he says, let's deal with that crookedness inside you and let's get it straightened out.

Instead of beating around the bush and making excuses and walking away, we need to do what the lady did. You're right, Lord. You've told me the truth about myself.

Here it is. We've got to bring it out into the light. Jesus isn't screaming.

He can handle it. He's not going to get sick when you start telling him what's in there. He's not going to faint and he's not going to throw a tantrum and chew you out.

He can handle whatever is in there, no matter how bad it is. But he cannot give us life. 1 John 1, verse 5. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie, do not live according to the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Linen water will come to us. The power of God's spirit will come to us when we walk in the light, when we bring this garbage out from underneath the cover and confess it to him.

You do not have to psychoanalyze. Thank the Lord we do not have to play the spiritual FBI and root around in other people's dresser drawers. Jesus himself will put his finger on it and very able to do it.

He will do it just as surely as he did it for this woman. He will show you what it is. For instance, the woman had a crooked heart and Jesus put his finger on it by saying to her, go call your husband and come here.

This woman's crookedness was in the area of man-woman. Jesus brings it out into the light, she confesses it, and she receives healing. The rich young ruler had a crooked heart.

Jesus put his finger on it by saying, go sell all that you have. He was bringing out into the light the crookedness in this man's heart which was in the area of his love for money. He brought it out into the light.

The man could not handle it and he walked away. Peter, the apostle, had a crooked heart in the area, as many of us do, not that we're not afflicted with the other ones too, of unforgiveness. Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Seven times? And Jesus nailed him by saying, 70 times 7. In other words, unforgiveness is something you cannot afford.

He knows our hearts but he needs us to come up with it. And he's able. He'll put his finger exactly on that thing that we're trying to hide, often from our own consciousness.

He'll do it maybe sometimes through a word, somebody speaks to us. He'll do it sometimes with a thought that comes through our minds or a word, a phrase or a line of scripture that jumps off the page. And he'll do it in such a way that you will know the difference between neurotic guilt, some kind of really messed up inspiration which puts you under, you know, under terrible bondage, and true conviction from God.

You know, some of us are almost, we feel guilty. I can remember in fourth grade when the teacher would say, who sold the pencil? You know, probably four or five of us would blush right away. You know, and she thought we did.

And now what do you do? You know, and that's what, that's neurotic guilt. And I'm not talking about that. I'm not saying every thought that comes into our minds is from Jesus.

It's not. When it's from him, when you know, bring it up, confess it to him. Now, if there's crookedness down inside right now and you know what it is already, why waste another day? Confess it to him before you leave, to him.

And you will receive a fresh outpouring of living water. And he will give you power to walk. If there's crookedness down inside and you don't know what it is, don't worry about it.

When he does, and he will, confess it so that he can cleanse it and give you power from his spirit to walk in a new way. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. This is the foundation of our walk with the Lord, not just in the beginning, but all the way through.

Truth in the inward parts. God help us to offer him so that we may drink at that fountain and walk in the power of his. Long after this world and this life are far behind us.

Now, we're going to pray and then we're going to sing. While we're doing any of these things during the silence, the prayer or the hymn, it would be helpful for anybody in the room, whatever it is, if he's putting his finger on something and a fresh start, even before you in silence.