When My Heart Is Guilty 8-10-25 AM

I.            The cry of confession (Psalm 51:1-6).

a.      He begins this psalm requesting mercy that goes along with the lovingkindness of God.

b.      He requests to be washed from his sin.

c.       The reason for these two requests are found in verse three.

            i.      He opens up that he has sinned.

            ii.      It is a constant part of his life and he can’t get away from it.

d.      We don’t know how much time had passed between taking in Bathsheba and Nathan’s visit.

            i.      It does seem like some time had passed.

            ii.      We know the result of this was that the child born because of the sinful relationship would die and we read this in 2 Sam. 12:15.

e.      David had lived with his sinful actions for some time, possibly over a year.

f.        This passage seems to tell us that it had gnawed at him but he had never done anything about it.

            i.      He thought he had gotten away with it.

            ii.      After all, no one except Joab knew David had Uriah killed and even Joab didn’t know why David wanted him dead.

           iii.      No one but Bathsheba and David knew about their fornication.

g.      Though he thought he had gotten away with it, David being a man after God’s own heart still knew he was guilty.

           i.      We don’t know the backstory of Psalm 6 but it is also a penitential psalm.

           ii.      Notice Ps. 6:6.

           iii.      Something David had done was bothering him greatly.

h.      Now that David is confronted, David can get the weight of his guilt off of his shoulders.

           i.      It is sad it took Nathan taking his own life in his hands and boldly confronting David.

           ii.      David could have had him killed.

           iii.      If David had acknowledged the sin and confessed it to God on his own, the child may have lived.

i.        But now David cries out that he is confessing his sin.

j.        David states that his sin is against God only.

           i.      David had sinned against himself (1 Cor. 6:18).

           ii.      David had sinned against Bathsheba.

           iii.      David had sinned against Uriah.

           iv.      David had sinned against Israel.

           v.      David had sinned against his wives.

           vi.      David understood though, that all sin is first and foremost against God.

k.      David then acknowledges that any punishment God would hand him would be justified.

l.        His sin has affected him so much that he says its been with him since birth it seems.

           i.      Psalm 51:5 does not teach inherited sin.

           ii.      David isn’t saying this sin he committed was Adam’s fault.

           iii.      He’s saying I’ve been messing up since birth it seems.

           iv.      Haven’t you felt that way before God?

           v.      We’ve made a mess of things so often that when we go to God it feels like we were just in this same place a little while ago.

           vi.      David is simply saying his life has been full of times like this and he again needs God’s great mercy.

m.    David understood that this confession is not just an external act, it has to come from deep within him.

n.      The truth is, our guilt will never go away until we confess our sin to God.

o.      This is one of the first things one has to do in studying with non-Christians.

           i.      We have to get them to see their guilt.

           ii.      We have to get them to understand that all have sinned and they are a part of all.

           iii.      They have to come to terms that they are sinners in need of forgiveness.

p.      For us as Christians, we have to remember that we still sin from time to time and we need the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7).

q.      Until we truly, sorrowfully confess whatever sin it is we’ve committed, our hearts are going to hold on to that guilt.

II.            The call for cleansing (Ps. 51:7-12).

a.      Notice that David never thought he could cleanse himself – His plea is directly to God.

b.      David calls for a spiritual cleansing by referencing the sacrifices offered at the tabernacle.

           i.      Hyssop was the fibers used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:22).

           ii.      It was used to sprinkle purifying water (Num. 19:18).

c.       David asks to be washed.

           i.      This idea of washed is not an outward cleansing only.

           ii.      The Hebrew word is associated with the idea of fuller making something clean.

           iii.      A fuller would fully scrub harshly garments that needed cleansing.

           iv.      David knew that if God would do this then he would be completely free of the sin.

d.      David has not been joyful because he has been bearing this guilt.

e.      He knows God would cleanse him and restore his heart.

f.        David begs God not to cast him away but to restore the joy of life he had when he was in a right relationship with God.

g.      This all only will come when the sin he had committed was atoned for and the guilt removed.

h.      One problem we often have with confession is holding on to the shame of the act that we have confessed.

           i.      It is almost like we don’t believe God will truly forgive us of what we have done.

           ii.      We must have faith that God will remove and forget that sin or we will always struggle with guilt.

           iii.      We must come to realize that God truly does totally remove our sin (Ps. 103:12).

i.        We can wallow in our guilt and shame, or we can bring it to God and ask Him to cleanse us of our sin.

j.        If we want the weight of our sin, that guilt and shame we bear, to be gone, we have to ask God to cleanse us with the blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5).

III.            The commitment after cleansing (Ps. 51:13-17).

a.      David asked God to renew a right, or steadfast, spirit in him, which means the will to stay cleansed.

b.      David would need that type attitude or spirit in order to keep the commitment he is now going to make.

c.       I will teach sinners of your ways.

           i.      He knew while he was in sin he could not properly teach someone about God’s will for him or her.

           ii.      He couldn’t set the example before his family and all Israel that he needed to set.

d.      I will worship you.

           i.      He knew he could not show himself to God while in sin.

           ii.      He could not properly worship God while this guilt was weighing him down.

e.      God demanded sacrifices to be made but those were to get people to understand the weight of sin.

f.        What God really wanted was the heart of the one offering the sacrifice.

g.      This is true today when it comes to our worship to God.

           i.      We can sing all the right songs, use all the right prayer language, give a bunch of money, amen the preacher, and shed tears during the Lord’s Supper and be lost.

           ii.      If there is unconfessed sin, unrepented of sin, in our lives and we worship God externally as much as we can, we are lost.

h.      God wants our hearts and when He truly has them, our worship will flow out of love and gratitude.

i.        When we are truly guilt-free because of our confession of sin, we will be committed to working for and worshiping properly our great, forgiving God.

j.        Then, we will be able to pray for others to enjoy the same guilt-free life we are enjoying.

           i.      David then prays for Jerusalem and the people of God.

           ii.      If they would experience what he has experienced they could truly worship God as he now could.

k.      When we have that joy of our salvation restored, our guilt removed, we want other people to experience that.

           i.      We want our brothers and sisters in Christ who may be struggling with guilt to be made whole.

           ii.      We want those outside of Christ to experience the forgiveness of God and the cleansing of the blood of Christ.