"WILL GOD FORGIVE?"
Psalm 51: 1-19
Matthew 7: 1-5
"NEVER! I'll never in a million years forgive that man! After what he's done to me, he can just forget about ever talking to me again! That's one thing I can never do. I just can't forgive what he has done."
Have you ever been that angry with a person that you feel that you will never be able to forgive him? Have you ever felt that there is nothing that will ever make things right between you and someone else because the hurt has gone too deep? If this comes close to describing you, listen up! On the other hand, if you have ever felt that you have never been forgiven for something for which you know you need forgiveness, you too may need to listen to this especially.
Of course each one of us stands in need of God's forgiveness in a very real way. Without his forgiveness we will be forever lost. We may affirm “thanks be to God, he has shown us his mercy and love in Jesus Christ”. I will suggest humbly, however, we all tend to trivialize forgiveness when we generalize such statements, no matter how correct. Our human natures ensure we will be prone to avoid confronting our own sin while perversely finding satisfaction in pointing out the sins of another We don’t often “personalize” our own need for forgiveness. In one way or another, this describes every one of us. WHAT A SHAME! Forgiveness is one aspect of Christian life we must desperately understand. It is a matter of
• “life and death” for us personally
• extreme importance in our Christian witness
• a practice which is an essential characteristic of a mature Christian personality
What better way to understand forgiveness than to examine God's Word found in Psalm 51 where David “pours out his heart” to God. There is here a nourishing draught of thirst quenching truth in this deeply personal confession emanating from the heart of David from which we may drink deeply and grow.
Psalm 51 is an intensely personal Psalm David wrote when he was feeling particularly vulnerable. You see, he had been found out! Nathan the prophet had confronted him with a grievous accusation of sin, and David was, literally, “guilty as hell”.
Do you remember the double crime committed by David? Not only had he deliberately committed adultery with Bathsheba and conveniently murdered her husband Uriah the Hittite, a faithful officer in David’s army but he had attempted to cover it up; to hide from his own perfidy. It is unnecessary to explore the details of David’s sin. This Psalm isn’t about judgment it is about repentance and forgiveness.
In Psalm 51 David lays his heart bare before the Lord. Although our sins may not be so shocking as those of David, we may yet be able to learn something about repentance and something about God's great forgiveness of our own sin, and we may yet be able to learn something about forgiving others.
In order to help us understand what David is experiencing in this Psalm it is important for us to know that there are two main Hebrew words which we translate as repent. The first suggests “being sorry about something”, about someone else's action or misfortune or about one's own action. It always leads to practical efforts to meet the need of those for whom one is sorry, whether it is someone else or one's self. It indicates a feeling of sorrow, BUT MORE THAN THAT... it always leads to action! It leads to practical efforts to change the course of action for which you are sorry. Repentance is not only a change of heart it is a change of direction.
The other main Hebrew word which we translate as "repentance" is the regular word for "turning away from" or "turning around". It means turning away from one particular course of action and starting out on a different one; turning from one pathway and taking another; turning one’s life around.
In Psalm 51 we see both an attitude of sorrow and the determination to begin a new life. In it we can see the different elements of turning to God for forgiveness and life. The first thing we see is “facing up to the fact of sin”. What is implied in the first two verses is specific in the third. We see that David faces up to his sin.
"Have mercy on me, Oh God according to your
unfailing love according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. FOR I KNOW
MY TRANSGRESSIONS AND MY SIN IS ALWAYS BEFORE ME."
David is not hiding from his sin.
Notice in verse nine David asks the Lord to “hide his face from his sin”. We can all vouch for the fact that to turn our attention away from the one who has hurt us is not an easy thing for us to do. It is far easier to hide our face from our own sin, than it is to hide our face from someone else's sin. (Bear in mind, though we may want to “hide our face” from our own sin, but it always stays with us!)
We're all very quick to pick up on someone else's sin, while we find it difficult not to hide from our own. We do everything to try to ignore our own sin and everything to try to remember the other's weaknesses. You've all experienced that. We often see the sin in the other person's life while we ignore our own. It's a universal trait in human nature for us to make use of this tactic to explain away our own transgressions. We think we're not “all that bad”, by rationalizing “others are worse”. Regrettably, God has provided us with certain inflexible standards (“ground rules”, we might call them) like "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "Thou shalt not murder." In spite of these “ground rules”, David fell into several traps. It was the Spirit of God through the prophet Nathan who convicted David of his sin and eventually led him through the healing process of forgiveness.
We too must be “convicted” of our sin before forgiveness becomes possible. So too, God's Spirit plays an important role in the conviction of our sin. If we want to lay hold of forgiveness offered to us by the Lord we must be “convicted” of our sin. The words “convicted” and “convinced” have the same root. We must acknowledge our sinfulness. David said, "For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me."
The second thing drawn to our attention in these verses is both profoundly true and deceptively simple. The sin, apart from being against Uriah, against Bathsheba had indeed against David himself, is primarily against God. David says, "Against you only have I sinned and done what was evil in your sight.” We must come to the realization that our sin is primarily against God. Our transgressions always hurt people. There are consequences which inevitably impact people around us, always affect our lives negatively. When we sin WE are responsible for the consequences. We must not only face up to the fact that we have sinned, we must realize that the sin is primarily against God.
This fact brings us inevitably to the third realization that while we may come to grips with the reality of our sin and grasp the scope of the consequences upon others and ourselves, we ought to recognize God's view of that sin. This means that we must come to see sin as God sees it and to recognize that God's view is right. The last part of verse four says
"You are proved right when you speak; and justified when you judge."
We have no claim on God. We do not deserve forgiveness on our own merits. We do not automatically receive his blessing. We stand, rather, condemned before his judgment. Like David, we ought to confess that we are worthy of judgment, not forgiveness. David recognizes not only the fact of his sin but also the depth of his sin.
"Surely I have been a sinner from birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
Apparently, David knows salvation of any sort is dependent solely on the grace of God. In God's eyes we deserve judgment, though we are prone to minimize the consequences in our own eyes. God desires righteousness and is offended by our sin.
If we have understood these things; that we have sinned, that sin is against God, that sin is deserving of God's judgment and that sin is in our nature, then, on what basis do we presume to appeal for forgiveness? David appeals to “God's unfailing love and his great compassion.” He knows God is a merciful God. His long experience with God, together with an awareness of the entire history of the people of Israel has proven God's mercy.
God has shown us his mercy too wonderfully in Jesus Christ. Jesus became God's perfect answer to the problem of sin. He teaches us of the forgiveness of God. He died so that we might have life. David said,
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me and I will be whiter than snow."
David knew his own efforts would never remove his guilt. He appealed to the only one who could make it right. God forgives because he loves us. We forgive others because we love God. Ultimately it is God who forgives through us for it is only because we know his love and because he loves through us that we can forgive others. Again, David lays his finger on the truth when he says
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew
a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me
from your presence or take your Holy Spirit
from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."
Who cleanses? Who makes new? Who renews and restores us? It is God himself.
David shows one further appropriate response which we find in verse thirteen.
"I will teach transgressors Thy ways and sinners
will turn back to you... my tongue will sing of
your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my
mouth will declare your praise."
Part of our response to God's gracious forgiveness is testimony. Won't we be glad to tell others of his love? Won't we be delighted to sing about his wonderful works and praise his ever glorious name? He is a forgiving, loving, just God! Halleluiah!
God isn't "bought off" by any sacrifices or ritual in which we might become involved, rather, he wants our
• repentance, acknowledgment of sin, a turning around from that sinful lifestyle,
• a renewed dedication to Him and
• testimony of his goodness and glory.
Beloved, have you honestly repented of your sin today? Have you acknowledged that you have sinned against God only. Will you seek his righteous path and then will you speak about the glory of God and what he has done for you?
