Karl lay dying of head wounds in an Austrian hospital. Simon Wiesenthal was a Jewish concentration camp prisoner at the time, cleaning garbage. Towards evening a nurse took him by the arm and brought him to the bed of this young storm trooper who had only hours to live. Karl grabbed Wiesenthal’s wrist, and urgently whispered how he needed to confess some terrible things he had done – things that haunted him, which he needed to clear up before he died. It seems his army unity had been stationed in a Russian village and ordered to take reprisals for a local uprising. They packed a frame house with Jews, including many children, poured gasoline on the floors, locked the doors and set the house on fire. People near the windows jumped. The soldiers machine gunned them before they landed. Children, too. Karl, weak though he was, appeared to be weeping as he told the tale, and begged for forgiveness. He could have no peace until he was forgiven. Horror struck, Simon Wiesenthal listened, numb. Finally, he yanked his hand free, turned and walked away. The young soldier died soon after, the wound and horror in his heart greater than the pus-soaked, bloody one on his head. (L. Smedes The Art Of Forgiving p.50)To some degree I think most of us could identify with what Simon Wiesenthal did that day. He could not bring himself to extend forgiveness. Retribution was needed. Justice demanded suffering on the part of this perpetrator. The families of murder victims could easily identify with him, as they call for the death penalty...... that the perpetrator be forced to pay. What is more, what power would he have to forgive? Some 500 years before Karl, another young German, Martin by name, experienced a similar soul-crisis; a crushing burden that threatened to destroy him. He was haunted by what he had done. Sleep eluded him. No matter what he did to try and elude the ghosts of his violations the guilt remained, the sense of distance from the One he had wronged remained, the walls strong and imposing. His guilt and shame stemmed not from a wrong against another for whom he could seek reconciliation, but against his Creator. Yet when he turned to seek mercy, all he heard was justice, demand for perfection, absolute righteousness. He tried to confess his sins to the priests at the Abbey, but they could offer him no hope. Like Simon Wiesenthal, they were not the ones with the power to forgive.Martin had ruined the relationship with his heavenly Father, was separated from heaven by a huge dark wall – the wall erected by his sin. Luther was terrified of death; that he would, like Karl, end his life without having been able to rid himself of this horrible burden that he had brought on himself. To find peace, Luther turned to the Bible and eventually found there the key that unlocked the prison in which his soul was bound. He shared his discovery, a renewed understanding of the Bible’s teaching, with the Church and the world. Luther’s life was radically transformed by the simple declaration that God both demands perfection and supplies perfection, that God’s wrath against our sin is satisfied by God’s love for us. The result is a deep inner peace, peace that Luther found, a peace of mind and heart that eluded Karl. Finding peace: That’s the very basic and central theme of Psalm 51. The one who wrote it would have totally identified with the young soldier. He, too, had committed cold-blooded murder. He, as king of ancient Israel, had murdered the loving, loyal husband of a beautiful woman he had lusted after, ravished and impregnated. For months after, David tried to rationalize things away. But it wouldn’t go away. Eventually God called his bluff by sending a prophet who pointed a long, bony finer at him and declared, "You’re the man." At that point everything caved in; pretence crumpled. The game was up; the charade over, the truth fully in the open. David, brought fully to his knees, finally open and honest, pens the gut-wrenching prayer of his heart which we have today as Psalm 51. ("Finding Peace," Ken Gehrels, Calvin Christian Reformed Church, Nepean, ON)Basis of our Peace: Confession - verses1-2 Surprising starting point Where do we start when we talk about repentance? What is the first step in confession? We may assume that it is a knowledge of sin, that we have broken God’s Law. While that is indeed important as we will see later, it is not the first step. Notice where David begins. In a prayer of confession over a grievous sin, David begins not with remorse or contrition over evil, but with assurance that God is gracious and will forgive. David begins with words which presuppose love. Look at what David seeks. He wants mercy (hen). This is a call for pity to be taken. It is a picture of the greater condescending to the lesser, bending down to give aid. On what basis can David make this request? How dare he assume that God would ever comfort him? It is according to His unfailing love, His great compassion. These words recall God’s promise to Israel. They are covenantal; they flow out of the pledge God made to His people that He would show them hesed (loving compassion) and raham (tender mercy). This great compassion comes from the Hebrew for "womb;" it is the motherly affection, tender mercy which will not harm a weak and defenseless creature. During the Civil War a very young Confederate soldier was caught trying to desert. He was ushered into the tent of General Lee. Sensing the young man was obviously frightened, Lee tried to put him at ease. "Don't worry son," the General said, "You'll find justice here." The young solder replied, "That's what I'm afraid of, Sir." Our sins deserve justice, punishment. But what we need is mercy. This mercy we need is a gift of God that He promises to those who come to Him not as a judge, trying to excuse their actions, but as to a loving Father seeking forgiveness based on the family tie. Repentance is not wallowing in despair, hoping God will notice how contrite we are and tell us to lighten up. Rather, repentance is but a tear in the eye of faith. There is joy in repentance that we will see here which should excite us to see our sin, for in that brief moment of pain over our offending a righteous God we then are privileged to be embraced by a reconciled Father. What needs to be done? David now lists in summary form what must be done so that mercy is shown. Repentance begins with the assumption that God will keep His word and deal with the sin. What then must be done to restore us, to give us peace once again? David is clear in recognizing what he has done. -Transgressions: this word refers to a defection from covenant, open departure from God; it is rebellion against what God has demanded. -Iniquity: This word has the legal category of guilt attached to it. It refers to crooked dealing. -Sin: The more common term speaks of a wandering off the path, of not doing one’s duty, of missing the mark. "Blot out" is language from the bank and accountant’s office. It refers to the removal of lines from the ledger book, the elimination of a debt. The effects of sin are seen in this prayer, the first being that we are debtors to God and only God can remove that debt. Just as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, "forgive us our debts," we confess that only God can remove that liability. It is significant that when on the Cross, our Lord’s final words were the language of debts removed. The final words: "It is finished" comes from the stamp used to mark a bill that has been paid, a debt removed:"paid in full," we would say. Paul uses this same idea of erasing debt when he speaks of Christ’s work on the Cross when he says in Colossians 2:14: And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. "Wash away and cleanse" take us from the ledger to the laundry. Here our sin is seen as a stain. As a child I had three types of clothes. There were clothes for play, consisting of jeans and a t-shirt, clothes for school (since jeans were forbidden) which were nice slacks and a button shirt, and then the church clothes. The latter were the worst, for they were the most uncomfortable and were worn in the most formal of occasions. When those went on, I knew I was in for a very, very long day. What made it even worse was that I had to be extra careful not to soil them or slide on my knees. But the inevitable would always happen. I would flee from the confines of church but still constrained by these clothes – only to find a pile of dirt which was too much to resist. But recognizing my error too late, my knees showed the sin of dirt. I would slither into the bathroom, splash some water on the dirt, rub it with a towel – but to no avail. The stain only grew in size and seriousness. It was only then did I realize that my only choice was to stand before my mother, grime entrenched in the very fibers of my Sunday best, and admit that she and she alone was able to remove the stain of my sin. How much like us, when we see the stain of sin in our lives, to seek to scrub and cleanse, only to at some point realize that our futile efforts only worsen the problem. God’s promise stands firm: He and He alone can remove our stain. I find the metaphors David uses here interesting. Do you recall the events which revealed David’s sinful desires? Remember how he spied Bethsheba while she was ritually bathing, an act of obedience to the Mosaic Law which was but another reminder of God’s cleansing us of our sin. Now David sees that he too needs to bathe in God’s grace. The words to that great hymn, "Rock of Ages," by Augustus Toplady drive home this point, how when we come to Christ, we come only empty handed; we come naked; we come in need of cleansing. Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress; Helpless, look to thee for grace; Foul, I to the Fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die. Contents of confession - verses 3-9 Make it personal - verses 3-6 For months David ignored and tried to cover up his sin. He contrived plots and murdered so that his adultery would go unnoticed. But even if he was successful at deceiving Nathan and the nation of his crimes, he could not deceive himself. His sin was staring him in the face. Even if for those months before Nathan cornered him he stuffed the truth of his life, his sin was still there. This is a critical step in repentance: not only must you know the grace and mercy of your Savior, you must also know the depth of your own sin. Confession is not just filling God in on what you did, rather confession is acknowledging what God knew all along. It is that final point when you stop trying to excuse your sin, rationalizing it away. Not only does repentance demand we come clean with what we have done, repentance also admits that our sin is ultimately against God. Verse 4 at first seems odd, as though David misses an important point. What about his sin against Bethsheba or his killing Uriah? He sinned against others, too. What about his other wives as he counted them worthless when he went after another man’s wife? He sinned against other soldiers in their deaths, and sinned against other families in loss of husbands, fathers and sons. There was sin against palace servants, implicating them in his own sin and crime as well as pulling Joab into the web of his deception. But his sin against them is ultimately sin against God. As people are created in the image of God; when we harm them, we are doing that which is an affront to God. Our sin always goes back to God. God’s weight of judgment always outweighs all others. This is not half hearted repentance, not partial contrition - like the man who wrote a letter to the Bureau of Internal Revenue saying, "I haven't been able to sleep because last year, when I filled out my income tax report, I deliberately misrepresented my income. I am enclosing a check for $150, and if I still can't sleep, I'll send you the rest." Or the cartoon of the man in the Hallmark store, saying: "Do you have a card that stops short of saying ‘I’m sorry’ yet vaguely hints of some wrongdoing.?" David recognizes an important truth regarding his sin in verses 5-6. His problem is not his sins, but his sin. The issue at hand is not that he has done something wrong, but that he is wrong. He is going to the source; he is not a sinner because he has sinned, but he has sinned because he is a sinner. David appears to impugn his mother’s character, soiling her reputation. But what David says in verse 5 is what Paul says in Romans 5: Adam, our federal head, imputed to us his guilt and shame. Theologians call this original sin, that is, we are born sinners. We cannot educate it out of us; we can not manipulate the genes to eradicate it out of us. It is decreed to be ours because our first parent stood in our place and broke God’s law. But we cannot simply blame him, for each and every day we follow in the same pattern. Who taught you to sin? Where did you learn to lie? Did you have to go to school in order to learn how to be dishonest, to lie or to cheat? Did your parents carefully train you in how to deceive others? No. Every parent here knows that children do "what comes naturally." There is a rebellious independence, a self-assertiveness, that is present in the tiniest infant and it is there right from the very beginning. But we see the hope of the Gospel in verse 6. We are sinners from birth and God demands perfection. It’d seem all is lost, but look at the second phrase in verse 6. David uses a future here to express hope. That which God demands, God will provide. That provision is listed in the next section, describing God’s work. God’s work of divine restoration - verses 7-9 The tone begins to change. David, having admitted his own sinfulness, now turns his attention away from his sin and sees what God does with sinners like him. There is a confidence, a faith in God’s mercy that, given the depth from which David comes, shows how great our God is. David returns to the imagery with which he began: cleansing. What does it mean to be cleansed with hyssop? Hyssop is a sponge-like plant that grew in Israel which was used to apply blood from a sacrificed animal to someone who was considered unclean. Hyssop was used to apply the blood of the passover lamb onto the doorposts and lintels. Hyssop was used on the person healed of skin disease or who had touched a dead body. When hyssop was used something had to die; its blood had to be drained. David knows he can be cleansed only by the death of another. It should come as no surprise then that in John 19 it is hyssop that places sour wine on Jesus’s lips, after which He pronounces that the debt is paid in full, forgiveness secured. The result of this touch of hyssop is cleansing. But the word David uses here is different than in verse 2. That was a word of washing out a spot. This word was used of ceremonial cleansing, of moral purification. David speaks with certainty that when God applies grace and forgiveness, there is a change. The phrase could almost be translated: "I will be de-sinned!" This supernatural process of radical transformation continues as God does what no launder could ever do – dye a red piece of cloth white. This is no half-measure, not a partial work. It is not enough that God will take an adulterer and make him faithful to his wife, but that He will take an adulterer and declare him faithful. Having wallowed in the muck of his sin, he now is able to sing of God’s grace. Just as the Christian, when seeing his sin, finds himself or herself in the depths of sorrow, so also when they see God’s forgiveness there is no one more glad than that believer. At first, his misery was greatest, but since his delivery is so great, then his joy is greatest. From hell and death is he freed, to life in heaven is he brought. Notice the effect of grace in a sinner: the crushed bones rejoice. The word "rejoice" in Hebrew is linked with a word which means "to circle," probably picturing what someone does when they are filled with joy – they dance! God first breaks our bones, so that He can heal us, so that in response, we dance. That pain, sorrow and agony over sin must never end with remorse, but move on to exuberance which is scarcely confinable. This is what grace does, even to Presbyterians. There is a righteous boogie, a sanctified waltz. Results of confession - verses 10-19 Inward renewal – sanctification - verses 10-12 Time permits us only to breeze through this, but we still must make some important points. Where there is confession, there is change. As repentance clings to the promises of the Gospel, looks to the completed work of Christ, God in His grace then transforms us. It is here that justification and sanctification are joined together, for God does not declare righteous without making righteous. This inward change is expressed by a series of imperatives in verses 10-12. Having just expressed certainty in God’s forgiveness in verses 7-8, David now implores God to complete this work. "Create in me a pure heart..." This is not just a slight change. The word means to make something new, not just refurbish. David knows he needs a new heart. But what good is a new heart if he falls so quickly again? For that reason he next asks for a steadfast spirit, a firmness of faith that will not waiver with each passing emotion. Having seen what happened to Saul, David desires to remain in God’s presence, to maintain His favor. There is not time enough to unpack this, but suffice it for now, take care not to think that what David expresses in a moment of anguish over sin to be a statement regarding believers losing their salvation. That is not what this is saying. This is not a discussion of the doctrine of perseverance, but a description of the practice of perseverance. Third, David desires to know the joy he had once before. To have that joy, one must have both a sense of sin and forgiveness. Just as there is an internal change, as God works within us what He has accomplished for us, so also there is an external change: when we see our sin and know our forgiveness because of Christ, we can not help but to speak. External praise – worship - verses 13-19 David is able to speak out of his experience. Sinners will turn back; he will teach transgressors God’s ways ... of grace, of forgiveness. When grace ceases to be an academic category, when forgiveness is not just a theological construct, but a way of life, there is nothing that will stop you. But too often, rather than pointing to God’s work in Christ on our behalf, we point to our own goodness; we uphold what we’ve done right. That convinces no one; rather we should be the chief repenters, pointing to our sin so that we can point to our Savior. "The church is a powerful church only when it is a penitent church. A comfortable easy-minded church has no power to stir the world either to salvation or to opposition." - Leon Morris In verses16-19 David does not disparage the sacrificial system given by God. Rather he sets everything in the proper perspective. Sacrifices flow out of faith; they come from a life that has experienced God’s grace. They never earned God’s favor. For that reason, when faced with sin, God wants brokenness first; He desires we see our sin and then look to the Savior. We don’t obey to appease God, we obey because God is appeased by Christ and pleased with us because of Him. Let me close where I began. Martin Luther’s struggle with his sin and the need for forgiveness brought him to a place where he could, like David, teach transgressors God’s ways, God’s ways of mercy and transforming grace. In a letter from Martin Luther to George Spalatin, a friend and co-worker in Reformation, he gave the comfort that comes from this Psalm to his friend. Spalatin gave advice he later believed to be sinful. He became immersed in grief and shame. He was convinced he should’ve known better. Luther wrote to offer absolution and comfort: "My faithful request and admonition is that you join our company and associate with us who are real, great, and hard-boiled sinners. You must by no means make Christ to seem paltry and trifling to us, as though he could be our helper only when we want to be rid from imaginary, nominal, and childish sins. No, no! That would not be good for us. He would rather be a Savior and Redeemer from real, great, grievous and damnable transgressions and iniquities, yea, from the very greatest and those shocking sins; to be brief, from all sins added together in a grand total… Dr. Staupitz confronted me on a certain occasion when I was in the same hospital and suffer the same affliction as you, by addressing me thus: "Aha! You want to be a painted sinner and, accordingly, expect to have in Christ a painted savior.. You will have to get used to the belief that Christ is a real Savior and you are a real sinner. For God is neither jesting nor dealing in imaginary affairs, but He is greatly and most assuredly in earnest when he sent his son in the world and sacrificed him for our sakes." What moved a Luther from the remorse of sins still sticking to his flesh and a joy found in confessing sin was that at last he knew there was a Savior powerful enough to forgive those sins. Far too often, you and I settle for a two-dimensional savior and we possess only two-dimensional sins. I trust that today you will find the joy and happiness that comes seeing the depth of your sin so that you can see the depth of Christ’s love for you.
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