(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)
In order for marriage to work, each party must have confidence in the fidelity of the other. A stable relationship is based on trust.
Most of the Psalms are stand-alone compositions. Rarely do they record the author and even less frequently do they preserve the reason they were written. Ps 51 is an exception to both generalizations. The superscription, a portion of text that appears after the psalm number and before the first verse, records both the author and the occasion. King David writes this as he does many others.2 Unlike most of his other compositions, though, this psalm also records the occasion.3 It was...
When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. David is actually guilty of two crimes, which the author of 2 Sam records.4
XLIV. The Foremost Contrition6
...as he offers...
Paul reiterates the right way in his letter to the church in Rome, where the apostle notes what Old Testament saints understood as necessary to have a relationship with God. The divine requirement was still both simple and straightforward, and the apostle illustrates his point with two individuals.
By the way, some Christians today think the last alternative view was actually true before Jesus, that God established animal sacrifices as a temporary means of forgiveness until the savior made his sacrifice. As David indicates in this psalm, though, animal sacrifices never functioned that way.10 To suggest they did, even symbolically, is just as wrong as when proponents first put forth the idea. The only sacrifice ever in God's plan for man's pardon was and is "the Lamb...slain from the creation of the world" (Rev 13:8c).
Have you ever done something wrong that made you wonder if God could or would forgive you? ...Have you ever wondered if you committed the unpardonable sin? ...The Bible identifies two offenses that are beyond the pale of God's forgiveness.11
By the way, if you wonder whether or not you may have committed one of the unpardonable sins, you probably have not, because one of the telltale signs is callousness toward God not a concern for God.
Notice two heinous transgressions of God's law that are not one of these two unpardonable sins: adultery and murder. Despite being capital offenses, they are still pardonable. Nathan's visit is not simply to expose the king's sin but call him to repentance, which he does, and when David repents, the prophet responds...
The primary message of this psalm, and the reason David composed it, is to encourage God's people,17 including you, that no matter how grave your sin, even if it is as grave as the king's sin, God's pardon is available to those who demonstrate The Foremost Contrition. When you need divine forgiveness, no matter how serious the transgression seems, remember the simplicity of what God requires: no animal sacrifice only sincere repentance.
Having considered The Foremost Contrition, we will look next at The Foremost Contamination, which threatens the priority of God, in Ezek 36:21.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
When Adam stayed out late several nights in a row, Eve became upset. "You're running around with other women," she charged. "Don't be ridiculous," Adam responded. "You're the only woman on earth." The quarrel continued until Adam gave up and went to bed, only to be awakened by someone poking him. It was Eve, of course. "What are you doing?" Adam asked. Eve replied... "I'm counting your ribs."A stable relationship is based on trust. Adam was not the only man in the Bible whose actions may have come under scrutiny. King David's actual infidelity drew the attention of more than his several wives.1 It drew the attention of God, and the exposure of David's sin evoked from the king The Foremost Contrition.
Most of the Psalms are stand-alone compositions. Rarely do they record the author and even less frequently do they preserve the reason they were written. Ps 51 is an exception to both generalizations. The superscription, a portion of text that appears after the psalm number and before the first verse, records both the author and the occasion. King David writes this as he does many others.2 Unlike most of his other compositions, though, this psalm also records the occasion.3 It was...
When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. David is actually guilty of two crimes, which the author of 2 Sam records.4
- The adultery with Bathsheba, and...
- The murder of Uriah
2 Sam 12:9a-b "Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own." ...13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."There was probably more to David's response than this brief confession. For a fuller account, we look to David's own description in Ps 51, where he expresses...
XLIV. The Foremost Contrition6
...as he offers...
- The penitence before God (Ps 51:16-17)
Ps 51:16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.David has a clear understanding of what forgiveness entails, forgiveness for anyone, including you, and he expresses in v. 16 what is not necessary.
1. Your pardon requires no animal sacrifice.7If that were what God wanted, then David, and you, would have to offer it. To receive God's pardon you must follow God's plan, but that plan is different, quite different, and David states in v. 17 the sole requisite of forgiveness.
2. Your pardon requires only sincere repentance.8What was clear when David writes this penitential psalm, becomes obscure by the first century, as people propose a number of alternatives to sincere repentance.
Paul reiterates the right way in his letter to the church in Rome, where the apostle notes what Old Testament saints understood as necessary to have a relationship with God. The divine requirement was still both simple and straightforward, and the apostle illustrates his point with two individuals.
- The first individual Paul cites is Abraham, who knew that to establish such a relationship with God, all a person needs is faith. In support of this point, Paul cites the author of Genesis.
Rom 4:3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
The only requisite to establish a relationship with God is faith.
- The second individual Paul cites is David, who knew that to maintain such a relationship, even if it is damaged by sin, all a person needs is still faith. In support of this point, Paul cites the author of Ps 51.
Rom 4:6 David...speaks [about] the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7a ...whose transgressions are forgiven....
The only requisite to maintain a relationship with God, even if it is damaged by sin, is still faith, faith in God's willingness to pardon in response to man's repentance.Paul makes this case because the simple and straightforward requirement of faith had, by the first century, become obscured. As I said, there were several competing views about how a person gains access to God,9 including the necessity of....
- Having the right ancestor, like being a descendent of Abraham, or
- Performing the right deeds, like giving to the poor, or
- Joining the right group, like converting to Judaism, or
- Making the right offering, like an animal sacrifice.
By the way, some Christians today think the last alternative view was actually true before Jesus, that God established animal sacrifices as a temporary means of forgiveness until the savior made his sacrifice. As David indicates in this psalm, though, animal sacrifices never functioned that way.10 To suggest they did, even symbolically, is just as wrong as when proponents first put forth the idea. The only sacrifice ever in God's plan for man's pardon was and is "the Lamb...slain from the creation of the world" (Rev 13:8c).
Have you ever done something wrong that made you wonder if God could or would forgive you? ...Have you ever wondered if you committed the unpardonable sin? ...The Bible identifies two offenses that are beyond the pale of God's forgiveness.11
- The first offense is blasphemy against the Spirit (Matt 12:31-32).
- That is deliberately attributing to Satan what is obviously God's activity, as some religious leaders did by claiming Jesus' miracles were the devil's work. The savior himself says...
Matt 12:31 [Jesus said,] every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.... 32c ...either in this age or in the age to come.
- The second offense is apostasy from the faith (Heb 10:26-27).
- That is deliberately abandoning what a person knows to be true about God, often to throw off His moral restraints, in order to pursue one's own agenda. The author of Hebrews says...
Scripture identifies these two sins as unpardonable, because there is no remedy for them in this life or the next.Heb 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
- They are unpardonable in this life because the person refuses to repent.
- They are unpardonable in the next life because it is then too late to repent.
Again, what makes these unpardonable is not the seriousness of the sin but the stubbornness of the sinner. It is not that God is unable to redeem but that man, having reached this point, is unwilling to repent.
- After death, "man is destined...to face judgment" (Heb 9:27).12
By the way, if you wonder whether or not you may have committed one of the unpardonable sins, you probably have not, because one of the telltale signs is callousness toward God not a concern for God.
Notice two heinous transgressions of God's law that are not one of these two unpardonable sins: adultery and murder. Despite being capital offenses, they are still pardonable. Nathan's visit is not simply to expose the king's sin but call him to repentance, which he does, and when David repents, the prophet responds...
2 Sam 12:13b "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."13God's mercy to David, despite the gravity of the king's transgressions, illustrates how much God is willing to forgive those who regret what they have done and request His clemency. God's mercy to David also illustrates that in this life, at least,...
- There is always a chance to change.14
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins [as David did, God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.We must not, however, allow His generosity to lull us into complacency, thinking "we [should] go on sinning so that grace may increase" (Rom 6:1b).15 While there is always a chance to change...
- There is also a price to pay.
Heb 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.David's sin did not cost him his life, but it cost him in other ways. After assuring the king of God's pardon, the prophet relates the cost nationally, politically, and personally. The Lord tells David...
2 Sam 12:10a ...the sword will never depart from your house [= the national cost].... 11b ...I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you [during a coup that will oust you from power = the political cost]... 14b [and] the son born to you [by Bathsheba] will die [= the personal cost].David wanted his sins to remain private, and he went to great lengths to conceal them but, despite a person's best efforts, most sins eventually become public, as did his. Moreover, the effect of the king's sin, those whose lives it touched, went far beyond David. While the king takes the chance to change, there is also a price to pay.16
The primary message of this psalm, and the reason David composed it, is to encourage God's people,17 including you, that no matter how grave your sin, even if it is as grave as the king's sin, God's pardon is available to those who demonstrate The Foremost Contrition. When you need divine forgiveness, no matter how serious the transgression seems, remember the simplicity of what God requires: no animal sacrifice only sincere repentance.
Having considered The Foremost Contrition, we will look next at The Foremost Contamination, which threatens the priority of God, in Ezek 36:21.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)
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Jim Skaggs