as we come to psalm 51 you'll notice in the superscription that that that statement right above uh the psalm there that gives us some historical context of this that this psalm was written uh when nathan the prophet was sent to david when he went in to basheba imagine if your name was put there and your life was exposed right there we all know the account i'm going to read just a portion of it tonight to begin this is second samuel 11 in the spring of the year the time when kings go out to battle david sent joab and his servants with him and all israel and they ravaged the ammonites and besiege Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite so David sent messengers and took her and she came to him and he lay with her painfully transparent isn't it painfully transparent the nation is off at war everyone's fighting for the kingdom David falls into a time of ease and he's out walking on his roof one day and he simply gazes out he gazes out as he looks out and his eye catches catches a woman bathing from the top of the roof and he takes her and what you have followed in the account in 2 Samuel is then a long description of how David tried to cover up that whole mess. Which is really a shocking thing. He then goes into a period of covering of the mess where you remember what he did. First, he tried to bring Uriah back and what did he do? He filled him with all these gifts and sent him home with the hopes that Uriah would go and be with his wife and the whole thing would be covered up. It wouldn't be found out. But Uriah was such a noble figure. Uriah was such a respectful man. He wouldn't do such a thing while the nation was off at war. And David didn't care. And then David tries it again. And Uriah just shows up as this honest man full of integrity in the narrative which really is driving a dagger into the wound when we read it, isn't it? Then what does David do? he has him murdered. He takes him and he tells Uriah, put him on the front of the line. Goal being, he'll take the heat of the battle, he'll take the first arrow, he'll get killed with the sword, and I can then take Bathsheba. He brings Bathsheba in after the death. And the most painful part of the story, the real wound, is this. 2 Samuel 11 ends with this verse. And the thing that David did displeased the Lord. It almost feels like an understatement. The thing that David did was evil in the eyes of the Lord. the lord loved david and what essentially happened was he loved him enough to send nathan to him and nathan comes and nathan you know confronts his life nathan confronts his life and and he gives that parable about this man who had one little ewe lamb and and this man who had everything in the kingdom and the man who had everything came and stole away the little ewe lamb and david hears this parable and he's furious. He says, death to that man. And can you feel it? You are that man. You are a murderer. You, King David, are an adulterer. And it's at that moment in the narrative that David says, I have sinned. Now I believe, working and looking here, when you have Psalm 51 and the superscription that says this is connected to that, that right when David said, I have sinned, you should interject Psalm 51. I believe the Lord is challenging us to see what took place in the life of David and that it should be interjected right there. Something happened to him. And surely this was the prayer when he went and he asked the Lord for his son's life to keep him. But this was the broken and the contrite heart that then followed. And as I summarize this psalm tonight, you see this in the way that David then deals with this problem and approaches the Lord. He cries out to the Lord, he confesses to the Lord, and he seeks cleansing from the Lord. He cries, confesses, and gets cleansed. And so we look at verse 1 and this deep cry that then follows from this man's heart. And it's so instructive, so helpful for us that David would put great King David's life on display for us so that we would identify with it. Listen to verse 1. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. That is a cry from the depths of a conscience that has just been awakened. And that's an important thing to say. I was reading more than a few authors last week who emphasized in all of their writings that it really caused me to stop and ponder really what had happened in the heart of David when they really observed over and over again that David had gone in this period of such prolonged period of a hardened heart. I mean, how do you do that? How do you not see this? And I think that's the power of why God inspired this particular one. It's a big one. And the question then is, is how do you not see that kind of sin going on in your life? It should strike us that if you study the life of King David, you go through his life after this sin and you had months of denial, months of denial without any sense that he had offended a holy God. Without any real conviction, without any remorse, without any brokenness, without any contriteness, Even Calvin notes, it's fascinating, the man was probably praying daily. He was probably in worship. He probably thought he was conforming his life to the law of God. And that thought, as I read that, scared me. Scared me. Do you feel that? I think this is what was behind David later saying in this psalm, you're not after formal sacrifice. You're not after just going through the motions and worship. I think his whole period of coming up to the temple after that and offering animals, he did it and he did it to a T and something was still vitally missing. And you see, that means that we could be here and we could go through all of this and yet we're sitting here and the reality is in life, sin is mastering. And consciously, maybe unconsciously I mean, the sin is going on and we're not even sensitive to it. What we're dabbling in and what we're doing and we come and we take of the supper. You feel the weight of this? You think you're living an okay life. David did this sin and for about a year, as I tally it up, he was non-responsive. Non-responsive. Which you kind of see why, you know, an account like David and Bathsheba, you could read to somebody one time and read to them again and again and again and it may be at one particular point the thing comes alive. Here's something to ponder. If David could be blinded for a year to this big sin, how many small sins that we categorize as small are we blinded to? I mean, what have we bought into in society? I was just thinking of Eric Liddell today when he wouldn't run in the 28 Olympics and the conviction because it was the Sabbath. And you know what we would say today? We would laugh at that. I mean, we would scoff at that. That legalist. While the world is immersed and running through Germany right now breaking things in such excitement over soccer. And you see, God shows that He cares here because He gives us His law. And he gives us his law to awake a sense of things and a reality of things. What essentially you have in the life of David at this point is a big Romans 7 moment. Sin revived and I died. Remember that? All of a sudden, the weight of it all came down on me. The weight of it. It revived in me. In other words, I saw things as I should see them. I saw myself like I've never seen myself before. As soon as Nathan had published it, as soon as Nathan had said, you're the man, he saw it, and it awoke in me feelings and a sense of despair that I'd never tasted. And here's something else to ponder. It dawned on me. He committed a sin that the law of Moses made no provision for to forgive. In other words, what happened to murderers and adulterers when they did it? Under the law of Moses, death. You're done. You're stoned. Same was true with the Sabbath. Remember the man picking up sticks? What he did with Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba was punishable by death. And so now do you feel the despair that's come over him? The despair of all of a sudden in Psalm 51, there's nothing I can do. I can't get out of this mess. I can't get out of it. And here's where I think something's lost today. Sometimes I'll have these programs on the news. I think it's Dateline. I remember watching them years ago. And they'll catch these predators, these sexual predators. And these are your average normal day guys, you know, church-going guys. And it's fascinating, once they're caught, the shift of guilt that comes over them. And it's like this horrid torment that comes over them. Not because it's any kind of godly sorrow, but the horrible torment that comes over them because all of a sudden they finally see their life for what it is. They didn't see it before. But now they know there's no way to fix the mess that has come upon them. It's on camera. It's going on the news. And now their wife's going to see it. And their children are going to see it. They've wrecked their lives. They've wrecked their marriages. I mean, they have that show, if you've ever seen it. Davidson just found him out. And that's the worst kind of feeling when there's this empty recognition, this painful recognition. I can't undo what I've done. I can't undo what I've done. I'm bloodthirsty. I've got a man's blood on my hand. The sense of predicament is what I mean when I say what's lost today. I don't know if the love of God has been so overly preached that we no longer hear about the wrath of God. I know there has to be a balance, but I don't know why there's no sort of sense of despair anymore that we're seeing in people when they don't have any kind of sense anymore of what a life out of accord and in this despaired state, a life out of accord when the life realizes what the wrath of God is and what it deserves and that there's no hope. That moment of feeling there's no hope. You've got to get there to get to hope. and and and sin when when this happens to somebody whose conscience has been awakened there's a sense of real defilement there's there's a sense of discouragement there's a sense of overwhelming pain uh the consequences yes are before you but that's not ultimately it is it it's ultimately a kind of sorrow when you're when you're truly one of god's children and it brings an overwhelming pain about that state and a concern that I'm the greatest hypocrite ever to walk the face of the earth. That's where you'll come. That's where you'll come. You don't think David said that? I've got to be the greatest hypocrite ever to walk the face of the earth. I'm a charlatan. That's who I am. and there's something beautiful when we say it when we judge ourselves imagine if this sin was committed in the Escondido URC the anger the rage the disgust it's a moment when you feel lost and condemned a dread of the conscience and here's now where the Bible shines down something, God's not inspiring this to leave us there. And that's what makes this so beautiful tonight. What does David do? He cries out for mercy. His only ground of appeal is that this God is a God of mercy. And notice how David says it, that he's loving, kind, and tender in the multitude of his mercies. This is what Israel always learned about the Lord. Even in the moments of their greatest sins, remember what happened at the idolatry on Mount Sinai? And God came down after that and declared to Moses, the Lord, the Lord merciful and gracious, slow, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands. And this, forgiving, iniquity, transgression, and sin. What does David understand about mercy? He's unfailing in that. That's his only appeal. I don't want to miss how honest he is before the Lord. You know, you hear that. Iniquity, transgression, and sin. David uses those words. And he describes his life that way. He uses brutal honesty. And notice how today we don't even want to use the words. We've used all sorts of words to not have to use these words. He's honest about his life. Sin being transgression means to depart and go away. He uses sin here, which means to fall short of the mark. And he uses iniquity, which means in the deepest sense to be crooked and perverse and twisted in all ways of life. And then in verses 3-6, you have the heart of it. Here's the genuine heart. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. What does the Lord want from you tonight? Brutal honesty about your life. That's what He wants from you. Brutal honesty about your life. True confession begins with a deep awareness of it. How painful has it been in Genesis to see how unaware these people have been? Lord, I am aware of it in my own life. Do we specifically get on our knees and do that? Do we say that to the Lord? That's what confession is. It's agreeing with Him and saying with Him that His law is right and holy and good, and you're agreeing with Him specifically that you are these things. I'm an idolater. I'm a blasphemer. I committed adultery last week by looking at a woman to lust. I murdered a man because I've hated in the heart. I covet all the time in my life. I'm always wanting. I'm never satisfied. I'm like the woman at the well, Jumping and jumping and jumping and jumping in my life just to find something that will make me happy. David says, you know, Lord, when I avoided doing that, you know what my life was like? I groaned inwardly all day long because you broke my bones. You know what he's doing for those who don't confess? He's making a heavy hand set upon you. Remember Psalm 32 said that? day and night my vitality grew turned into the drought of summer your hand was heavy upon me verse four against you and you only have i sinned and done this evil in your sight that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge in other words lord here's the great test tonight of sincerity of confession. Lord, if you did assign me to hell and you did judge me, you're right in doing it. You'd be right. You're blameless. Your judgment is so pure and right and holy, my life is so defiled that if you said that's it, he's done, send him to hell. You're right. Can you say that? Society always says no. You've got to blame everyone else. Blame your upbringing. Blame your parents. Blame the church. Blame this. Blame that. We're all victims in our society. We're all victims of this and that. This is what Adam and Eve did in the garden. Lord, the woman you gave me. The woman, the serpent you made. No! David's showing us here what God wants. This, the greatest element of genuine confession is that I see things the way that God has defined them about my own life and my own heart that I've come to a place to be able to say, Lord, if you cast me into hell, that is righteous. In fact, Lord, the truth of my life is from birth, I've been this rebellious against you. He begins to look back and he says, you know, my whole life, even in the womb, was this. As soon as David said, now come back to the narrative. That's a mouthful from Psalm 51. I've sinned. What is the next word Nathan says? The most shocking statement of the entire account. David, the Lord has put away your sin. To which you say, if the law of Moses made no provision, where? What I mean by that is saying when they commanded the death penalty, where was the sin put away? Verse 7, Purge me with hyssop. And I shall be clean. Wash me. And I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Where? Well, it's what the law of Moses ultimately and all those types and shadows did point to. The person and the work of Christ. You know what hyssop was, boys and girls. It was a small plant that would grow between the stone wall of the temple and the Jews would take it and would use it as a brush. Remember when they were leaving Egypt, they would paint the doors with it, with the hyssop. And they would sprinkle it on the door frames. And remember, Moses would later sprinkle it on the people with hyssop, telling us of the need of the cleansing with blood. And there's only one that propitiates the wrath of God. There's only one that can bring about forgiveness. And that's whom David sees. With the blood of Christ, we can be washed whiter than snow. Come, reason with me, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make you as white as snow. Notice what David says here. Give me joy. return gladness to me. If God never wanted to do that, you'd never have that inspired. Do you understand that? If God didn't want you to have joy and wanted you to remain head down, miserable for the rest of your life, you'd never have that request answered. But you know what? David had it answered. He cries out, turn your face away. And God turns His face to His Son. And he looks upon him. And his wrath was poured on him so that when he said it's finished, this is what is true of you so that you tonight can know joy and know gladness. And even the very Hebrew word that's used here for created me a clean heart is the word that was used at creation for the creation of the world. Take the very same power by which you created heaven and earth and cleanse me. Renew me. and i love this renew a steadfast spirit within me help me not to waver she means all of it's dependent upon his grace and mercy to uphold you that's what he's asking you know how many times has the lord announced in the scriptures he who confesses his sins what is god faithful to do Confess your sins. He is faithful and just to forgive you all of your sins and do what? Cleanse you from all unrighteousness. God could do that for David. With these sins recorded here, there's no sin in you that He could not do that for. He could not wash and cleanse. And David, I close with this tonight, ends this prayer by making a promise to the Lord. And this is what you're going to go out with and think a lot about this week, okay? Lord you do this for me I'm going to go out and I'm going to lead a thankful life I'm going to sing to you I'm going to go tell others so that they would know the joy that I just experienced I'm going to go and I'm going to I'm going to be a teacher to them people would say hypocrite no he is forgiven and look at what the Lord now has set him apart to be i'm going to sing and i ask you to build strong the walls of zion i come back to this question tonight do you think the table is about how honorable you were last week i mean seriously you think the table is about how honorable you were last week it's for the bruce reeds it's for the smoking flats it's for the broken and the contrite of heart he'll never despise these he loves to receive these what kind of heart are you coming with then to the table tonight i want to ask you that what kind of heart if you are satisfied in yourself the warning is stay away it's for sinners it's for the messy not for the self-righteous who've got it all figured out. These are the people tonight He wants at His table. We're going to pray here in a moment. For those who come to the table of the Lord tonight with this kind of believing heart, the Lord wants you to know, I will never, ever, ever, ever cast you out. Amen. Let's turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal tonight to page 156. I'll read in the middle of the page and then we'll go into prayer. Beloved in the Lord, hear the words of the Apostle Paul concerning the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ. For I received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you at the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you this do in remembrance of me and like manner also the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me or as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he that eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself if he discerns not the body. Let us hear a brief word of instruction concerning the purpose for which the sacrament was ordained. When our Lord said, this do in remembrance of me, he ordained this Holy Supper as a constant memorial and visible proclamation of his death. The Apostle Paul also teaches us that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death. As we partake of this communion supper, therefore we bear witness that our Lord Jesus was sent by the Father into the world, that He took upon Himself our flesh and blood, and that He bore the wrath of God on the cross for us. We also confess that He came to earth to bring us to heaven, that He was condemned to die, that we might be pardoned, that he endured the suffering and death of the cross that we might live through him and that he was once forsaken by God that we might forever be accepted by him. The sacrament thus confirms us in God's abiding love and covenant faithfulness. By his holy supper, our Lord seals to our hearts the promises of God's gracious covenant and assures us that we belong to his covenant family. Let us then be persuaded as we eat and drink that God will always love us and accept us as His children for the sake of His Son. Our Lord promises, moreover, that as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are fed with His crucified body and shed blood. To this end, He gives us His life-giving Spirit through whom the body and blood of our Lord become the life-giving nourishment of our souls. This unites us with Himself and so imparts the precious benefits of His sacrifice to all who partake in faith. The Holy Sacrament is also a means of grace that unites us with one another in the bond of the Spirit. But the Apostle says that we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Thus, even as He unites us with Himself, He strengthens the bond of communion between us, His children. Finally, the remembrance of our Lord's death revives us in the hope of His return. Since He commanded us to do this until He comes, the Lord assures us that He will come again to take us to Himself. Hence, as we commune with him now under the veil of these earthly elements, we are assured that we shall sometime behold him face to face and rejoice in the glory of his appearing. Our Lord Jesus will surely do what he has promised. Let us draw near to his table then, believing that he will strengthen us in faith, unite us in love, and establish us more firmly in the hope of his coming. Let's pray together tonight. Father, we come to you tonight with praise in our hearts and on our lips because of your faithfulness and your loving kindness and your truth. We have a restless spirit. And it's hard for us at times even to focus upon you in the busyness of our lives the way that we should and we're sickened with that. We run here and there and our time for you is little. And it grieves us. Sins eat us up at times. Often we feel so far from you. Often we feel like you're not even there. Often we wonder, where is the God of our salvation? Why does it seem like everyone else gets an answer, but we don't? We ask for your mercy, oh God. According to your loving kindness and the multitude of your tender mercies. If you had not revealed yourself this way, we would have no hope tonight. We would sulk and sink and end up in hell. But we cling to what you've told us. And we draw near to you saying, as you have told us in your word, when we come to you this way, you will draw near to us. and we don't have to doubt that your word is true and for all of the sins that we've committed we say tonight as a people and as the body as the Escondido United Reformed Church wash us thoroughly and cleanse us from all of our sins we confess we're idolaters we confess we worship ourselves we confess that we are constantly putting our own interests before yours and pursuing whatever we want rarely asking you whether it's good and right confess that our worship is often simply going through the motions as David realized when he was awoke to his sins and realized that he came performing everything he needed to perform but his heart was far from you and Lord we do that constantly we're blasphemers often giving occasion for enemies to mock we're full of desires contrary to your will we're murderers we don't love our brothers the way that we should we're bitter in spirit often we slander we speak against our brethren made in Your image. We're covetous. We're wanting more and more and more and more and more and we're never satisfied. And we acknowledge these things tonight and we say, O Lord, if You were to enter into judgment with us, if You were to, these things are so plain and so clear in the course of our lives, You would be righteous and just to condemn us. Against You and You only have we done these things and sinned in Your sight. Your judgment's righteous. It's right and true. But tonight, O Lord, we appeal to Your wonderful mercies in Christ. And we set our hearts and affections and true faith upon Him, asking You to purge us with hyssop and we shall be clean. Wash us and we shall be whiter than snow and we know the great cost that that took for that to even be accomplished. that You had to give Your Son. And due to the hardness of our hearts and the courts of our lives, we've not even been able to hear joy and gladness the way that we should. But You've broken our bones. Your hand has been heavy upon us tonight. And as it has, we ask that You would restore to us joy and gladness in our lives. Turn away and keep your eyes upon Him who endured such hostilities from sinners and who went and paid all the debt. And blot out everything that offends you in our lives, covering us with His precious blood and righteousness. And now, O Lord, create within us a clean heart, a pure heart. Bind us now together in love. Love for you and love for one another. Strengthen us in the power that you displayed at creation by creating and giving life in all of our hearts that we, by your generous spirit, would now go forth in your strength and in your might and lead thankful lives, telling others and being lights to those all around us. Bring us joy, return joy and uphold us so that we don't go in the old ways and lead us in these thankful lives to teach others Your ways. To have a song constantly in our hearts and on our lips. Open our lips and praise shall follow. Keep us then, O Lord, tonight from worthless religion and give us ever a broken and contrite heart that You love, restoring and building up Zion, giving Your servants lasting joy that is complete. Strengthen us in these promises and wonderful gifts tonight. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.