The Confession of Man and the Compassion of God

Psalms 51–100

The Confession of Man and the Compassion of God

Psalm 51

Main Idea: Sin is an infinitely serious offense against God, but by his grace and mercy we can be forgiven and restored to God through honest and humble confession.

Psalm 51 is one of the most well-known, humbling, convicting, and encouraging psalms in the whole Bible. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Such a psalm may be wept over, absorbed into the soul, and exhaled again in devotion; but, commented on—ah! where is he who having attempted it can do other than blush at his defeat?” (Spurgeon on the Psalms, 3). As we make our way through this psalm, we should do so humbly, pondering its meaning along the way and allowing its truth to penetrate our hearts.

In order to understand what this psalm is saying and how it applies to our lives, we need to start by reading its superscription. The events of 2 Samuel 11:1–12:23, instrumental for understanding the psalm’s message, are the psalm’s historical background. Apart from this story of David’s sin, we won’t feel the weight of Psalm 51.

David committed adultery with Bathsheba then arranged for her husband to be put to death. This tragic story is not merely there to provide historical information. We have much to learn in our own lives and in the church by looking not only at the triumphs but also at the failures of those who have gone before us. These failures should serve as a warning. Thankfully, we can also learn from David’s response to his failure in Psalm 51.

Amid the various ways this psalm teaches and shapes us, there are four simple yet significant truths we need to grasp.

Sin Is Serious

David uses words like “rebellion” (vv. 1,3), “guilt” (vv. 2,5,9), and “evil” (v. 4) throughout this psalm, reminding us that sin is offensive. The word rebellion, sometimes translated as “transgression” (ESV), refers to going against divine law. We see the nature of sin here in two ways.

First, sin defies God (v. 4). We may think the most serious consequence of our sin is the harm we bring to someone else—a spouse, children, parents, or friends. In our narcissistic age, we may even think the worst consequence of our sin is what happens to us. But that’s not a biblical view of sin.

The worst consequence—and the primary problem—of our sin is that we have defied the infinitely holy God of the universe. Think about the transition that has come about in David at this point: he has gone from asking, “How do I cover up my sin?” to “How could I do this to God?” This is the place we all need to come to. We need to see our sin for what it is—outright defiance of God himself.

In addition to defying God, sin destroys man. The effect of David’s sin with Bathsheba carried beyond David to the murder of Uriah, which also means a wife lost her husband. And, tragically, the child of David and Bathsheba died in the process. Never underestimate the power of sin in your life to cause pain in others’ lives.

Sin is comprehensive. David doesn’t just say he messed up a few times. No, he has a much more comprehensive understanding of sin. He knows sin goes back to the moment he was born (v. 5). That’s not a reference to an immoral relationship David’s mother had, nor is it a reference to the specific circumstances surrounding David’s birth. It’s a reference to the reality that affects every one of us from the moment we are born. We are born into sin. We are born with hearts that are prone to defy God and destroy others. I’ve seen in my youngest children a nature that is sweet, cute, and cuddly at one moment and in the next defiant and uncontrollable. This is true of all of us—we don’t just occasionally sin. We are comprehensive sinners, possessing a nature that is prone to disobey.

Sin is pervasive (v. 3). Like David, we too can say “my sin is always before me” (v. 3). Even in my best deeds and on my best days, when I am doing what would seem to be the most noble things, I am still prone to do those things for selfish reasons. Even in my clearest displays of Christlike actions on the outside, I can harbor some of the most evil thoughts on the inside. I am a sinner, through and through.

David’s life is a reminder that sin appears so subtly. It all started with a walk outside and a glance across the roof. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 5:29, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Jesus’s words may at first sound extreme, but they make sense given the consequences of sin. If David only knew the disastrous effects that would spring from this glance—a glance that would wreck the rest of his life—if only he had the chance to do it all over again, he would have preferred to gouge out his own eye. That’s the point of what Jesus is saying: take radical measures to guard yourself against pervasive sin that appears so subtly.

Also, sin harms so deeply. A lustful look leads to adultery, adultery to lying, lying to murder, and murder to the death of a child. And beyond this episode, David’s oldest son, Amnon, repeats the sin of his father, except he rapes his half sister. We’re reminded that sin controls so quickly. David’s sin permeated his household throughout the rest of 2 Samuel. Within two years his son Absalom murdered his brother Amnon and rebelled against his father (see 2 Sam 13–15). Sin devastates so painfully. David’s reign as king eventually ends with strife between the men of Judah in the south and the men of Israel in the north, strife that would one day lead to a divided kingdom. This devastation started with one look on one day, and it resulted in David’s crying out because his joy was gone and his bones had been “crushed” (v. 8).

Psalm 51 reminds us of the gravity of sin. You and I may think our sin is small, but it is extremely serious. What we perceive to be the slightest sin is infinitely serious before God. It’s a defiance of God, and it destroys you and others. That is not an overstatement; recall that, according to Genesis 3, sin and death entered the world through one sin. A piece of fruit was eaten, and condemnation came to all men (see Rom 5:12-21). All the effects of sin in the world—murders and rapes and holocausts and world wars and slavery and sex trafficking and thousands of other evils—trace back to that one sin in the garden.

We see the seriousness of sin throughout Scripture. To take a small snapshot, Numbers 14–16 recounts several instances of God’s judgment against sin. God’s people sinned at the edge of the promised land in Numbers 14, and God said that none of them (except Joshua and Caleb) would see the land that he swore to give to their fathers (Num 14:22-23). Then, in the next chapter, we read of the following incident:

While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the entire community. They placed him in custody because it had not been decided what should be done to him. Then the Lord told Moses, “The man is to be put to death. The entire community is to stone him outside the camp.” So the entire community brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Num 15:32-36)

Stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath! Finally, in Numbers 16, Korah and others rebelled against Moses, and ultimately against God. This rebellion elicited the following reaction from God:

Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah’s people, and all their possessions. They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. (Num 16:31-33)

These stories are written down for a reason. To a world and a culture and a church that are prone to treat sin lightly, God is repeatedly telling us how serious sin is. It destroys us.

God Is Gracious

Just as David uses different words to describe his sin, he also uses different words to describe God’s grace. From the very beginning of the psalm, David appeals to God’s “faithful love” and “abundant compassion” as he cries out for God to be “gracious” (v. 1). Then he asks that God would “un-sin” him, that is, remove his iniquity from him (v. 2) (Tate, Psalms 51–100, 21). Talk about a bold request!

David knows there is no basis in himself to warrant God’s grace. David knows he has committed two sins for which the law of Moses provided no forgiveness: adultery and murder (Campbell, From Grace to Glory, 95–96). The penalty for these sins was death (Exod 21:12; Lev 20:10). David had nothing in himself to appeal to, so his first words are a cry for mercy. He appeals to the grace of God, an attribute God has revealed about himself in the history of his dealings with his people. To Moses God revealed himself as Yahweh, who is “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin” (Exod 34:6b-7). This is the God who had said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Exod 33:19). David appeals, therefore, to the one who freely bestows his grace and mercy on the undeserving.

David knows that his cleansing is costly. It involves sacrifice. This need for a costly sacrifice leads to what James Boice (Psalms 42–106, 429) called the “most important” yet “least understood” words in Psalm 51:7: “Purify me with hyssop.” Hyssop was a small plant shaped in such a way that it could be used as a brush. The priests used hyssop to brush, or sprinkle, blood over a sacrifice or offering. For example, the prescriptions for the Passover sacrifice included, “Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin” (Exod 12:22a). In Leviticus and Numbers hyssop was used to sprinkle blood on people or sacrifices in cleansing ceremonies. So when David asks God to purify him with hyssop, he is referring to the process of sacrifice, specifically the sprinkling of blood.

David knows that the penalty for his sin is death. Therefore, in order for his sin to be removed from him, the penalty for sin must be paid by something (and, ultimately, someone) besides him. God cannot simply overlook sin as if it did not happen. Knowing God’s justice, David uses the language of sacrifice. The author of Hebrews highlights this need for sacrifice and the shedding of blood under the old covenant:

For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you. In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood. According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb 9:19-22)

The author of Hebrews also tells us how this need for sacrifices in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament by our great high priest, Jesus Christ, who “has appeared one time . . . for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26). Only on this basis can we come before a holy God:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus—he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)—and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. (Heb 10:19-22)

In our sin we can only approach God through the sacrifice of another. We must rely on Christ, who died in our place and for our sin. And it is only because of God’s costly sacrifice that his forgiveness is free for you and me. This is the wonder of God’s grace. We stand before God guilty in our sin, and he is justified in his judgment against us. But in his mercy—in his “abundant compassion” (Ps 51:1)—he makes a way for you and me to be cleansed of all our sin, to be washed whiter than snow (Isa 1:18).

Confession Is the Connection

How do we receive this grace? How can you and I be clean before God? How can our sins—in all of their comprehensiveness and pervasiveness—be wiped away completely? Confession is the connection. That’s what this whole psalm is about—acknowledgment of sin alongside pleading for forgiveness. David asks God to “purify” him and to “wash” him (v. 7). He pleads, “Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt” (v. 9).

This kind of confession involves honesty. David is completely transparent before God. He does not try to cover over his sin, for he knows he cannot do that; and he does not try to blame other people or his circumstances for his sin, something we often do. We talk about how we were tired or how someone else did something to us or how we were put in a certain situation. We are prone to do exactly what our sinful ancestors did in the very beginning. God confronted Adam in his sin, and Adam essentially said, “It was her fault” (Gen 3:12). Then God confronted Eve, and she claimed it was the serpent’s fault (Gen 3:13). Eventually, we try to blame God.

David took a different approach (vv. 16-17). He knew sacrifice was an outward ritual that must reflect an inward reality. He could not deal with his sin simply by offering a burnt offering, as if the outward act would take care of everything. David was not demeaning the sacrificial system, but he knew that in order for confession to be genuine, something had to happen on the inside, in his heart.

If we are not careful, religion can become one of the biggest cover-ups for our sin. We can live in sin, particularly secret sin, and still gather together regularly and convince ourselves that we’re OK. Sadly, we can participate in outward ritual while covering up the inward reality of sin in our lives. May God help us not to sing songs and listen to sermons while bypassing brokenness over our sin. The path to the grace of God is paved with honesty before God.

In addition to honesty, confession involves humility. David humbles himself before God and admits his wrongdoing (v. 4a). David knows he can’t escape his sin and that he needs God to take it away. This humble confession that we need God’s grace and mercy is one of the realities that sets Christianity apart from other religions.

There is nothing we can do to make cleansing and forgiveness possible. Our sins are not removed by reciting prayers, reading holy books, chanting mantras, spinning prayer wheels, fasting, taking pilgrimages, going to certain buildings, or performing certain rituals. Forgiveness comes through honestly and humbly asking God to do what we cannot do—make us clean (v. 2). And when we come before him like this and ask for his cleansing, we find that he is gracious. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). This is the greatest news in all the world: you can be made right with God, not by doing a list of good works to try to cover up the evil and uncleanness in your heart but by trusting in divine grace and confessing your need for God.

Restoration Is the Result

David doesn’t just want a clean slate; he wants a clean heart. He wants a new start. And he knows he can’t make this happen on his own, so he prays (v. 10). There’s an emphasis on inner transformation. David knows his heart is sinful, and he knows he needs God to create a change at the core of his being. David knows he doesn’t just need to try harder; he knows he needs a new heart—a radically new start—and this is exactly what God gives.

In response to our confession, God doesn’t only wipe the slate clean, washing our sins away. No, the good news of God’s grace gets even better, for God re-creates our heart. Just as God created a sun and a moon, light and darkness, the earth and the seas, so he has the power to create a new heart in you and me. This is exactly what God does for us in Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come.”

God reestablishes our joy (v. 12). Again, only God can do this. It’s God’s salvation, not David’s. God brings “crushed” bones to rejoice (v. 8). When we sin and defy God, we offend him and hinder our fellowship with him. Sin and its devastating effects steal our joy. But in confession, when we come honestly and humbly before God in our sin, he restores our relationship with him, and in the process he reestablishes our joy before him.

David had tried to conceal his sin, and that didn’t work. Concealment of sin is the pathway to misery, but confession of sin is the pathway to joy.

A quick word of caution: When we talk about being restored to God and experiencing joy again, this doesn’t mean all the consequences of sin go away. Remember, David’s sin had disastrous effects, not just in his life but in the life of his family and in all of Israel for generations to come. Likewise, when we sin, there will be consequences in our lives and in the lives of others. Sometimes people wonder why, after confessing their sin, they would still have to pay for their sin years later. However, the effects of sin don’t just disappear. But praise God that the ultimate effect of sin—death (Rom 6:23)—has been paid for by Christ!

We are absolutely looking forward to the day when Christ returns, the day when sin and its effects will be removed from the world. We will dwell with God in a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1-4). But until that day, past sin can cause present pain. Yet, even amid the pain, you can know that in Christ, because of his sacrifice, you have been restored to God. You can know that when God looks at your life, he does not see your sin. Instead, he sees the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21).

I was recently asked on a radio interview about some of my biggest regrets in life, and so many things came to my mind. There are things I wish I had never done or thought or desired. And when I think about those things, I can feel so dirty, so unclean, so regretful. I’m guessing I’m not alone in this. Even as Christians, those who have been forgiven and cleansed by God, we tend to beat ourselves up over past sin. So what do you do with these feelings of filth and regret? You go running to the reality that when the God of the universe—the only one whose opinion ultimately matters—looks at you, he doesn’t see the sin and filth and regret. His abundant mercy and faithful love in Christ have wiped those things away. We can find deep, abiding, eternal joy in that reality.

When God re-creates our heart and reestablishes our joy, by his enabling we walk with him. David goes from cleansing from God to communion with God. It is not only that his sins are washed away; he is now willing to follow God wherever and however God leads, according to his Spirit. This is what we most need in the world—a clean heart before God and a steadfast spirit to walk with him daily.

In addition to walking with God, we witness for him (v. 13). David is compelled by God’s grace to proclaim God’s grace. We have the greatest news in the world, and we should be proclaiming it in our own neighborhoods and to unreached peoples around the world. We should be telling people that Christ alone can make them clean if they will simply trust in him.

Finally, as a result of our confession to God and his cleansing, we worship him (vv. 14-15). When you realize that you have sinned against God, and that, in his grace, he has wiped away all your sins through the sacrifice of his Son on a cross, then worship is the natural (or supernatural!) overflow. We sing . . . loudly. We declare praise. And not just in each of our lives individually, for this psalm closes with a corporate cry for all the people of God (vv. 18-19). David wants the grace he has found in God to be applied across the entire community of Israel. He wants all of God’s people to worship him rightly, honestly, humbly, and truly. May it be so among you and me and our churches.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What are some ways we try to hide or justify our sin?
2. Respond to this statement: “Sin is terrible because it keeps you from reaching your potential.”
3. How would you describe David’s view of sin in Psalm 51? What does this tell us about David’s view of God, and what is the connection between these two things?
4. What are some ways our sin affects others? Give some specific examples.
5. What does Scripture mean when it says God is merciful and gracious? How is this different from God’s simply overlooking sin?
6. Is it presumptuous to ask God for mercy when we sin? Why?
7. How does Christ’s death help us understand how God can be both holy and merciful?
8. Why is it important that we be honest and specific in our confession before God?
9. How does honest confession, which we too often avoid, actually lead to joy?
10. In addition to being forgiven, what are the results of genuine confession before God?