Psalm 51, we're going to read verses 7 and 8.
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make
me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which
you have broken rejoice. Our verse deals in verse
8. where our exposition will focus today in verse
8, it deals primarily with joy. You'll notice
that it uses the term joy and gladness, and then
in the latter half of the verse it says rejoice.
So it has to do with joy, gladness. rejoicing
or praising or worshiping. This is something
David is petitioning God for in his life. Now,
when we think about joy and gladness and rejoicing,
it is difficult to define what joy is exactly,
even biblically. Is it an emotion? Is it a feeling?
Is it an affection? Is it a virtue? Is it all
of those things? What exactly is it? But I think
we can narrow it down and we could call joy,
gladness, rejoicing, we could call it this, true
happiness. True happiness of soul. True happiness
of heart. Not a fleeting, Happiness based on
this world, the circumstances of this world.
Not a temporary or superficial happiness which
comes and goes on the whims of our affections,
but something that stays. Something that's meaningful.
A true happiness that we can possess and we can
experience in the midst of any circumstance and
in the midst of every circumstance. So I think
when we think about joy, gladness, and rejoicing,
we should think in terms of true happiness. There
are a lot of unhappy folks in the world, aren't
there? There are a lot of unhappy Christians,
brothers and sisters. There's a lot of people
that never express. Joy. There's a lot of people
that haven't rejoiced for many, many years. There's
a lot of people that you would never know were
experiencing gladness within their hearts and
within their souls, and they are legitimately
and truly regenerate. Why is that? can it be
that there are so many unhappy Christians? How
can it be that there's so many people who know
the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who have his blood
covering their life and their soul and their
sins, and be unhappy and miserable? Today we
find that David is experiencing this in his life.
David is legitimately an unhappy man at this
period in his life. That is evident in Psalm
51. He's unhappy in his soul. He's unhappy in
his emotions. He's unhappy in his feelings. He's
unhappy spiritually in his relationship with
the Lord. And today we find that he's appealing
to God for joy. for gladness, that he would rejoice
and praise God. So today, as we look at this
text, we need to understand how it's broken down,
how it relates to joy and gladness, true happiness.
So verse 8 is really divided into two parts.
The first part is the first line. The second
part is the second line. And the first part we
see David making a petition. Make me to hear
joy and gladness. In the second part of verse
8, we find that he's really looking for the desired
result or the desired outcome, the change. That's
the result of God making him experience joy and
gladness. He wants God. to make him to hear joy
and gladness, and as a result, to rejoice instead
of being in anguish and sorrow. He's wanting
to experience a change. But it's also important
that we understand in this text, we can't separate
it from its surrounding context. This is not
an independent truth separate from what comes
before it and separate from what comes behind
it. That's a very important principle when we
study the Word of God. We have to take in the
immediate context, the surrounding context, the
context of the book, and then the context of
the whole of Scripture, brothers and sisters,
to see how it fits in to that storyline, into
that narrative, into those ideas, into those
principles. So we can't separate it from verse
7, and we can't separate it from verse 9. Verse
7 says, Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Verse 9 says, Hide your face from my sins, and
blot out all my iniquities. Verse 7 we spent
time on several weeks ago. It's David appealing
to God as his heavenly high priest. desiring
to be washed and cleansed, desiring to be purified
with reference to the hyssop, making reference
to sacrifice and blood, which ultimately we know
is the sacrifice and blood of Christ, and he's
appealing to Christ as his great high priest.
And then in verse 7, or verse 9, We find him
appealing to God to hide his face from his sins
and to blot out his iniquities. He's appealing
to God not to treat him in accordance with his
sins, not to act toward David as he deserves
because of his sins. He's acting, he's crying
out, and he's appealing for justification and
external righteousness for himself. That God
would treat him in some other way than which
he deserves. And that God wouldn't treat him
with reference to his own iniquities and his
own sins. That's the surrounding context. So
there's two things in this text that we need
to consider. Following these two items, we'll
have several applications. The first is the change
sought. This is the second part of verse 8. Let
the bones which you have broken rejoice. Now
when we consider this phrase, let the bones which
you have broken rejoice, we have to understand
that David's bones were not literally broken.
Every bone in his body was not crushed. He's
using a figure of speech. To convey certain truths
and certain realities regarding his situation,
his experience, and what's taking place in the
life of his heart and the life of his soul. So
what is this figure of speech that David is using
conveying to the reader? Conveying to us. It's
conveying his brokenness. It's conveying the
fact that he is crushed in spirit. It's conveying
the fact that his soul is as though a hammer
has come to it and shattered it into a thousand
pieces. Now what do broken bones do? What do
they communicate to the rest of the body? Pain.
Misery. discomfort, heartache, and uncomfortableness,
anguish, affliction, and suffering. This is what
is taking place in David's soul. He's in anguish.
He's afflicted. He's in pain. It's as though
his bones are broken. He can't shake it. He can't
get rid of it. And bones take a long time to
heal. He can't get back to what he wants to be.
His soul is continually afflicted. It's continually
in discomfort. It's continually hurting and pain.
But why? What is the source of this brokenness
that David is experiencing in his soul? What
is it that has broken his bones? Well, I think
there's two sources for this. There's an initial
cause, and we're all aware of what that is. That
is his sin and his corruption. It is his transgressions
of God's law that has brought this misery into
his own soul. His breaking of God's law and the
corruption within him, the heightened sense and
experience of corruption within his heart, because
of his volitional transgression of God's law
for an extended period of time, is what has broken
him, is what brought him to a place where he
feels crushed. This uncovers a lie for us. That's
so prevalent in the world, the flesh, and the
devil. Doesn't it? This reveals a lie that is
so prevalent in our society, in our culture.
It reveals to us a lie that is so prevalent that
we see it all the time. What's the lie? The lie
is this. If you like it, if you want it, If you
enjoy it, take it, and that will make you happy.
Doesn't the world tell us that? Doesn't the world,
the flesh, and the devil tell us that all the
time? That if you enjoy it, if it pleases you,
then take it, and that will introduce... ultimate
happiness into your life. Does your flesh not
tell you that, brothers and sisters? Does the
devil not whisper that in your ear at times?
Do you not hear that from the television? Do
you not see that in the world? Oh, brothers and
sisters, if you don't see that, it is there and
it is prevalent. It is everywhere. So that's
a lie. Why is it a lie? Because if it is sin,
if it is a transgression of God's law, it will
not introduce and bring about true happiness
and joy and gladness and rejoicing into your
life. What will it do? What will it bring about?
A broken spirit. It will crush your soul under
its weight. David tested this out, didn't he?
And actually his son Solomon did as well, to
a great degree. How did David test out this theory
with regards to this lie of the world, the flesh,
and the devil? David saw Bathsheba. He longed
for Bathsheba. He wanted Bathsheba. He took Bathsheba.
Did it. bring about joy, gladness, and rejoicing
in his life? No, it did not. It brought about
the words that we read today, let the bones which
you have broken rejoice. It resulted in... His
brokenness, his pain, his misery, and his anguish.
That's the initial cause of his sin and his transgression.
But what's the ultimate cause of David's anguish?
His heartache that he can't get rid of. Well,
the text says that David's bones are broken and
it gives us this state and condition of David
with reference to God, doesn't it? And how does
it relate God to David and his broken bones?
It says, let the bones which you have broken
rejoice. It's attributing the crushing, the breaking
of David's bones to God. Now, why is it doing
that? Because ultimately, the ultimate cause
for David's anguish, his heartache, his pain,
and his misery is the conscious. and the conscious
knowledge that was awakened when Nathan the prophet
came to him through the word of the Lord, that
God is displeased with him. It's the reality
that his good, faithful, and mighty God is unhappy
with David. That is what is casting him down
into the dust, brothers and sisters. The conscious
knowledge that God doesn't approve and God is
not pleased with his behavior. That God is unhappy
and God is frowning upon David and his lust.
Upon David and his adultery. Upon David and his
unrepentant sin. That is why he has such a sense
of heartache and crushed spirit. How can he experience
joy and gladness? How can he rejoice in his soul
when God is displeased with his very actions
in his very life? Will God bless his soul? Will
the Spirit of God increase the virtue of holiness?
Will the Spirit of God increase the virtue of
joy and peace? and love in one's life, he was
willingly sinning against God? When one refuses
to repent, and they continue willingly laying
hold of that sin which God is displeased with,
how can the Christian soul, the saintly soul,
as David, continue in sin when they know God
is displeased with their sin? This is why Christians
cannot indefinitely continue in sin. This is
why Christians cannot indefinitely and perpetually
go and go and go and go and go and keep on and
keep on and keep on in volitional, willful, unrepentant
sin. Because that Christian knows that God is
being grieved, that he is mourning over their
wickedness. The child of God, ultimately, has
a longing and a desire that's implanted within
them through regeneration and the indwelling
Spirit of God to please their Heavenly Father.
The Christian cannot and will not indefinitely
continue in sin because they know their heavenly
father is displeased with them. So David obviously
is not experiencing a great deal of joy and gladness
within his heart, is he? And we know why. We
know the cause of it. We know the source of his
brokenness. Now, what does he want to experience?
We know what he wants to be brought out of, don't
we? This anguish, this sorrow, this distress,
this brokenness. He wants to come out of this,
but what does he want to experience? What does
he want to be changed? What's the experience
he wants to be changed into? Well, the text says,
That he wants the same bones which are broken,
the same bones which are crushed, he wants those
bones to sing with joy. Look in the text. It
says, let the bones which you have broken rejoice.
He wants the bones to rejoice, doesn't he? That
which is so broken, he wants that same thing.
to experience the heights of joy and adoration
and praise of God. Now how in the world can David
possibly pray such a prayer? How can David pray
such a thing? This man who has done such... Such
things and such sins. How can this man pray such
a prayer that he's so broken that he can pray?
I want to jump with joy, Lord. I want to rejoice.
I want to praise you. I want to glorify you.
I want my heart to be involved in it. I want
my whole being to rejoice. How is it that he
can pray such a thing? Well, it's because of
verse 7. It's because of verse 7. This leads
us to the second thing we have to consider this
morning. The petition made the first part of
verse 8. David can pray such a prayer because
of his confidence in God's cleansing of him.
David can pray such a prayer. A bold prayer,
we might say, because he's so confident in the
reality when he says, I shall be whiter than
snow. When he says, I shall be clean in verse
7. He's so confident in God's cleansing and purification,
his work, his actions toward him. With reference
to hyssop, with reference to the blood, with
reference to the sacrifice that he can ask, he
can pray, he can plead, he can appeal and petition.
Make me to hear joy and gladness. He can cry
out for such a change in his life and his soul
and his state and his own experience because
he knows. The purifying power of the Spirit of
God at work in his life. Because he's so confident
in God's treatment of him with reference to the
hyssop and the sacrifice and the blood that he
will be declared clean. So we see that David
is passive. this petition in the first part of
verse 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness. He's
not wanting to do it himself. The text could
be read literally, which says, cause me to hear
joy and gladness. How is it in this text that
God is the active cause? of David's experience
of joy in his life. It's because the effect,
which is not mentioned in verse 7, is mentioned
in verse 8. What's the effect of being made whiter
than snow, brothers and sisters? What's the effect
of purification with hyssop? What's the effect
when God purifies and cleanses his people? Great
joy. You see, David wants God himself to cause
him to experience joy in his life. It's God's
treatment of David as his high priest. If you
recall, when we looked at verse 7, we considered
how David was looking to God as his heavenly
priest to administer the true substance and the
true meaning of this sacrifice with regards to
hyssop and the blood. So David is looking to
God as his priest. And ultimately we know That
this is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ
as the great high priest who ministers to his
people through his spirit. And it's through his
ministry to his people that he produces joy and
gladness and rejoicing in their life. David petitions,
To hear joy and gladness. Notice that word in
verse 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness. He
wants to hear a new message, we could say. What
has he been hearing up to this point? Judgment.
Condemnation. Discipline. Fearfulness. He wants
to hear a new song. He wants to hear a song of
rejoicing, a song of hope. He wants to hear a
song of grace, a song of mercy, a song of compassion.
He wants a word of assurance regarding the forgiveness
of sins in his life. And where is he looking
to for this? He's looking to God's treatment
of him and the hyssop. He's looking to God in
the hyssop for joy and for a word of assurance,
and he wants to hear it. This means that joy
and other virtues and characteristics like it
play a unique role in the restoration and renewal
of penitent sinners. What does that mean? How
does joy play a unique role in the restoration
of someone who repents? What does it mean to
experience joy? Where does joy come from? Why
is it significant? Why is it important when we
turn to God, we repent of our sins, and we trust
in Christ as believers? And we desire and we
long to walk in fellowship and communion with
him. And we desire and we long to walk in holiness
and godliness. What does joy have to do with
it? David knows that there are experiential realities
that a person experiences in their heart as a
result of Christ's priestly ministry in their
life. And joy is one of those things. So joy
and other virtues like it are tokens of God's
continual work in your life. Brothers and sisters
are you experiencing joy? If you're experiencing
joy and it's increasing and it's growing and
it's developing and it's maturing and you know
it's there, it's obvious, then that means you're
living a holy and a godly life because the Spirit
of God is increasing those things in your life.
That's what joy means. It's assurance of faith.
It's assurance of the reality of the active presence
and influence of the divine spirit at work in
your very soul. But if joy is not present. If
you are habitually unhappy. If you are habitually
not. or not at peace, then ask yourself the question,
why is there no joy in my life? What's happening
in my soul? What am I doing? What am I saying?
How am I treating? What am I not doing? How am
I breaking the law of God? What do I need to
repent of? What sin do I need to turn away from?
What sin do I need to forsake to be restored?
What sin do I need to abandon in my life that
I might experience the heights of joy yet again
in my own soul? Do you want to experience joy?
Do you want to experience peace? And gladness,
do you want true happiness and contentment in
your heart regardless of what's taking place?
Then ask yourself, brothers and sisters, there
are many other causes and sources. This is just
one of many. This is not the only reason that
someone might not lack joy. But within the context
of this message, ask yourself, is there sin?
in my life that I'm not repenting of, that is
grieving the Spirit of God, and thus I'm not
experiencing joy as I ought to be. Joy is a token,
it's a sign, we could say, of good, holy fellowship
with God. It's a sign of true repentance in one's
life. It's an urgent question. We all should
consider it. Let me offer you several applications
with regards to this text. We learn of the relationship
between true happiness and holiness, don't we?
Is there a relationship between holiness, godliness,
and true happiness in someone's life? This text
tells us there is. Why do you talk about holiness
and godliness so much? Why do you emphasize the
pursuit of mortification in your life? The killing,
the weakening, the removal of strength of sin
and transgression, of corruption and the remnant
of sin that remains within you. Why do you put
on Jesus Christ? Why do you make no provision
for the flesh with regards to its lusts? What's
the purpose of this? Why is obedience and doing
the will of God so happy personally in our lives,
brothers and sisters? Because... there's a correlation
between holiness and true happiness in this life.
We learn also then that there's a correlation
between unholiness and unhappiness. Are you truly
a happy individual? joy, gladness, and rejoicing.
Or does it appear as though bitterness, anger,
a short temper, foul mood, ongoing frustration
dominate your life all the time? Then consider
that there's a correlation between Holiness and
true happiness. I'm not going to point out what
those things might be, but there is a correlation,
brothers and sisters. It is God's will for our
life to pursue holiness and godliness according
to the scriptures in relation to Christ. In the
context of fellowship and community. He those
who honor the pursuit of godliness and holiness
by blessing them with joy, by the Spirit of God
increasing the fruit of the Spirit in their life.
We learn of the relationship between true happiness
and repentance. When we consider this text, we
have to recognize that David petitions for joy
at the appropriate time, does he not? He doesn't
open up Psalm 51 with an appeal and petition
for joy, gladness, and rejoicing. No, it's important
to recognize that he makes an appeal, he petitions
for joy, for true happiness in his heart and
his soul following True repentance. So what clears
the way, we could say? What ushers in true joy,
true happiness in one's life? True repentance.
Are you unhappy, brothers and sisters? Maybe
it's because you're unhappy. Repentant in some
area. Is there sin you need to forsake and give
up that you're unwilling to let go of? Truly
happy people are people who repent of sin and
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. True joy is rooted
and grounded in repentance. Toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ as our great and mighty
prophet, priest, and king. I want you to be truly
happy. That's why we have Psalm 51, brothers
and sisters. God gives us Psalm 51. So that we
know how to come out of our sorrow to the heights
of joy. He gives us Psalm 51 so that you can
be truly happy in your life. So that you're not
a miserable Christian. Listen to the word of
God and truly consider this. Don't be hard hearted.
Don't reject this because you think it sounds
dogmatic or pharisaical. But hear the word of
God. Consider your life and your sin. Is there
things in your life you need to repent of? Brothers
and sisters, repent of them so that you can be
joyful and happy and gladness and filled with
heart. filled with gladness of heart. It's for
your good. It's for the good of your family.
It's for the good of your children. It's for
the good of your church. This isn't to be mean
and harsh. It's for your good and for your godliness
and for your holiness. It's for the edification
and strengthening. of the body of Christ. We
learn of the relationship between true happiness
and the word of God. In God's providence and
in his sovereignty and giving us the scriptures,
we read in verse 8, make me to hear joy and gladness.
I'm sure in the back of David's mind he's thinking
of the Torah, he's thinking of the law of God,
he's thinking of the reading of God's law, the
announcement of God's law. We know that the only
place we can go to find a word of assurance with
regards to the forgiveness of sins with regards
to the sacrifice of Christ, with regards to the
hope of our Lord and our Savior, is the blessed
word of God. True happiness is experienced by
those who read their Bibles, who study their
Bibles. who meditate and take in the scriptures.
True happiness of heart and of soul, of life,
true joy is not experienced apart from the word
of God, brothers and sisters. Truly happy people
are people who spend time in God's divine self.
revelation in the holy word of God that he's
given to his people. There's no other book like
it. There's no other written source like the
word of God. No other book can stand next to
it. How much time and how much energy do you
pour into reading other things that have no benefit
on your heart and upon your soul? that will strip
you and take away your joy. Yet if you would
give time to reading the Word of God, to studying
the Word of God, to meditating on the Word of
God, to memorizing the Word of God and considering
it, oh, the joy you would experience in your
soul on a continual basis. Truly happy people.
are people of the book, people of the word of
God. They have given themselves to God's divine
revelation. Is that you, Christians, do you claim
to be rejoicing that you haven't picked up the
word of God in months? Brothers and sisters,
it is meant for your good, for your soul. God
has given us his word to know him better, to
know the revealed will of God, how to live our
lives, how to pursue godliness and holiness,
how to walk in fellowship with him. The only
place we're going to receive a word of assurance,
a word of grace, and a word of compassion, a
word concerning Christ is in his word. Go to
it. Find joy in its words, in its pages. Turn
the page, read more, and get more joy. We learn
of the relationship between true happiness and
prayer. We have to remember that Psalm 51 is
all in the context of prayer. It's all in the
context of David praying to God. He's seeking
out the face of God in prayer. Thus, he is seeking
out joy in and through the act of prayer. One
of the vital means. of being truly happy in this
fallen and sinful world, brothers and sisters,
is spending time with God in prayer. Truly happy
people are those who pray to God. They seek out
his face. They're humbled. They recognize his
glory. They talk to him as he talks to them in
his word. They commune and fellowship with their
God. This delights the soul of the believer in
which the Spirit of God dwells. This brings joy
to the Spirit of God, brothers and sisters, when
we fellowship with God. Will he withhold peace
and joy from those who regularly seek the face
of God? No, he will be generous and give it in
abundance. Truly happy people. Pray to God. Lastly,
we learn a superficial. These are all in the
context of being a justified man, woman, or young
person. True joy is the possession of those who
know Christ through faith and repentance. Yes,
we can have a superficial, temporary, fleeting
joy that we get from things in this world. Maybe
relationships. Maybe experiences. Maybe some
sort of pleasure. Maybe some other area or some
other way. Maybe discussions. Maybe wives and
children. Maybe a husband or a career or a job.
Yes, these things will bring you little bitty
tastes of joy. But it goes away really, really
fast. And then you need another fix. It never
lasts. It never stays. It comes and it goes.
It's always fleeting. It's superficial. It's
false joy. It doesn't actually make the soul
glad. What it does is it makes the soul hungrier
and hungrier for more superficial happiness and
more superficial joy. But it cannot satisfy.
The reality is, those who put their faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and they repent of their
sins, and they're in union with Christ and God
through Christ, those people will be in possession
of true, lasting, eternal happiness. But you
cast off and you refuse all of that as you cast
off and you refuse Christ and his good grace.
As you reject Christ, you reject true happiness.
True joy. Christ is of greater value. And greater
worth. And it is a greater joy to serve him as
master than anything else on this planet. Than
anything else in this world. So the call is the
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, his life and
his death and his resurrection. That his spirit
might dwell within you and manifest. true joy.