Psa.25:11 "For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great."
(1) A few years ago, when we lived in North Queensland, there was a disaster that occurred at Charleville. We saw amazing scenes on News Reports of swollen rivers & Submerged houses. People stranded. Whole communities cut off from food & supplies. Thousands of sheep & cattle drowned. Herds of goats washed up against fences as they perished. Families battling to save their homes - all helpless. All defenceless & unprotected against the onward surge & repeated waves of water. We saw places that earlier were barren and withered by drought; now they were awash with brown muddy water for as far as the eye could see.
You might wonder, what has this got to do with Psalm 25:11? We’ll come back to that question before we finish this sermon. But right now, let us just look at the text before us.
(2) Here David is making a momentous request to God. “Pardon my sin.”
What is he asking? Put it away. Be gracious & kind to me. Be merciful. Don’t hold my sin against me. Blot it out - don’t remember it anymore. That is a staggering request. If God granted such a request as that to anyone, it would be a blessing beyond measure. Just think of it. Such a person would never again feel the threat of judgment or condemnation. Such a person could face any calamity, and know, that whatever the outcome, everything would be fine. A person like this could face death with confidence; they could be like one of those men waiting to be beheaded, and know there is nothing beyond death to fear.
(3) Let us apply this to ourselves. Can you imagine making such request to God?
Do you really believe He would listen to you, and grant you what you want? David is a real life example to us. He was guilty of sin; he often spoke of his sins as being more than the hairs of his head; they were a terrible burden upon him. But here he is; he obviously believed God would grant his request, when he said, “Pardon my sin”. In fact, if you read his words closely, you will see he goes further than just ask for pardon - he presents two reasons why he believes he should have it.
Listen to the verse again, and try to pick out the two reasons why he hopes to receive pardon.
1. For Your Names sake.
2. Because my iniquity is great.
I. Take the second one first. “Pardon my sin because it is great.”
(1) In the original Hebrew the word means multiplied.
It is the same expression that Esau used to Jacob, when Jacob offered him the gifts of goats & sheep – he said, “My brother, I have more than enough”. ‘RAV Li’. My sufficiency is multiplied. That is what David is saying here – “my sin is beyond what is acceptable” – ‘I have sinned against my blessings & privileges; I have sinned against knowledge; I have no excuse; I have done the very things I knew were wrong; I have not only sinned, but I took delight in sinning; I am no better than the dog that goes back to its vomit; my sins are multiplied in their offense; it is great. “Pardon my sin because it is great.”
(2) Let us not lose sight of this. This is the very reason why he hopes & expects God to pardon his sin.
He does not say “pardon my sin because it is a little thing.” He doesn’t say, “Pardon my sin, because everybody sins; we are all sinners, and nobody is perfect.” Now that’s very common isn’t it? Many a person expects forgiveness for their sins, because they say, ‘After all, I am only human.’ They attempt to lessen the seriousness of their sin by lumping it in with everyone else generally. That is not what David does. “Pardon my sin, because it is unbelievably greater, and more ugly & more vile than I ever thought possible. I can’t imagine how anyone could ever have sin greater than mine.
(3) Many a person will come before God seeking forgiveness thinking they are, after all, a pretty good person.
They are aware they have done wrong, but they take heart that their sin didn’t seem to hurt anyone. They feel very confident, that if God is fair & reasonable, He will forgive them, because after all, they haven’t sinned like a lot of people. They are not like Pol Pot, or Adolph Hitler or Stalin. They haven’t robbed a bank, or committed murder. It is only fair that God should forgive them, because their life by comparison is pretty good. Friends, that is the very reason why their sin will not be pardoned. David comes before God with a crushing weight – “Pardon my sin, because it is great.”
(4) One of the great preachers of the 1800’s was D. L. Moody.
He visited a prison called "The Tombs" to preach to the inmates. After he had finished speaking, Moody talked with a number of men in their cells. He asked each prisoner this question, "What brought you here?" Again and again the replies he received went like this: “I hardly did anything wrong.” "I don't deserve to be here." "I was framed." "I was falsely accused." "I was given an unfair trial." “The Judge had it in for me.” Not one prisoner would admit he was guilty. Finally, Moody found a man with his face buried in his hands, weeping. "And what's wrong, my friend?" he inquired. The prisoner responded, "My sins are more than I can bear." The preacher was so relieved to find at least one man who would recognise his guilt and his need of forgiveness, and he exclaimed, "Thank God for that!" Moody then had the joy of pointing him to a saving knowledge of Christ -- a knowledge that released him from his shackles of sin.
(5) The fact is, this is the only way to approach God with our sin.
This is how Jonathan Edwards put it, when he preached on this text. "We must not expect to receive anything from God if we make so little of our sin." David came before God like a man under an enormous load; burdened and sick with guilt, and he prayed – “Lord, this is why I need your pardon – my sin is greater than I can bear.
(6) Let me put it to you in terms of the Charleville disaster, that I mentioned earlier.
After the devastation to their community, the local authorities applied for national assistance from the Federal Government. They were desperate for help & relief. When they presented their petition through their local member, can we imagine what their argument was? Would we expect their local member to rise up in parliament and say “Madam speaker – the damage suffered from these floods is only minor? It is no more than any other misdemeanour that any other community would suffer; it is nothing more than a temporary nuisance? Of course not; he presented their case in the strongest words possible describing the havoc that was reeked; the heart break & misery; widespread devastation. He pleaded their helplessness. He argued their total inability to rectify the matter themselves – he said, “Help us; we are utterly bankrupt; our calamity is great.” The result was, the Federal government was moved to act. The vastness of their need, was their argument for merciful assistance.
That is how David came before the Lord. That is how you and I must come, when we fall before the throne of grace. He has considered his ways before God and his assessment of his state is that his sin is great. His offense is multiplied, more than the hairs of his head.
(7) David emphasises this even further in another place when he speaks of the dignity of the Person against Whom He has sinned.
In Psa.51 - “Against You, and You only have I sinned, and done this wickedness in your sight.” If you throw a rotten egg at your neighbour, that is bad enough, but if you throw a rotten egg at the Queen, you will land yourself in jail. If David sinned against a lesser person, we could perhaps think of sin as a lesser thing, but David knew all sin is against God - and God is infinite & almighty, and to sin against such a great dignitary makes his sin abundantly great.
(8) He also thinks of sin as having great power over him.
It dominates and masters him. Like the Apostle Paul he would say of himself, “when I would do good, evil is present with me.” This is David’s argument. He is admitting, he is no equal against sin. It is like a monster. It is too great for him – “Pardon my sin, because it is great.”
(9) And no doubt, he is also thinking his sin is great in its consequences.
It damns a person to a lost eternity of torment. Jesus said, there is weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth. There is nothing but darkness without end. There is no release. There is no relief from the anguish it will bring. Is it any wonder he says “Pardon my sin, for it is great.”
So that is one of the reasons why David hopes to be pardoned. His sin is great. But it is not the only argument he uses when he comes before God for pardon. Why should God pardon his sin? This is how David puts it at the beginning of the verse...
II. “For Your Names sake, pardon my sin”.
He pleads for pardon for the sake of God’s name. He has no expectation of pardon for the sake of any righteousness or worthiness in himself. He doesn’t say, for the sake of the charity & kindness I have shown to others. He asks for no compensation for the sake of trying to do the right thing at times. And remember, we are talking about David. If anyone had good grounds for making a case of trying to do the right thing by others – he had. Twice he had the opportunity to kill Saul, who was relentlessly hunting him – but he refused to do the wrong thing. If a man’s righteousness could be a bargaining chip with God, David would have had as much to plead as most.
But he begs that God would pardon his sin, and do it for his own Name’s sake, for his own glory, for the glory of his own free grace, and for the honour of his own covenant-faithfulness. Everything God has ever said - promised - All He has done through His Son Jesus Christ.
Why did Jesus come into the world? There is only really one reason. “For my sin is great - & I need pardon.” - “I came to give my life a ransom for many.” When Jesus hung upon the cross - He was saying this is the only remedy for our sin. When we plead forgiveness for Jesus sake, it is the same as saying “For Your Name’s sake, pardon my sin, for it is great.”
Have you come to where you see the greatness of your sin? Do not be afraid to face it, and confess it. As the Apostle says, "Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds." The greatness & repeated ugliness of your sin is no reason to hold back. May the call of our Saviour reach many ears. Amen.
