WEBVTT 00:00:04.460 --> 00:00:08.359 Well, joy should be a normal part of the Christian 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.880 life, even in times of difficulty, even in the 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:14.339 midst of trials, joy should be like the norm. 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:18.059 And I'm grateful this morning, I've been greeted 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:20.320 by a lot of joyful people, a lot of smiles and 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.800 a lot of stories, and I appreciate that, but 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.000 joy should be the norm. We have so much to be 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.289 grateful for as followers of Christ. We have 00:00:30.289 --> 00:00:33.090 a hope to look forward to. We have an eternal 00:00:33.090 --> 00:00:38.770 security in God. We have all these good gifts 00:00:38.770 --> 00:00:44.289 he's given us, things like cheesecake. Mmm, cheesecake. 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:48.130 But God has blessed us so much. Joy should be 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:52.490 the norm in our Christian lives. And joy is not 00:00:52.490 --> 00:00:55.729 just happiness, it's deep -rooted. Joy doesn't 00:00:55.729 --> 00:00:58.969 flutter away when things get difficult in life. 00:00:59.590 --> 00:01:02.490 Joy's roots go deep, and it endures all these 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:05.069 difficulties. But even though the Christian life 00:01:05.069 --> 00:01:08.329 is joyful, it doesn't mean we bury our head in 00:01:08.329 --> 00:01:11.370 the sands and are unaware of the pain and the 00:01:11.370 --> 00:01:15.000 difficulty and the suffering in this world. It 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.200 doesn't mean we pretend like everything's okay. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.099 It doesn't mean we pretend like we're perfect 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:25.180 and sinless. In fact, what we find today is if 00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:27.920 we don't acknowledge our sin, if we don't confess 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:30.939 our sin, eventually it will suffocate and crush 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:36.579 us. And today we're looking at Psalm 51, and 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:40.079 kind of the overarching theme is rejoicing in 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:42.719 God's forgiveness. Rejoicing in God's forgiveness. 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:44.640 And I wonder if any of you have ever been in 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:48.420 the place that David was in this psalm, where 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:52.040 you were so overwhelmed by guilt, so overwhelmed 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:56.239 by your sin, that all of the joy was just squeezed 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.980 out of your life. It was just suffocating for 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:03.939 you. And this is what sin will do. This is what 00:02:03.939 --> 00:02:07.769 guilt will do to us. It'll suffocate our joy 00:02:07.769 --> 00:02:10.009 and it'll remove us from those relationships 00:02:10.009 --> 00:02:12.990 that Pastor Jim has called us to, right? This 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:15.669 community of believers go deeper, he said last 00:02:15.669 --> 00:02:19.030 week. It'll isolate us from the people God's 00:02:19.030 --> 00:02:22.669 called us to and it'll isolate us from God. And 00:02:22.669 --> 00:02:26.009 you may find yourself today overwhelmed by guilt, 00:02:26.090 --> 00:02:29.129 by sin, and you would be in the company of a 00:02:29.129 --> 00:02:33.210 whole lot of other people. Isaiah at one point 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:37.789 standing before this holy God. He said, woe is 00:02:37.789 --> 00:02:41.250 me. I am a man of unclean lips. He recognized 00:02:41.250 --> 00:02:43.990 his sin. He was overwhelmed by his sin. Paul 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:47.949 said, I am the chief of sinners. He was burdened 00:02:47.949 --> 00:02:50.409 by his past, by his sin. At the beginning of 00:02:50.409 --> 00:02:52.389 every single service at Munster Church, we begin 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:55.550 with God's greeting, this reminder that God's 00:02:55.550 --> 00:02:59.009 grace and his mercy and his peace, we desperately 00:02:59.009 --> 00:03:04.409 need it. And he offers it freely. So joy and 00:03:04.409 --> 00:03:08.270 confession are both parts of the believer's life, 00:03:08.349 --> 00:03:10.810 natural parts, everyday parts of the believer's 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:12.990 life, joy and confession. Psalm 51, as we come 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:16.250 to this today, we are in the second book, second 00:03:16.250 --> 00:03:19.530 of five books in the Psalms, right? In this summer 00:03:19.530 --> 00:03:22.229 of Psalms. And Psalm 51 is a Psalm of David. 00:03:22.330 --> 00:03:25.750 Yes, that David, the giant slayer, the king, 00:03:26.129 --> 00:03:28.550 the musician, the one who wrote about half of 00:03:28.550 --> 00:03:32.900 the Psalms. And David is far gifted beyond what 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:35.960 many of us will ever be, but David, we also find, 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:39.599 is just as human as you and I, just as flawed 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:43.800 as you and I, just as sinful as you and I. And 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:48.099 the backdrop of this psalm, it says before verse 00:03:48.099 --> 00:03:51.539 1, it was that time when Nathan approached David 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:53.419 about a sin in his life that he was overwhelmed 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:56.120 by. And you'll remember the story in 2 Samuel 00:03:56.120 --> 00:04:01.419 11 and 12. David had seen this woman and he said, 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:04.840 I'm the king, I want her, I'll have her. And 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.120 he sent someone to get her and she became pregnant. 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:11.439 And now David's got a problem on his hands, not 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:13.939 only adultery, but now he realizes he's got to 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:16.199 cover up this sin. And so he sends for Uriah, 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:18.420 the husband, and has him come back from battle. 00:04:19.629 --> 00:04:23.029 And when that plan doesn't unfold the way he 00:04:23.029 --> 00:04:25.970 wanted to to cover up his sin, he realizes now 00:04:25.970 --> 00:04:28.269 I'm going to have to send Uriah to the front 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:31.009 lines of this battle and Uriah is killed. So 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:33.410 now we've covered on top of adultery, now we 00:04:33.410 --> 00:04:35.810 have murder. And David is just, in Psalm 51, 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:39.870 he is weighed down. He is burdened by this sin. 00:04:41.829 --> 00:04:44.290 David, I mean, he goes big, doesn't he? But he 00:04:44.290 --> 00:04:46.550 doesn't just slay giants, he sins big too, and 00:04:46.550 --> 00:04:49.449 now he's covered in this, and he's joyless, he's 00:04:49.449 --> 00:04:53.569 suffocated. And what we see in Psalm 51 is this 00:04:53.569 --> 00:04:56.750 beautiful solution to this weight that we feel, 00:04:56.850 --> 00:04:59.310 the weight of our guilt, the weight of our sin, 00:04:59.470 --> 00:05:05.569 and it's confession. Now, often, a psalmist, 00:05:05.670 --> 00:05:09.029 what they'll do is they will either blame their 00:05:09.029 --> 00:05:11.879 enemies for their problems, or they'll blame 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.259 God for the problems they face. But there are 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:17.519 a few that don't do that. There are seven, in 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:19.500 fact, that we call penitential psalms. And these 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:22.899 are the psalms where the writer says, it's on 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:28.060 me. I got myself into this mess. I am a sinner. 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:30.959 Woe is me. And we see the same thing in Psalm 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.879 38, for example. David wrote this psalm as well. 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:36.230 And this is a really... clear picture of what 00:05:36.230 --> 00:05:37.850 David was feeling at this time, the weight of 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:39.850 his sin. He says, he says, my iniquities have 00:05:39.850 --> 00:05:43.509 gone over my head, like this heavy burden, too 00:05:43.509 --> 00:05:46.850 heavy for me. He says, I groan because of the 00:05:46.850 --> 00:05:50.269 tumult in my heart. My heart throbs, my strength 00:05:50.269 --> 00:05:53.389 fails me, and the light of my eyes, it's also 00:05:53.389 --> 00:05:56.629 gone for me. You can see it on a person that's 00:05:56.629 --> 00:06:00.980 overwhelmed by guilt. All the joy is sapped out 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:02.839 of them. And David says, I confess my iniquity. 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:05.240 I'm sorry for my sin. This is a penitential psalm, 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:09.620 Psalm 38. And Psalm 51 will echo these same things. 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:13.199 David is not blaming God. He's not claiming innocence. 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:18.680 He's owning his sin here in Psalm 51. And we'll 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:23.319 see all three parts of the Heidelberg play out 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:26.100 in this psalm. Parts one, two, and three. It's 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:30.350 sin and misery. followed by God's deliverance, 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:32.970 and then a response of gratitude. That's what 00:06:32.970 --> 00:06:36.050 we're going to see in this psalm. Now, last week, 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.990 Pastor Jim challenged you all to go deeper in 00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:41.670 connection. This is the summer he said he wants 00:06:41.670 --> 00:06:44.209 to see us as a church go deeper in these connections. 00:06:44.649 --> 00:06:49.389 And one way for sure that you can squash that, 00:06:49.509 --> 00:06:52.189 one way for sure that you can make sure that 00:06:52.189 --> 00:06:57.819 never happens at Munster Church is, well... not 00:06:57.819 --> 00:06:59.980 just stealing someone's wife and having their 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:03.660 husband murdered, but deeper than that. It's 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:07.800 this suffocating sin. It's this isolation that 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.399 happens. If we do not confess our sins, Scripture 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:14.779 says, we'll be isolated in our guilt, and we'll 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:16.660 be suffocated. And so if you find yourself in 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:19.259 that place today, I hope you'll find hope in 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:21.139 Psalm 51. It's a beautiful picture of the gospel. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:23.120 This is David's confession, beginning in verse 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:28.899 1. Here's what he says. Have mercy on me, O God, 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:32.319 according to your steadfast love. According to 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.639 your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.800 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:42.759 me from my sin. For I know my transgressions 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.339 and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:49.040 only, have I sinned and done what is evil in 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.379 your sight. So that you may be justified in your 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:55.459 words and blameless in your judgment. Behold. 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:59.620 I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:03.360 my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:05.459 truth and the inward being, and you teach me 00:08:05.459 --> 00:08:09.779 wisdom in the secret heart. And we see in David's 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:12.300 confession, he understood sin. David doesn't 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:15.519 try to redefine sin. He doesn't try to minimize 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.639 sin. He calls it what it is. In fact, he uses 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:20.680 the same language that throughout the Old Testament 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:23.579 is used, these three words, transgressions, iniquity, 00:08:23.579 --> 00:08:29.939 sin. Words for rebellion and waywardness. This 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:32.820 missing the mark that God has called us to. David 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:35.679 calls it what it is. He understands. He's self 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:37.659 -aware. In fact, he's so self -aware that in 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:42.240 verse 3 he says, I know my transgressions. I 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.480 know them intimately, personally. Not like Uncle 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:48.379 Jimmy who stops in for Thanksgiving once a year. 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:50.700 I'm talking about the person I live with. I know 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:54.149 my sin that way, that intimately. He says, I'm 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:56.230 well acquainted with it because I've lived in 00:08:56.230 --> 00:08:59.809 it. I know my sin. And then verse 4, he understands 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:03.710 the seriousness of sin. He says, against you, 00:09:03.870 --> 00:09:07.590 you only have I sinned. Against this holy God. 00:09:07.649 --> 00:09:09.669 And so he goes on to say, listen, whatever your 00:09:09.669 --> 00:09:11.889 judgment is, whatever your words against me are, 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:15.009 they're justified. I brought this on myself. 00:09:16.350 --> 00:09:18.149 He understands the weight of it, and he understands 00:09:18.149 --> 00:09:20.490 how comprehensive it is. He looks and he says, 00:09:20.529 --> 00:09:23.090 behold, I'm not going to hide this. I'm not going 00:09:23.090 --> 00:09:24.929 to bury it. Behold, look at this sin of mine. 00:09:26.269 --> 00:09:28.889 Behold, I was sinful at birth, sinful at conception. 00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:32.409 This is in my heart. It's in my DNA. It's the 00:09:32.409 --> 00:09:35.769 stuff I'm made of. I've inherited this from my 00:09:35.769 --> 00:09:37.389 parents, and they inherited it from theirs, and 00:09:37.389 --> 00:09:41.190 it goes all the way back to the fall. This is 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:45.830 deep in my heart. You may have at some point 00:09:45.830 --> 00:09:48.990 gone to a self -checkout kiosk and noticed that 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:51.590 there's a mirror there at some of these. Have 00:09:51.590 --> 00:09:54.029 you ever seen that? They'll put a mirror there 00:09:54.029 --> 00:09:55.870 sometimes, and what they found is that people 00:09:55.870 --> 00:09:59.669 are less likely to go against societal norms 00:09:59.669 --> 00:10:03.549 or to break a law if they're self -aware. You 00:10:03.549 --> 00:10:05.110 put a mirror in front of them and they're less 00:10:05.110 --> 00:10:07.049 likely. Now, that doesn't fix the problem because 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:09.210 the problem isn't on the surface. The problem's 00:10:09.210 --> 00:10:13.100 in the heart. And so we still have people shoplifting. 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:14.779 Whether or not you put the biggest mirror in 00:10:14.779 --> 00:10:16.279 front of that kiosk or not, people are still 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:19.340 going to do it. It's like the people this past 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:22.500 Monday, they found themselves on Mount Etna in 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:25.200 Sicily. You may have seen this group of tourists 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.360 scurrying down a mountain. They were there to 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.879 hike and explore and enjoy this. And then you 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:34.379 see this mountain start to erupt in front of 00:10:34.379 --> 00:10:37.080 them, this volcano, and they're panicked, and 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:38.899 it's like they're in shock, and they can't believe 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:40.620 this is happening to them. And it's like, well, 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:44.360 it is a volcano, though, right? This is what 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:46.740 volcanoes eventually do. Like, we shouldn't be 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:49.080 surprised. And it's like, David's like, this 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.480 is what's in me. And eventually, one way or another, 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:55.360 it comes out, and sometimes it's really destructive 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.200 to myself and to the people around me. It's deep 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.539 in my heart. David owns that. He takes full responsibility 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:05.360 for his sin. You look back through the six verses 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.539 and look at all the me's and the my's. It's on 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:13.159 me, God. He's not trying to fake out God. You 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:17.080 can't walk into God's presence and puff up your 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:19.399 chest and stand up a little straighter and act 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.259 like you belong there in front of a holy God. 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.899 A few years back, my wife and I were through 00:11:27.899 --> 00:11:31.139 a connection. able to go to this four -star hotel 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:34.399 down in French Lick, Indiana. Beautiful place 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:38.000 called West Baden. And you walk in, and there 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:42.919 is this, it's much higher, 200 feet high. It's 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:46.379 this 180 -foot building, just grand and elegant. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:48.259 And I walk in there, I'm like, I don't belong 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:52.200 here at all. And I can't even fake it. And I 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:55.279 tried. I walked a little straighter, and I talked 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.000 a little more confidently, but I knew this... 00:11:58.299 --> 00:12:01.840 This is not my place. I don't belong here. And 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.820 David doesn't walk into God's presence. And you 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:05.940 and I, we can't walk into God's presence and 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:08.440 pretend like we belong. We can't puff up our 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.620 chest. We come to God in confession and humility 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:15.320 and say, I don't belong here. Woe is me, God. 00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:18.399 You are holy. I am not. And it's only by your 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.480 mercy that I can stand in your presence. He understands 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.059 it, and so he confesses his sin. This is part 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:28.059 one of the Heidelberg. He's sitting in this sin 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:30.700 and misery, and he understands he has to own 00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:34.320 his sin. But as much as he understood about himself 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.279 and his sin, he also understood something about 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:39.120 God, and that is that God is gracious and merciful 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:43.620 and patient, slow to anger. So he says, have 00:12:43.620 --> 00:12:46.279 mercy on me, O God. That's how he starts his 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:48.700 appeal in verse 1. He says in verse 1, blot it 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:52.779 out, my iniquities. Blot them out. Like, erase 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:56.379 them from the court records for good. It's like, 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:58.799 maybe you had a parent or grandparent that had 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.860 one of those clickety -clack old school typewriters, 00:13:02.059 --> 00:13:03.539 you know, click, click, click, click, return, 00:13:03.779 --> 00:13:06.840 click, click, click, click, return, right? And 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:08.279 they had to use this whiteout. If you made a 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:11.200 mistake, you used whiteout to correct the mistakes. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.899 Nowadays, we have autocorrect on our phones. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.519 That's another sermon for another day, how maybe 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:21.100 the Holy Spirit or God's word is kind of our 00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:24.139 autocorrect. But David says, no, no, what I need 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:27.019 because of my sin that I see in me, I need you 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:30.659 to wipe this off my record, God. And not just 00:13:30.659 --> 00:13:32.820 that, I need you to wash me thoroughly, he says 00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:37.600 in verse 2. In those days, to wash clothes was 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:39.980 to take a rod or a stick or something and you 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:42.720 would beat the dirt out of them. Or you would 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:44.740 put them in the water and you would stomp. on 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:47.539 those clothes to get them clean. He's saying, 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.659 tread on me, God. Get this filth out of my heart. 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:53.860 Get it out of my life. It's like a mama whose 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:56.559 son comes home from the baseball field, and there's 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.740 grass stains, and there's dirt stains from sliding 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.720 home, right? And we've got to get these clean, 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:03.000 and it's not just on the surface. It's deep in 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:05.100 the fibers. It's going to take something special. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.279 David says, I need inward renewal here. This 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:14.129 is deep inside me. And so in verse 7, he begins 00:14:14.129 --> 00:14:18.690 to plead and pray for this renewal. Purge me 00:14:18.690 --> 00:14:22.289 with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and 00:14:22.289 --> 00:14:25.549 I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy 00:14:25.549 --> 00:14:29.149 and gladness. Let the bones that you've broken 00:14:29.149 --> 00:14:32.789 rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot 00:14:32.789 --> 00:14:38.409 out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, 00:14:38.669 --> 00:14:43.389 O God. And renew a right spirit within me. Cast 00:14:43.389 --> 00:14:45.429 me not away from your presence and take not your 00:14:45.429 --> 00:14:48.909 Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of 00:14:48.909 --> 00:14:51.809 your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. 00:14:53.190 --> 00:14:56.429 He reiterates, he understands his miserable situation. 00:14:57.470 --> 00:15:01.110 And he says, God, I want to hear joy again. Restore 00:15:01.110 --> 00:15:03.549 this joy that I had in the beginning with you 00:15:03.549 --> 00:15:05.909 in that relationship. My bones have been broken. 00:15:05.929 --> 00:15:09.100 Like this guilt, the weight of it. It takes a 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:13.360 physical toll. He says, my spirit isn't right 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.799 either. Make my spirit right. And then he goes 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:18.740 to God and he says, I need this inward renewal. 00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:21.679 Create in me a clean heart, a right spirit within 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:26.019 me. And this heart is the center of your will. 00:15:26.059 --> 00:15:28.000 It's your desires. He says, make me the kind 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.919 of person who wants what you want, God. Make 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:34.360 me the kind of person who desires what you desire. 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:37.990 I need inward renewal. I need a heart change, 00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:43.509 not more information. It was the evangelist D 00:15:43.509 --> 00:15:45.750 .L. Moody that said, if a man is stealing nuts 00:15:45.750 --> 00:15:48.830 and bolts from a railway track, and in order 00:15:48.830 --> 00:15:51.730 to change him, you send him to college, at the 00:15:51.730 --> 00:15:53.570 end of his education, he'll come back and steal 00:15:53.570 --> 00:15:57.789 the whole railway track. We don't need more information. 00:15:58.210 --> 00:16:00.730 We have all the information we need. What we 00:16:00.730 --> 00:16:02.690 need is a heart change. What we need is transformation, 00:16:02.750 --> 00:16:05.669 and it starts. It's no different than that 12 00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:07.309 -step program. It starts with a recognition. 00:16:08.450 --> 00:16:12.809 I can't fix this on my own. I need God to step 00:16:12.809 --> 00:16:14.690 in. And that's why in verse 10, he uses that 00:16:14.690 --> 00:16:17.350 word create. It's only used in scripture of God 00:16:17.350 --> 00:16:20.730 himself. You and I can't create in the way that 00:16:20.730 --> 00:16:23.389 God creates. And David calls him, create in me 00:16:23.389 --> 00:16:25.750 a new heart in the way that only you can do. 00:16:27.129 --> 00:16:30.029 And as this psalm progresses, you actually see 00:16:30.029 --> 00:16:34.320 this unfolding, this transformation. unfolding 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.860 in David. He's anticipating change in his life. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.559 You'll see all the me's and the my's, if you 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:42.539 keep reading forward, transition to you and your. 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.220 And he starts to look outside himself because 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:49.879 you see sin, it turns us inward on ourself. But 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:53.720 joy turns us outward. Joy makes it so we can 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.580 see God and we can see others and their needs. 00:16:56.700 --> 00:16:59.000 Sin keeps us focused on ourselves. And in the 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.340 beginning, he's all about me and my. And by the 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:05.210 end, he's beginning to change. And what he wants 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:08.589 is not just a quick clean up. What he wants is 00:17:08.589 --> 00:17:11.710 not just a clean slate for the day so he can 00:17:11.710 --> 00:17:14.130 go out and do it again tomorrow. What he wants 00:17:14.130 --> 00:17:17.950 is really God himself. In verse 11 he says, cast 00:17:17.950 --> 00:17:21.190 me not away from your presence. Don't take your 00:17:21.190 --> 00:17:24.869 Holy Spirit from me. He desires God himself. 00:17:24.869 --> 00:17:29.539 God, I want you. not just a quick fix. I want 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:32.559 you, God. And so he sees this need for renewal. 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:35.619 This is the deliverance part, part two of the 00:17:35.619 --> 00:17:40.519 Heidelberg Catechism, deliverance. And so today, 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:43.359 if you find yourself in this place of this joyless 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.460 life, know that you don't have to stay there. 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.670 If you're feeling suffocated, and crushed by 00:17:51.670 --> 00:17:53.490 the weight of guilt or sin in your life, you 00:17:53.490 --> 00:17:56.190 don't have to sit in that anymore. God calls 00:17:56.190 --> 00:17:59.650 you out of that. He actually, it says he delights 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:02.990 in forgiveness. He delights in mercy. Like he 00:18:02.990 --> 00:18:05.230 is eager and waiting to forgive you. If only 00:18:05.230 --> 00:18:09.490 you'll confess. And maybe you say today, Brian, 00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:14.450 I'm not the problem. The reason I feel heavy 00:18:14.450 --> 00:18:18.509 today, the reason I feel burdened today is it's 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:25.500 them. If you knew what she said to me, if you 00:18:25.500 --> 00:18:31.259 only knew, Brian, what he did to me, and listen, 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:37.039 I'm not minimizing pain in this room, but let's 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:41.480 be certain that what's crushing us isn't their 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:45.819 actions, isn't their words. What's crushing us 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:48.039 is this self -righteous response, I would never. 00:18:49.030 --> 00:18:51.190 Say, I would never do that. I'm not even capable. 00:18:51.230 --> 00:18:54.289 God, thank you that I'm not like them. Thank 00:18:54.289 --> 00:18:57.589 you that I'm more righteous than them. There 00:18:57.589 --> 00:19:00.210 are superior sins, if you want to call it that. 00:19:00.269 --> 00:19:04.190 We think superior sins of self -righteousness, 00:19:04.230 --> 00:19:06.809 of keeping records of other people's wrongs, 00:19:06.809 --> 00:19:10.309 of unforgiveness that might be crushing some 00:19:10.309 --> 00:19:11.950 of us in this room. The weight you feel, the 00:19:11.950 --> 00:19:15.990 guilt you feel, the heaviness you feel. Let's 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:20.019 be certain that You're not having the joy sucked 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:23.019 out of your life because of self -righteousness 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:25.400 or because of keeping records. It's time to let 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.740 that stuff go because hiding in your sins only 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:31.579 leads to misery. It's confession that leads to 00:19:31.579 --> 00:19:33.359 joy, and that's what David shows us. In verses 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:39.059 13 through 15, he continues, then I will, then, 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:42.680 then, after you've restored, after you've renewed, 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:46.720 after you've changed my heart, then I will teach 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.589 your trans... teach transgressors your ways and 00:19:49.589 --> 00:19:52.650 sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood 00:19:52.650 --> 00:19:55.390 guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and 00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:58.569 my tongue will sing aloud your righteousness. 00:19:59.269 --> 00:20:01.789 O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare 00:20:01.789 --> 00:20:04.470 your praise. It's like once he's confessed, all 00:20:04.470 --> 00:20:07.150 of a sudden this dam in his heart bursts open, 00:20:07.349 --> 00:20:10.690 right? And now he's able to begin looking outward. 00:20:11.450 --> 00:20:14.089 and speaking outward, and he begins to praise 00:20:14.089 --> 00:20:16.589 God. He begins to speak truth to other people. 00:20:16.710 --> 00:20:18.650 He begins to see needs around. All of a sudden, 00:20:18.650 --> 00:20:22.190 his energy is turned from himself to the people 00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:25.990 around him and to the God above him. And this 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:27.569 is nothing new. This is what we saw in Isaiah. 00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:30.230 Remember Isaiah, who the angel came and touched 00:20:30.230 --> 00:20:33.369 his lips with the coal. And Isaiah's response 00:20:33.369 --> 00:20:37.009 then after that was, here I am, send me. I'm 00:20:37.009 --> 00:20:40.500 ready, God. After his confession, it was Peter. 00:20:40.660 --> 00:20:43.940 Remember, he had denied Christ three times. And 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:46.339 after his confession in Acts chapter 2, if you 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:48.900 read that sermon, it's a powerful sermon. Thousands 00:20:48.900 --> 00:20:51.819 of people came to the Lord. This is the turning 00:20:51.819 --> 00:20:53.660 point. All of a sudden, this dam burst, and we 00:20:53.660 --> 00:20:56.140 open our mouth, and David says, I teach sinners, 00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:59.140 and they return to you. My tongue sings. I declare 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:03.240 your praise. Verse 15. And God has put this joy 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:06.119 back in David's heart. And I imagine you could 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:10.059 see like the light restored in his eyes. And 00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:13.079 he walked a little lighter. And he talked a little 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:15.059 lighter. And all of a sudden this burden was 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:17.859 lifted. It's a return to joy. This is part three 00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:21.640 of the Heidelberg. It's this expression of gratitude 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:25.839 and response to God's deliverance. And the cool 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.240 thing is it's not just about our joy. What we 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.160 see in this psalm is God delights in all of this 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.779 as well. Our joyful response brings God joy too. 00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:40.160 Look at verse 16. For you will not delight in 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.079 sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be 00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:46.319 pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:50.519 of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:53.339 heart, O God, you will not despise. This is the 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:56.500 stuff that brings you joy. A broken and contrite 00:21:56.500 --> 00:22:00.170 and repentant heart. Verse 18, he's turning outward. 00:22:00.250 --> 00:22:02.289 He says, do good to Zion in your good pleasure. 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:04.990 Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you'll 00:22:04.990 --> 00:22:08.109 delight in right sacrifices and burnt offerings 00:22:08.109 --> 00:22:10.549 and whole burnt offerings. Then bowls will be 00:22:10.549 --> 00:22:12.509 offered on your altar. In other words, worship 00:22:12.509 --> 00:22:15.390 will be restored. And you'll delight in it again, 00:22:15.450 --> 00:22:17.509 but not because it's these outward rituals, not 00:22:17.509 --> 00:22:20.269 because we prayed this familiar prayer or sang 00:22:20.269 --> 00:22:24.230 this song that we didn't mean, but that something 00:22:24.230 --> 00:22:27.809 changed inside us. And now you delight in what 00:22:27.809 --> 00:22:30.630 you see because you delight in genuine repentance. 00:22:31.829 --> 00:22:34.950 And moms and dads, you know this. You go to two 00:22:34.950 --> 00:22:38.690 kids that have been fighting and you say you're 00:22:38.690 --> 00:22:44.190 sorry. And they're like, sorry. Right? We see 00:22:44.190 --> 00:22:47.450 through that. God sees through that. It's like 00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:53.079 the gal who went to Chipotle and she... bought 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:55.339 her lunch, and then she threw it in the face 00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:58.900 of the person who served her. And she's like, 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:01.660 I'm so sorry, I have this compulsive disorder. 00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:07.119 Can I have another meal? And okay, that's, by 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:09.059 grace, she makes this other meal and gives it 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:10.539 to her, and then she throws it in her face again, 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:14.339 the waitress. Come on now. I'm so sorry I have 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:17.500 this disorder. I will go. I will get it fixed. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.200 I'll go to this 30 -day clinic and I'm going 00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:22.480 to check myself in and I'm going to deal with 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.140 this once for all. And she does it. She spends 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:25.920 30 days in this place and they educate her and 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:28.200 they train her and she knows all these coping 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:31.180 mechanisms now and she's ready to go again. She 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:33.740 goes back to Chipotle. She gets her order and 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:35.779 the lady's like, now wait a minute before I hand 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:39.000 this to you. You said you were changed, right? 00:23:39.380 --> 00:23:41.940 Oh yeah, I'm changed. I'm cured. I'm all better. 00:23:42.609 --> 00:23:45.490 hands it to her, right back on her face again. 00:23:46.009 --> 00:23:52.029 I thought you were cured. Oh, I am cured. I still 00:23:52.029 --> 00:23:53.609 have the compulsions, but I don't feel guilty 00:23:53.609 --> 00:24:02.690 at all anymore. That ain't heart change. It's 00:24:02.690 --> 00:24:08.490 not this self -satisfied contentment. It's not 00:24:08.490 --> 00:24:11.410 this self -loathing on the other end. Tim Keller 00:24:11.410 --> 00:24:13.730 says, here's what a broken heart is. Here's what 00:24:13.730 --> 00:24:15.710 a contrite heart is. It's a heart that knows 00:24:15.710 --> 00:24:19.289 how little it deserves and how much it has received. 00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:23.990 That's a broken and contrite heart. And if this 00:24:23.990 --> 00:24:26.089 all sounds familiar, in Hosea 6 .6, it says, 00:24:26.150 --> 00:24:29.089 God said, I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice. 00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:31.569 It's what's in your heart. It's real change. 00:24:32.190 --> 00:24:35.329 I desire knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.140 And Samuel said to Saul, obedience is better 00:24:40.140 --> 00:24:44.980 than sacrifice. And so you see, God is delighted 00:24:44.980 --> 00:24:48.960 in genuine confession, in genuine repentance. 00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:53.039 He's delighted by this joy -filled community 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.140 that results from that. This is what brings him 00:24:56.140 --> 00:25:00.710 joy. And in verse 18, we see, like, this is what 00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:02.930 it produces. Confession produces this joy -filled 00:25:02.930 --> 00:25:04.890 community. All of a sudden, as we start to look 00:25:04.890 --> 00:25:07.049 out to one another, we're not so consumed with 00:25:07.049 --> 00:25:10.910 ourself anymore. And David begins to pray for 00:25:10.910 --> 00:25:14.529 his people, to pray for God's people. This joy 00:25:14.529 --> 00:25:16.769 that turns outward, it turns our me's and my's 00:25:16.769 --> 00:25:23.910 into you's and yours. It's confession. It's gratitude. 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:27.839 It's joy. This is the joyful life that we're 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.700 called to. If only we'll start with confession. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.900 So here's the challenge for this week. Number 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:39.339 one, don't wait. Today, if you have something 00:25:39.339 --> 00:25:41.180 you need to confess, this ought to be a normal 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:43.019 part of our lives, that we are eager and ready 00:25:43.019 --> 00:25:45.740 to confess, God, I have sinned, I have failed, 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:49.039 I have fallen short again, and I'm so grateful 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:52.279 that, God, you are willing and ready to forgive. 00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:56.259 So number one, confess. And then that ought to 00:25:56.259 --> 00:25:59.859 bring you some joy to know that God is eager 00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:03.299 and ready to forgive. And here's the challenge 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:05.859 this week. You've been challenged to go deeper 00:26:05.859 --> 00:26:07.460 in community. You've been challenged to invite 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:10.900 people into your homes. As you do that, share 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:14.720 with one person this week God's joy that he's 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:17.839 given you. And it could be as a result of forgiveness. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.019 It could just be a result of his goodness and 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:21.660 faithfulness in your life. But share with one 00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:25.440 person this week the joy that you have. in in 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:31.079 christ so listen there there is no ritual that 00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:34.299 can replace a repentant heart first john 1 9 00:26:34.299 --> 00:26:37.079 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:39.960 just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:42.759 he is eager and ready to forgive today and for 00:26:42.759 --> 00:26:45.319 david what we see is it happened in a moment 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:47.880 happened in a moment in fact it happened in a 00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:52.539 verse in second samuel chapter 12 David is standing 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:55.440 before Nathan, and Nathan has told him this whole 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:59.000 story about a man who stole a lamb from a poor 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:02.319 man. And David couldn't believe that this rich 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:04.200 man stole a poor man's lamb. And he says, that 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:08.660 man must die. And Nathan says, David, that's 00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:14.740 you. You are that man. You're looking at everyone 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.819 else's sin. He says, this is you. And David's 00:27:17.819 --> 00:27:20.119 response in verse 13, this happens in a verse, 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:22.619 in a moment. David said to Nathan, I have sinned 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:26.099 against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the 00:27:26.099 --> 00:27:31.079 Lord has put away your sin. You see that it happens 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:35.180 in a moment. From this miserable state, from 00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:37.400 this crushing, suffocating place, you don't have 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.140 to sit there anymore. It can happen in a moment, 00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:43.019 forgiveness. If only you'll confess, if only 00:27:43.019 --> 00:27:45.420 you'll own it as David did. And so today, all 00:27:45.420 --> 00:27:47.839 we need to be aware of is number one, how lost 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:54.299 we are. And number two, how loved we are. Because 00:27:54.299 --> 00:27:57.220 this God wants nothing more. He delights in nothing 00:27:57.220 --> 00:28:01.740 more than enjoying you and seeing you enjoy him 00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:03.140 and his glory.