Broken & Contrite

Broken & Contrite

(A break from Ephesians this week as I wanted to add Psalm 51 to Journey Through Psalms Volume 2).

I usually open with a personal illustration, but this week I think it is best to use the related account in Scripture.

Nathan Rebukes David

1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house. [1]

We’ve covered many psalms in the past – psalms of praise, thanksgiving, lament, trust, and wisdom – but we haven’t covered a psalm focused on confession. Why should we focus on a confession psalm? First, it is Biblical. We see throughout Scripture that God calls us as part of repentance to confess our sin. Second, most of us in the day-to-day of life practically forget the seriousness of sin. If we confess our sin at all, our confession is general and hollow. Or we may focus on one or two sins without searching our hearts for “acceptable” sins or the log in our own eye.

We may even know that confession is good. We’ve memorized 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I know it is easy for me to focus on God’s forgiveness and then dismiss the part about confessing my sin or making confession a consistent part of my prayers. Confession reminds us that we still fall short of God’s holiness. It reminds us that our sin is an afront to God, but it also reminds us of the good news of the Gospel, of God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness. It reminds us of the immense price that had to be paid for our sin. We daily need those reminders, so we will gratefully, lovingly walk in a manner worthy of our calling.

Psalm 51, a well-known Psalm, walks us through repentance and confession.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

                  1                 Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

                                    according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

                  2                 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

                  3                 For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

                  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.

                  5                 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

                  6                 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

                  7                Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

                  8                 Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

                  9                 Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

                  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.

                  13               Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

                  14               Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

                  15               O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

                  16               For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

                  17               The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

                  18               Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;

build up the walls of Jerusalem;

                  19               then will you delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar. [2]

Psalm 51 teaches us that sin is not only about what we do but because of who we are – born with a sin nature. Psalm 51 teaches us we cannot fix our sin problem. We need God. We need a Savior. Psalm 51 is divided into the two parts of repentance: reconciliation/confession (vs 1-9) and transformation (vs 10-19). Reconciliation is divided into pleas for forgiveness (vs 1-2, 7-9) and confession (vs 3-6). Transformation is divided into self (vs 10-12), others (vs 13-15), and community (vs 16-19).[3]

When I confess my sin, I typically go straight to the sin. David doesn’t. He goes to God’s character. Reconciliation and forgiveness are rooted in who God is and how He acts (“God is…” and “God does…” truths). In verse 1, David remembers and appeals to God’s steadfast or unfailing love and abundant mercy as the basis for his plea for forgiveness. There is nothing we could ever do that merits God’s forgiveness. God’s mercy and steadfast, unfailing love are why we can be forgiven.

After David appeals to God’s character, he asks God to forgive him: “blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (vs 1b-2). Our sin deserves God’s wrath and justice, but we don’t need to be fearful when we confess. God’s wrath and justice were poured out on Jesus in our place. When we confess, all we know is God’s abundant mercy, unfailing love, lavish grace, and forgiveness. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus’ perfect righteousness.

A couple notes on words in this first plea for forgiveness. Transgressions (vs 1) means rebellion. How often do you think of your sin as rebellion against God? Sin is the Hebrew word khatta’th meaning “missing the mark.” When we sin, we have failed to think, speak, or act righteously. If we haven’t obeyed God’s Word perfectly, we have missed the mark. It is sin.

David moves to confession. David knows how he has sinned. He owned it. He didn’t blame other people or circumstances (vs 3). When confronted with his sin, his response was immediate confession. Although he sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba and even Joab in bringing Joab into his sin, David knew ultimately his sin was against God (vs 4). All sin is against God. God is the lawgiver. When we sin, we are violating His law and rebelling against Him and His will.

As David confesses, he understands the depth of his sin. His sin is not only the acts he committed against Bathsheba and Uriah, but it goes deeper to his sin nature (vs 5). He didn’t just commit a sin. He is sinful. David understood the doctrine of original sin, but David doesn’t get lost hopelessly in his sin. He returns to who God is (vs 6). The depth of David’s sin is great, but God’s transforming grace is greater. God’s transforming grace reaches to David’s inward being, his secret heart.

David returns to his plea for forgiveness (vs 7-9). He wants restoration and transformation. He knows God’s forgiveness is complete. He knows his guilt and sin can be transformed to joy, gladness, and rejoicing.

A note on hyssop. Hyssop was an herb in the mint family, often used for cleansing (Leviticus 14:1-7, 33-53). It was used to mark the Israelites’ doorposts in Egypt with blood so that the firstborn male would not be killed (Exodus 12:22), and to raise vinegar to Jesus on the cross (John 19:29-30).

David now moves from reconciliation to transformation. He begins with himself (vs 10-12).  Notice he repeatedly says me. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (emphasis added). David knows what he most needs is God’s gracious transformation of himself not transformation of his circumstances or others.

Create is the same word used in Genesis 1:1. David wants to be made new. This is echoed in his next request for God to renew a right spirit within him. “This renewing of David’s spirit will be the result of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, so David prays that God not remove the Holy Spirit from him. David may have had in mind the removal of what we might call the Spirit of office, who equipped David for carrying out his responsibilities as king, or what we might call the Spirit of fellowship, who would be grieved and distanced by sin (Isa 59:2). The presence of the Spirit would not only effect a renewal but would also effect a willingness to obey. This would be coupled with a restoration of the joy that was already anticipated in 51:8: ‘Oh, give me back my joy again … let me rejoice.’”[4]

In verse 13, David transitions to others as a result of his confidence in God transforming him. In English, this might sound like David was talking down to others, but he was speaking as one sinner to another. Others are often more responsive when we are humble, being honest with our own sin, speaking as one sinner to another.

The verb form of “will teach” is a firm resolve. David was committed to teaching others God’s design of reconciliation and transformation that he has personally experienced. It involved coming back to God and walking in obedience. He did this through singing God’s praises (vs 14-15) where he acknowledged God as his Savior.

I read an interesting note on bloodguiltiness (vs 14). The Hebrew word dām is used for the shed blood of a man or animal. It is possible David was naming his specific sin of murdering Uriah, but it could also refer to murder in general sense.

One more note in this section, in both verses 14 and 15, David makes a plea for God to act, but then responds by singing praise to God aloud (so others could hear).

In the last section, David looks to transformation of the community. When we are transformed and other individuals are transformed, the community can be transformed. This understanding of community is based on instruction likely being given at the tabernacle where sacrifices were also made. Instruction there would have been public. Likewise, sacrifices were made in the court outside the tabernacle. The sacrifices were made in public.

David shared with others what he had learned using the familiar practice of sacrifice. “For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (vs 16-17). A broken and contrite heart must come before a renewed heart. A broken and contrite heart is a humble heart, one dependent on God alone. A broken and contrite heart is what God wants from us. We can display many outward signs of repentance. We can even say the right words, but God sees our hearts. He knows our thoughts and motivations. If we do not have a broken and contrite heart, a humble and dependent heart before God, the outward actions and words are meaningless. God will not accept the outward sacrifices if inwardly we are not broken and contrite (Isaiah 66:1-4).

David then ends the psalm by asking God to do good to Zion and to build up the walls of Jerusalem – a final transformation in the community. During David’s reign, the walls around Jerusalem were unfinished. David looked forward to the time they would be completed (Solomon completed the walls, 1 Kings 3:1), but Mark Futato adds an additional understanding: “But in the context of the final form of the Psalter in the postexilic era, the reference would be to the rebuilding of the city in the days of Nehemiah. In that context, the transformation of the city and the transformation of the community through repentance go hand in hand. Just as individual sin has destructive consequences on others and the entire community, so individual reconciliation and transformation are envisioned as bringing blessing to the same.”[5]

As we reach the end of Psalm 51, think about what David has written. He is honest before God about his sin, unafraid of confessing his sin to God, and confident in who God is and how God will act. He’s been convicted by his sin, but David also knows God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Reflection

1.        The sacrifice God desires is a broken and contrite heart. How are you broken over your sin? What does it look like to have a broken and contrite heart before God? How is your sin rebellion against God?

2.        How does focusing on who God is and how he acts impact how you approach confession?

3.        How often do you confess your sin? How does your confession compare to David’s –honest, accepting responsibility, humble, specific, unafraid, dependent?

4.        How does confession lead to reconciliation with God?

5.        Repentance involves confession of sin, but also turning completely away from your sin 180 degrees. How have you seen God transform you as you’ve turned away from your sin and walked in thankful obedience instead?

6.        How can your experience with sin, confession, reconciliation, and transformation be used to come alongside someone else in their sin?

Below is a part of a prayer based on Psalm 51 by the Puritan Lewis Bayly that you can use as part of your confession time. There are also different books of confession that can help you see areas of sin you need to confess that you might not otherwise think of. I have two books that I rotate through. I use them daily, helping to remember the seriousness of my sin, confess what I might be blind to, and to remember God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness.

Create in me, O Christ, a new heart, and renew in me a right spirit. Then you will see how I will serve you as your new creature, in a new life, after a new way, with a new tongue and new manners, with new words and new works, to the glory of your name, and the winning of other sinful souls to your faith.

Grant this, O Christ, for your own name’s sake. I give you all glory, honor, praise, and dominion, both now and forever. Amen.[6]

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Sa 12:1–15.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 51:title–19.

[3] See the diagram based on Mark Futato’s commentary at the end.

[4] Mark D. Futato, “The Book of Psalms,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009), 185.

[5] Mark D. Futato, “The Book of Psalms,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009), 186.

[6] Elmer, Robert. Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans (Prayers of the Church) (p. 26). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.