Dr. Ron Sumners
July 12, 2009
There was a terrible earthquake in Kobe, Japan some years ago. It was the worst natural disaster in Japan in the 20thcentury. The man in charge of the city’s reconstruction committed suicide by setting himself on fire; after a year of frustration trying to rebuild the city. His name was Takumi Ogawa.
Apparently, Ogawa could not see how things would ever get better.
Anyone who has suffered a moral earthquake might be tempted to sympathize. There is a kind of smothering grief that attends such a disaster. Often the aftermath can be worse than the original event.
It is not surprising to see David crying out to God in the aftermath of his moral collapse. He cried out, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:12).
It is a prayer of the heart – one that any of us who have suffered a moral earthquake can identify with. We cannot lose our salvation, because it is originated and secured by God; but we can lose our joy! David did! He cries out to God for relief. In so doing, he provides a model for us. We need not end our lives in despair or live the rest of our days in paralyzing guilt. We can recover the joy of our relationship with God. We can find our support in the gracious Spirit of God.
David does not ask God to restore his salvation. David did not lose his relationship with God, but he did damage it to the place that the joy was gone. That is where many of us are today. We are still God’s child because that adoption took place through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, and it is His power that sustains it. But the joy and peace are gone because we have lived our lives in sin and rebellion. David prays this great prayer of repentance and confession because his life has gotten out of order. He has put himself on the throne of his life rather than God. Now he prays for the joy of salvation that can come only from God, to be restored.
King David takes his depression to God. He knows it was caused by sin, and he admits as much. Some people never have their joy restored, even though they spend a fortune, going to counselors and reading every “self-help” book they can find. We live in a world where our troubles are always someone else’s fault. Someone or something is always to blame. Very few people want to take personal responsibility for their foolish actions, for their deliberate transgressions, for their blatant sins, or their brazen iniquities. But David does not even hesitate. He knows the truth of his own heart. He knows that his troubles are entirely his fault. He confesses, “Against you, and you only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4).
David asks God to let him know the peace and rest that he once enjoyed. Joy is one of the most obvious characteristics of a Christian. When we sin, we jeopardize that joy. Sin and rebellion inevitably cost us the inheritance of joy that is ours in Christ. A Christian can surely lose the joy of their salvation without losing their salvation. I would imagine that I have just stated the spiritual condition of many of you here this morning!
All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We try to cover up our iniquities and sins – to minimize them, to excuse them, or to justify them. Perpetuating sin only leads to loss of the joy of God’s gracious and glorious work of salvation.
So, how can the process be reversed? How does the restoration of joy take place? In a word – grace. This amazing idea is illustrated all throughout David’s great prayer of repentance and confession. The new heart David needed in order to receive joy could come only from God. The cleansing, the purging, the blotting needed to take place in his life, but it could only be accomplished by the Hand of God!
It is God’s salvation that is at issue here. All the attention is on God. David’s joy comes from his relationship with God. No one but God can give David the joy he seeks. That is true with you also. Whatever you have been doing to create joy in your life, if apart from the Lord’s guidance, will only lead to emptiness and loss of joy!
David also asks, “Uphold me by your generous spirit” (Psalm 51:12). He realizes that the only hope is for God to keep him and hold him up. He cannot do it on his own; nor can anyone of us! He tells God that he will solely and completely depend on Him.
The word translated “uphold” here is very interesting. It is an architectural term for a pillar or a column. It was used to describe the way Samson took hold of the two pillars that supported the Temple of the Philistines. Samson pulled the temple down by toppling these pillars. (Judges 16:29)
David is asking God, “Uphold me, just like a father would uphold his child when teaching him to walk – not just letting him grab his fingers, but reaching down and grabbing him by the wrists so that when he stumbles, he holds him up along the way.”
When is a man usable in God’s Kingdom? When his repentance is as serious as his sin! Nathan boldly confronted David in the spirit of grace and truth. Almost immediately, David’s heart was broken. His eyes were opened, and after sinful rebellion, he turned in humble repentance. He fell on his knees and began to pray a prayer that is recorded for us in Psalm 51. His repentance was as serious as was his sin.
Some people try to make deals with God. They say, “God, create in me a clean heart and don’t cast me away. Restore the joy of your salvation to me. If you will do that, then I’ll teach transgressors; I’ll sing your praises.” David was not making a deal with God. Instead, he simply said, “Not until I am washed clean, not until I have a new heart and a steadfast spirit within me, not until I have been restored to joy, not until then will I be able to do what I desire; to teach transgressors your ways.” There is no deal here. There is simply an acknowledgement of what grace produces in a life fully yielded to God.
What happens when one finds the forgiveness of God? David’s prayer not only portrays our great need for grace and mercy. But also shows the happy results of that grace and mercy in our lives.
In the first half of the prayer, David pours out his heart; “Wash me,” he says. “Blot out my transgressions. Cleanse me. I acknowledge my sin. I was brought forth in iniquity. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Hide your face from my sin. Create in me a clean heart.” Over and over again David gives a constant cry for God to forgive him. He uncovers himself so that God can cover him! But the second half of the prayer portrays a threefold commitment to a new life of dedication, a fresh hunger to undertake three essential discipleship tasks: education, exaltation, and exhortation.
When we come clean before God and have received cleansing, one of the results is that we begin to live a life dedicated to education. David says, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways” (Psalm 51:13).
There is nothing more dynamic about someone who has just tasted the forgiveness of God than the desire to tell others. One of the reasons Simon Peter was such an effective preacher at Pentecost was that it was just a few days after he had tasted the forgiveness of God. It was fresh to him, so he spoke with boldness. He preached with a greater sense of urgency due to his experience. He knew what it was to be forgiven!
One of the problems in churches today, in Sunday School classes and in pulpits, is that it has been too long since people who are teaching the Word of God have tasted the forgiveness of God themselves. If we are to be effective in our testimony, in our witness, in our education, and in our proclamation, then we are going to have to regularly revisit the well of forgiveness. We are going to have to know the touch of His grace and mercy. That can only happen as we regularly ask God for forgiveness.
The forgiven man is the only one fit to teach transgressors the way of the Lord. David knows about what he will be teaching. A tour guide could not lead a group of tourists on a trip to the Holy Land if he had never been there before. There is nothing more frightening than the blind leading the blind.
David learned his lesson in the school of experience. The best teachers are those who learn from personal experience, so David says, “Then I will teach.” He will teach transgressors. David has a burden for transgressors, because he knows exactly where they are and what they need to hear.
We should be speaking from personal experience to people who are caught in the death throes of sin, just like we were once!
In some churches, people have gathered in their own groups for so long that they can hardly remember a time when someone came to grace afresh. In some churches, it has been so long since any one has been newly converted that the congregation has forgotten the power of the Gospel. For many Christians, it has been so long since they tasted forgiveness for themselves that there is little dynamic in their witness, their teaching, or their preaching. Who better to teach transgressors but a forgiven transgressor!
What would David teach these transgressors? He says, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways.” He will teach the ways of God. The Hebrew literally means “your road,” “your path,” “your journey.” David will offer transgressors a road map to the ways of God! As a result of this teaching, sinners will be converted. Once they know the way, transgressors will turn to God.
What is the result of finding the forgiveness of God? We will live a life dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ (God’s ways). We will have the opportunity to use our moral failures as part of our testimony for God’s glory. We will be able to take the tragic circumstances of our failures and use them to minister to others.
The fruit of forgiveness includes a new dedication to education. But it also includes a new dedication to exaltation. David prays, “Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise” (Psalm 51:14-15).
David is saying, “Since God forgave me, I will sing praises to His name.” Only the person who knows the forgiveness of God had a song in their heart. Those who do not know that forgiveness, simply go through the motions. They may come into corporate worship, mouth some words, and make some noise, but it does not come from their hearts.
For the months after his sin, David had no song. His lips were sealed by shame. After his prayer of confession and repentance, a song began to develop in his heart. Is there a song in your heart? I did not ask you if you could sing; but rather does your heart sing with your relationship with God!
The final fruit of forgiveness is exhortation. The only sacrifice that David had to bring before the Lord was a broken and contrite spirit. This is an encouragement to all of us.
What does the Lord desire from us? Is it our sacrifices, attendance, tithe, sanctimonious bearing? No, He wants you. The only way you can come is with a broken, contrite spirit of humility.
We can encourage others that feel alienated from God and feel that they are no longer worthy to approach God. They feel unworthy. Of course, we are all unworthy, but Praise God, “Worthy is the Lamb!” Jesus makes us worthy. You and I as well as King David of old, can give exhortation (encouragement) to the hurting, alienated and lost because we have been there.
The greatest of the fruits of forgiveness is that God makes us anew. He makes us new creations. He enables us to be what we are supposed to be, so that we can do what we are supposed to do!
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