Psalm 51:1-12
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Once in a while, it occurs to us that we can be real stinkers. Occasionally, it dawns on us that we are serial sinners. The hard truth is that we just can't quit. And in those rare moments we stand convicted, and we feel it. Is it guilt? Shame? Self-loathing? All these emotions, long banished by our feel-good era, come to us if ever we get in touch with the basic fact of our own brokenness. "Denial," as the man said, "ain't a river in Egypt."
It is one of these times of brutal self-honesty that the psalmist portrays for us here. The utterance begins with a cry for mercy. Then comes a no-holds-barred confession. If we feel that scripture mirrors our own lives, even a little, this reading hits awfully close to home.
"I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." This is, of course, true. We do know what we have done wrong and to whom we have done it. Most of the time we plaster it over with denial or flimsy justification. Some of us even buy the cultural lie that "I'm okay, and you're okay." Well, friends, we're not okay. We are sinners.
The beauty of this psalm lies in the clarity and depth of this awareness. The cry for forgiveness becomes, in this context, crystalline in its authenticity. "Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." This is the voice of someone who knows that they have done wrong. A young man sharing with his pastor about his adulterous behavior says that he feels queasy, almost sick to his stomach, as he realizes the depth of the pain and hurt he has caused as a result of his thoughtless and selfish actions. That queasy feeling is what the old gospel song calls a "sin-sick soul."
And the cure, another song declares, is "Doctor Jesus." The cure is the acceptance of God's forgiving grace, which results in a "clean heart and a new and right spirit within" (v. 10). The questions for us, then become: How often do we center our hearts in prayer before God? When was the last time we stripped ourselves bare and made a complete confession of our sins? How often do we "get real" and ask God's forgiveness for those sins?
Whether we are able to do this daily or once a year, a good way to begin is to sit down in a quiet place and read this psalm over five times quietly. It's a good way to start.
It is one of these times of brutal self-honesty that the psalmist portrays for us here. The utterance begins with a cry for mercy. Then comes a no-holds-barred confession. If we feel that scripture mirrors our own lives, even a little, this reading hits awfully close to home.
"I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." This is, of course, true. We do know what we have done wrong and to whom we have done it. Most of the time we plaster it over with denial or flimsy justification. Some of us even buy the cultural lie that "I'm okay, and you're okay." Well, friends, we're not okay. We are sinners.
The beauty of this psalm lies in the clarity and depth of this awareness. The cry for forgiveness becomes, in this context, crystalline in its authenticity. "Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." This is the voice of someone who knows that they have done wrong. A young man sharing with his pastor about his adulterous behavior says that he feels queasy, almost sick to his stomach, as he realizes the depth of the pain and hurt he has caused as a result of his thoughtless and selfish actions. That queasy feeling is what the old gospel song calls a "sin-sick soul."
And the cure, another song declares, is "Doctor Jesus." The cure is the acceptance of God's forgiving grace, which results in a "clean heart and a new and right spirit within" (v. 10). The questions for us, then become: How often do we center our hearts in prayer before God? When was the last time we stripped ourselves bare and made a complete confession of our sins? How often do we "get real" and ask God's forgiveness for those sins?
Whether we are able to do this daily or once a year, a good way to begin is to sit down in a quiet place and read this psalm over five times quietly. It's a good way to start.
