Psalm 51 is a remarkable part of scripture. David committed horrific sins, including murder. And yet the Holy Spirit did not give up on him, and eventually brought forth this precious and powerful psalm as a result of that horrible sin and tragedy. David identifies the deepest need of anyone who really understands themselves: a new heart, a clean spirit. And through David and Bathsheba physically, God brought a savior to the world who gives us that new heart.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Psalms Part 7

PSALMS #7: PSALM 51.

King David is famous for many things: killing Goliath, being a great warrior and leader, being fair and just. He was not only a manly man, but also a sensitive and passionate one: he was a skilled musician and prolific songwriter, and his heart was constantly oriented toward worship and spiritual things. Unfortunately, along with all the good, David is also known for a spectacular failure: his affair with Bathsheba, and the killing of her husband.

David spent years in a tough situation, hiding from both king Saul, and the Philistines. Then in a battle that was disastrous for Israel, Saul was killed. Finally, the way was open for David to step into his destiny as the next king of Israel. There were still significant bumps on the road, but at last David became king of all Israel, and he led his people into becoming the dominant power in the region. He eliminated the immediate threats to Israel, and then began attacking countries further away, expanding the kingdom. Although he was a formidable warrior and great leader, at some point, his advisors made him stop participating in battles personally, because the whole country depended on his leadership, so it was too risky for him to be exposed to the weapons of the enemy.

So it was that David found himself in Jerusalem while his army was away elsewhere, conquering more territory. This man of action suddenly had a lot of time on his hands. One evening, from his palace, probably the tallest building in Jerusalem, he noticed a beautiful woman, bathing. Most likely, he saw her naked, since people don’t usually bathe with their clothes on. David immediately ordered his men to find her, and bring her to him. The woman, as we know, was named Bathsheba, and her husband, Uriah, was away at the war. It is possible that David seduced her, but it is also possible that Bathsheba could not have said “no” even if she wanted to. Even if she did, technically, have the choice to not sleep with him, David was the most famous and powerful man in the entire region. She would have felt a great deal of pressure to please him.

The affair was bad enough. But then she got pregnant. David, like so many men after him, decided to try and cover it up. He brought Uriah back from the war, and urged him to go home and sleep with his wife, Bathsheba. The plan, obviously, would be for Bathsheba to pretend that the child was Uriah’s, not David’s. However, in those days, it was traditional for soldiers to abstain from sex until after the battle was over. Back on the front line, Uriah’s fellow soldiers were still in danger, and in solidarity with them, and possibly also out of a superstitious fear that he might jeopardize victory, Uriah chose not to sleep with his wife. David even got him drunk, and sent him home, hoping that would erode his self control, but Uriah remained steadfast.

That self-control and integrity cost Uriah not only his wife, but his life. David gave up, and sent Uriah back to the front line. He had Uriah carry sealed orders to the commanding officer. Those orders were that Uriah should be sent to the fiercest part of the battle, and then his fellow soldiers were to withdraw from him, so that he would be killed in battle. In other words, David made Uriah carry the orders for his own murder.

It’s even worse when we realize that Uriah was one of David’s “thirty mighty men,” part of a faithful core of warriors who had been loyal to David in the difficult days before he became king. He was David’s faithful follower, who had endured many hardships with, and for, David, and now David slept with his wife, and then had him killed.

David did not appear to repent. Not long after this, the prophet Nathan came to the king. He told David about a rich man in Israel who had a great flock of sheep, goats and other animals, and a poor man who had nothing except one little lamb who was his beloved pet. The rich man had a visitor, and he was obliged to feed the visitor. But rather than take one of his own vast herd, he extorted the one beloved pet from the poor man, killed it, and fed it to his visitor, while the poor man was helpless to prevent it.

David was enraged by the injustice of what the rich man had done, and furious that such a thing would happen in Israel, where he was king. He demanded to know the name of the rich man, so he could punish him for such blatant extortion and injustice.

Nathan said: “You are the man.”

Shocked and horrified, David finally admitted his terrible sins. He repented, and he expressed his remorse and repentance by writing Psalm 51.

I think Psalm 51 is amazing at so many levels. It is a powerful part of scripture, and contains much important truth. And yet, this amazing and helpful part of the Bible came about because of terrible sins. Therefore, one of the things this psalm shows us is that God can bring good out of any situation, even good out of our own horrible, deliberate sins.

The important truths begin with the very first verse, in the way that David asks for forgiveness. He could have said, “Forgive me, Lord. After all, I am your chosen king.” He might have written: “Lord, if you don’t forgive me, all the amazing things you’ve done in my life up until now would be wasted.” Another possibility: “Forgive me, or the enemies of Israel will be encouraged. If you let something bad happen to me because of this sin, your people will be without a leader.”

He could also have made the claim – correctly – that compared to others, he had lived a mostly righteous life. Before this, he had followed the Lord even in spite of great suffering. He had refused to kill king Saul – twice – when he had him in his power. There was a lot of credit he could have claimed. But instead he asks for forgiveness on the basis of one thing alone: God’s hesed; that is, the covenant love that God has for his people. By doing so, David is saying: “I have no claim on you for forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I dare to ask for forgiveness only because I know that you are a loving God. Please forgive me because of your own good and loving character.”

One of the things that is so amazing here is that it is a thousand years before Jesus. We might have expected David to offer sacrifices at the tabernacle, and then consider that he had fulfilled his duty. In other words, he might have expected God to forgive him based on offering the right sacrifices. But he recognizes (and he says it explicitly in verses 16-17) that sacrifices mean nothing unless his heart is in it. He knows that there is nothing he can do to earn God’s forgiveness, and no good he has done in the past is enough to “make up” for his sin. His only hope is that God will have mercy on him. This is one half of the very same gospel preached by Jesus and the apostles a thousand years later. No one can be righteous enough to please God. Instead, we depend entirely on God’s willingness to have mercy on us.

In verses 3-6 David expounds on this. He fully confesses his sin and brokenness, and he goes out of this way to show that he is not making excuses. There is no hope in excuses. There is no excuse. When speaking of his sin, David uses three words, translated by the ESV as: “transgression,” “iniquity,” and “sin.”  Transgression describes a moral revolt against God. This is the part inside of us that rises up and says, “I know what’s right and wrong, but I want what I want, and I’m going to get it for myself even if it’s wrong.”

Iniquity describes an internal character of sinfulness. David says: “I was born in iniquity,” (verse 5). He means he was born with a flawed and sinful nature. The New Testament describes this as our sinful flesh. We are all deeply flawed, and not all of those flaws are wonderful and beautiful. Some part of us is broken and twisted from birth, always oriented away from God.

Finally, David uses the word “sin.” Sin (or sins) describes the wrong, bad action. His affair was a sin. The arranged murder was a sin. But it is important to see that sin is just the tip of the iceberg. It starts with a broken and twisted internal character, and then desire that rises up in rebellion against God, and bears fruit with the actual wrong action. This reminds me of what James wrote:

13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15, NLT)

David says something interesting in verse 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.” When we first read this, it can sound surprising. Surely David sinned against Uriah as well, by committing adultery with his wife, and then by having him killed! How is it that David says his sin is against only God? Although this sounds wrong at first, it turns out to be quite accurate, and important – perhaps even more important today than it was when David wrote it.

In the first place, think of it like this: If there was no God, there would be no such thing as sin. Atheists believe this, and if they were right about the non-existence of God, they would also be correct about the non-existence of sin. If there is no God, even the idea that it is wrong to hurt someone else is just an arbitrary, made up human rule. If there was no God, what David did to Uriah would be a tragedy for Uriah personally, but without God, who has the authority or power to declare it was a sin? David got away with it, after all, and he was the most powerful person in the region. Without God, that’s just the way the world works, and we need to live with it. So, you see, it can’t be a real sin unless there is some absolute standard.

The Bible tells us that the absolute standard is God’s holy character. Therefore, all sins are ultimately and finally sins against God. They are a violation of God’s holy character, and against his design for the human beings he made. There is no way to sin against another person without sinning against God as well.

Next, ask which is worse: violating the trust of another human being, or violating God’s? As a very imperfect analogy, suppose you kill your neighbor’s dog. Obviously, this is terrible for the dog, and it was wrong for you to hurt the dog. But the heart of your sin is really against your neighbor who loves the dog and is responsible for it. Obviously any human is more important than a dog, and in the same way, God is infinitely more important than any human being.

David is not saying that he did not wrong Uriah. Instead his point is that all sin is ultimately against God, and since God is infinitely greater, his sin against God is the heart of the issue. If he had not sinned against God, he certainly would not have sinned against Uriah.

This is especially important because in our world today, many people claim that nothing is really sinful if it doesn’t “hurt someone else.” So, for example, it is claimed, pornography doesn’t hurt anyone, so it’s not wrong to view it. Of course, they are wrong about pornography not hurting anyone. Hundreds, if not thousands, of former porn stars have testified that performing porn devastated them emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes physically. In addition, some of the performers are undoubtedly women who are forced or coerced into it one way or another; no better off than sex slaves. But even if everyone was truly willing to do it, and happy about it later in life, porn is still a sin against God. We can’t say “it doesn’t hurt anyone,” because even if we lived in a fantasy world where it didn’t, it would still be a sin against God.

The same arguments are made about virtually any activity engaged in by consenting adults. We claim that the only sin is when someone doesn’t consent. But David puts us straight: all sin is sin against God. Even if Bathsheba went along with it willingly, they were both sinning, because God’s holy character intends sex for marriage alone. We can’t get ourselves off the hook by saying “I didn’t hurt anyone,” or even “I didn’t coerce anyone.” No, because all sin is against God, we have no defense. David, for his part, did not pretend to have a defense. He says: “therefore you are right when you speak, and justified when you judge me.”

In verse seven, David again affirms that it must be God who cleanses him; God alone can forgive and purify, and no one can earn it. David can’t make up for what he’s done. Verses 10-12 are the heart of this hard-hitting psalm:

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. (Psalms 51:10-12, ESV)

The problem is not just our actions. Our actions come from what is inside of us. David wants an enduring solution. I know many well-meaning Christians who get this confused. Many people, after sinning like David, might say something like this. “OK, from now on, I’m not going to go up on my rooftop alone. I’ll always have a guy with me up there, to make sure I’m not watching women bathe. In fact, I’ll give my wife the key to my rooftop, and she can go up there anytime, to make sure I don’t have any views of women’s bath houses, and we’ll build a wall if I do. Next, I’m going to have Nathan as my accountability partner. Finally, I won’t stay home from the wars anymore, because I might get bored and so get into trouble.”

All that is reasonably good, but it misses the point. David didn’t sin because he happened to see Bathsheba naked. He sinned because from birth, his heart was filled with iniquity. He sinned because he didn’t take that inborn iniquity seriously. Now, after these terrible actions, David knows that the problem is inside. It’s a problem he, personally, cannot fix. So he asks the Lord to give him a new heart, a righteous spirit.

I have never committed adultery, nor conspired to have someone murdered. But my heart is no better than David’s. The same transgression inside David that led him to rebel against God is inside me, also. I’m not just saying that as a theological truth – I know myself well enough to know, experientially, that it’s true about my heart. It is good to protect ourselves against temptation. But it is not enough. We need, along with David, to ask for a brand new heart from the Lord.

God answered David’s prayer for a new and clean heart. He answered that prayer for all mankind through Jesus. When Jesus came, he made it clear that the human heart is the real problem; and that is exactly why he came to redeem us. And the power of God for redemption is so great that it was both David and Bathsheba who became physical ancestors of Jesus who brought us that salvation. If he can turn their sin around and provide, through it, salvation for all humankind, he can also renew our hearts and spirits. Like David, let’s ask him.