Psalm 51

Psalm 51 | New International Version:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

RAMP: READ / ANALYZE / MEDITATE / PRAY

R: Read the Passage

You know the drill — read the passage twice! Don’t take notes, just read.

If your stomach starts turning in knots, that’s ok. This is not an easy Psalm to read, it’s tough. It’s messy. It’s painful. But it’s beautiful. God’s mercy is stunning.

Psalm 51 is believed to be written by David AFTER having an affair with Bathsheba (the wife of one of David’s key soldiers - Uriah). Bathsheba becomes pregnant with David’s baby and then David has Uriah killed in battle. It’s as bad as you think. Read the full story in all its drama in 2 Samuel 11.

What would you do if you were in David’s shoes? What have you done when you’ve come face to face with your own sin? Let’s see what we can learn from David’s response/reactions...

A: Analyze

Journal your response to these questions:

1. What does this say about God?

What does David say about God from his current perspective? David always seems to find himself in some type of pit— this one isn’t a literal pit, but you know he is at a tough spot right now. How does he see/acknowledge God from his current point of view?

2. What does this say about you?

What does this passage say about humanity? About us — sinners?

3. Is there a command to follow?

There may not be a specific command in this passage, but what are some things you see about how we are to respond to God in the midst of our sinfulness?

4. Is there a sin to repent of?

Ummmm….. yes. While you may not be in the middle of a sin-mess that looks just like David's, we are all in the middle of a sin-mess. Use this time to ask God to reveal your sins to you. Ask Him to help you see what you may be missing or excusing or ignoring. Is there unconfessed sin in your life? Are you wearing your sin as a badge of honor? Where do you need God’s forgiveness?

5. Is there a promise to claim?

Oooooh, you know how much I love finding promises in God’s word. Even in the ugliest of sin-messes, there are promises of God’s forgiveness, mercy, grace and kindness. What promises from this passage are you claiming for your life? What promises do you need to hold tightly to this week?

M: Meditate

Spend time in your thoughts — mediate over your sinfulness, meditate over His grace.

P: Pray

Thank God for the process of conviction, repentance, forgiveness, brokenness, healing and testimony.

Nicole’s Notes:

Let’s talk about sin for a minute. And then we’ll talk about God. Because I think two of the most important questions we can tackle are:

1. How do I view my sin?

2. How do I view my God?

As believers, we cannot view either of those alone. When considering our sin, we must consider our God. And when considering our God, we must consider our sin. Why? Because good news is only as good as the bad news is bad. Until we realize the depth and disgust of our sin, we will never realize the depth and beauty of God.

How do you view your sin? I encourage you to spend time on this thought/question. For those of you who don’t like to have bad, sad or uncomfortable thoughts, don’t rush past this. Answer these questions — if you don’t have immediate answers, come back to this throughout the week in order to face the reality of sin in your life.

1. Who are you sinning against?

• Yourself?

• Others? Name them, get into the details.

David reminds us in verse 4 that in all our sins, we are ultimately sinning against a holy God. Do you view your sin that way? Or do you believe the lie that your sin can only hurt you? Your sins hurt God’s heart. He loves you. He created you. He is the Holy One whose glory is displayed in you and through you. When you sin against yourself and others, you are sinning against God.

2. How bad is your sin? But, really.

**I’m cautioning you here to not go to unhealthy extremes — in either direction. Don’t brush over how bad it is. But at the same time, don’t let the enemy take your mind so far down the road that you forget your worth in Christ.

We live in a world in 2019 where sins against a holy God are normalized. I have this conversation a lot with college students who express the frustrations associated with sin being just ‘what you do.’ It’s accepted and normal to engage in sinful activities and behaviors — and if you are not in college anymore, don’t dare become judgmental or pious. Justifying and normalizing sin is just as easy in your 60s as in your 20s. If we allow ourselves to ignore, brush over, normalize or minimize our sin, we are in a dangerous place.

David was there. He was in a powerful position as king. He saw something he wanted (Bathsheba) and so he did whatever was necessary to get it for himself (broke the rules and then had his friend killed). Hear what I’m saying — in your most sinful state, you are no better. None of us are.

Until we see our sin for what it is — an attack on the holiness of God — we will never see the value in Christ’s forgiveness.

3. When did your sinfulness begin?

It wasn’t yesterday. It wasn’t when that cute guy got hired at your workplace. It wasn’t when so-and-so did such-and-such. And it wasn’t even when you took a step away from pursuing the Lord.

It was when you came to be. We won’t go into all the details and/or debates that could circle around this topic. That’s not the focus or point. The point is that as humans, we are sinners. At our core, we are sinful. At our beginning, we were sinful. Until our death and glorification with Jesus, we will be sinful.

From stories I hear my mom tell about when she became pregnant with me, she prayed for every single detail. We laugh about some of the funny things she prayed for, but it was an intimate time for her and the Lord. And 32 years after giving birth to me, she’s never stopped praying for me. And she has never let up on praying for the details.

But in all her praying, you know what she couldn’t pray out of me? Sin. She could pray for me to have certain traits and characteristics, but she couldn’t pray me sinless.

There’s not a thing my wonderful mom can do about my sin problem. There’s not a thing in the world I can do about my sin problem. As a 5, I’m a fixer. I fix things — systems, problems, etc. But I can’t fix my sinfulness.

Only the finished work of Jesus Christ can fix my sinfulness. God sent Himself in the form of His son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for sin. The sin could not go unpunished and there was only one acceptable penalty — death. And only one acceptable sacrifice — Jesus — God Himself paid the punishment for the penalty He declared. He died the death we deserve so we can live the life we don’t deserve.

Thank you, Jesus.

In verses 5-6, we see this truth combined with a promise — God knows our inmost parts, He created us there and He teaches us there. In the private. In the unseen. When we are not yet complete, He is teaching. He is planting truths inside us. He is giving us His breath, His life, His truth.

As I said earlier, we cannot separate our view of sin from our view from God. David didn’t in this Psalm. He had done the unimaginable. His sin was undeniable. The repercussions and ramifications were devastating. The depth of its ugliness is incomprehensible. But don’t miss this — He knew it. As you just viewed your own sin, I hope you are at the place where David landed — having a realistic view of your own sin.

Because when you view your sin for what it is, you can view your God for who He is:

• Merciful

• Unfailing in His love for you

• Compassionate

• Willing to cleanse you

• Teacher

• Righteous

• Forgiving

In light of his own sin, David saw the reality of His God. David couldn’t fix it. There was nothing he could do to make it better. His high view of God’s holiness gives us a guide for approaching God in our own mess. Read verses 16-17 and see the contrast in what does and does not please a holy God.

It’s not sacrifice or burnt offerings. Like David says — if it would help, we would bring it. But it’s not what God wants.

It’s brokenness. Exactly what we don’t want to be — broken — is exactly what God wants us to acknowledge we are.

When we allow ourselves to see sin for what it is, and we are broken hearted over it, God can and will work. He will forgive. He will heal. And He will answer David’s plea in verses 10-12 to create and restore.

Ask God to create in you a pure heart.

Ask Him to renew a steadfast spirit within you.

Ask for His mercy and kindness through His presence in your life.

Ask Him to restore the joy of His salvation — the pure joy of being forgiven of your sin — the joy that comes from knowing your sin has been atoned for through the work of Jesus.

Ask Him for a spirit willing to be healed and taught.

And when He does (because He will), share it with others. You’re not the only sinful one, and you’re not the only one in need of a Savior. Share the grace that has been given to you to others. Let your mess become a message of grace to the world around you.

Psalm 51 | The Message:

Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.

Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry.

I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil.

You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair.

I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born.

What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.

Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.

Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you.

I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered.

Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.

Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large,

Including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar!