21 July 2024 // Psalm 51 1-12 Part 1
SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION: Read Psalm 51 1-12
SERMON REVIEW:
What happens when you go too far??
How do you ever come back?
1. We must realize who we are: vs. 1-6
Sinners in need -
a. Transgressions – “pesa”
b. Iniquities – “awon”
c. Sin – “hata”
Born into it – vs. 5
Blinded by it – vs. 6
2. We must realize what we need: vs. 7-12
a. Mercy – “not getting what we deserve”
b. Cleansing – vs. 7
c. Change – vs. 8
d. Clean Heart- vs. 10
Holy Spirit –
e. Restoration – vs. 12
Grace – “getting what we do not deserve”
You come back through repentance and the mercy and grace of Jesus!
QUESTIONS:
1. What did the message teach me about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?
2. What did the message teach me about the human condition?
3. Is there anything I need to confess, repent, or be grateful for, because of this passage?
4. How do I need help in believing and applying this scripture to my life?
5. How can I encourage others with this passage?
BACKGROUND:
With what consummate skill Nathan the prophet laid his approaches to David’s soul. David’s sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah were already a year old. We have evidence from several of the psalms that his private sufferings were considerable, but David had not publicly acknowledged his sin. He simply sat on his throne in Jerusalem brazening out the whole thing.
Then Nathan had come with his story about a poor man’s lamb, stolen by a rich man to provide a feast for a passing guest. David had reacted instantly to that tale of injustice. He had sworn to take the miscreant’s life and make him repay the stolen lamb fourfold. “Thou art the man!” Nathan had said when David was done.
The sword was at David’s throat before David even knew Nathan had a sword. Down off his throne came the king. The fountains of the deep in his soul were broken. The pent-up passions of remorse, shame, guilt, and anxiety were released in a flood of tears. With his heart still pounding in his breast David wrote Psalm 51, the fourth and, in many ways, the greatest of the seven penitential psalms.[1]
DIGGING DEEPER:
1. I Was Born in Sin (51:4b–5)
“That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Arthur C. Clarke comments: “Modern theologians hate verse five; they like to talk about the ‘God in man’ instead of the ‘sin in man.’ The source of sin is in our souls, not in our surroundings.” David was not pleading inbred sin as an excuse. True, he was a sinner by birth, but he was also a sinner by choice. He was asking God to take this fact into account when passing final sentence against him.
2. I Am Blinded by Sin (51:6)
“Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. David knew that. We all prove it true. When the hour of fierce assault comes, when the fire of temptation burns and blazes in the soul, all other considerations tend to be thrust aside. We are blinded by sin. When David had Bathsheba in his arms, nothing else mattered for one fateful hour. He who had written a dozen psalms was blinded by sin. This, then, was David’s confession.[2]
3. Sin’s Damage (51:10)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” The word used for create is bara, the word used in Genesis 1:1 where we read that God created the heaven and the earth. It means to create absolutely, supernaturally, to make something out of nothing. David wanted a new heart. He did not just want to have the old one changed. If he was to be kept from sinning in the future, a radical work needed to be done in his soul. As Jesus would later put it to Nicodemus, he needed to be born again, to be recreated. The word bara implies all that. The word describes that creative activity of God which brings something out of nothing. It was not just restoration David wanted, he wanted regeneration. He wanted a new, clean heart.
David’s life was in ruins, a shambles. He could see now the damage done by his old nature; he wanted a new nature. It is indeed a remarkable Old Testament prayer, one that grasps a great deal of New Testament truth.[3]
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In what ways do you relate to David's feelings of guilt and sorrow over his sin?
2. How does David's understanding of his own sinfulness challenge you to look at your own life?
3. David desires truth in his inward being. How does this apply to our modern culture's relative views on truth?
4. How can you apply David's prayer for a "clean heart" and "renewed spirit" in your own life?
5. How does Psalm 51 challenge your understanding of God's mercy and grace?
PRAYER:
[1] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51.
[2] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51:4b–6.
[3] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51:10.
SERMON REVIEW:
What happens when you go too far??
How do you ever come back?
1. We must realize who we are: vs. 1-6
Sinners in need -
a. Transgressions – “pesa”
b. Iniquities – “awon”
c. Sin – “hata”
Born into it – vs. 5
Blinded by it – vs. 6
2. We must realize what we need: vs. 7-12
a. Mercy – “not getting what we deserve”
b. Cleansing – vs. 7
c. Change – vs. 8
d. Clean Heart- vs. 10
Holy Spirit –
e. Restoration – vs. 12
Grace – “getting what we do not deserve”
You come back through repentance and the mercy and grace of Jesus!
QUESTIONS:
1. What did the message teach me about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?
2. What did the message teach me about the human condition?
3. Is there anything I need to confess, repent, or be grateful for, because of this passage?
4. How do I need help in believing and applying this scripture to my life?
5. How can I encourage others with this passage?
BACKGROUND:
With what consummate skill Nathan the prophet laid his approaches to David’s soul. David’s sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah were already a year old. We have evidence from several of the psalms that his private sufferings were considerable, but David had not publicly acknowledged his sin. He simply sat on his throne in Jerusalem brazening out the whole thing.
Then Nathan had come with his story about a poor man’s lamb, stolen by a rich man to provide a feast for a passing guest. David had reacted instantly to that tale of injustice. He had sworn to take the miscreant’s life and make him repay the stolen lamb fourfold. “Thou art the man!” Nathan had said when David was done.
The sword was at David’s throat before David even knew Nathan had a sword. Down off his throne came the king. The fountains of the deep in his soul were broken. The pent-up passions of remorse, shame, guilt, and anxiety were released in a flood of tears. With his heart still pounding in his breast David wrote Psalm 51, the fourth and, in many ways, the greatest of the seven penitential psalms.[1]
DIGGING DEEPER:
1. I Was Born in Sin (51:4b–5)
“That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Arthur C. Clarke comments: “Modern theologians hate verse five; they like to talk about the ‘God in man’ instead of the ‘sin in man.’ The source of sin is in our souls, not in our surroundings.” David was not pleading inbred sin as an excuse. True, he was a sinner by birth, but he was also a sinner by choice. He was asking God to take this fact into account when passing final sentence against him.
2. I Am Blinded by Sin (51:6)
“Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. David knew that. We all prove it true. When the hour of fierce assault comes, when the fire of temptation burns and blazes in the soul, all other considerations tend to be thrust aside. We are blinded by sin. When David had Bathsheba in his arms, nothing else mattered for one fateful hour. He who had written a dozen psalms was blinded by sin. This, then, was David’s confession.[2]
3. Sin’s Damage (51:10)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” The word used for create is bara, the word used in Genesis 1:1 where we read that God created the heaven and the earth. It means to create absolutely, supernaturally, to make something out of nothing. David wanted a new heart. He did not just want to have the old one changed. If he was to be kept from sinning in the future, a radical work needed to be done in his soul. As Jesus would later put it to Nicodemus, he needed to be born again, to be recreated. The word bara implies all that. The word describes that creative activity of God which brings something out of nothing. It was not just restoration David wanted, he wanted regeneration. He wanted a new, clean heart.
David’s life was in ruins, a shambles. He could see now the damage done by his old nature; he wanted a new nature. It is indeed a remarkable Old Testament prayer, one that grasps a great deal of New Testament truth.[3]
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In what ways do you relate to David's feelings of guilt and sorrow over his sin?
2. How does David's understanding of his own sinfulness challenge you to look at your own life?
3. David desires truth in his inward being. How does this apply to our modern culture's relative views on truth?
4. How can you apply David's prayer for a "clean heart" and "renewed spirit" in your own life?
5. How does Psalm 51 challenge your understanding of God's mercy and grace?
PRAYER:
[1] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51.
[2] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51:4b–6.
[3] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 51:10.