We are now beginning the last segment of our study series concerning the sins of King David against God with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. Out of the many points of the spiritual principles and personal applications we studied in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12, and also last week’s study of the first half of Psalm 51, there are some important points that stand out more than others that we are going to reaffirm.
When we started our study weeks ago, the point was made that, “To fully understand the reason why David wrote Psalm 51 it is necessary to read what happened to him in 2 Samuel 11:1-27 to 12:1-25.” It is important to remember when reading these chapters, to realize that we are not just reading an interesting story about David, but we are reading true events of a man of God’s life that has many personal spiritual applications to our lives that we must be aware of concerning temptation, sin, the confession of our sin, the importance of repentance and the cleansing of our sins and our restoration of our sins.
In 2 Samuel chapter 11, concerning the temptation of David before he sinned with Bathsheba, we learned that the scriptures taught us it is not a sin to be tempted but it is a sin to give in to the temptation. Jesus our “high priest” was tempted but did not give in to the temptation and sin. Hebrews 4:15-16, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.
A second important point we learned is from 1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
After David gave in to temptation and sinned with Bathsheba, he had plenty of time to go to God and confess his sin to be forgiven, but he did not. What we learned from this are two important points. 1) “What is confessing your sin for the right reasons. There is a strong sense of remorse. There is a strong sense for the need to be forgiven and restored by God. In addition, there is an acknowledgment of the need to be forgiven by those you have offended and hurt.” In addition, we learned about 2) “What is confessing your sin for the wrong reasons. Passing the blame to others. Alack of understanding what was done or said was a sin. Believing that the sin we committed fulfills some need we have.
As with David did with Uriah Bathsheba’s husband, we saw when sin is not confessed there are many efforts to scheme, deceive and lie to cover up our unconfessed sin thinking that our sin will not be exposed. We also learned that no sin that we commit is hidden from God, 2 Samuel 11:1-27, “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”
In 2 Samuel chapter 12 we learned that God in His mercy, always gives us plenty of time to come to Him and confess our sins, of which Divid did not do. So, God sends the prophet Nathan to David to expose his sins which David thought no one knew about. From Nathan’s story told to David which was a spiritual allegory, we learned the following important points that apply to every believer in Christ.
- “God knows how to speak to us in order to get our attention when the time comes for us to come to terms with our sins.”
- “When we open the door of our hearts and or minds to sin, sin comes in as an invited guest but will soon will take residence and it becomes a controlling master of our lives.”
- “Of all the causes of blindness, the worst kind is that sin makes us blind to ourselves.”
- “When there is unconfessed sin in our life, it is very easy to condemn and pass judgment on other people’s sins, as David did with the rich man in Nathan’s story.”
- “Nathan’s story and how David reacted, is no different than Jesus’ teaching concerning Judging Others in Matthew 7:1-5.”
- “The unconfessed sin in our lives causes us to forget who God is and of what God provided for us in the past and makes us blind to His love, grace and provision in the present and for the future.
- “Even though God in His grace had forgiven David’s sins, God in His righteousness had to require David to experience the consequences of his sins, which happens in many instances in a Christian’s life.”
2 Samuel 12:13, “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.”
- David, the sinner, without any argument, confessed: “I have sinned against the Lord”. Nathan assured David that the Lord had taken away his sin.
- The forgiveness of our sins in many ways is like a bee sting. When we are stung, we pull out the stinger which is equivalent of being forgiven of our sin. Yet, the consequences of the bee sting for everyone will be painful. For some it will cause swelling and for others a bee sting can be fatal.
In our study of last week of Psalm 51:1-17, which was written after David’s confession of sin in, 2 Samuel 12:13, “Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”, we learned the following points.
- David’s confession of sin was the pathway to his repentance and restoration.
- The distinct difference between the confession of our sins and repentance from our sins.
- CONFESSION—a contrite and sincere admission of sins.
- REPENTANCE—a turning away from sin, disobedience, or rebellion and a turning back to God. True repentance is a “godly sorrow” for sin, an act of turning around and going in the opposite direction. This type of repentance leads to a fundamental change in a person’s relationship to God.
- Psalm 51:1-2, David acknowledging who God is and what He can do because of who He is.
- Psalm 51:3-6, David acknowledging his sin and taking full responsibility for his sin.
- Psalm 51:7, The necessary cleansing process for restoration.
- Psalm 51:8-9, The results of restoration in his life that David wanted to experience.
Psalm 51:10-12, David’s Plea To Be Restored From Sin
10 a) Create in me a pure heart, O God, and b) renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 c) Do not cast me from your presence d) or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 e) Restore to me the joy of your salvation f) and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
In these three verses there are six points to David’s plea to God for his restoration from sin. Are these six the only components for Christian’s complete restoration? No, there can be others depending on the spiritual damage caused by the sin we have confessed, have been forgiven of and repented from. However, David knew what God needed to do in him to put him back into right relationship with God and which could only be done by God. For a Christian the process of our relationship restored with God and our souls restored from sin is only through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:22-26, 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 5:1-2, 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
For the restoration process to begin, a Christian first needs to be in the right position legally which is justification or to be justified before God so that the necessary restoration can happen. Justification is the process by which sinful Christians are made acceptable to a holy God through faith in Christ Jesus. It is a legal term signifying to acquit or exonerate from sin and to declare righteous. We need to reestablish our severed or damaged relationship with God that sin caused to be restored. We need to be declared guiltless or without guilt by God. This process is similar to the need to go through physical therapy after a broken leg is healed.
Psalm 51:10a, a) “Create in me a pure heart, O God”. David knew that the sins he committed caused damage to his heart, not literally but spiritually. This is the damage that sin causes in a Christian that God needs to restore. It is only God can do this work in us. However, take note that David did not ask God to heal or repair his heart but to create a new one.
Create is the Hebrew word Bara, “Only God can “create” in the sense implied by bara. The verb expresses creation out of nothing, an idea seen clearly in passages having to do with creation on a cosmic scale: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” Genesis 1:1. – Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words.
There many ways the sin causes spiritual damage to our hearts. David understood that his heart was beyond repair and knew what he needed was a new and pure heart that only God creates.
Psalm 51:10b, b) “and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” In the New Living Translation this portion of verse says, “Renew a loyal spirit within me.” “A “loyal spirit” is one that is not in bondage but is free and yielded to the Spirit of God.”
Psalm 51:11, “c) Do not cast me from your presence d) or take your Holy Spirit from me.” Even though David’s sins had been forgiven by God, It is possible that David was referring to some of the possible consequences of his forgiven sins and also was referring to what had happened to his predecessor Saul, 1 Samuel 16:10, “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul”. 1. In contrast, a Christian who has their relationship restored with God can always be assured they will be in the presence of God no matter what the consequences they are facing might be. God’s spirit will always be in them. They can have the assurance that they have the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 51:12, e) Restore to me the joy of your salvation f) and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Sin will always rob a Christian of the joy of their salvation. The joy is knowing one is in right fellowship, relationship and communion with God. Psalms 16:9-11, ”9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” It is with this “joy” of God’s salvation we have which gives us the hope, encouragement and strength we need to obey and continue living in close fellowship and a growing relationship with God.
Psalm 51:13, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. The restoration process that David experienced and learned from confessing his sin, repenting from his sin, to God’s forgiveness, cleansing and restoration is what David is talking about. A Christian who has been fully restored by God will always be grateful for the mercy, grace and love they experienced from God when He forgave them of their sins and restored them to a loving relationship with Him.
The commentator Mathew Henry in his commentary of the Bible in (1708-1710) concerning Psalm 51 wrote the following. “Those that truly repent of their sins will not be ashamed to own their repentance; but, having lost the honour of innocents, they will rather covet the honour of penitents. As a pattern to others, both to bring them to repentance by his example and to instruct them in their repentance what to do an what to say.” This is quite possible what David meant in this verse.
Pastor John
