Some chapters comfort us when we’re hurting, or they strengthen us when we’re afraid. Some will inspire us when we are feeling low and discouraged.
But Psalm 51 does something different. Psalm 51 exposes us. The words of the Psalmist strip away our excuses and removes the self-justification we can and do often impose on ourselves. Psalm 51 forces us to confront a reality every one of us must eventually face – that is:
What do we do when we have sinned against God?
You see, David was not writing this psalm after a military victory or celebrating a blessing. He was not rejoicing in prosperity either. What he WAS doing was writing after one of the darkest moments of his life.
The heading tells us that this psalm was written after the prophet Nathan had confronted David regarding his sin with Bathsheba.
Most of us know the story from 2 Samuel.
David saw Bathsheba.
David committed adultery.
Bathsheba became pregnant.
David attempted to cover his sin.
And when that failed, he arranged for the death of her husband, Uriah by sending him to the front lines of battle.
For nearly a year David apparently lived as though nothing had happened.
Then came a day when Nathan stood before King David and told him a story of a man who took from the flock of a poor man and prepared it for a guest who had come. That story greatly angered David and David told Nathan
“5b…As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die…”
2 Samuel 12:5b
And then just two verses later, Nathan uttered those four unforgettable words of rebuke that stung David’s heart like a two-edged sword:
"7…You are the man!"
2 Samuel 12:7
Nathan had broken through the veil that had clouded David’s conscience. And upon being called out by Nathan and realizing the gravity of his own sin, David's heart broke.
Psalm 51 is the prayer that came from that broken heart.
And because of that, it has become one of the Bible's greatest chapters on repentance.
I. True Repentance Begins With God's Mercy
The text of our lesson today will be Psalm 51:1-17, and we’ll read a verse or two as I make each point.
"1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!"
Psalm 51:1-2
Notice where David begins. He doesn’t begin with excuses.
He doesn’t blame Bathsheba.
He doesn’t blame his circumstances.
And he obviously does not minimize what he has done.
Instead, he throws himself upon Jehovah's mercy. That is where every sinner must begin.
I don’t know about you, but I can certainly identify with David here. It wasn’t that long ago, that I woke up in the middle of the night, frightened and scared, knowing if I didn’t change my life, my soul would be doomed. I threw off my sheets and swung my feet to the floor, if I was physically able I would have got down on my knees, but that was where my heart and mind were… on my knees. Realizing that my life had been one big sin against Jehovah. I prayed hard that night. I assume just like David did, I prayed not only for forgiveness, but for my Father in heaven to turn my heart around, to wash it clean of the life I had been living and not just for the moment either. But to help me in sustaining that clean heart, to help me as I struggle with life and the temptations Satan put’s in my way.
And I can truthfully say, from that moment to this I have felt God working in my life and using me for His kingdom. Not in some kind of supernatural miraculous way, but in ways that continue to give me strength. I also know, had I not had that change of heart, had I not sincerely desired Jehovah to cleanse my heart, those wonderful changes would not have happened.
I am not relating this to say “Look at me and what I’ve done!” I’m relating it to you so that you might know it is true, God can and will create in you a clean heart if you truly desire it.
Many people today think repentance begins by them proving they are mostly good. David understood something even better. He understood that when we stand before God, our hope is not our goodness. Our hope is His mercy.
The tax collector in Luke 18 understood this. Let’s read that, in Luke 18:10-13:
“10 Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
Luke 18:10-13
While the Pharisee listed his accomplishments, the tax collector simply cried:
"God be merciful to me a sinner."
Jesus said that man went home justified.
You see, repentance begins when we stop arguing our case and start pleading for God's grace.
II. True Repentance Accepts Responsibility
Psalm 51:3-4
"3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment."
Psalm 51:3-4
David repeatedly says:
• My transgressions
• My sin
• I have done this evil
There is no blame shifting from David. And that is remarkable because from the very beginning mankind has excelled at avoiding responsibility.
Adam blamed Eve.
Eve blamed the serpent.
Saul blamed the people.
Pilate blamed the crowd.
We often blame our upbringing or our circumstances. We blame our stress or our environment.
Yet David simply says "I did it."
David understood. He understood that repentance cannot occur until responsibility is accepted.
Imagine a patient who refuses to admit he’s sick and will never seek treatment.
I’m reminded of a friend of mine who lived in D.C. She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, so much so that just being seen with her made me look so much better. One day she got sick and thought she’d just treat the symptoms and it would go away. After a couple of weeks she was still so sick she decided to go to the ER where they quickly admitted her. All during her illness she kept telling anyone who would listen, including her doctors and nurses, that she was going to be all right and she didn’t want to be kept in the hospital. After a few days in the hospital she passed away, denying up to her last breath that anything was wrong with her.
Likewise, a sinner who refuses to acknowledge his or her sin – they will never seek forgiveness.
God can forgive confessed sin, but he won’t forgive the sin we refuse to acknowledge.
III. True Repentance Recognizes the Seriousness of Sin
Psalm 51:4
"4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgement."
Psalm 51:4
At first glance this passage may seem a little strange I suppose. I mean, hadn't David sinned against and with Bathsheba? Did he not sin against Uriah by sending him to the front lines of battle to be killed? Did David not sin against the nation of God? Against his own family?
Yes.
But David recognized something deeper. Every sin is ultimately a violation of God's will.
The prodigal son of Luke 15 said in verse “18b …I have sinned against heaven..."
Joseph refused Potiphar's wife saying:
"9b How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
Genesis 39:9b
Many in the world today, in the church as well, treat sin lightly. Too lightly. Like it’s not even really a sin. Cussing, sleeping around with someone not their spouse, stealing, lying, cheating… and the list could probably go on and on for days.
Yet Jehovah God never takes sin lightly. And the cross reminds us how serious sin really is.
If sin could have been removed in any another way, Christ would never have needed to die. Sin is not merely a mistake that we make. Sin is a rebellion against the Creator, the almighty God.
David finally understood that.
IV. True Repentance Seeks Inner Change
Psalm 51:6-12
“6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
Psalm 51:6-12
This section of the chapter contains some of the most beautiful words in Scripture.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God."
David does not merely ask for forgiveness. He asks for transformation. There is a difference.
Many people want forgiveness because they dislike consequences. David wanted something deeper. He wanted his heart changed.
Notice his requests:
• "Wash me" (v7) - He wants cleansing.
• "Purge me" (v7) - He wants purification.
• "Create in me a clean heart" (v10) - He wants renewal.
• "Renew a right spirit within me" (v10) - He wants restoration.
• "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation" (v12) `- He wants fellowship with God his Creator.
This is what genuine repentance looks like.
A little boy once broke a valuable vase. And when he was confronted, he admitted what happened. But then he added: "I wish I hadn't done it—not because I'm in trouble, but because I hurt Mom."
That is the difference between regret and repentance. You see, one fears consequences, while the other grieves the damage done.
David wanted more than relief. He wanted renewal.
V. True Repentance Leads to Changed Living
Psalm 51:13
"13 Then will I teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you."
Psalm 51:13
David understood something important. He understood that forgiveness should produce service to Jehovah.
A forgiven sinner becomes a witness. A restored child of God becomes a teacher. Some of the strongest Christians are people who have known failure.
Why?
Because they understand grace.
The Apostle Paul never forgot what he had been.
Yet God's mercy transformed him into one of Christianity's greatest servants.
David is basically saying: "If You restore me, I will help others." Now he isn’t saying it as a way of bartering with God. I believe what he is saying there in verse 13 is that with his changed and repentant heart he will tell and teach others of and about God so they too can return to Him.
God's forgiveness should never make us complacent. It should make us grateful.
VI. God Desires a Broken and Contrite Heart
Lets skip down in our reading to Psalm 51:16-17
"16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise."
Psalm 51:16-17
This may be the central lesson of this psalm.
David could offer sacrifices. He could bring thousands of animals to the altar and sacrifice them. But he understood that rituals alone would not solve the problem.
God wanted his heart.
Throughout Scripture God has always desired sincere obedience over empty ritual.
Consider for a moment, our partaking of the Lord’s Supper. It is in a sense a ritual which we observe every Sunday, every first day of the week, principally because Jesus told us to. But the Lord’s Supper is more than a ritual. It is a time during our worship that we focus our heart and our mind on the love and sacrifice of Jesus our Savior. Or we should be focusing our heart and mind.
But when we partake of the bread and fruit of the vine what is the condition of our heart… where is our mind, our thoughts? Are they looking back at that day over 2000 years ago and that man hanging on the cross willingly and lovingly – for us?! Or are we thinking about how long the sermon will last, what we are doing for lunch or dinner after worship? Is our heart and our mind centered on Jesus and focused on His sacrifice. You see, that is what Jehovah wants from us. Sincere obedience. A heart that is pure and clean. And not just in the Lord’s Supper, but in our daily lives, from the moment we wake in the morning to the moment we close our eyes for the night. Keeping our hearts clean. Keeping our hearts clean from lust, from envy, from cussing and all forms of vulgarity and from all other wicked thoughts.
Israel often brought sacrifices while their hearts remained far from God. And Jesus condemned religious leaders who honored God with their lips while their hearts were elsewhere.
God is not impressed by appearances. He looks within.
A broken heart is not weakness. It is strength enough to admit wrong and seek God's help.
The person who refuses to humble himself before God remains trapped. While the person who falls before God in repentance finds mercy.
Application
Psalm 51 asks each of us some difficult questions.
- Have I become comfortable with sin?
- Have I excused attitudes or actions that I know displease God?
- Do I make excuses instead of accepting responsibility?
- Do I blame circumstances rather than admitting my wrongdoing?
- Am I more concerned with consequences than I am with repentance? Concerned with going to hell more than being concerned with trying to be holy and sanctified.
- Would I still be sorry if no one else ever knew? Oh that one is so very easy to fall prey to isn’t it. We think no one knows – but we conveniently forget that Jehovah knows.
- Do I truly desire a clean heart? Not merely forgiveness—but transformation?
The beauty of Psalm 51 is that it shows us that even terrible sin does not place a person beyond God's mercy when genuine repentance occurs.
David committed adultery. He participated in murder. Yet God forgave him when he genuinely repented.
That does not minimize the consequences. David still suffered consequences. But it magnifies God's grace.
Conclusion
Psalm 51 is not ultimately about David.
It is about God's mercy.
A holy God stands ready to forgive sinners who come to Him with humble hearts.
David's prayer remains one of the greatest prayers a Christian can pray:
"10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."
Psalm 51:10
Perhaps there is someone here today, or watching this on YouTube and they are carrying guilt.
Perhaps there is someone who knows there is sin between them and God.
And perhaps there is someone who has tried to hide it, excuse it, or ignore it.
David tried all those things. Not one of them worked.
Only repentance brought restoration.
God still responds to broken hearts, He still forgives and He still restores. And God still welcomes those who come to Him seeking a clean heart.
If you have never obeyed the gospel of Christ, you can receive the cleansing that only His blood provides.
If you are a Christian who has wandered, remember David's example. The way back begins with honest repentance and humble confession.
The God who heard David's prayer is the very same God who hears yours today. He hasn’t changed one iota. The God you and I talk to through prayer is the very same God who cleansed the earth of sin with a flood. The very same God who commanded us to have no other God’s but Him. And the very same God who loves you and me and every person who has ever walked the earth enough to send His only Son to die so violently and cruelly – AND willingly, because He loves us.
He is the same today as He was two hundred and fifty years ago. The same as He was 2000 years ago.
He is the very same God who 3000 years ago was sought after by a king who desired to repent and seek a clean heart after the vile things he did. God does not change. His word does not change. Ever.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God."
May that be the heartfelt prayer of every soul.
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