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Wash Me From My Iniquity: Psalm 51 (part 3)
“Completely wash me from my iniquity;
from my sin, purify me.”
(Psalm 51:4 [Psalm 51:2 in English Bibles])
Once again we find David employing a chiastic structure (something he will do through the bulk of this psalm) to add emphasis, bringing together two parallel ideas, yet mirroring them in their order. These are not casual words of David, but the language that he employs demonstrates the intensity of this prayer. And that intensity is heightened even more by David’s choice of the Piel stem for the two primary verbs (wash and purify). In Hebrew, the various stems of the verb are used to convey different ideas (passive tense, causative action, etc…), not unlike what we do with adverbs in English. The Piel stem conveys not only an intensification of action, but it also conveys the idea of an action that must be repeated over and over. And, indeed, David understands his own need—our own need as humans—to be constantly on our knees before our God repenting of our sin and pleading for his forgiveness.
Beloved, there is an intensity that comes through in this prayer that must not be missed—oh, how often we take repentance casually, as if it is something that we deserve because of who we are. Not only is that not the case, but that concept could not be any further from David’s mind. David clearly understands that he does not deserve the mercy of God, yet here he is, before God’s face, pleading for just that—not based on his own character, but upon the character of God. Pleading that God would wash and cleanse him from his sins. How we can learn from David as he expresses his grief; how we should learn to model our own prayers for forgiveness upon his. Beloved, one of the reasons that God has given us the psalms is to teach us how to express every emotion that we have in a way that is glorifying to him and edifying to us—do not neglect this tool that he has given us—use these psalms within your own life and use this one especially as you seek our Lord’s face in humble repentance.
Show Favor to Me: Psalm 51 (part 2)
“Show favor to me, O God, according to your chesed;
according to your abundant mercy, wipe out my transgressions.”
(Psalm 51:3 [Psalm 51:1 in English Bibles])
For those of you who have been reading my devotional reflections for a while, you know that I think the word that David uses in the first line of this verse is extremely important. In Hebrew, it is the word ds,x, (chesed), and is translated many ways in our English Bible to suit the context. The idea that this word conveys is that of God’s covenant faithfulness to his people in spite of their covenant unfaithfulness. It is because of the ds,x, (chesed) of God that we are not destroyed and that mankind was not destroyed at the time of the fall. It is because of the ds,x, (chesed) of God that he demonstrated his agape love in sending his Son, Jesus, into this world to fulfill the law and offer a propitiatory sacrifice to atone for our sins. It is because of the ds,x, (chesed) of God that we may know him and are not left to our own devices. And it is because of the ds,x, (chesed) of God that he offers us forgiveness in Christ when we deserve nothing but wrath. Indeed, this is a very significant word for us as God’s people!
There is a second thing that we ought to note about the language of this verse. David’s prayer is that God would wipe out his transgressions. The word that is used here is the Hebrew word [v;P, (pesha), which can refer to either individual transgressions or to the rebellion of a group of people. It is valuable to note that we rarely take seriously enough the gravity of our own sins. We usually see them as the stumbling of a fallen individual when it comes to trying to live a righteous life. Yet, sin is more than simple stumbling—it is outward rebellion against a holy and a righteous God. Indeed, as far back as Adam and Eve, sin has been rebellion against the righteous law and nature of God, and when we enter into it in our lives even today, we should recognize it as outward rebellion—rebellion that, by act, aligns us with the enemies of God. Oh, beloved, until you recognize sin for what it is, you will always take forgiveness for granted; until you truly begin to hate your sin, you will not treasure the redemption that is found in Jesus Christ.
David employs what is called a “chiastic” structure in this verse to add emphasis. What that simply means is that the two halves of the verse are flip-flopped in what they convey:
Show favor (A) Chesed (B)
Abundant mercy (B’) wipe out transgressions (A’)
This (ABBA) structure is called a chiasm after the Greek letter c (chi), and is commonly used in Hebrew poetry when the writer wishes to add emphasis what is being said. Essentially, he is saying the same thing twice, just with different language to make his point. In this verse, David begins by requesting God’s favor and ends the verse with the specific way in which he desires to see God’s favor enacted. David is not asking to defeat an army or to perform a mighty task, but is asking that his sins be forgiven—indeed, there can be no greater sign of God’s favor than this. At the center of the verse are two additional parallel ideas. We have spoken of God’s chesed already, but here David adds further definition to the word by defining it in terms of God’s abundant mercy. And indeed, once again, it is because of this abundance of mercy that God offers his chesed to his people.
Oh, loved ones, while sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of poetry, but they are important because they have been deliberately employed by the writer to convey a sense of meaning. At the same time, do not lose sight of the reality of David’s situation—he has entered into horrendous sin, his child lays dying as a result, and he has come in penitence before God, pleading for mercy. And note how he does so—it is not on the basis of who he is or what he has done, but it is on the basis of on who God is and what God has promised. Beloved, as you walk through this life, you will enter into sins, the question that must be asked is how do you come before God in the wake of those sins? Is it as one who is proud of the way they live, or do you beat your breasts like the penitent publican (Luke 18:13), pleading the mercy of our God?
God be merciful to me,
On thy grace I rest my plea;
Plenteous in compassion thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within,
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.
-from the 1912 Psalter
To the Director: Psalm 51 (part 1)
“To the director: a psalm of David—when Nathan the prophet came to him just as he had gone to Bathsheba.”
(Psalm 51:1-2 [superscript in English Bibles])
It is always good, when you come to a psalm, to have a superscript as detailed as this one. So often, it is hard to determine with any degree of certainty just when a particular psalm was written, yet, with this one, that is not the case. After the prophet Nathan confronted David about his adultery with Bathsheba, as he grieves over his sin and over his dying child, it would seem that David penned these words (see 2 Samuel 11-12). Oh, what a dark time in Israel’s history this was—King David, the model king of Israel, entered into one of the worst sins that could be entered into. At the same time, here is the mark of the believer—repentance. Oh, how we stumble and fall, particularly when we seek to resist sin on our own strength, but we have a God that is so much greater than our sin—the mark of the believer, though, is repentance.
Beloved, as you read the words of this psalm, never separate them from their context. Though we may apply them to our own lives, never forget that they come from a heart that is deeply grieved by sin—to write this, as his lay dying as a direct result of his sin—his tears must have flowed with each verse he wrote. Never lose touch of that, sometimes it is all too easy to read passages of scripture as abstract words and systematic teachings—cold and distant from our emotions—and beloved, that could not be further from the truth. These words, as were all the words of scripture, were penned through human beings much like you or I, with all of the same kinds of fears and concerns, hopes and dreams, that you or I have. Could David have felt any less agony as he watched his baby son die before him that you or I would feel were our child to die in our arms. Friends, this is the context of this psalm of repentance—it is out of a heart that has been wrenched and torn asunder as a result of grief over his sin. Indeed, I wonder if this agony and pain is not so distant from the pain that God the Father must have felt, as he watched his Son die on the cross—this time not for his sins, for God knows no sin, but for the sins of a rebellious and wicked people who he yet loved with a love deeper than can be described with words. Indeed, I wonder if it was all that different.
Yet, beloved, as we read this psalm, let us see this as a model and a guide for our own repentance. King David has laid bare his soul before us not simply as a means of his own repentance, but to teach us how to repent as well. John Calvin called the book of Psalms an “anatomy of the human soul,” and indeed, every emotion common to mankind is expressed within this book. Within the psalms we cannot only be taught how to worship God, but we can also be taught how to express pain, misery, grief, and even holy anger. Beloved, do not neglect the psalms, and especially do not neglect the difficult ones, for they are meant for you to be a guide and a standard to teach you how to live every aspect of your life to the glory of God. Take them to heart, and apply them to your soul. Listen to these words of David as he repents of his sin, and let them be a guide for you as well as you struggle to repent of that, which has caused you to stumble in your life. And never forget, forgiveness is not earned, it is a free gift given out of God’s abundant grace to those who come to him in faith and repentance.
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, Grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, Grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
-Julia Johnston
Forgiveness is not Minimizing
“And even now,’ utters the LORD,
‘return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and lamentation!
Rend your hearts and not your garments!
Return to the LORD, your God,
For he is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abundant in mercy,
And he grieves over wickedness.”
(Joel 2:12-13)
In addition to condoning sin when we take someone’s repentance lightly, we also minimize both their sin and their repentance. When we simply say, “don’t worry about it,” we convey to the person who is repenting of sin that repentance is not that big a deal. And, indeed, just the opposite is true. True repentance is hard work and requires someone to set aside their pride and humble themselves before another. True repentance also requires a change of lifestyle—a turning away from the sin that was done—and when you minimize the sin this way, you minimize their change of heart and life.
True repentance is not simply saying “I’m sorry” and moving on with life, but true repentance requires a turning around of lifestyle. If we were going to take a church trip from Mississippi to Florida, and we all climbed aboard the church bus with me driving. If we found, after we were on the road for a while, that we had just crossed the Mississippi river into Louisiana, there would be a problem. As the driver of the church bus, it would not do for me to simply say, “Whoops, I’m sorry” and keep on traveling toward Texas on Route 20. I would need to find the next exit and turn the bus around, putting it on the road going East and not West. Repentance is the same way. It takes work and commitment. It expects you to grieve over your sin and seek to change the direction that your life is going. There is a brokenness that takes place as part of repentance that drives you to change. That brokenness is the work of the Holy Spirit, and when you make light of a person’s repentance by minimizing it, you also make light of the Holy Spirit’s work.
Friends, God calls us to himself as broken and humbled sinners with nothing to our account that can be offered. Yet, God does not leave us broken down, but begins rebuilding us that we might stand as a mark of his glory to the world. If God took us as broken down sinners and sought to build us up (indeed, He is still doing that building), then we ought to do the same and seek to build up those who come to us in repentance for things that they have done that have offended us.
Forgiveness does not Condone Sin
“As obedient children, do not conform yourselves to the things you formerly did in your ignorance and lust, but according to your holy call. You should be holy in all your ways, for it is written, ‘you shall be holy, since I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-16)
So many times, when people come to us for forgiveness, we simply respond by saying, “that’s ok, don’t worry about it.” But the reality is that if someone has done something that requires repentance, it is not “ok” and they should be concerned about it. The reality is that they have done something to hurt you and for you not to take that seriously is to be dishonest with yourself and with the person who offended. Our response should rather sound something like, “You have hurt me and I have been deeply offended, yet God willingly forgave me my sins toward him, and because of that, I can forgive you of your sins toward me.” When honesty like this is expressed between two people, then the beginnings of reconciliation can take place.
One reason that I think we take sin so casually in our culture is that we take forgiveness casually. We do not realize how harmful our sins are before God because we are not allowed to realize how harmful our sins are before our fellow man. Until we begin to take sin seriously, we will never take the forgiveness that God offers seriously, and we will not take seriously the unimaginable cost that Jesus had to pay on account of our sins.
Friends, forgiveness is not easy, and when you make it easy, you might as well be condoning the sin, because the silent message that is sent is that whatever was done was not such a bad thing to do after all. Take sin seriously and take the repentance of others seriously. Do not condone it, but recognize the sin for what it is—ugly in the eyes of God. At the same time remember that your sins cost God a terrible price, and because God is willing to forgive you, you should be willing to forgive others.
He left his father’s throne above
So free, so infinite his grace!
Humbled himself—so great his love!
And bled for all his chosen race.
Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For O my God, it found out me.
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
(Charles Wesley)
The Ransom is Paid
We must be careful when we talk about the ransom to be paid, or the debit owed, because we must be absolutely clear as to whom that ransom was paid to. Through the history of the church, some have argued that Jesus’ death was a ransom paid to the Devil for sin, to redeem his people from the clutches of the enemy. Loved ones, this theology is wrong, for God owes no one, especially not the devil, anything at all. Scripture tells us that God chose the elect even before he began creating, which means that he chose the elect before there was sin in the world and before there was any need for a ransom.
Yet, there is a debit that is owed, and that is a debit that we owe to God. In ancient days, when countries were at war with each other, if one country was loosing badly and wanted to bring an end to the warfare, they would sue for peace. They would pay a large sum of money to the other nation, and the war would be considered over.
In a way, that is the same with us. We, in our sin, have been rebels against God for hundreds of generations. Our sin is an affront to a Holy and Righteous God, and there is a just penalty—a price—that is owed to God as a result. The promise is that no matter what we do, and no matter how good we are, we can never hope to repay that debit. Not even someone like Mother Theresa or William Carey could do it. Yet, Jesus chose to do it on behalf of those who put their faith in him as Lord and Savior—the elect. And, oh how grateful we should be!
John tells us that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin (1 John 2:2). Propitiation is different from atonement. Atonement is the making of peace between two parties. Propitiation is the act that brings atonement. We stand convicted and guilty of sin. Jesus acknowledges that and he acknowledges the price we owe as a result. And Jesus paid the price, beloved; he paid it all.
For nothing good have I
whereby your grace to claim—
I’ll wash my garments white
in the blood of Calvary’s Lamb.
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe;
sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed me white as snow.
-Elvina Hall
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