Unit: Psalms (Part 1)
Theme: Rooted
Lesson Text: Psalms 51
Supplemental Text: 2 Samuel 12:1-20; 1 John 1:8-9; Luke 15:17-24; 18:13-14
Aim: Bring your broken and contrite heart to God for mercy.
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Download a PDF of this week’s lesson material (the Study by Mark Scott, Application by David Faust, and Discovery Questions by Michael C. Mack): LOOKOUT_October16_2022.
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By Mark Scott
What do you do with a prodigal king? You allow him the privilege of repentance. The backdrop to Psalm 51 is 2 Samuel 11–12. It was spring, when kings head off to war, but King David stayed home. In fact, he went to his balcony. From this vantage point he saw Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, bathing. He sent for her (so others knew what he was doing?) and was intimate with her. She became pregnant. David contrived a plan to bring her husband home from the war so that everyone would assume the baby was his. But Uriah, in his drunkenness, was more righteous than David in his attempted cover-up. Uriah carried his own death notice to the field of battle. Joab followed the king’s order perfectly, and Uriah was killed. David received word of Uriah’s death, and so he did the honorable(?) thing and married Bathsheba.
The prophet Nathan made a pastoral visit to the king and confronted him in Jerusalem’s “Oval Office.” When Nathan left the king, Psalm 51 was born. David was in a heap on the floor trying to restore his relationship with God. This psalm, as written in Hebrew, has 21 verses, but the English text has only 19. That is because the “superscription” (heading) may well be part of the text (though this is not always the case in other psalms with superscriptions). Verse 17 may well be the key verse to this well-worn psalm: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” The God of the Bible always welcomes repentance.
Repentance Leans into the Mercy of God
Psalm 51:1-6
Convicted of his sin, David cried out for God’s mercy (grace), unfailing love (loving-kindness), and compassion (tender love). He knew he needed these due to his transgressions (sins) and iniquity (guilt or depravity). He desired to have his sins blotted out, washed away, and cleansed. He knew he could do nothing to merit God’s forgiveness. He acknowledged that God’s kindness was leading him into repentance (Romans 2:4).
The depth of David’s sin is evident in verses 3-6. He could not get away from his sin—it was always before him. He felt his sin was primarily against God—against you, and you only, have I sinned—even though he had violated Bathsheba and murdered Uriah. He understood that God’s judgment on him was right and justified. He believed he must have been a terrible sinner since the day he was born (a great example of poetic exaggeration). No one is sinful at their conception, but one sometimes can feel that way. Instead, God’s ways of faithfulness and wisdom should be learned in that secret place.
Repentance Appropriates Cleansing from God
Psalm 51:7-12
Repentance cannot pry God’s forgiveness from his hand, but it can appropriate it when God wants to give it. David prayed for cleansing with hyssop (a plant used as a paintbrush). He wanted to be washed whiter than snow. He desired to hear joy and gladness again. He wanted his bones—crushed because of his sin—to rejoice (“dance,” cf. Psalm 32:5). He was so embarrassed he asked God to “hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”
In order to experience this, David knew God would have to create (as in Genesis 1:1) in him a pure heart. God would have to renew him. David pleaded to remain near to God (and not to be cast from God’s presence, and not to have the Holy Spirit removed from him). David prayed for a restoration of joy. In this section he lived out 1 John 1:9.
Repentance Bears Fruit for God
Psalm 51:13-19
David was willing for his life to be “Exhibit A” of the grace of God. If God would forgive him, then everyone in Judea would know (Then I will teach transgressors your ways). David would try to persuade everyone not to take the road he took. David would bear the fruit of evangelism.
David would also bear the fruit of genuine worship. For months he worshiped God in hypocrisy. Now his worship would be clean. His tongue, lips, and mouth would now sing praise. His sacrifices would now be acceptable because they would be offered from a pure heart.
Some scholars think scribes added the last two verses sometime later. But are they not just saying that Jerusalem would be a different place because David had repented? The walls would be stronger, and the offerings would be acceptable. No one is beyond the call for repentance (Luke 13:1-5).
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