If you had one hour to live and you could have one song going through your mind for your comfort and encouragement, what would it be? Over the past few years, I have read several accounts of men and women going to the stake or with their head on the chopping block reciting Psalm 51. One called Psalm 51 the Martyrs psalm.  

But they aren’t alone in their adoration of this psalm. Athanasius, an early church father, once recommended to Christians that they recite it when they wake up in the middle of the night. Luther once claimed “there is no other psalm more often sung or prayed in the church.” A lesser known Protestant Reformer, named Viktor Strigel said of Psalm 51: “This Psalm is the brightest gem in the whole book, and contains instruction so large, and doctrine so precious, that the tongue of angels could not do justice to the full development”.  Spurgeon said, this Psalm is a “matchless psalm well suited for the individual as well an assembly of the poor in spirit.” 

Psalm 51 brings together the painful reality and depth of sin and the wonder of divine mercy. Psalm 51 comes to us in the form of lament; it is a psalm of repentance, of confession. It’s written by King David, a man after God’s own heart, Bathesheba, adultery and fathered a son, conspired to kill her husband. For a year he went on like nothing happened, until the prophet Nathan came… and this Psalm is the result of the Lord’s dealing with David’s sin. You might be thinking, what does this have to do with me? This psalm is for someone who has really blown it. And of course it is. But it isn’t just for that person.

There are some here (or watching) who have a woefully shallow and inadequate view of our sin and the glory of God’s mercy - this is for you. There are others who think they are too holy or mature or committed to really blow it - this is for you. There are others who have fallen headlong into egregious sin, and wonder if there is any hope for you, and be forgiven or useful to God again - this Psalm is for you. There are others who know the daily battle against sin - this psalm is for you. The issue is not whether Christians sin or not, we do. The issue is whether we have made peace with and cherish our sin or hate and forsake it. 19th Century Scottish minister William Arnot wrote,

The difference between a converted person and an unconverted person is not that one sins and the other does not, but that the one takes part in his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins. 

And so, I hope you see this Psalm is for you, it is for me, and helps us to understand what true and genuine repentance is. Repentance is not something we do once and then we are done. It is ongoing. In fact, Martin Luther said all of life is repentance - turning from and forsaking sin and turning to Christ. He said: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent’, he wanted the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

So what can David, a man after God’s own heart, teach us about true and genuine repentance? Let’s dive into Psalm 51. First, David appeals to God's love and mercy. Second, David is brutally honest about his sin in confession. Third, David pleads for certain effects of God’s mercy. And fourth, David gladly resolves to obey. And I just want to say before we go further, this may be the missing ingredient to a work of renewal in your heart… and in this church. Let’s be humble and bow low before the Lord and his word.

Repentance is appealing to the Love and Mercy of God

David does not appeal to God’s justice (that wouldn’t work). He doesn’t appeal to his goodness. Nor to his sincerity. He does not even appeal to a zealous, promise to do better or pay God back. He appeals to the love and mercy of God. Two phrases in verse 1:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love… 

According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions… 

First he appeals to the steadfast love of the LORD. Steadfast love - the Hebrew word “checed” - is so rich. It is the faithful, covenantal, unstoppable, always-pursuing, never-ending love of God for the undeserving. Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and steadfast love (checed) shall follow me all the days of my life…” And that’s the kind of love David appeals to, because he has blown it. He doesn’t deserve mercy, forgiveness, etc. He doesn’t say, “Hey, it’s me David, the man after your own heart.” He says, “please give me mercy according to your steadfast love…” 

The next phrase is so sweet. “According to your abundant mercy…” I am not aware of any place in the scriptures that speak of God being rich in wrath. But it does say he is rich in mercy. And so repentance appeals to the “abundant” mercy of God. The finished, merciful work of Christ on our behalf does not make ongoing repentance and confession unnecessary. It makes it possible and full of hope. Imagine coming to God in confession and repentance unsure of his mercy in Christ. The bible is clear - we come to God based on his grace and mercy in Christ or based on his justice. We long for mercy. It was because of God’s rich mercy that we were saved when dead in our sins.. Listen to Ephesians 2:4-5:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. 

To approach God with a broken and contrite heart and see God as a harsh taskmaster, driving us at the end of a whip is to see a different god than David saw. To be sure, David didn’t spare himself at all when describing and confessing sin, which we will see in just a bit. And we shouldn’t either. But let’s set the record straight: God’s mercy is greater than our deepest sin. Listen to Spurgeon:

Men are greatly terrified at the multitude of their sins, but here is comfort - our God has multitude of mercies. If our sins be in number as the hairs on our head, God’s mercies are as the stars of heaven.  

And that is why David (and you and I) can be brutally honest about our sin. So after appealing to the mercy of God, David confesses his sin with brutal honesty. 

Repentance is Brutal Honesty and Confession of Sin 

3 For I know 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. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

David has an acute understanding of the severity of sin (sorely needed) and doesn’t try to justify it or cover it up, but is brutally honest and confesses it . And this confession of sin comes not from a cool, academic acknowledgement, but from a broken and contrite heart (verse 17), which is the kind of sacrifice that pleases God. Thomas Watson said “until sin is bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” So repentance includes a painfully honest, broken-hearted confession of sin . And not sin generally, but our own sin. Until our sin is bitter, Christ will not be sweet. Let’s take a look at David’s real, painful honesty. 

Notice first, David acknowledges just how deep sin is lodged in him - he was conceived and born in sin (v. 5). Sin is something that is deeper than our outward actions. It’s been said that all are sinners not because we sin but rather sin because we are sinners. And even as Christians, though forgiven through the blood of Jesus, we must understand that our sinful nature is not completely eradicated. There is still the reality of indwelling sin. 

David uses three words to describe his sin in Psalm 51: iniquity, transgression, and sin. Of course there is overlap, but each term seems to be used deliberately. Iniquity is perversity or a distortion of what should be. Transgression is to rebel against God’s authority and law. And sin is to miss the mark. 

Next David confesses the principal offense of sin. It is first and foremost (and always) against God. Verse 4: “Against you, you only have I sinned”. Of course David did sin against Bathsheba’s husband Uriah by having him killed and the nation of Israel as their king. But here we learn something important. If we go no further than the horizontal dimension, we are playing games. First and foremost sin is against God, every time. 

Next David calls his sin evil in the sight of God. Evil is a shocking word. We use it. But not when describing ourselves or our actions. We use it when describing the actions of others. What Adolf Hitler did was evil. Pol Pot - he’s evil. Planned Parenthood, what they do is evil. My pride? A weakness. My outburst of anger - a slip up. My greed - misplaced desire. No, let’s call it what it is - this is confession. My pride and selfishness is evil. My ingratitude to God for his rich mercy toward me is evil. My gossip is evil. My rough anger is evil.  

Do you hear the sorrow, the anguish of David’s heart at offending God? This sorrow is good for our sin is good and a necessary part of true repentance that leads to life. Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:10: “Godly grief (sorrow) produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.”

Repentance is Pleading For the Effects of God’s Mercy

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.

He pleads for God’s deep work in his heart. Generally, we see at least four things he seeks the Lord for:

1) Cleansing from sin’s pollution:

“Purge me and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (v. 7).  Verse 10 says, “Create in me a clean heart...” Sin contaminates and poisons our hearts (Peter in 1 Peter 2:11) 

2) Nearness to God (v. 11): 

“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” (anointing and experience of nearness, not loss of salvation)

3) Deep Moral Renewal:

“And renew a right (steadfast - NASB) spirit within me.” David uses the word “renew”. It once was there, but his dulled conscience has deadened his sense of duty and right and wrong, good and evil. And he seeks a moral renewal deep within. 

4) Serious Joy: 

1. 8 - “Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have broken rejoice”. Unhappy Christians are often unhappy because they are weighed down with unconfessed sin and consequently have a guilty conscience. And for good reason. God’s hand of stern mercy weighs upon us. David felt it. He says, “God you have broken my bones, let them rejoice” at the abundance of your mercy.” V. 12 - “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”

Repentance is Humble, Happy Resolve To Obey 

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 

Humble, grateful resolve to obey. Notice the word at the beginning of verse 13, “then”: “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” When? After God answers in mercy. 

And David sets his will to do what pleases God, “I will teach, my tongue will praise and declare, my mouth will praise.” Of course, it is dependent upon the mercy of God and the renewing work of God in his heart. But David’s sober intention to live for the glory of God and declare his righteousness and sing and tell sinners about Gods mercy gives evidence of the genuineness of David’s repentance. JI Packer said true repentance has “at its heart a serious purpose of sinning no more but of living henceforth a life that will show one’s repentance to be full and real.”

And what does this obedience entails? Proclaiming to others about the Lord. Singing of his righteousness. Declaring his praise. When our sin is bitter and Christ and his abundant mercy is so sweet, we teach, sing, and declare of mercy received and our merciful God! 

We are not saved by our good works or by our resolutions to obedience. We are saved, however, for them and God helps us to keep them: “May God fulfill your every resolve for good and work of faith by his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

God is pleased with a broken and contrite heart 

This is not a call to go on an endless search for sins that aren’t even there. But historically, times of renewal from God with lasting fruit have been accompanied by a deep work of Holy Spirit conviction and cleansing. And I look at what is going on in the world in the year of 2020, knowing God is sovereign over it all:

COVID-19, panic and fear, economic calamity, political and social unrest, corrupt politicians, wind storms destroying millions of acres of farmland. He is obviously trying to get the attention of anyone who will listen. We need to humble ourselves and go low before the Lord. Let's be humble, and do three things:

1. Memorize Psalm 51. If the great cloud of witnesses in the past recited it on the way to die for their Christ, let’s put it in our hearts and let the Spirit do His great work in our hearts through his word.
2. Let’s humbly pray like David in Psalm 139: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24). Let’s pray this with openness to the Spirit’s searching work. 
3. Let’s be open, humble, teachable, and sensitive to the Spirit and his conviction, producing in a hatred for sin and deeper love for the Lord of mercy, Jesus Christ.