Psalms

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

The story of Psalm 51 starts in 2 Samuel 11 when David sinned by laying with Bathsheba.  There is a reference to this in 1 kings 15.  The story speaks about King Abijam of Judah, saying he didn't walk in the ways of his father David.  Then in verse 4 it says, Nevertheless for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, (talking about Abijam) by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; (this king was established for David's sake) ⁵ because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

All the days of David's life he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  He had not turned aside from anything that the Lord commanded.  Until that matter of Uriah the Hittite.  The matter of Uriah the Hittite was a dark mark on the life of David.  It was a great tragedy and blemish in the life of one who was known to have walked in the ways of the Lord.

The story of David & Bathsheba is in 2^nd Samuel 11.  David stayed home while he sent his men to war and while he was home he went to the roof and spied Bathsheba.  He sent for her and laid with her and Bathsheba became pregnant.  David lied and resorted to deceit to try and get Uriah to lay with his wife in hopes of hiding the truth; hiding his sin.  But Uriah was faithful to David.  He was committed to the cause of the war and he was dedicated to the men he stood by in war.  He would not lay with his wife.

David responded to Uriah's dedication by taking advantage of it and moving Uriah to the front line in the hottest battle and Uriah was killed.  David thought he had gotten away with the sin.  He told Joab not to worry about moving Uriah to the front lines where he was killed.  Adding insult to injury, David said to Joab, "Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another."  David was just going to pretend it was bad luck.  I believe this cavalier attitude towards Uriah's life is as great a sin as any and the Lord saw it all, and He wasn't pleased.

2^nd Samuel 12

 ¹ Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: "There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ³ But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man 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 So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! ⁶ And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity."

David was appalled at this horrible story.  It was unacceptable and as a King he had to do something about this injustice.  He declares his judgment against this criminal. 

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ⁹ Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

We can all imagine what David was feeling about now.  Each of us have been found in our sins.  Isn't it amazing that David was completely blind to the severity of what he had done?  Is it surprising how quickly he forgot the eyes of the Lord were on him?  Are you shocked that this little shepherd boy, this slayer of giants, a man of God, fell so quickly and so far?

If David had only went to war, things would have been different.  But he hadn't, he stayed home, had he stayed home for a purpose?  Had he planned this whole event in some fantasy?  Was the original rendezvous with Bathsheba all premeditated?  Temptation and covetousness had worked on him and David entertained those temptations.  It wasn't an accident.  He stayed home, he went to the roof, he looked and lusted and sent for Bathsheba.  Now, those lusts that drove him to adultery were no longer fun or exciting.  The weight of all he'd done came down hard on him.  The words of Nathan cut him to the quick.

Now, there were two basic responses.  Either David could lie some more; justify himself and deny, deny, deny.  He could blame someone else and take no responsibility for anything; blame your parents, blame your doctor, blame society, your teachers.  Or, David could repent to the Lord.  He could return to the One who was the source of life.  He could go to God and ask forgiveness.  David had called God his strong tower, his fortress, his refuge, his strength, his Lord, God and deliverer.  The question now was, did David really believe all those things.

We know David had been so close to the Lord at times.  Now he was so far away.  What went wrong?  How had he ended up here?  It seemed like such an innocent thing, no one would find out, no one would get hurt.  One little sin that led to another and then things got out of hand and now David stood in the darkness wondering how he got there.  The king, who had it all, would have traded anything to have that decision back.  The king did the only thing he could do.  He humbled himself before the Lord.  David went before the Lord a broken man, brokenhearted at his own actions because he had damaged the relationship that meant everything to him.

David said.........

 ¹ Have mercy upon me, O God,
         According to Your lovingkindness;
         According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
         Blot out my transgressions.
 ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
         And cleanse me from my sin.
         
 ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
         And my sin is always before me.
 ⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
         And done this evil in Your sight-
         That You may be found just when You speak,
         And blameless when You judge.
         
 ⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
         And in sin my mother conceived me.
 ⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
         And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
         
 ⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
         Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 ⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness,
         That the bones You have broken may 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 steadfast spirit within me.
 ¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence,
         And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
         
 ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
         And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
 ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
         And sinners shall be converted to You.
         
 ¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
         The God of my salvation,
         And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
 ¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
         And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
 ¹⁶ For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
         You do not delight in burnt offering.
 ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
         A broken and a contrite heart-
         These, O God, You will not despise.
         
 ¹⁸ Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
         Build the walls of Jerusalem.
 ¹⁹ Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
         With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
         Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

This is a great Psalm of mercy, forgiveness and cleansing.  David knows he has sinned against God and he calls it sin.  He doesn't make excuses or try to justify it.  He doesn't claim innocence; blame Bathsheba and say Uriah was a victim or war.  David lays it all out before the Lord because the Lord knows it all anyway.  Why is it we are so slow to confess to God what He already knows? 

David confessed to God and stood begging for mercy from the God of mercy.  Although, there was pain and discomfort in David's confession, there was no better place to be because Yahweh was a God of Loving Kindness and tender mercies.  David had sinned against God.  He calls his actions 'evil.'  And he cried out to God to blot out what he had done, wash him, make him clean as if he had never sinned.

God could see the heart of this man.  He was sinful from birth, from conception he inherited a sinful nature.  That's why he was drawn to sin, however, that was no excuse.  He was a sinner because he made sinful choices and acted upon the temptation.  None of us are relieved of our guilt by the excuses we offer.  Sin must be paid for.  God holds us responsible and accountable.  We are to be driven by truth, not the lusts of our flesh.  We are to have wisdom to know how to apply the truths of God to our life.

David knew he was filthy in the eyes of God.  That was his truth now and he asks God to purge him with hyssop.  Hyssop was a bush with harry stems.  Hyssop was what the Israelites used to place the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorframes of their homes when the death angel came for the first born in Egypt.  Hyssop was used by the priests at the temp to sprinkle blood or water in ceremonial cleansing.  David understood there was cleansing by the shedding of blood.  And when the Lord cleansed you, you will be whiter than snow.  When the sin is cleansed from our life, we have new life.  Our yoke is broken, our burden is lifted.  Our Spirit is clean and white in the eyes of God.

When we come to him and repent and trust that he can cleanse us.  He creates in us a clean heart.  He gives us that steadfast Spirit that abides in Him.  From the forgiveness of sin we find restoration and salvation.  After the repentance and cleansing, David said he would give God all the praise and glory for all that had happened.  Even from the punishment, from the broken bones, David would rejoice and he would lead others to the Ways of God and other sinners would be drawn to Him.

David said when he was delivered he would sing of God's righteousness because God didn't want sin offerings and burnt offerings.  He wasn't after sacrifices of animals.  The sacrifice God wanted was the broken spirit and the broken and contrite heart.  When you come to God that way, you won't be turned away.  David shows us that about God in this Psalm.  Because we know this man David; because we know the story and the sin; we can know that there is forgiveness of sin.