THE PRAYER OF TRUE PENANCE


A. "AGAINST THEE, THEE ONLY, HAVE I SINNED AND DONE THIS EVIL IN THY SIGHT" - PSALMS 51:4
  1. Modern blasphemy delights to blacken "the man after God's own heart"
    1. His was a terrible fall, terrible as well as piteous
    2. He, who was so blameless in his youth, could he, when life had begun to set, be stained so miserable through the passions of youth
  2. But more amazing is God's love for the sinner:
    1. He who knows our sinful tendencies, had great compassion on the penitent David
    2. He did have to go into judgment against the sin, but He forgave the sinner
    3. This the agnostic, the infidel, the blasphemer prefer not to mention
B. LET US, THEREFORE CONSIDER PRAYERFULLY TWO GREAT AND RELATED FACTS OF OUR OPENING TEXT
  1. Sin, its nature, and its effects:
    1. Sin is enmity toward God - Rom. 8:6-7; it is a violation of the moral law, which defines man's moral relationship to God and man - I John 3:4
    2. Sin is hideous, heart-breaking, and inexcusable because it is a reflection on the dignity and character of man, created in the likeness of God - Gen. 1:26-27; Is. 1:1-20
    3. Sin is contagious, it contaminates - Rom. 5:12; 3:23; Gal. 3:22; it separates, and it kills - Gen. 4:8-9
  2. God:
    1. Is Holy, just and good - Rom. 7:12; yea He is purer than to behold iniquity Hab. 1:13
    2. But God, too, is love - I John 4:8; His law is a revelation of His character - an expression of His love - Matt. 22:37-40
    3. God loved David, the sinner; yet He had to go into judgment with David's sin - Ex. 34:6-9
    4. What the enemies of the Bible ignore is that God went into judgment with David's sin that God went into judgment with David's sin in the person of His only begotten Son - 2 Cor. 5:18-21; the Son of God was made a curse for the sinner - Gal. 3:13
    5. In the experience of the Son of God - justice, mercy met - Ps. 85:10
C. GODLY SORROW FOR SIN MARKS THE LIFE OF THE PENITENT SINNER
  1. Most of the Psalms, written by David:
    1. Are interwoven with repentance, deep sorrow and anguish of the soul - Ps. 32; 50; 51; 55; are but a few examples of David's repentance of sin
    2. Our text emphasizes the fact that David saw how he had sinned against his best friend - "Against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight" - Ps. 51:4
  2. It was and still is, however, the goodness of the Lord:
    1. That leads sinners to repentance - Rom. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; Examples: The thief on the cross Luke 23:39-44; Mary Magdalene, out of whom the Lord had cast out seven devils - Mark 16:9; 14:3; John 12:3; Zachaeus, the publican - Luke 19:9-11; Saul called Paul - I Tim. 1:15; Gal. 2:20
    2. It was the Holy Spirit in David that made him sorrowful for sin and created a new and upright spirit in him - John 16:7-8; Ps. 51:9, 11
    3. David's penitence brought a change of heart, made him a new creature and that made the difference - it was when he had this change in his life that God spoke of him as, "a man after mine own heart" - Acts 13:22; God saw David as a new creature in Christ Jesus - 2 Cor. 5:17
  3. The prayer of penitence:
    1. Will not be left unnoticed by our heavenly Father - says John, "If we confess our sins (David did) He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" - I John 1:9
    2. Said the Lord about his sinful and estranged wife - the church, "And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou waste in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, live" - Ez. 16:6
    3. That is what he said to penitent David, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" - 2 Sam. 12:13
    4. And that is still God's answer to the penitent sinner - Is. 1:19-20; Matt. 11:28-30
    5. Because - where sin abounds, grace does much more abound - Rom. 5:20


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