Psalm 51, we're going to read its entirety, verses
1 through 19. Be gracious to me, O God, according
to your loving kindness. 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. Behold, I
was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother
conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in the
innermost being, and in the hidden part you will
make me no wisdom. 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.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all
my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence and do
not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to
me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with
a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors
your ways and sinners will be converted to you.
Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the
God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully
sing. of your righteousness. O Lord, open my
lips that my mouth may declare your praise. For
you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I
would give it. You are not pleased with burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
you will not despise. By your favor. Do good
to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then you
will delight in righteous sacrifices and burnt
offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then young
bulls will be offered on your altar. As we come
to Psalm 51, we approach it for the last and
final time as we've been studying this psalm.
Lord willing, It's been as edifying to everyone
as it has been to my soul to work through this
and to study this psalm. So I appeal to you to
listen and hear the psalm one last time. Don't
let up on repentance just yet. Relax in your
hearing at this time as we conclude this study
of God's holy word in Psalm 51. So today as we
come to this, we're going to spend our time and
we're going to look at defining and explaining
what repentance is. We've seen clearly in Psalm
51 what repentance is. What it's made up of.
It's composed of. We're going to look in Psalm
51 and we're going to see what it says about
the fruit of repentance, what comes from repentance,
what the result of repentance is. We see this
in Psalm 51. But we're also going to see that
there's a confidence and a certainty that David
is in possession of, even in the midst of his
anguish and his brokenness in Psalm 51. We've
seen that. over and over and over in this psalm.
It's almost like these parallel realities are
taking place in David. Mourning and brokenness,
but also certainty and confidence. So we're going
to look at this, and we're going to see it in
Psalm 51. And finally, we're going to look at
the relevance and the need of repentance from
Psalm 51. What makes repentance and Psalm 51?
So utterly relevant for our lives as believers,
but also for the church as a whole. Beginning
with the first item we must consider, the elements
of repentance. Repentance is always composed
of different elements or different components.
We've seen this in Psalm 51. True repentance
is always composed of recognition of sin. David
recognizes his sin as sin in Psalm 51. He says,
my sin in verse 2, my transgressions in verse
1. He says, against you, you only, I have sinned.
And then he says at the end of verse 4, we're
in the middle of verse 4, and done what is evil.
And your sight. He recognizes his actions. He
recognizes his wickedness as evil. In the sight
of God. He takes ownership of his sin. He says
my sin. My transgression. My iniquity. He's owning
up to his own culpability in this matter, and
he's recognizing his sin as sin. But we also
see that true repentance is always composed of
brokenness and contrition over that sin which
we've committed. Isn't that the reality we see
of David? Isn't that why he says the sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite
heart? True repentance always involves brokenness
and contrition over what we've done to a person
in the sight of God. It always involves a shattering
of the spirit, anguish and mourning and grief
from our hearts over the sin we have committed.
But we also see, That there's shame and guilt
involved in true repentance. True repentance
is not devoid or not without guilt over that
sin. True repentance always involves guilt over
sin. We see this when David says, Against you
and 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. He's
guilty. And his conscience is condemning him
of his sin. His conscience is pricking him. Why?
Because he's done that which is worthy of condemnation
in the sight of God. There's actual guilt and
actual shame on his conscience that needs cleansed,
that needs washed away as a result of his sin
and his life. True repentance always involves
shame and guilt because of sin. But it always
involves confession of that sin as well. It's
not just enough to recognize sin as sin. It's
not just enough to be broken over sin and to
have an emotional repentance. It's not just enough
to have guilt over sin. We must be driven to
verbally and to confess that sin to God himself
in prayer. Repentance involves confession of
sin to God. We've referenced this multiple times
in our study of Psalm 51, Proverbs 28, 13. He
who conceals his transgressions will not prosper.
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find
compassion. True repentance. Always involves,
always consists of, is always composed of confession
of sin to God in prayer. It's not mere thinking
about it. It's confessing of it to God himself.
But then there's a final component that we see
in Psalm 51. That's the forsaking of sin. We
can't merely recognize it, be broken over it,
have shame and guilt from it, and confess it.
We must actually exercise and use our will to
forsake that sin in our life, to give it up,
to turn our back to it, to face a different direction,
to will that we are going to change and to actually
change. It's the actual forsaking and giving
up of. The sin. So these are the elements that
compose and make up and compile true repentance.
Now, what if someone says, well, I'm broken over
my sin. But I don't have any guilt or shame for
what I've done. I feel sad about it. Well, I'm
emotionally in turmoil over it, but it doesn't
drive me to do anything about it. It doesn't
bring about anything in my life. It doesn't drive
me to confess it or to forsake it. I'm just sad
about it. That's partial, incomplete, superficial
repentance. True repentance is always composed
of all of these elements. It's not a compartmentalized,
partial, incomplete repentance. That's superficial
and false repentance. Psalm 51 clearly tells
us that every one of these elements is what makes
up repentance in the life of the sinner. They
all must be present. They all must always be
present to some degree or another. For it to
be true repentance. True repentance is well -rounded,
complete, and whole person repentance. It's not
just repentance in our mind and our head. But
it's also repentance that involves our heart.
in our emotions, in our affections, in our longings,
in our desires. It's not just repentance that
involves our will. It's repentance that involves
our affections as well. It's a whole person,
well -rounded, complete, and total repentance
that is true repentance. This is important because
it helps us to identify and distinguish True
repentance in our lives from superficial repentance
in our lives. If it's merely emotional or intellectual
repentance with no heart and no will, then it's
not true repentance. If there's no confession
and no forsaking, it's not true repentance. All
of this encourages us. and exhorts us to take
stock of the repentance in our lives, to consider
it, to examine it, to think about our repentance,
to not simply say, I'm sorry, but to think about
the reality that we have, in fact, sinned against
a holy God. Am I truly repenting before the Lord?
Is my heart really in this or am I just going
through the motions in my mind? It encourages
us to take stock, to consider and examine, to
take inventory of our repentance in our lives.
We must also see, secondly, the fruit of repentance
in Psalm 51. Repentance always... produces certain
realities in the life of the penitent. Always.
It always brings about certain things in the
life of that sinner. We saw, particularly in
Psalm 51, that David made this endeavor in verse
13. He says, then I will teach transgressors
your ways and sinners will be converted to you.
David was determined to undertake this endeavor
to witness, to minister, to serve men, unconverted
sinners, but only when he had been restored following
his repentance. So that is David's fruit that
comes from his repentance. It's that which his
repentance produces. They're not one and the
same. David's endeavor, his ministry of service,
his usefulness he's going to undertake is not
the same thing as his repentance. His repentance
precedes and takes place before the fruit. This
is important because it shows a connection. And
it shows a relationship between repentance in
the life of the saint And the usefulness in the
life of the saint. The fruit in the life of the
saint. John the Baptist actually gives us a great
illustration of this. In Luke chapter 3. Starting
in verse 7. We read. So he began saying to the
crowds. Who were going out to be baptized by
him. He said you brood of vipers. Who warned
you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore,
bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do
not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham
for our father. For I say to you, that from these
stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
Indeed, the axe is already laid at the root of
the trees. So every tree, that does not bear
good fruit, is cut down and thrown into the fire.
And the crowds were questioning him, saying,
Then what shall we do? And he would answer and
say to them, The man who has two tunics is to
share with him who has none. And he who has food
is to do likewise. What is John the Baptist preaching
on here? True repentance. He's preaching on the
reality that a good tree produces good fruit
and that a bad tree produces bad fruit and that
bad tree is going to be cut down with an ax at
its roots. So what is the fruit that John the
Baptist explains to the crowds that they should
pursue, that they should seek to endeavor? The
endeavor, the fruit that they should look to,
they should look for, they should seek to undertake.
He says to them, the man who has two tunics is
to share with him who has none. And he who has
food is to do likewise. The fruit that John the
Baptist is talking about is service and man work.
It's ministry and service unto others. It's good
works, brothers and sisters. True repentance
brings about true fruit in the life of God's
people. So there's a connection between repentance
and usefulness, repentance and service in the
life of the believer, in the life of the church.
It's important for us as a congregation. to understand
this. It's important for you as a believer in
Jesus Christ to understand this. What is the
foundation of usefulness, the foundation of ministry
and service towards men? Our dealing with God
and repentance, our dealing with sin in our own
lives. If we truly want to be useful to those
around us, As a church body, if we truly want
to be useful to those lost sinners around us
and we want to see people come to Christ, what
does that mean that we have to give ourselves
to? What does the focus of the life of our church
have to be on? What does the focus of your life
as an individual have to be on if you want to
be useful to the Lord in your life? Dealing with
your sin. Dealing with God. The pursuit of holiness
and godliness in your own life. Vital piety and
godliness and being in possession of godly realities
in your own soul. Knowing Christ yourself. Knowing
the God of the Word. Personally. Not theoretically
or conceptually, but actually spending time with
Him. Studying him in his word. Talking to him
in prayer through his word. There's a connection
between repentance and the usefulness of a church
and the usefulness of a Christian. True repentance
always produces fruit in the life of the believer.
So if we want... To be consistently useful to
the Lord. If we want to be consistently serving
those around us, what does that mean? We must
consistently be dealing with our own sin and
God in prayer. We have to be taking care of our
own souls before we can be taking care of the
souls of others. That's why the fruit of Psalm
51 is important. Because it teaches us that there's
a connection between the condition of our hearts
and the usefulness of our lives. We see this
fruit. There's other fruit in Psalm 51, but this
is the primary one that we spend our time focusing
on. Now lastly, or thirdly, we see the promise.
Of repentance as well. In Psalm 51. We see this
incredible reality. We see this incredible reality.
That here we have David. Who's in deep. Dark
anguish. Because of his sin. And his transgressions.
Because of what he's done. As king of Israel.
And as a saint. In the sight of a holy and righteous
God. Here we have David who's broken and full
of contrition, who's full of grief and mourning
over his sin and what he's done and breaking
the law of God. Yet here we have David also who
has confidence and hope and certainty alongside
of that brokenness and that anguish in Psalm
51. He's not in the pits of despair. He's not
thinking he's never going to get out of the pit.
We see this strain of hope and confidence and
certainty in Psalm 51 we read. In the second
part of verse 6, and in the hidden part, you
will make me know wisdom. David is confident
of God's work in his soul. How in the world is
this broken, contrite, Man, full of anguish,
having confidence in that reality. Where does
that come from? He says, purify me with hyssop
and I shall be clean. And then he even says,
wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Where
does David get this confidence that he's going
to be whiter than snow, that he will be clean?
We see later. that a broken and a contrite heart,
God, you will not despise. David has a hope,
a certainty, a confidence that God will accept
his repentance. He has a confidence, a hope,
a certainty that God will be pleased with his
genuine repentance and that he will not be despised.
Where in the world does David get this hope in
this dark place in his life? What's the promise?
It's the promise of repentance. The promise of
repentance is this, that true repentance, true
repentance, always leads to... the pardon of
your sins. True repentance always leads to renewal
in your life. True repentance always leads to
the restoration of joy in the soul of the saint.
David knows this. He knows The power and the
effectiveness of true repentance in his life.
But there's got to be some basis for this promise.
What is the basis for David's hope and certainty?
Well, the basis is the reality that true repentance
is always paired with something else. True repentance
is always bound. as we've seen in Psalm 51, to
something else. True repentance is bound to true
faith. And true faith is always bound to Jesus
Christ and all his work. This is the foundation
of David's confidence, his certainty, and his
hope. It's the gospel, brothers and sisters.
The gospel is David's confidence. The work of
Christ is David's confidence. His death, his
sacrificial death on the cross, his resurrection,
the work of God and the redemption of his people
is David's confidence, brothers and sisters.
We have to remember. That repentance is given
because of the gospel. Did you know that? True
repentance is always a provision of the gospel.
God gives true repentance because of the gospel,
not because of the law. Think about that. True
repentance doesn't have anything to do with the
law. Your ability... To deal with sin in your
life does not come from the law of God. It does
not have anything to do with any legal aspect
of the moral law. It has everything to do with
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Where do you get
your true repentance from? Where does the believer
receive the ability to exercise repentance? How
do you, as a sinner, come into possession of
true repentance in your life? It's because God
gives you true repentance because of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. It's because it's a grace. True
repentance is given as a grace of God's new covenant
with Christ. He provides it. He gives it to you
and to me, to sinners. So true repentance is
given because of the gospel. So if you're in
possession, Of true repentance in your life,
brothers and sisters? The only reason you're
in possession of it is because God has given
it to you out of his gracious mercy in the gospel
of Jesus Christ. But it's not just that he gives
us repentance because of the gospel. God is faithful
to receive true repentance always because of
the gospel as well. Why is it that God always
receives and always restores and always renews
and always cleanses and always pardons the sinner
in possession of true repentance? Why is it that
he does that, brothers and sisters? It's because
of Christ. Just as our faith binds us to Christ,
God is bound to Christ in faithfulness because
of the new covenant. Did you know that? Just
as faithful as God is to forgive the sins of
his people in justification by faith, God is
faithful to forgive and pardon and cleanse and
renew his people in sanctification following
justification by faith because of Christ himself
as well. So he gives repentance because of the
gospel and then he receives that very repentance
that he's given to sinners because of? The gospel.
So don't despise preaching and teaching and talk
of repentance. It has everything to do with the
gospel of Christ and the provisions that he has
made in that glorious gospel. I want us to hear
this. This is important for every single person
here. If a person is truly penitent, if you are
truly repentant in your life, you can have absolute,
complete, and total certainty that you will be
forgiven of your sins and that you will be cleansed
of your corruption and your guilt. Not because
you're great. Not because you repented. But because
you're in possession of true repentance. And
because God forgives those in possession of true
repentance. Because he's given it. He will always
forgive those who truly repent. That means if
you're here today and you know Christ. and you
repent, truly, you will be pardoned and you will
be cleansed. Your conscience will be wiped away.
Your conscience will be cleansed and washed by
the blood of Christ. The actual pollution and
corruption as a result of that sin will be cleansed
and pardoned, will be removed. That means that
if you're here today and you don't know Jesus
Christ as Savior, but if you truly repent, if
you're in possession of repentance, then you
will have your sins pardoned. How can I say that?
Because if you are able to repent truly, then
God has given you a new heart. If you're able
to repent as defined in Psalm 51, God has regenerated
you and he's already forgiven your sins. Therefore,
you're already one of the child of God. So if
you're here today and you truly repent according
to Psalm 51, period. Your sins are forgiven.
And they will be forgiven. And you can have confidence
and certainty. of that reality. This is only
true of genuine repentance. Remember that. This
promise is not a promise for that superficial,
partial, or incomplete repentance. This promise
of repentance is only true for those in possession
of genuine, true repentance according to Psalm
51. This leads us lastly to the need of repentance.
We see this in Psalm 51, I think almost more
clearly than anything else. We look at this psalm
and we hear the story of David and we know why
David needs repentance. We all understand this
part. We all understand this part of the sermon,
brothers and sisters. If you're here today, you
know why we need repentance. You understand why
you need repentance in your life. You understand
why the person next to you needs repentance in
your life. You know why I need repentance in
my life. How many times does David say over and
over, my sin, my transgression. My iniquity.
It's the reality that God is holy and that we
are sinners. Repentance is needed because sin
is a very present reality in our lives. And it
remains a reality in our lives as long as we
walk the face of this earth. Because God remains
holy and just and righteous. Because God commands
that all men everywhere repent. He commands that
his people repent. So as long as there is sin
in our lives, there is a need for repentance
in our lives. This need is heightened by the
reality. That God has given us Psalm 51. What
is Psalm 51? It's a portrait of true repentance
for the life of God's people throughout the ages.
Why would God give his people a portrait of true
repentance for the ages? Because they need to
know what it looks like. Because they need to
know and understand what it means to truly repent.
Because they need to learn from David's repentance.
The Spirit of God gave us Psalm 51 in the Holy
Scriptures because we need repentance in our
lives, brothers and sisters. And praise God he
gave it to us. Sin is a familiar reality to each
and every one of us. And because we know sin
is a reality in all of our lives, there are certain
implications for repentance in our lives. Sin
is universal, is it not? Are you the exception?
Are you here today? Are you the exception to
sin? Have you come into this building and gathered
to worship God today? And not sinned against
him? Who knows all things? Who knows your thoughts?
Who knows the intent of your heart? Who knows
the secret things of your soul? Are you here
today and are you the exception? Are you the
one that doesn't fit into this universal scope
of sin? You're not. I'm not. None of us are,
brothers and sisters. Every single person here
has sinned against God and continue to sin against
a holy God. Therefore, the need for repentance
is what? Universal. You need it. I need it. We
all need it. If you're going to continue sinning,
then you must continue repenting. If God is going
to continue to be holy, and unchanging and immutable
and righteous and just, then he still requires
repentance of his people, brothers and sisters.
It's universal. None of us are the exception
to this rule. Only the Lord Jesus Christ in his
perfect life never had to repent of sin. And
he went to the cross. Brothers and sisters, We
all fit within this universal scope of sin. Therefore,
we all fall under the umbrella of need for repentance
in our lives. Sin manifests itself in a variety
of ways. But it also varies in its heinousness
and its grievousness. and the degrees to which
it will be punished. If sin varies, and sin,
there's a variety of manifestations of it, and
its acts, and its positions, and its dispositions,
and its desires, and its work, then what does
that mean regarding repentance in our lives?
What are the implications of that? Well, it means
that repentance, will vary in its degree, and
it will not necessarily always look the same
for every single person, even though it will
always consist of these components in Psalm 51.
That means that we prescribe repentance for all
men, but we don't prescribe the degree or the
intensity of that repentance in the life of all
men. Their repentance may look different than
your repentance. You may need to repent a greater
deal, with more sorrow, with more brokenness,
because of the nature of your transgression and
the nature of your sin. David needed big repentance,
didn't he? Why? Because... He had a big sin.
Repentance will vary in degree and intensity,
but repentance must be present. We prescribe
repentance for all, but we don't prescribe the
intensity or the degree of that repentance in
the lives of sinners. Sin is constant in our
life. Every hour, every day, we deal with sin.
I know that we can add some nuance in here, and
I'm working in generalizations to a degree, but
the reality is sin is constant in all of our
lives. It's a constant struggle. It's a constant
battle. Is it not in your life? It's constant,
brothers and sisters. It's a constant battle
in our souls because there's remaining corruption
within us because of our sin nature. If sin is
constant, then what else must be constant? Repentance.
The prevalence of our sin dictates the prevalence
of our repentance. Don't let it compile and snowball
and build, brothers and sisters. When you sin,
repent of the sin. Move on. Pursue Christ. Love
people. Love God. When you sin, repent of the
sin. Move on. Be sanctified. Grow in godliness
and holiness. I don't say that lackadaisically,
but it's the reality. We are all going to deal
with sin in this life. Repent of it and move
on. But keep repenting of it. Don't give up on
repentance because it's hard or it's difficult
or it's monotonous. God requires it of us, and
it's for our good. It's for the good of our sanctification.
It's for the good of our holiness. It's for the
good of our families, for the good of our church.
It's for the good of your soul. Therefore, pursue
it. Consider it. Don't let up on it. Give yourself
to it. It's going to be part of your life. Unless
you just throw your arms up and say, I'm done.
I don't care about sin anymore. I am who I am.
Brothers and sisters, repentance must be regular
because our sin is regular. This is good for
our lives. It's good for our godliness. It's
good for your soul. The Lord Jesus Christ from
heaven wants his people to be a repenting people
because he wants what's best for you. And he
wants what's best for his glory in this life.
He wants his church to be full of life. He wants
his church to be full of power. He wants his
church to be full of vitality and strength. And
the way to do that is by dealing with our sin.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants this for his people,
for his bride. He doesn't want her to be weak.
He doesn't want her to be dirty. He wants her
to be a repenting bride. One who loves him and
loves people and deals with her sin, brothers
and sisters. Sin is constant. It's just a reality
we deal with in this life. But we also see and
we also know that sin is lifelong. It's a lifelong
reality. From the time we're born, doesn't David
say, I was brought forth in iniquity? And in
sin my mother conceived me? From the time of
our birth, we've been inclined to do that which
is against God and his law. It starts when we're
babies. It starts when we're conceived. And it
grows as we grow. So it's not a phenomenon that's
isolated to a certain period of years like 15
to 18. It's not a phenomenon that's isolated
to young children. It's not a phenomenon that's
isolated to middle -aged individuals. It's not
a phenomenon that's isolated to older Christians
and older saints. It's something that is lifelong
as long as we breathe in this world. That means
that none, from the young to the old, are exempt
from this call and this command and this duty,
this gospel grace of repenting of our sin. Sin
is the basis of our need. for repentance in our
life. And we see that in the life of the individual
Christian. It's good. God has given us Psalm
51 because it's good for his people. But this
is also important for the church as a whole.
In a bigger picture application, the church as
a whole needs repentance. The pulpits of the
land, the pulpits of the churches in southeast
Illinois, the pulpits of the churches in America
need to be filled with what? Repentance and sin.
And Christ and the gospel. God will not more
largely bless his church until there is a return
to the proclamation of repentance, sin, God in
his holiness, grace in Christ. That means that
the church needs to make sure that it does not
move on from that it does not proceed forth onto
greater, more important, more significant things
than repentance in its life. Repentance must
remain central. It must remain perpetual. The
proclamation of repentance would be a good thing
for the people of God if it were to resound in
the pulpits throughout the land. It's interesting
that we see in many churches, there's this commitment
and dedication to reaching and doing and going,
yet there's no focus on sin and repentance. What
has supplanted repentance and sin? The holiness
of God. Reaching the community. Reaching those
around us. But what point is that, brothers and
sisters, if there's no power and life and health
and the Spirit of God does not reside in that
congregation? There's no holiness and godliness
in its people. Because there's no mention of
repentance or sin from the pulpit of the churches.
There must be a return to repentance, sin, holiness,
and the gospel if there's to be larger blessing
upon the people of God in this world. And oh,
how we long for that. How we long for the Spirit
of God to be given to the people of God in this
day and in this age when we desperately need
it. That hope is strengthened. That confidence
in Christ and His promises is built up. And that
faith is emboldened and enlivened and renewed.
It's fairly simple, but it's more difficult.
It's just returning to the holiness of God. repentance
of sin, and the grace of Christ in the gospel.
So we've seen in Psalm 51, generally speaking,
the elements of repentance. We've seen the fruit
of repentance. We've seen the promise, the blessed
promise of repentance. And we've seen the need
of repentance.