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c. 1997 | Indianapolis, IN |
Dayspring A/G
Living the Broken
Life Whole
Psalm
51 was written by David after he was confronted by the Prophet Nathan
regarding having committed adultery with Bathsheba. It's a gut wrenching
acknowledgment of moral failure and plea for God's mercy and restoration.
This Psalm often is used as a text
to illustrate how horrible the consequences of serious sin can be. And it does
point that out quite well. But I believe Psalm 51 is also a model for living out
the Christian life.
Given the specific circumstances
of David's situation, it can be difficult for us to relate to the broader
application this Psalm offers. You are probably familiar with the tragic story
of how David saw Bathsheba bathing, lusted after her, and had her brought to his
chambers where they had sex. As a result, she became pregnant. In an attempt to
cover the sin, David had Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, brought home from war
hoping he would spend time with her.
When that failed, and Uriah
returned to the battlefield out of loyalty to his king, David sent orders to put
Uriah on the front lines and leave him vulnerable. Uriah was killed. David
married Bathsheba who gave birth. The child was stricken with illness and later
died. It was after this tragedy had fully played out that David wrote Psalm 51.
Let's take a look at some of the
key verses and see if we can make this Psalm more personal and relevant.
Verse one and two state, "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."
These verses echo Lamentations
3:22-23: "Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his
compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
And verses 31-32: "For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he
brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love." It is
these verses that inspired the hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
Why do we need mercy that is new
every morning? Why do we need unfailing love? Why do we need the great
compassion and faithfulness of God? Why isn't mercy or faithfulness or
compassion applied once enough?
The answer comes in verses three,
four, and five of Psalm 51: "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 that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
I believe David isn't just
referring to this specific series of sinful events, but rather he is talking
about all of his sin.
As Christians who are saved by
grace and washed by the blood and living the victorious life, it's often easy to
forget that we are, indeed, sinful. We are prone to sin. Another hymn, Come,
Thou Fount declares our condition by stating, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love." As long as we live on this earth, this is our
true nature -- sinful. In our earthly lifetime, we will never be victorious once
and for all. Permanent victory over sin only occurs after the return of Christ,
not before.
It is against the sinful nature
that we do battle daily. Yes, we will be victorious. But the victories come one
at a time and they are conditional. They are conditional on living out what we
know is true. Psalm 51:6 states, "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." Victorious living is walked out minute
by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, throughout our life. We need
to get dressed in God's armor every day. And then keep it on all day.
David was a great man of God, of
that there is no question. But he was also a mighty sinful man. What occurred
with Bathsheba and Uriah did not just "suddenly" happen. It was the result of
sin considered over time. And this was not the only record we have of David
sinning. One instance involves taking a census after being directed by God not
to. Frankly, I'm sure he sinned every day. Just as we do.
Despite the world's view that
everyone is "basically a good person," the truth is that we are all sinful from
birth and live in a world thoroughly marred by sin. Just because a person does
things that are viewed as good, that does not make him or her a good or
righteous person. A murderer may do good and spare one life and then turn and
take another. The sparing of the one life does not make the murderer a good
person. They are still sinful and lost.
Why is there disease and injustice
and poverty and so much evil in the world? Because when Adam and Eve fell in the
garden, sin warped everything. Every atom and every molecule and every DNA
strand have been warped and corrupted by sin. While nature is glorious to
behold, I do not believe the nature we see is anything compared to the perfect
nature that God created in the beginning.
Why is it important to understand
our sinfulness? Because when we forget that we are sinful, we forget that we
need God's mercies that are new every morning. We forget that we are utterly and
totally and completely dependent upon His mercies. If we didn't need them, why
would God provide them new every morning, just like he provided the manna?
When we forget this dependence we
have on God -- even for a moment -- we begin allowing our nature of sinfulness
to have a stronger influence over our lives than His grace, mercy, and unfailing
love. This is what happened to David.
When are we most vulnerable as
Christians? We are most vulnerable when we are experiencing tremendous blessing
and favor from the Lord. It is when God is pouring out richly into our lives
that we, tragically, become most prone to wonder from the God we love. This is
the character of our sinful nature!
David was blessed and he knew it.
He was powerful and he knew it. He was favored by God and man and he knew it.
And it was these things that fed his sinful nature and drew him into a crushing
and painful failure.
Look at Psalm 51:16-17: "You do
not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt
offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite
heart, O God, you will not despise."
The Holman Dictionary states,
"[Those who are brokenhearted are] People who feel their spiritual bankruptcy
and helplessness, and who long for the help and salvation of God. Such people
are in the right condition to be met and blessed by God." This is what it means
to have a broken and contrite heart.
David had written in an earlier
Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are
crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers
him from them all."
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said, "If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will
lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works."
What is it we are to deny? We are
to deny our sinful selves! That part of our nature that craves pleasure,
comfort, ease, and happiness above all else. Why did David pursue Bathsheba?
Because it felt good! Why do so many pursue alternative lifestyles today that
are in truth decadent and taking them straight to hell? Because it feels good.
Why do parents and friends and relatives of these people stand by their sides
and support their decadent lifestyles? Because all they want is for them to be
happy! And it’s easier to tell someone they’re “okay” than it is to confront
them with their sin.
How many times as Christians have
we justified our own glaringly sinful choices, or the choices of others that we
supported, by saying, "whatever makes us or them happy is all that matters1"
Is this the kind of gospel that
Jesus preached? I don't think so.
Denial of ourselves is not fun.
It's painful and hard. It means to utterly disown and abandon what "naturally"
feels good to pursue. It is something that is really counter to our true sinful
nature. Look at children, something we all were once!
As children, born into a sinful
world with a sinful nature, and lacking in wisdom and experience, we did things
that were harmful and disgusting, that were "natural" and "felt good" but that
exposed us to injury and illness. Like eating dirt or bugs or anything else we
came across. Or putting our hands down our diapers and smearing the contents all
over ourselves. Or downing an entire bottle of pills that looked and tasted like
candy. Or eating nothing but sweets if left to our own devices. Or jumping off a
roof trying to be Superman because it seemed like fun. Or running across a
street without looking just because we wanted to. Or hitting and hurting those
who got in our way or wouldn't give up the toy we wanted to play with. And on
and on. All of these actions made us happy! But they were all wrong.
You may not have done these
specific things as a child, but there were things you did do, and had to be
trained not to do. Unlearning our bad behavior was painful. And even as adults,
we are still unlearning bad behavior and learning new behavior. Or as Paul would
say, we are putting off the old and putting on the new.
Paul also wrote about this
struggle in Romans 7:14-20: "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am
unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I
want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to
do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,
but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my
sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it
out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to
do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I
who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."
To deny ourselves, our sinful
nature, is to live in a state of spiritual brokenness. It means being weak in
ourselves so we can be made strong in Him. By recognizing how utterly sinful we
are points to our total dependence on God. And as we serve God and rely on Him
and seek to experience a deeper relationship with Him, our sinful state is
healed and we can live whole, one day at a time, day after day.
In essence, we are to live a
broken life whole.
This seems a total contradiction!
But David knew the truth. He knew what he needed. He knew where he should have
been spiritually and states it clearly in verses 7-15:
"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, and sinners
will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and
my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth
will declare your praise."
All of these verses underscore
David's desperate need of God in His life in order to be or accomplish anything
of value. All David needs comes from God's hands. And the joy David speaks of
here has nothing to do with the "smile, be happy" attitude we have today.
Being a Christian isn't about
seeking to be happy all the time. It is about seeking the joy of the Lord
through obedience and denial. A joy that sustains one through unhappy times. It
means turning away from the "I wants" and turning to God saying "I will" no
matter what.
When we try to obtain happiness at
all costs it will often cost us all we have, and more. We can either choose to
be broken on a daily basis, and on a daily basis depend on God's new mercies.
Or, we can choose to pursue our own happiness and eventually become crushed by
the weight of our sinful nature compounded by our sinful behavior.
It was good to pray as David did,
"let the bones you have crushed rejoice." But it would have been better if he
could have prayed, "Thank you Lord for not having to crush my bones to turn me
from my sinful choices."
We have all sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God as Romans 3:23 states. And we know that anyone who
sins opposes God. 1 Samuel 2:10 states those who oppose God will be shattered,
or broken. And that is our state.
Living in a state of brokenness,
of contriteness, is not a bad thing. Being unhappy is not a bad thing either, if
we are experiencing the joy of the Lord in the midst of our self-denial or
trial. It is better to be broken and unhappy, than to be crushed and condemned.
These are only a few of the truths
we can learn from Psalm 51. There are many more. We don't have to have "sinned
big" like David did to understand the lessons of these verses. In one way or
another, when we are truly honest with ourselves and with our God, and we
recognize our own sinful state, we can all clearly identify with and find
comfort in David's powerful Psalm. Perhaps we would do well to make it the
prayer with which we begin each new day.
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