Psalm 51, we're going to read the first four
verses. Be gracious to me, O God, according to
your lovingkindness. According to the greatness
of your compassion, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse
me from my sin. For I know my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you
only, I have sinned and done what is evil in
your sight so that you are justified when you
speak and blameless when you judge. As we continue
with our exposition of Psalm 51, we're going
to spend our time focusing on verse 4 today.
Against you, you only, I have sinned and done
what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified
when you speak and blameless when you judge.
As we come to this verse and we come to consider
it, We have to understand that as believers,
as those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, our
sin still has effects upon how we relate to God
in our fellowship and our communion with Him.
It's important for us to understand that which...
pulls us away from Christ. It's important for
us to understand the enemy within us, that which
causes our hearts to be wayward. It's important
for us to understand how it impacts, how it influences,
and how it affects our relation to the Lord in
fellowship and communion. with him as a holy
and a righteous God. So as we come to look at
verse 4, we have to examine four things. The
first of which is sin is against God. It is against
God. David says, against you. You only I have
sinned. When we consider David's sin, his iniquity,
his transgression, oftentimes we think of the
people that were intimately connected with that
sin and that transgression, that iniquity, such
as Bathsheba, or Uriah, or David's child, or
The nation that David was king over. When we
consider David's transgression, our mind goes
horizontal. Among the world of men. When we think
of sin, oftentimes we think of other men. It's
effect upon them. It's relation to them. But
David here says against you. You only. I have
sinned. David recognizes the Godwardness of his
transgression. He recognizes that his sin and
its ultimate offense, that sin and its ultimate
nature is always transgression of God and his
person. God in his law that ultimately all our
iniquity, all our wickedness, ultimately all
our sin is against the lawgiver, against God
himself. So David says against you and you only,
I have sinned. Now how is it that our sin is
against God? It's against his person and his
character. When we consider the Lord throughout
Scripture, we consider him as creator, we consider
him as redeemer and savior. We have to recognize
that he is holy. That God is perfectly righteous.
That he is perfectly faithful. And that we have
been made in his image. We have been made as
those who image, who reflect him in this world.
Therefore, when his creatures who are made in
his image act in a way that is inconsistent with
his person, his character, and his being, we
image him. Incorrectly. We reflect his character
and his glory in a way that perverts who he is.
We act and we work in such a way that we mar
his perfect person. His perfect character. Sin
is always against God himself. He is always the
object of our transgression. When we're unfaithful,
when we're unholy, when we're impure, we're saying
that God is impure. We're saying that God is
unholy. When we're unrighteous and unfaithful,
we're telling the world that God who made us
in His image is unfaithful and unrighteous. It's
always against... His person. It's always against
his character. It's in opposition to who he is.
Sin is against his law. It's against the express
and manifest will that he has made known in the
moral law of God. 1 John 3 .4 says everyone who
practices sin. Also practices lawlessness. And
sin is lawlessness. Sin. The lack of conformity
to his law. Or the positive transgression of
his law. Or lacking or withholding that which
is obligated and due to God or our fellow men.
as given in his law. The law is an expression
of his holy and his righteous and his perfect
nature. He's given it to us externally in his
word, and he's given it to us internally within
our hearts. And as believers, we've had the law
written afresh on our hearts as members of the
new covenant. So when we sin, it's always a transgression
of his law. It's a refusal, it's a denial of
his authority and his commands in our life. So
it's against that which he has told us to do
or he's required us to perform in the moral law
of God. It's against him. It's against his law
that is in the word and that is in our hearts
as nature. As natural beings and having it in
our hearts naturally. As those born with it.
It's against his word. It's against his will.
David knew the law of God. And we read in 2 Samuel.
That when Nathan comes to him. Nathan says to
him. You are the man. Thus says the Lord God
of Israel, it is I who anointed you as king over
Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the
hand of Saul. I also gave you your master's house
and your master's wives into your care, and I
gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if
that had not been too little, I would have added
these to you many more things like these. And
here it is. Why have you despised the word? Of
the Lord. David. As it were. Spat. On. The word
of God. When he. Willingly chose. To remain.
In his sin. He did not want. God's will. For
his life. In that moment. And throughout that
time. What did David want in his life? He wanted
his will. He did not want the purposes of God.
He wanted his own purposes. He did not want to
please the Lord. He wanted to please himself.
Sin is against God in his express and manifest
perceptive will that he's made known in his holy
word and his prophetic word. So when you willingly
sin, brothers and sisters, you are casting off
God's purposes and God's will for your life,
and you are exalting your own will and your own
purposes in your own life. That's what sin does.
It sets us in opposition and against God himself,
his word, his law, his will in our lives. It's
against the blood of Jesus Christ. As those who
know the Lord Jesus Christ, as those who are
justified as David was justified, when we sin,
we sin against the blessed blood of the Lord
Jesus. For if we go on sinning willfully after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, There no
longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying
expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire
which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who
sets aside the law of Moses dies without mercy
on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How
much more severe punishment do you think he will
deserve? who has trampled underfoot the Son of
God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of
the covenant by which he was sanctified and has
insulted the spirit of grace. It's a serious
thing, brothers and sisters, to go on in our
sin willfully. Because when the saint continues
in sin, they're not sinning against God who is
judge. You're sinning against grace. You're sinning
against Christ. You're sinning against the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ who spilt it that you
might be atoned for, your sins might be atoned
for, and that you might be purified and cleansed.
It's a serious thing. To sin against the living
God who has sent Christ into the world to shed
his blood on behalf of sinners for their sin.
Sin is always against God himself. Sin is always
against his law. It is always against his word
and his will. And it is always against the blood
of Jesus Christ. This is why sin is evil. In
God's sight. David says. That he has done. What
is evil. In your sight. He doesn't say it's bad.
He says it's evil. Evil. Moral evil. Is that
which. God hates. That which God despises. It
is that which God does not delight in. And it's
because it is against him. And when a person
sins willfully, they are putting themselves in
a place where it's not just them against God,
it's God against them. You're putting yourself
in a place where not only do you oppose God,
but God himself opposes you in your willful sin.
Sin is evil in his sight. And it's because it
is in opposition to these things. Because it's
that which he hates. It's participation. It's
acting, thinking, doing, having dispositions
that are in things which he hates, which he does
not delight in. Sin is evil when it is acted
upon, when it is participated in, when the thoughts
dwell on it. When it's the disposition of the
heart, when it's natural corruption because we're
born with a sin nature. And when a person comes
to know the Lord Jesus Christ, when a person
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and they come
into union with Christ by faith and repentance,
that sin does not cease being evil. That sin.
does not stop in how wicked it is. I think we
have a hard time understanding that, brothers
and sisters. We think, well, I'm a Christian.
My sin's dealt with. God doesn't see my sin that
way anymore. It's not evil to God anymore. It's
just little mess -ups. When a person believes
on Jesus Christ, their sin, which they participate
in, they act upon, they think upon, they speak
and they talk about, it is still evil in the
sight of God, brothers and sisters. It is still
wicked and there are still ramifications with
regards to your fellowship and your communion
with God. Consider that for a moment. This is
why David needs to be restored. This is why David
needs to confess his sins to God. This is why
David needs to repent of his sins because he
has done as a saint, as a justified man, that
which is evil in the very sight of God. When
was the last time you considered the fact that
you commit evil in God's sight? When was the
last time you considered the reality that you
have thought evil things and they have transgressed
God's holiness? When was the last time that you
considered that you have evil that dwells within
you? Brothers and sisters, sin is serious. And
when a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ,
the nature... does not change within them. The
nature of their external transgressions, the
nature of their original corruption does not
change. Sin's nature does not change when you
become a believer. It continues. And it remains.
It's serious. So that means we need to take sin
seriously in our lives, doesn't it? If God takes
it seriously, we need to take it seriously. And
that means we must always consider our sin with
regards to its relation to God himself. We must
think of our sin in relation to God primarily
and ultimately. not before men. When you consider
your actions, your deeds, and your words, are
you considering how it relates to God? Are you
considering how your thoughts Your actions, your
dispositions, your longings, your desires, your
sin, your transgression, your iniquity. And are
you considering how that relates to the Lord
of glory and the Savior who died on the cross
for those very sins? Brothers and sisters, the
most grievous, most injurious sin can be committed
in this world. Against another man. Another person.
And ultimately. That sin. Is against God. John
Piper said. That sin. Is uniquely. A vertical
phenomenon. And it's very true. We offend our
brothers, and the Bible uses the language of
sinning against our brothers and sisters, and
there's no doubt we can. But that is only a manifestation
and an expression of transgression and iniquity
and sin against God himself. So we must consider
our sin's relation to God. And we must take it
seriously. We must look at it seriously. We must
pray about it seriously. We must talk to God
about it seriously because it's a serious thing.
Sin is against God. We also see, secondly, that
sin is seen by God. The text says, against you,
you only I've sinned. and done what is evil in
your sight. When we consider David's transgression,
David wasn't alone in his iniquity, was he? David
thought he could cover it up. He thought he could
conceal it. He thought... He could hide it from
view. But the Lord had perfect knowledge of his
iniquity. The Lord had perfect understanding
and knowledge of his heart motives in the incident.
The Lord knew the details. The intricacies. The
root problems. The Lord knew all the outward
transgressions and all the acts. He knew all
of David's sin. And the text says that David
committed this sin and it's as though he did
it right in front of the face of God. All the
while thinking he could conceal it and he could
hide it and he could cover it up. God sees all
sin. He knows all the intimate details of every
sin, of every sinner. Genesis chapter 6, verse
5 says, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness
of man was great on the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. Isaiah. Chapter 65, verse 3
reads, A people who continually provoke me to
my face. Sin is known and seen by God. It cannot
be hidden, removed, or covered up. That means
that the sin of all men, Is seen by God. Everybody
in this room. Your sin and your sinfulness. Is
exposed to the sight of a holy God. But that
also means. That every other person in Illinois.
Every other person in a seat of power. Every
other person in a seat of authority. Every other
person who serves in office. Every other person.
In this county, their sin is seen by God. Brothers
and sisters, it doesn't matter if you're white
-collar or if you're blue -collar. It doesn't
matter if you're in a combine or in church. It
doesn't matter if you're driving to Olney or
if you're coming back from Olney. It doesn't
matter if you're driving to Evansville or you're
coming back to Evansville. Your sin is seen by
the living God. All men sin is in clear view
of the Lord. But that also means that every type
of sin is seen by God. It's not just that all
men are seen, all men's sins are known, but it's
that every type of iniquity, every type of wickedness
is known and seen by God himself. The big ones
and the little ones. The horrendous ones, the
gruesome ones, and the seemingly acceptable ones.
The self -righteous ones and the unrighteous
ones. They're all known, they're all seen by
God every time. Every... Manifestation of sin,
whether it be a disposition of our heart, our
attitude, whether it be our thoughts and our
thought life, whether it be our words or our
motives, whether it be our actions and our behavior,
all of it is known to God. It doesn't matter
if we meant to do it or we didn't mean to do
it. Whether we're conscious of it or we're unconscious
of it, our sin is seen by God. He has an omniscient
knowledge of every iniquity in our lives, including
the saint's sin. Including that of the Christian.
Consider that. The Lord knows all of your sin.
The Lord is well aware of the motives of your
heart. The Lord is well aware of your thoughts
and your mind. He witnesses everything. He sees
it all. He takes into account everything. This
leads us to the third thing. Not only is sin
against God, not only is sin seen by God, but
sin is judged by God. We read in the second half
of verse 4, So that you are justified when you
speak, and blameless when you judge. What is
David talking about there? He's talking about
the reality that sin is against God and that
God is witness of all sin. That the Lord needs
no corroboration with regards to the wickedness
of people. That he knows perfectly well the fault
and the responsibility for sins. In such a way,
That he is perfectly justified and he is perfectly
blameless when he brings justice. When he judges,
when he condemns. His perfect judgment is seen
in the reality that David himself confesses it.
David says, you are blameless in your judgment
upon me. You are righteous. David knows that
there's no room for him to blame God for a false
or to blame him or an unjustified accusation
against him. He knows that God is perfectly in
the right and that God is perfectly clear with
regards to his accusations, his judgment, his
discipline, and his condemnation he has experienced
in his soul and on his conscience. This perfect
judgment teaches us that everything God condemns,
he is just and blameless in condemning. That
means that everything God requires, he expects
and he demands, he's blameless and he's just.
In requiring and demanding. Every commandment.
That is given in the law of God. And in the word
of God. And by our Lord Jesus Christ. Is blameless
and just. But it also means. That all those he
judges. Are justly judged. That all of those.
who are judged on the great day of power when
the Lord Jesus Christ returns, they will be judged
with a blamelessness in the judgment. Meaning
there's no room for accusation. He's witnessed
it. He's seen it. He knows the transgression
and the iniquity. And it's the sinner that is
judged. We get this idea, and there's been this
idea in evangelicalism, in Christianity for many
years, that you can somehow condemn and judge
sin apart from the sinner. That is completely
and absolutely foreign to the Bible. You cannot
separate sin from the one who has committed the
act. David is being condemned in his conscience.
David. It's filling the weight and the burden
of this judgment in the disciplinary hand of
God. It's not some mystical concept that's separated
from David. But it's something he's done. It's
something he's acted upon. It's something he
has carried out. It's something that has flowed
from the very epicenter of who he is. From the
very core of his being. It also means that the
Lord is just and he's blameless. In all the discipline
he brings upon his children. There's no way for
the child of God to say, remove your hand, Lord.
This is unjust. You're not blameless in this.
He knows our hearts, brothers and sisters. He
knows the iniquity. He knows the sin. We find
that discipline comes perfectly, blamelessly,
in a justified manner to the people of God, to
the child of God, from the hand of God. This
leads us lastly to the reality that sin is forgiven
by God. God, out of his mercy and out of his
compassion, has in fact made a way for himself
to forgive sin. And it's in the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever
considered the reality, and this is one of the
most amazing things about Psalm 51. Here we have
David, who's committed this heinous, evil, wicked
act. Yet, we find David being restored, brothers
and sisters. We find David being renewed. We
find David finding the forgiveness of sins again.
The reality that David's sins are not held against
him, that he remains a justified man with imputed
righteousness from Jesus Christ, is incredible.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered, says David in Psalm 32.
How blessed is the man whom the Lord does not
impute iniquity. The Lord has made a way for
his people to be forgiven of their sins. He overlooked
David's sins that he might demonstrate. The righteousness
of Christ Jesus in propitiating the wrath of
God. That's how David can come to the throne.
This is how David can be restored. This is how
David is to be renewed because Christ's sacrifice
was sufficient and adequate for him. For all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Being justified as a gift by his grace through
the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom
God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his
blood through faith. This was to demonstrate
his righteousness. Because in the forbearance
of God, he passed over the sins previously committed.
For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness
at the present time. So that he would be just
and the justifier of the one who has faith in
Jesus Christ. David could come to the throne.
Because. He was resting in a righteousness that
was not his own. He could be forgiven of the
evil he's committed in the sight of God. Why?
Because his standing before that holy and that
righteous God was outside of himself. It was
found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God continues.
to forgive the sins of his people when they continue
to commit evil acts in his sight. But it's only
in the Lord Jesus Christ that sins are forgiven.
So in the midst of God's omniscient knowledge
and understanding of all iniquity, all sin, and
all transgression, and the reality that he judges
perfectly, God has made a way for the forgiveness
of sins, but it's only in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He does not overlook or blot out
sins unless a person is in Christ by faith and
repentance. That's the only place that you can
find safety, that you can find shelter from the
wrath of God. In the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He always continues and he always does
and he always continues and he does forgive the
sins of his people. He always will. We consider
the reality that God knows all of your sin. Brothers
and sisters, you do commit evil acts in the sight
of God and he knows it. Yet, his love remains
on your life. Do you understand that? He knows
who you are. He knows what your heart is like.
He knows your thoughts, yet his grace remains,
his love remains on your life because of the
person and the work of Jesus Christ. There is
and there always will be forgiveness available
for the believer because you're resting in the
finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. His
love is not based on the evil acts you commit
in this life. His love is not based on whether
or not you confess your sins or you don't confess
your sins. His love is based on the fact that
Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived a perfect
life, keeping the law on behalf of the elect.
And at the end of his life, he went to the cross
and he suffered the punishment that was due to
them. His love is based on the reality that he
rose. from the dead on the third day and the
father was pleased with his sacrifice. His love
is based purely and singularly on the loveliness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His love is based purely
and singularly on his person, not your person.
This means That when he does discipline us, brothers
and sisters, that when he does discipline us
in our lives and he does discipline our souls
and he opposes us, it's always from the loving
hand of a father and never from the wrathful
hand of a judge. All discipline from the Lord
is loving discipline. Discipline which God ordained
for his people. Whether it be the discipline
required of parents with their children. Whether
it be the discipline that Christ has given to
the church for its members. Or whether it be
the discipline of the father to his children.
It is discipline of love. It's discipline for
the good of God. His people. It's for the good.
Of his children. It's meant. And it's always
meant. To restore. It's meant. To revive. To
bring them back. To return. To show them their
sin. And to show them the loveliness. Of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is forgiven by God in
Christ. And we can trust and have hope and confidence
that his discipline in our lives meant to bring
us to restoration is done with blamelessness
and justification. That it's done with... The
reason that we need. For the reason that we need
it. He does it ultimately for the good of his
people. That means, brothers and sisters, that
as a believer, yes, you commit evil deeds, you
commit evil acts, you have evil thoughts, but
God uses those very things for the good of the
Christian. They don't work for your condemnation.
They don't work for your judgment. They don't
work towards your punishment. They work for your
good because God is disciplining you for your
good in those things. Our sin is against God.
It's seen by God. It's judged by God. And it
must be forgiven by God. Let me offer you several
applications. this text. You have to do with
God. Meaning, you have to live unto the Lord.
Our lives are meant to be lives that are lived
unto our Maker and our Savior. Unto our Lord,
unto our King. We do not first and foremost,
brothers and sisters, live unto men. We can't.
If we live unto men, it will lead to displeasing
our Father. But if we live unto the glory of
His name, if we live unto the Lord with reference
to Him, before him and his sight for his smile,
for his pleasure, then we will relate to men
as we ought to. We will deal with men as we have
dealt with God, but we must deal with him first.
David knew he had to do with God. And this is
why he recognized that his sin was against God.
The same is true of us. We also need to understand
that you can only understand sin when it's viewed
in relation to God. Let me put it negatively.
You cannot understand sin unless it's with reference
to God. This helps us understand The world around
us a great deal, doesn't it? This helps us understand
why there's so many false and erroneous views
of man, of sin, of their actions, because you
can't understand man or his sin unless it's in
relation to God himself. The world cannot understand.
and his great dilemma. They are not capable of
understanding sin because it rejects God. But
brothers and sisters, it's not just the world.
Christians have inadequate and harmful views
of man and his sin. Because they have inadequate
and deficient views of God himself. So if we
want to understand sin, if we want to understand
man, then where do we need to look to? If we
want to understand our own actions and our own
behavior, our own ethics in life, how we are
to make decisions, what do we need to be looking
to? God. It's a wrong question to ask. It's the
wrong question to ask. What do I need? What does
this person need? It's a wrong question to ask.
What is best for us in this situation? How should
I act with reference to this situation, this
life? We must ask the question of how does it
relate to God? What is God's view of it? What
is God's attitude and disposition towards this?
What does his law say with regards to my actions?
What is his law and his word and his will? What
does Christ say with regards to the dispositions
of my heart? With regards to my longings and
my desires, my wants and my hopes and my dreams
in this life? We must view ourselves, our actions,
our attitudes, our whole lives with reference
to God himself. Also, we see that it's useless
and vain to strive and to seek to conceal sin
before God. It's a vain and useless pursuit to
try and cover your iniquity with a sovereign,
all -knowing God. For the believer, this is why
it's necessary that we expose it, that we confess
it, that we forsake it, that we bring it to him
and we turn from it. For the unbeliever, your
sin will be exposed on the day when Christ judges
all men. You cannot hide it from him. You cannot
cover it up. He already knows it and he knows
everything you'll do and everything you've done.
And there's only hope, there's only safety, there's
only refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every person
will either be judged because of their sins with
a blameless and justified judgment or you will
be acquitted in the person and the work of Jesus
Christ. You either rest in his work and his sacrifice,
his life, his death, his resurrection, or you
rest and you hope in your own supposed good deeds
and your own supposed self -righteousness. Those
are the only two options. Every person in humanity
will be divided as sheep and goats. You're either
in Christ or you're not in Christ. You either
have faith or you don't have faith. You trust
or you don't trust. You'll answer for your own
sins or Christ will answer for your sins. Turn
from your sin. And trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
for those of you who don't know him. Christian,
brother and sister, turn from your sin. Cast
yourself at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Realize
that there is forgiveness that continues. There's
righteousness that continues because of his work.
Look to the Lord Jesus. Believe in him.