Psalm 51:1-12
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
Forgiveness -- it's the Christian buzzword. We talk about it a lot. It is bandied about more than almost any other Christian idea, but it is seldom practiced. It is like the bicycle that sits in the garage and is never ridden. Yet the truth is that forgiveness is amazing. If you've received it, you know. There is nothing quite like it, and this psalm endeavors to claim that turf.
This isn't the forgiveness that accompanies everyday living, though we need that as well. This is deep. This is forgiveness that greets unthinkable wrongs. This is mercy that can come only to the undeserving.
Most people, in the wake of a misdeed, try to wiggle out of consequences that loom on the horizon. Not so in this case. Here, we have someone who has come to grips with the depth of their brokenness.
"I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me ..." (v. 3).
From the quicksand of denial, this writer rises and makes this simple and clear confession. "I messed up, God. I really did it this time, and I need your forgiveness." How often do we see such candor? Instead of this simple, contrite plea, we are too often hosed down with self-righteous posturing and what has come to be known as "plausible denial." In other words, it doesn't have to be true, it just has to seem believable.
Here in this incredible psalm is a lesson that pierces the fact of our sinfulness and calls us to confession. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most powerful martyrs and theologians of the twentieth century, felt that the Protestant community needed to reclaim the confessional. In his underground seminary in war-time Germany, he taught students to hear one another's confessions, understanding the power of this kind of clarity and truthfulness.
Bonhoeffer was on to something. In our Protestant tradition we have trivialized confession to the point where it feels like we're in the interrogation room with God, admitting the wrongs we've done. But it's more than that. Authentic confession isn't about admission of errors and missteps, it's about truth-telling (v. 6a). It's about coming clean and saying the truth, not merely about what we've done, but about what is in our hearts, and finally, it is about where our true allegiance is to be found.
When we enter into this kind of confession, the healing is profound. We experience what feels like a new spirit and a clean heart (v. 10). We find that like God's grace, forgiveness is indeed amazing.
This isn't the forgiveness that accompanies everyday living, though we need that as well. This is deep. This is forgiveness that greets unthinkable wrongs. This is mercy that can come only to the undeserving.
Most people, in the wake of a misdeed, try to wiggle out of consequences that loom on the horizon. Not so in this case. Here, we have someone who has come to grips with the depth of their brokenness.
"I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me ..." (v. 3).
From the quicksand of denial, this writer rises and makes this simple and clear confession. "I messed up, God. I really did it this time, and I need your forgiveness." How often do we see such candor? Instead of this simple, contrite plea, we are too often hosed down with self-righteous posturing and what has come to be known as "plausible denial." In other words, it doesn't have to be true, it just has to seem believable.
Here in this incredible psalm is a lesson that pierces the fact of our sinfulness and calls us to confession. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most powerful martyrs and theologians of the twentieth century, felt that the Protestant community needed to reclaim the confessional. In his underground seminary in war-time Germany, he taught students to hear one another's confessions, understanding the power of this kind of clarity and truthfulness.
Bonhoeffer was on to something. In our Protestant tradition we have trivialized confession to the point where it feels like we're in the interrogation room with God, admitting the wrongs we've done. But it's more than that. Authentic confession isn't about admission of errors and missteps, it's about truth-telling (v. 6a). It's about coming clean and saying the truth, not merely about what we've done, but about what is in our hearts, and finally, it is about where our true allegiance is to be found.
When we enter into this kind of confession, the healing is profound. We experience what feels like a new spirit and a clean heart (v. 10). We find that like God's grace, forgiveness is indeed amazing.
