Sermon(Ps 51): My God, forgive my sin!

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025853098

 

 

 

Scripture reading: Ps 51

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>> 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ... 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgement. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ... 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. .... <<

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What is the hardest disease in the world? Isn't it the flu and the fatigue and the muscle pain? If you have these three diseases at the same time, your head is dizzy, your whole body is tingling and aching, you have no appetite, and you feel pain every time you breathe. Why do we suffer when the germs come into our body? It is a loss to us for the germs to destroy our body. And we are the more unfortunate because we have to feel pain by the activity of the germs. However, it is beneficial for us to have severe pain when the germs come in. Were it not for the pain, we would be killed by the germs, not noticing that the germs have come into us and are destroying our body to kill us now. If you have pain, you can take the medicine immediately and receive treatment to cure the disease without missing the time of treatment. Consider the early cancers that progress without pain at all. How awful they are! What a profit it will be if there is as much pain as the flu immediately when a cancer occurs! And we come to know that we've gotten over our illness if the pain has vanished after the treatment. So we recover our peace then. If you have a painless disease, you can't know well whether you are cured, and whether you should continue to take medicine. In that sense, pain is the grace of God and the wisdom of his creation.

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The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. So if sin enters into us, it will continue to grow, leading us to death. If so, what is the grace of God in this situation? God's grace is to give severe pain to those who sin. If you have sinned, but have no pain in heart and spirit, the sin is surely the tissue of an early cancer. The sin is one that will kill the sinner and lead him to the eternal hell. If you suffer a great deal of harm and pain on your body, mind and property when you are guilty, the sin is but a flu, but if you don't, it must be a lump of cancer. So how great a grace is the discipline from God when we sin? To save us, God gives us severe pain like a flu whenever we commit sin. Hereby he makes you take the sin seriously so that you may be forgiven and free from the guilt. This is because our God the Father is faithful.

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This Psalm 51 is David's poem. When Nathan the prophet came and rebuked his hidden sin while he was suffering from the sin of adultery and murder, David honestly acknowledged his sin and composed this poem of repentance. He was guilty of a great crime by a momentary sexual urge. By the way he could commit such a crime because he was a high-ranking person, a king. The low, the humble, and the poor tend to be guilty of stealing to live, while those who are in high-ranking position and rule over others like David tend to use their absolute power to sin in order to satisfy their physical desire. Whether you have money or not, whether you have power or not, you must look at yourself every day and be awake lest you commit sin!

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David had sex with Bathsheba, the wife of his subordinate Uriah, and made Uriah die. For David to violate Bathsheba is a sin deserving death penalty. After such a grave sin, a pain like the flu began in David. Bathsheba tells David that she is pregnant. If he had sex with the wife of his subordinate and had her conceive? If it were known to the officials of the kingdom and to the soldiers? David's political life would end right away. David must have been deeply distressed because of his honor. To hide his sin anyway, David summoned Uriah, who was on the battlefield, to make him to have sex with his wife, but he didn't go to his lovely wife strangely enough. So David had no choice but to kill Uriah. Therefore he became one who had committed the gravest sin in the world, adultery and murder. How did David, who had been famous for devout faith, fall into such a deep pit? Perhaps he seemed to commit such severe sin because he thought conceitedly that he might well be pardoned if he sinned once for he had been faithful to God and lived such a devout and holy life up to then. Brethren, when a holy man of God becomes proud, he commits the same sin as David committed. Isn't it an arrogance for a man to want to offset such a crime as adultery with the righteousness that he has achieved so far? If you as a Christian blatantly commit sin on purpose and are sure of God's pardon and live carelessly, your name will be inscribed on God's heart as a very brazen and haughty sinner. ‘You arrogant fellow!’ - this is the thought of furious God.

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If Bathsheba in the period of conception had not gotten pregnant miraculously by the help of God, David could have passed the crisis without a severe pain like the flu. And if Uriah had gone home and slept with his wife, David's sin would have remained concealed forever. But if so, David's sin of adultery, which he committed with Bathsheba, will become a lump of cancer. Such serious sin will take him, beyond his grave, to the hell. It was God's merciful measures to save David that Bathsheba conceived and that Uriah didn't go home. And is God the one who covers up the sin of the wicked without any punishment? No, he isn't, because he is conscientious. When David sins, God usually puts great pressure upon him. “When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Ps 32: 3-4)” From this we know that, when David committed adultery and murder, God gave David severe physical and mental suffering. But David had another great pain, that is, God was far away from his heart. At other times, David, like a tree planted by a stream, was filled with happiness, free from care, seeing God who is his good pastor, but when God's holy Spirit departed from David, he is suffering from the unbearable emptiness, anxiety, and the burden of sin. He got no answer from God when he prayed in the mental and physical pain. The sense of distance that David felt then was perhaps like when a son feels when his respectable father is so resentful that he can't say any words to his father, or when a man feels when his beloved girl friend is so angry that she doesn't answer his phone. The period of this pain might have lasted quite long.

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But one day God told Nathan the prophet what David had done and ordered him to proclaim forgiveness to David. When was that? That must have been when David fully realized his ugly sins and his bold pride in the suffering, and offered a prayer of repentance and a prayer for forgiveness in tears. When Nathan rebuked David's sin, David acknowledged his sin on the spot, and immediately Nathan said that God forgave David's sin. So we can say that Nathan went to David to declare God's forgiveness of sins because David had already acknowledged all the sins against God and sought God's forgiveness. >David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Sam 12:13)< We can conclude rather that God sent Nathan to settle the matter because David had already sought forgiveness from God in a great pain, than that Nathan declared forgiveness of sins to David on the spot. My brethren, does the servant of God reprove your sins? Don't be offended, but be glad, thinking, 'Now I can live if I just admit my sins!'

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So we must examine his repentance, which made it possible for him to be forgiven and to live in God's grace despite his grave sins. First, we see David admit that he has sinned not only against men but also against God through his adultery and murder. To summarize Ps 51, we get two words: sin and forgiveness. In almost all verses of the Ps 51, David confesses his sins and seeks for forgiveness. We must admit that David has sinned not only against Uriah and Bathsheba and their family but also against David's family and all Israel. Because, thanks to his serious crime, his family's honor was injured and they were hurt in heart, and so were people of Israel. David must have known this fact. And he would never have been forgiven by God had he not acknowledged that. Nevertheless, the translation of the v. 4 of the Korean version is: "I have sinned against thee only, and have done evil in the sight of thee." This is a very dangerous translation. According to this translation, one may think that David can resolve his sin done to others by seeking forgiveness only from God. It's an absurd thought indeed. In fact, some pseudo-pastors (that is hired ministers) who understood v. 4 so continue boldly but irresponsibly their ministry without a public apology even when their sins are known to all and they are criticized. Perhaps they think that they have done all regarding their sins when they themselves prayed to God personally, "I have sinned. Forgive me, my God!" But they must not understand v. 4 like that! In fact, the German Bible translated the verse like this: "Gegen dich selber habe ich mich vergangen, ich habe getan, was du verabscheust. (I have sinned against thee thyself; I have done what thou feelest disgusted at.)" You can not take the emphasis on one of the targets of a sin for the disregard of the other victims of the sin. David acknowledged that he had sinned against also God for he realized deeply that the sin against Uriah and Bathsheba had been committed also against God. It wouldn't matter if you understand the Korean version '내가 주께만 범죄하여(I have sinned against only God)' as '내가 바로 주님께 범죄하여(I have sinned against God himself)', but most people do not take the verse so, therefore it's a problematic translation. Anyway, David acknowledged that he committed a serious sin to God, not to mention those who were hurt by his crime. He who acknowledges his sins is forgiven like David. Pastors who committed sin of greedy ministry must seek forgiveness not only from God but also from the believers and churches in Korea by a public apology. Then they can do ministry. They have not admitted their faults and openly apologized for not being good models of faith, so they hear the criticism that such brazen-faced hired ministers are doing their ministry. Look at David. How openly and frequently does David acknowledge his sins and seek forgiveness from God in many psalms? He wrote poems of his sins and of his prayers of repentance so that people could read them. As for the sins unrevealed to the people, David could solve them only in his relationship with God. But, he was forgiven and loved by God and man because he didn't hide (deny) the sins others knew, and wrote them in the poems of repentance. Can you trust someone who doesn't admit his mistake? No, you can’t! That's why I can not trust the personality of some greedy pastors in Korea.

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David says, “Thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgement. (v. 4)” This means that God's judgment "You are a sinner" is a righteous judgment and a 100% correct judgment. This means that David gave up all his excuses. Everything you (God) have said is right, I (David) have nothing to say more. David thought so, looking for only God's mercy. This is also a statement that he is a real sinner.

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Next, David became thoroughly humble before God and man. As mentioned above, the poor commit sin to live while the rich and the powerful commit sin because they become haughty. A haughty man commits sin, thinking, 'A great man like me can commit this sin.' How severely did king David ignore the human rights of his subordinates that he violated the wife of his subordinate! What an audacious pride! David deeply regrets his pride and confesses. "I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (v. 5)" This is to say, "I've been a real sinner since my birth, no, since I was formed in mother's womb." This is the acknowledgment that he is the most evil sinner in the world, a confession that is possible when the confessor becomes humble. David is humbly confessing that he is no better than anyone else. David also confesses that he is not only a sinner but also a fool. So he prays, "Therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. (v. 6)" David realized that a foolish man commits sins, so he (David) was foolish. So he prays God to know what is wisdom. My brethren, only a prideful, shallow, foolish man commits sins.

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Next, David asks God for forgiveness. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. (v. 7)” When the priest soaks the hyssop in the blood and sprinkles the blood on a sinner, his sins are forgiven. Here David is beseeching God himself for forgiveness of his sins. “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (v. 9)” “Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. (v. 11)” David sought for forgiveness because he loved God. Will God turn down to the end the supplication of him who seeks God's forgiveness with loving heart for God and with deep regret for his sin? God sends a prophet Nathan to those who show the same attitude as David.

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According to the verses 16 and 17, God much prefers a broken heart that deeply repents to a burnt offering of a sinner without repentance. It means that all the religious practices without forgiveness of sins from God and man are futile.

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May God's mercy and forgiveness come upon those who humbly acknowledge all their sins. May the God of David be your God.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                 - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -

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