2 SAMUEL 12 AND PSALM 51 PURSUE GODS HEART TOWARD REPENTANCE2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 12 And Psalm 51 Pursue Gods Heart Toward Repentance

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018. Well, this evening we are going to be starting out here in 2 Samuel chapter 12 and continuing to kind of dive deep a little bit on this point in David's life where he had this really...

big issue develop where he committed adultery, which led him to then commit murder, and then try to go on and move forward in life as if nothing had happened, and God would not allow that. And so God had to send the prophet Nathan to confront David, and that's what we looked at last week as we looked at chapter 12, verses 1 through 14. We saw a

from Nathan's perspective and learned a little bit about when we're in situations where we have to go and confront someone who is in sin, Nathan provided some really good examples for us about what we need to do and how we need to approach those

situations. But this evening, as we look back again at these verses here in chapter 12, we want to look at David and from his perspective and think about some of the aspects that we can relate to and understand as far as sin is involved in our lives and how we need to respond when that is revealed and uncovered. And so we're going to be talking about repentance

this evening here in 2 Samuel chapter 12. And you know, you may not be in some, you know, maybe you aren't trying to cover up a murder or anything like that. And yet I trust that these things, man, I don't know about you, but as I was going through these things, I pray that you'll be refreshed as

I was looking at these. It was just really reminding me of the mercy and the grace of God. And so some really great truths for us here about repentance in 2 Samuel chapter 12. And then we'll also be looking at Psalm chapter 51 in a few minutes as well. But let's begin by reading verses 1 through 6 here of 2 Samuel chapter 12. And then we'll dive into the message. Verse 1 says,

And he came to him and said to him, there were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished. And it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him.

And a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die and he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing.

and because he had no pity. Here as we look at 2 Samuel chapter 12 again this evening, I've titled the message, Pursue God's Heart Towards Repentance.

We saw David go down the rabbit hole of sin in chapter 11, and he kept going further and further. He had opportunities to turn back, but he instead kept going further. And it's unusual for us because as we look at David's life, we know him to be a man who pursues God's heart, God's

God declares him to be one who is after his heart, one who keeps on seeking after the heart of God. And so here we have this occasion, this exception in the life of David, where he, instead of pursuing God's heart, and this wasn't just like, you know, he had a momentary lapse, you know, of some kind, but this is a season, a whole season of his life that was not pursuing God's heart. In

adultery and murder and tried to not deal with sin, which was in direct opposition to the heart of God. He's been resisting God's heart. He's been opposed to God's heart for probably a little over a year at this point as Nathan comes on the scene. And so it's an exception to David's life. And it reminds us that, you know, even the man who pursued God's heart, the man who God held up as an example and said, here's a man who pursues my heart,

Even the best of us, we have these kinds of issues. We have these kinds of seasons. We have these kinds of moments. And that is why it is so important for us to understand that

how to pursue God's heart in the midst of these different circumstances. We need to learn how to pursue God's heart in the victories of our lives. And sometimes the victories can be quite challenging, as well as, you know, the trials in our lives. And we need to learn how to pursue God's heart there. And when we have failed, when we have...

been involved in sin, when we have given into some kind of temptation, and whether it be for a moment or for a season, we need to know what it looks like. We need to learn how to recover from that kind of situation and to pursue God's heart from there toward repentance and to come back from perhaps the devastation and destruction just like David did here in 2 Samuel chapter 12.

Just to give us a little refresher on the condition of David, let me remind you of his condition as far as his situation and what he was experiencing as we get started here in chapter 12. In this, that he has committed sin, he committed adultery, he committed murder, he

It seemed like he got away with it, so he didn't actually address the issues of his heart. He didn't confess his sin before God. He just tried to move on as if everything was fine and nothing happened. But the reality was that in the midst of that, David was miserable. That year, or however long it was, we think it's about a year because the child died.

That was from the adultery, was already born. And we don't know how exactly how old the child was at that point, but it was at least nine months. So, you know, from anywhere after that. So a year or so is probably pretty accurate. And David for that time,

has been absolutely miserable. Now, I'm not saying that because it directly says that here in the passage, but from experience, knowing what sin does in our lives and knowing what guilt does in our lives and seeing how David responded to this simple parable, this simple story, this simple example that Nathan gave to him. Nathan presents this simple situation and it was an injustice, but

And David's response is over the top. The rich man has abundant flocks, but he, instead of taking from his own, takes from the guy who has only one. And we could see that and we could be upset by that if we saw that kind of situation and we could understand that. But David is so aroused. It says in verse five, his anger was greatly aroused. And he says, this man shall surely die.

So he pronounces a death sentence on the one who had committed this act and taken this poor man's lamb. He shall be put to death and he shall restore fourfold for the lamb. David's response shows that he was miserable. He was sensitive because he was so miserable.

He overreacted because there was already so much internal issues and pain and weight and burden. David's response was harsh because his conscience was hurting him. I pointed out last week as we have those situations in our lives at times where we need to confront someone who is in sin that we're instructed to not be doing that with an attitude or a heart that is harsh.

And Nathan here didn't need to be harsh, even though what David did was murder, right? I mean, if you're going to confront a murderer, I think you kind of prepare for battle, right? That's kind of, hey, you know, there's going to be some serious conflict. But Nathan does it in this oh so gentle way. And yet David's response was harsh because he was hurting. I gave again the example last week, when you have a headache at work,

Something that is, you know, it normally bugs you a little bit, normally irritates you a little bit, but when you're in the midst of that, you've had a headache all day and it just hasn't gone away. And then that irritating thing happens. And then, you know, your reaction is so much more exaggerated because it's coming from a place of you're already at your end. You're already, you know, all your patience is used up. And here's David, just miserable.

Absolutely miserable. He described this for us a little bit in Psalm chapter 32. Here's what David said in Psalm 32, 3. He said,

David says, when I kept silent, that is, when I would not confess my sin, when I was not dealing with the issues that were going on, my bones grew old. Do you know what it feels like for your bones to grow old? That ache, that burden that is so heavy and it's so internal to you. And notice he says, through my groaning all day long. He was groaning all day. Again, that's why I put it this way. David was miserable all day.

He was miserable. He was not, you know, kicking back like, whoo, I got away with that one. You know, like the end of a, you know, a heist, you know, movie or something. Like, yeah, we got the money. We're just going to go and live it up. You know, David was not experiencing that. He was experiencing absolute misery because that is what sin brings. Not only was he experiencing all of that, but he had broken fellowship with God.

Here's the psalmist, right? The one who wrote so many psalms, the one who had such sweet fellowship with God, and yet his fellowship with God has been broken. In verse 9, Nathan, speaking on behalf of the Lord, says, why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? He lists out what he did. You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You've taken his wife to be your wife, and you've killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

Now, therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because notice you have despised me. Here is David not pursuing God's heart, but despising God. Sin requires us to despise the Lord.

To continue on, to persist in sin is to continue on and to persist in despising the Lord. And here is David, and he is affected by this. He's not ready to admit it yet. He's not ready to, you know, up to this point, he hasn't been ready to confess that, to address that. But he's not feeling a relationship with the Lord. He's not experiencing a walk with God. He's not experiencing, you know, that spiritual renewal. He's not experiencing that,

The things that happen internally when you're walking with the Lord, he's been distant from that. And from the outside, you know, maybe perhaps people didn't know all that David was going through, but David knew. He understood that his fellowship with God had been broken. Remember Jesus, as he was on the cross, he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? As he felt that

disconnect, as he felt the burden of our sin upon him. And he felt that, he experienced that. That's what David was experiencing. You know, sometimes people try to express this idea of like, I love God, but you know, I just don't listen to anything he says and I just do what I want to do. But listen, that is not the reality. And if that's an excuse for you in your mind, understand that

Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Because to disobey is to despise. And you disobey when you despise the Lord. And you cannot love the Lord and disobey him at the same time. There's a shift. There's a change. And that's where David is at. He has changed from pursuing God's heart to despising God.

It's broken his relationship. It's distanced him from God. And he is now in this condition where he is miserable. He's disconnected. He's not being revived. He's not being renewed. He doesn't have that fellowship. And along with that, we see in verses 10 through 12 that David deserved God's judgment. In verse 10, it says, now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me. And you've taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this son. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the son. The wages of sin is death, and there are consequences. There are judgments for sin, and

You can look at it and understand. It's one thing to experience the misery of guilt, but to experience the dread of judgment that you know is coming, judgment that is deserved. To be in that place of deserving the wrath of God, that is not a good place to be. And here's where David finds himself. He is there really deserving the execution that he pronounced on the one who stole the sheep.

He's deserving that execution. He's deserving that judgment. He's disconnected from God. He's miserable as a result of his sin. This is where we find David here in 2 Samuel chapter 12. But what's amazing is in verse 13, everything changes and the whole scene radically is flipped around. As David declares in verse 13, it says, "'David said to Nathan, "'I have sinned against the Lord.'"

And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. There is such a turnaround here in verse 13 as David has been experiencing this disconnect, this deserving of judgment, this miserableness that comes from the burden of guilt and not dealing with the sin in his life. And he's been living this way for so long and it's brought him to this dark place where

He's been resisting God. God's been reaching out to him. God's been speaking to him. God's been prompting him with the spirit. And he's had reminders after reminders and he's resisted. But now as Nathan shows up at his door and brings forth this challenge, this call, this exhortation, David, he breaks in a good way and he confesses and he declares, I have sinned. Confessed sin is sin that is forgiven.

When you confess your sin to God, there is forgiveness that comes from God. It's the beginning really of the repentance that we see in David. And so once again, he becomes, even in this dark scene in his life, a model for us, an example for us for how to pursue God's heart. Because as we find ourselves in those kinds of circumstances, we're going to find ourselves in those kinds of circumstances.

varying degrees, perhaps, I hope, you know, that you aren't a adulterous murderer. But if you are, everything in between, you know, a little white lie and adulterous murderousness, when we find ourselves in this spot, we have this great example in David of how to now come back to God, how to repent and turn to him in the way that we need to.

And so we don't see a whole lot of detail here in 2 Samuel chapter 12. And so instead, we're going to turn now to Psalm chapter 51.

which is a psalm that David wrote from this encounter of chapter 12 and gives us a lot more insight into what was happening in his heart as he had this encounter with Nathan and was coming back to right relationship with God. And so we're going to spend the rest of our time there in Psalm chapter 51 this evening where we can learn from David how to pursue God's heart towards repentance. While you're turning there, I want to read you this passage

quote from Charles Swindoll as he described a little bit of David's condition. He says, David wasn't relaxing and taking life easy, sipping lemonade on his patio during the aftermath of his adultery and murder. He says, count on it. He had sleepless nights. He could see his sin written across the ceiling of his room as he tossed and turned. He saw it written across the walls and

He saw it on the plate where he tried to choke down his meals. He saw it on the faces of his counselors. He was a miserable husband, an irritable father, a poor leader, and a songless composer. He was living a lie, but he could not escape the truth.

And I think there, Chuck Swindoll, he sums it up. He just, and we all have experienced that, I'm sure, that you just, you don't want to face it, but you can't get away from it. And this is where David has been. But everything changes when he begins the path of repentance.

He confesses, I have sinned. And here in Psalm chapter 51, we pick it up from where we left off in 2 Samuel chapter 12, and we learn from David now how to begin that journey. There's more things that we could talk about repentance than what's included here, but it's that beginning. It's the first steps of that journey to right relationship with God that we get to follow along with David. And

Again, we need to learn these things for our failures, but also I would encourage you to let these be great reminders for you as you're dealing with people around you who are miserable because of their sin to understand and have a little bit of sympathy and compassion and have some insight into what they need

in order to be able to recover from that and receive what it is that God has for them. And so we're going to walk through this. There's five points that we'll look at here in Psalm chapter 51. The first point is found in verses 1 and 2, and that is ask God for mercy. Here's what you want to do. If you need to repent, if you need to get right with God, here's where we need to start.

The request for the mercy of God. In verse 1 and 2, here's what David says. Here in Psalm chapter 51. Oh, by the way, at the beginning of the psalm, we have the introduction there, which tells us this is David's psalm.

And it was from this encounter with Nathan that this psalm came to be. This is David's expression of here's what was happening. And so he wrote it down. He put it to music so that it would be an ongoing reminder to him and to the kingdom. Here is what repentance looks like. Here's what we need to do when we have failed before the Lord. And the first thing where it starts is

is asking God for mercy. The rest of the psalm is really rooted and founded upon. This is the foundation upon which everything else is built. It's asking God for mercy. Mercy is asking God to not deliver the judgment that he deserves. We saw Nathan pronounce some of that judgment, right? It was just a little bit of the judgment that David deserved and

And here David is asking for mercy. God, hold back the judgment that I deserve. Hold back the penalties. Hold back the things that I've earned. The wages of sin is death. And Lord, I'm asking that you would be merciful, that you would not deal with me according to my sin. This is very important because as David is asking for mercy, he's not trying to excuse his sin. He's not trying to declare that he didn't sin.

Sometimes we try to escape, you know, we don't want that judgment. And so we handle that by trying to convince the Lord and others around us and ourselves, our sin isn't so bad. So we don't deserve that harsh of a judgment. But David's not trying to like sidestep that. He's not trying to pretend like it wasn't bad. He's not trying to excuse his sin. He's not trying to earn God's forgiveness. He is acknowledging that he is in desperate need of God's mercy.

And notice the merit on which he's asking for mercy. Look, God, I was really good with Saul when he chased me around the wilderness. I mean, I went for a long time and I didn't hurt Saul. I had many opportunities to hurt Saul, but you know, God, I didn't hurt Saul in the wilderness. David doesn't go back to, you know, one of the highlights. Remember Goliath, God? You know, have mercy on me. Remember, I'm the one who took out Goliath for you. You know, David is not looking at

Something that he has done in this request for mercy. But here in verse one, he says, according to your loving kindness. God, I'm asking you for mercy because you're a loving God, because you're a kind God, because you're a gentle God, because you're a merciful God. He says, according to your multitude of tender mercies.

Not according to my good works, not according to my deserving it, not according, you know, on this basis, I'm asking you for mercy. On the basis of you are a loving God who is merciful with a multitude of mercies. And on that basis, David says, blot out my transgressions. What I would ask that you would just wash those away, blot them out.

He says in verse two, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. David's not asking for a little bit of a cleansing. He's asking for a thorough washing. Lord, pull out the power washer and just scrub down. You know, I need it. He's not trying to say, he's not trying to convince God. He's not trying to excuse his sin. He's not trying to declare that he's not that bad. He is just coming to God and saying, God, you're loving and you're kind and

And so I'm going to come before you and ask for mercy. And listen, forgiveness and cleansing can only be received by God's mercy. There is no exceptions to that. Nobody experiences forgiveness and cleansing from God on the basis of their goodness, their past, their history, their promises about the future. Nobody receives the cleansing and forgiveness from God on anything related to them aside from their mercy.

coming to God with the request that he be merciful. Here's where we start with repentance. Ask God for mercy. Did David deserve for God to blot out his transgressions? Of course not. Did David deserve to be washed and cleansed that he would be able to access God as if he did not sin? Of course not. Was David's sin horrendous and like,

From our perspective, like kind of impossible to blot out. Yeah, but David here comes not on the basis of himself or his works or his deserving it. Was it okay for David to ask for God's mercy even though he didn't deserve it, even though he didn't deserve and couldn't earn and all the stuff that he's asking for is really like, dude, you're like asking for too much. Was it okay for David to ask for that kind of forgiveness?

For a cleansing of that degree for something that bad? Yeah, it was exactly where David needed to be to ask God to forgive him on the basis of his mercy. You know, there is a combination of faith that goes along with mercy. And this is really important because sometimes people are reluctant to ask God for mercy because of how bad they've been.

How bad the sin is, how serious an issue it was, you know, and sometimes there's this idea, there's this hang up in our heads, like, but you don't understand, like, I knew it was wrong. I mean, I understand, hey, you did something accidentally and oh yeah, ask God for mercy, you know, but no, I knew it was wrong. I did it deliberately. I understood what I was doing. I made a deliberate decision and there is this pride, right?

And this unbelief in our heart many times, that keeps us from asking God for mercy. I want to encourage you. Here's how you pursue God's heart towards repentance. You need to believe God enough to believe God at his word. He is able, he is willing to wash, to blot out your sin, to cleanse. And if you don't ask for it, you really don't believe God at his word.

If you don't ask for God's mercy because what you did was so bad or you have been there so long or this or that, if you don't ask God for mercy, it's because you don't believe God at his word. You don't really believe that he can forgive you. You don't really believe that he can restore. You don't really believe that God will deal with you in that way. And that is really the heart of the issue there. It's the lack of faith. You need to believe God at his word and ask for mercy according to his loving kindness.

according to his multitude of mercies. There is nothing that anyone can do that puts us outside of the reach of the mercies of God. But sometimes we don't believe that, and so we don't ask. Ask God for mercy. Moving on to verses 3 through 6, we get point number 2, and that is acknowledge your sin. So again, we don't come to God with the excuse of our sin or the reason why our sin wasn't so bad, but

With a open, blatant acknowledgement in verse 3, David says, David says,

Again, he's not trying to excuse them or explain them away. Now, think of the contrast, right? David replaced Saul on the throne of Israel. And God had announced to Saul, I'm taking the throne away from you and I'm giving it to someone who's better than you, a man who pursues God's heart. And what did Saul do when he was, well, face to face with his sin? Like,

David was with Nathan. Remember Saul and Samuel had similar encounters. And every time, it wasn't just a one-time thing, but every time Saul had that kind of encounter where he was called to give an account, where he was face-to-face with, he knew what God wanted and he didn't do it. And every single time,

Saul had reasons. He had excuses. He had explanations. He had all kinds of, you know, arguments for why what he did was not so bad and the right thing to do. And maybe he could have done better, but it wasn't as bad as he could have been. And, you know, there's all of this explanation when he's face to face with his sin, as opposed to, I acknowledge my sin.

I'm not running anymore. I'm not trying to pretend like I didn't do that. I'm not trying to pretend like my heart is not that way. I'm not trying to pretend like that's not what's in my head. I'm not trying to pretend. I acknowledge this is the issue of my heart. This is the action that I've taken. David goes on to say, against you and you only have I sinned. And as David acknowledges his sin before God, he says, God, I sinned against you.

It's a little bit strange for us sometimes when we read this because we're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. But you killed somebody, David. What do you mean you sinned only against God? You and you alone. I've sinned against you. Sometimes we can get a little bit skewed in our perspective. And I think this is here for a reason. And it's important for us to wrestle with this a bit. And I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this. But if it's a little bit of a wrestling for you, that's a good thing. Wrestle with it. Because here's the reality.

God is the most important being in the universe. David's sin, yes, affected Uriah and affected Bathsheba and affected a lot of people. He sinned against a lot of people in that way. But the real issue, the core thing, the biggest deal, he sinned against God. Nathan kind of outlines why this sin was against God in 2 Samuel chapter 12. He tells David, look,

Speaking on behalf of God, God says, I anointed you king. I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house. I gave your master's wives into your keeping. I gave you the house of Israel. I gave you the house of Judah. And if that had been too little, I would have given you much more. God says, look at all that I've done for you and in your life. And you have turned around and treated me this way. Amen.

And finally, David is acknowledging that and he's saying, wow, God, I have really done wrong against you as I look at all that you've done for me. People are hurt by our sin. And it's kind of easy for us to think about them and focus on them and focus on the people that are hurting and be kind of caught up with that and not to say that's nothing, not to minimize that to have no value, but don't forget that.

The reality is the worst part of everything that we do in regards to sin is what we do against God. That's the worst part of it. And we don't see God right here in our face. And so maybe we lose that perspective a little bit. But the sin against God, that's the worst part of the sin. Pastor Thomas Constable puts it this way. Obviously, he had sinned against Bathsheba and her husband. But David rightfully admitted that the worst thing that he had done was offending God.

You murder somebody. And the worst thing about that is what you did against God and your heart and your attitude and your mind and your relationship with God, the way that you behave. That's the worst part of that sin is your heart towards God in the midst of it. And I would suggest if you don't get that, if you're not, if that's not clicking, that's not making sense. Your sense of God's importance and his place in your life, it's, it's off.

Your compass is broken and you need to, that's why I said wrestle with it because you need your compass to point back to true north to understand. Sinning against God is the issue. That's the thing to focus on. It's not just, you know, try to go back and fix all the broken relationships and, you know, say sorry to the, you know, family of the people that you killed. And, you know, that's all part of, you know, good stuff that God will do as a part of repentance. But the real issue, the core issue is,

It's that relationship with God and that sin against God. David is acknowledging his sin and accepting God's judgment as he said that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. God is blameless in his judgment. And David here is accepting that. Lord, whatever your judgment is, whatever you decide, I'm accepting that. You're blameless. And so if you execute me, that's right. If you grant me mercy, I'll take it.

You're blameless. Your decisions are perfect. Verse 5, Here David speaks to the sin nature that he has, that we all have as a result of our being descendants of Adam.

We have inherited this sinful nature. It's often been said, I'm not a sinner because I sin. I sin because I'm a sinner. And David here is acknowledging the issue is not just my bad behavior, but that bad behavior comes from something deeper within me, the core of who I am, my nature, the nature that I have, it's sinful. And David here is acknowledging that.

I'm a wreck. I am sinful to the core from the very beginning. But there's hope. He says, you desire truth in the inward parts. Lord, you're uncovering this core issue within. You're uncovering it. The hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom. You're going to provide wisdom to

For the things that are happening within, for dealing with this sinful nature. And so David here, again, he's acknowledging his sin. He's not excusing it, not saying, well, I'm really a good person. It's just my environment, or I'm a really good person. I normally wouldn't do that. I wouldn't behave that way normally, but, you know, Bule was just looking at me funny, so I had to smack him in the face, you know. So if he wouldn't have looked at me funny, I would have been fine, you know. There's no issue. But, you know, trying to explain, no, acknowledging our sin is,

It's how we continue down that path to pursue God's heart towards repentance. He acknowledges his sin. He asks God for his judgment. It's blameless. As he asks for mercy, he's not again explaining away the issue, but accepting the reality of who he is and who God is. Moving on to verses 7 through 13, we get point number three, and that is, ask God to heal and restore.

David gets pretty bold here. Verse 7, he says, Just try to think about the boldness of David here. The boldness to have the idea that I can be clean after committing adultery.

after committing murder, after having this stuff in his heart for the past year. The gall of this guy to say, hey, I could be clean. I mean, that's pretty crazy to say, right? I mean, he's done some of the worst things that you can do. And David here wants to be clean. So clean, he describes it as being whiter than snow.

like flawless, like absolute perfection. He says, God, if you wash me, I will be whiter than snow. This is a bold request. He is coming to God with this bold request to say, God, would you wash me and my sin away in such a way that it is as if I never sinned to begin with.

David here is demonstrating that he really believes in the forgiveness of God. He really believes in the forgiveness of God. He doesn't acknowledge his sin and then say, okay, God, so I'm going to put myself in the corner. I understand you're not going to speak to me for 20 years. So that's, I deserve that. I'm going to be on timeout for the next 20 years and that's where I'm going to be. So, you know, if you find yourself merciful and you want to, you know, call me out after 10 years and I can come away from the corner, you know, well then I'll accept that. But

He doesn't put himself on timeout. You know what he asked for? He says, Lord, would you wash my sin so thoroughly that I am whiter than snow? That there's not even a hint of that sin any longer in our relationship. There's not even a hint of that sin anymore. There's not even a hint that I ever offended you in this way, that there's not even a speck of the sin that remains after you cleanse me.

This is a bold request. He goes on in verse 8, make me hear joy and gladness that the bones you have broken may rejoice. His bold request gets bolder. Lord, give me joy again. Lord, would you let just fill my home with laughter? Would you, I mean, I know I killed people. I know I, you know, committed adultery. I know I've done these horrendous things, but Lord, would you fill my life with joy? Would

Would you let me hear laughter again, gladness, mirth? Did David deserve to hear joy and gladness again? Absolutely not. But he asked for it. It's a bold request. You know why? Because he really does believe God. God declares himself to be a merciful God. God invites us to confess our sin and declares that he is faithful and just to cleanse us when we confess. We have the opportunity to be washed.

and to be justified as we come before God with this acknowledgement, with this confession of sin. But again, sometimes that lack of faith, that unbelief holds us back from this kind of boldness, from this kind of acceptance of the truth that I can be clean and whiter than snow.

In verse nine, he says, hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Again, it's that complete cleansing, that complete putting away of sin.

As it's said in Psalm 103, yeah, 103, 12, as far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our transgressions from us, that the sin has just been completely removed, never to return, never to be held against us again. But no, it's completely blotted out. And every single one, every single sin,

dark moment of David's life for the past year since the sin and the things that happened leading up to the sin and the actual actions themselves. I mean, there is darkness there. Sin to a great degree. And here David says, Lord, would you blot all that out? Would you just wash that away? Not in a cavalier way. Not in a, you know, hey, you know, I shouldn't be held accountable for anything that I do kind of idea, you know, but

Coming to God in boldness because he really believes God and who he has declared himself to be. He asks for something crazy. Lord, would you wash me? Would you heal me? Would you restore me? Check out verse 10 and 11. It's a familiar verses to us. Verse 10 says, "'Create in me a clean heart, O God, "'and renew a steadfast spirit within me. "'Do not cast me away from your presence.'"

Do you think David deserved to have the Holy Spirit removed from him? Absolutely, right? He's sinned against God. He's been living in rebellion against God. He's been living with a hardened heart. Nobody would call God unfair for removing the Holy Spirit. It would be fully justified. But David here says, Lord, would you please don't take away your Holy Spirit. Don't kick me out of your presence.

Don't cast me off. Think about the contrast. Again, King Saul, the one who went before David. As he was face to face with his sin, he consistently and continually had excuses and arguments and would not acknowledge, would not confess, would not submit to God in that way. And so it tells us in 1 Samuel chapter 16 that the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. The Holy Spirit was taken from Saul. The Holy Spirit was given to Saul.

at the beginning of his reign, at the call to be king. But because of his resistance to God, he removed the Holy Spirit. And David here, realizing where he's at, what he's done, he says, but I don't want to fall into that. I don't want to follow in the footsteps of Saul who started out well, kind of, and finished terrible. I don't want to go down that path any longer. Please don't remove me from your presence and don't remove the Holy Spirit from me.

He goes on in verse 12, Again, boldness here in David. Lord, would you restore to me the joy of your salvation? Bring back joy.

not just happiness and seeing my kids open presents, but that joy of your salvation, that joy of you working in my life, that joy of you providing for me and meeting my needs. Lord, would you uphold me, again, by your generous spirit, not on the basis of my goodness or my deserving it or my earning it, but Lord, you're generous. Lord, would you uphold me? I can't hold up myself. I've been trying.

Lord, would you uphold me? And then here, David, I mean, whoa, boldness, David, he offers to teach. Just try to picture that scenario a little bit, okay? Someone walks in tonight, just coming out of a season of adultery and murder, and they confess, and there's an acknowledgement of sin, and we're, you know, seeing these elements, and then they raise their hand and say, yeah, and I'd love to teach others. He would like, you just sit there in the corner for a

That's, you're taking it too far, right? But here's David saying, look, I will teach transgressors your ways. God, I will join in on your work. I will join in to help others to not go down that path. David is offering himself to serve the Lord. Did David deserve to serve? Did he deserve to teach others? Even if they were sinners, did he deserve to have any part of that? No, absolutely not. But here, David is really believing God at his word and trusting in the mercy of God and saying, look, God,

Would you heal me? Would you restore me and give me opportunity to be part of your work again? David here really does believe God. He has faith. Again, this is hard. This is sometimes some of the hardest things that, you know, doctrinally come from these kinds of times in our lives.

I was thinking back to, you know, the old days and you could call them the good old days, but I was thinking more of the times where I failed in those good old days and they weren't so good after all. And I remember, man, wrestling with these things and the Lord challenging me, do you really believe in grace? Yeah, you're a miserable human being. Yes, you have failed horrendously. Do you really believe in grace?

Do you really believe in justification? Do you really believe in my mercy? Do you really believe me? Enough to ask me to cleanse you wider than snow. Enough to ask me to put you back to work in the kingdom of God. Do you really believe me to that degree? It's where we need to be in order to pursue God's heart towards repentance, to really accept his mercy and grace, that it is for real.

That it's not like it's overnight and that God pretends like nothing happened and there's no consequences. We'll see that more next week as we continue on in chapter 12 of 2 Samuel. But there is that reality of cleansing, of washing, of restoration, of healing that comes because of the loving kindness and the multitude of mercies that God has towards us.

Going on to verses 14 through 17, we get point number four, and that is offer God your praise and brokenness. In verse 14, David says, David cries out, I know what it's like to feel guilty.

I can't imagine. What's it like to feel guilty of bloodshed? David knew. There are people who know. There are people who know what it's like to feel guilty over things that, you know, if we were to talk about them, we couldn't even really talk about it. We couldn't even really take the weight of the sin itself.

that people have committed and there's that guilt. And again, David was miserable for this great period of time, this season of his life. And here he says, Lord, oh man, I've had this pressure. I've had this guilt, this burden. It's been eating me away. It's been making my bones grow old. Lord, deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed. Was David guilty of bloodshed? Absolutely. Did he deserve to bear that guilt? Yes, absolutely.

Because he actually did shed blood. He deserved it. And yet he asked God, Lord, would you deliver me from it? Again, this is radical. This is bold. How can you ask God to deliver you from what you deserve? I'll tell you how. By believing in the mercy of God. By believing God at his word when he says, I'm loving and kind. I'm patient. I'm quick-witted.

to forgive. I'm anxious to pour out my love and my grace and my mercy in your life. David here has the request, deliver me and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. Interesting. David's not excusing what he did. Again, he's not trying to explain it away. He knows he can't earn it or deserve it. So all he can say is, I'll tell people, if you do this, if you deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, I'm going to tell people about you. I'm going to tell people about your goodness and

I'm going to tell people about your grace, your mercy, your forgiveness. This is the way that God works. This is the way that God has designed it. That's what he wants. Can you imagine the testimony if it was different? You know, yeah, I was guilty of bloodshed, but here's what I did, you know, and here's how I worked that out. And here's how I made up for that. Here's how I got redemption. You know, it's David here is not trying to approach it that way, but just saying, would you do this work? And I'll sing it aloud.

I will shout it from the rooftop. So Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. I will praise you. I will glorify you. I will honor you for this work in my life. David, again, he's acknowledging I can't earn it, but I can proclaim it. I can celebrate God's mercy in my life. I can celebrate God's goodness. Do you ever feel unworthy to sing a worship song?

Unworthy perhaps to come to God in prayer? Unworthy to ask God for some type of work or resolving some kind of situation? Let me just kind of clue you in on a little tiny secret. You're never worthy. You never were worthy.

We look back at, oh, you know, I was reading my Bible all the time during those days and I had all this going for me and I was serving the Lord. So of course I was asking for all those things at that time. Yeah, of course, of course. But now I'm in this situation. I'm messed up and I ran from God and I can't ask now.

And we look back and we think, I was worthy then and I'm not worthy now. But our perspective is so skewed. You were never worthy. You may have felt worthy. You may have been convinced that you were worthy, but you were never worthy. And so you can sing today because of God's mercy.

because of God's grace. You can serve today because of God's mercy and God's grace. You can ask for cleansing. You can ask for God to work. You can ask for miracles. You can seek God. You can pursue God. You can hear from God. You can know God. You can walk with God because of God's mercy, because that's how it's always been. Your perspective might have been different, but it wasn't the truth. It's always been.

about the grace and mercy of God in your life. Verse 16, for you desire, you do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, oh God, you will not despise. David says, you do not desire sacrifice. And we're reading through the Bible in three years. We've been spending time in the old covenant. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What do you mean God doesn't want sacrifice? He commands sacrifice. He commands sacrifice.

David here is recognizing that the sacrifices themselves were not the point. Later on in Hebrews, we find out the shedding of blood of, you know, animals, that can never take away sin. That wasn't the point. That was what God commanded, but that's not why God commanded it. That was a opportunity for them to draw near to God according to his instruction. It wasn't about the sacrifice. It was about the obedience.

It was about the deliberate decision to draw near to God and to ask God for forgiveness. It was an opportunity for them to ask God for mercy. It was designed for them to be able to come to God and receive the forgiveness that he had. And David here says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. That's what was involved in the animal sacrifices. At least that's what God intended.

It was an opportunity for a person to have a broken spirit, to have that acknowledgement of sin, to have that acknowledgement, I have sinned against God and I need to get right with God. A broken and a contrite heart. And he says, God, you will not despise these. You're not gonna, to despise, I despise you, God, but you will not despise me when I come to you in brokenness, in humility, in

I can't bring you my excuses. I can't bring you my reasons. I can't bring you, you know, payments to make up for what I've done. What I can bring you is my absolute brokenness and my offer to praise you for being good in my life. What God really wants is our humility for us to trust him, for us to really believe he is a merciful God. He is long-suffering.

If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, finally, verse 18 and 19, we get point number five, and that is ask God to do good. In verse 18, he says, do good in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then you shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and the whole burnt offering. They shall offer bulls on your altar.

David here is asking God to do good. He says, look, the sacrifices, I could not offer any sacrifices. And if I did, they wouldn't be pleasing to you. But Lord, would you do a new work? Would you do a renewal and a revival? Would you do good things to your people here in Jerusalem so that then the sacrifices that are offered to you are pleasing to you? Not an attempt to get away with something, not an escape from dealing with the issue, but a response to who you are and your goodness in our lives.

Here, David lays out for us in Psalm 51, the path of repentance. Again, it's not the whole thing. There's more that we could talk about with repentance, but here's where we start. And I want to encourage you this evening to think about that. And again, this is, you know, for us where maybe we've fallen and failed as bad and as hard as David, or maybe in our eyes, it's not that bad, but this is the appropriate way for us to respond to

towards those failings. We start with asking God for mercy, coming to God on the basis of who he is and his goodness towards us. We start with acknowledging our sin, not excusing it, not explaining it, not trying to minimize it, but owning it, and yet still believing God enough to ask him to heal and restore. It's a hard thing to do because I don't deserve to be healed. I don't deserve to be restored. I don't deserve to have joy again. I don't deserve anything, but ask God for it anyways.

Ask God for miracles. Ask God for great things because you trust in his mercy and his loving kindness and his goodness. You can offer to God your praise and your brokenness. That's all you have, your praise and your brokenness. And you can ask God to do good. And so Kim's going to come up and lead us in the last song. And we get an opportunity now to offer God our praise and our brokenness and just spend a few moments with him and worship, trusting him and

His grace and His mercy, His loving kindness that He has promised to us. And I would encourage you as we do this, that you would have boldness like David had to ask God for mercy and whatever else you might need, draw near to God, no matter what has been happening. As usual, we spend this time in worship. If you want to pray with someone, you need to ask for prayer, you need to offer prayer, encourage or receive encouragement, feel free to minister to one another. But let's take some time to

pursue god's heart take a few moments to ask god for mercy to ask god to work in spite of who we are and all that we've done let's worship him we pray you have been blessed by this bible teaching the power of god to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and bible study resources