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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
In these weeks I’ve been trying to help us consider the hope that God can RESTORE His people even in a Coronavirus plagued, chaotic world. We’ve come to the second “R” in the word RESTORE, and I’d like us to consider several “R” words this week. Today I think it’s important we begin with the word “REPENT”!
How often have you wondered what it’s going to take for the violence, the accusations, the hateful rhetoric to stop, and for people to expend their energy on helping one another, encouraging one another, rather than berating each other? Sadly, American politics has decayed to the point that most of what we hear on the news are soundbites of politicians criticizing each other rather than reports of them working together to bring solutions to the problems. The political chaos of anger and character defamation and blatant lies about each other, and continual accusations of immoral behavior has now spread as the accepted norm of communication into the cities and neighborhoods and university campuses of our country. Too many leaders on all levels, who’ve been elected to lead us forward into unity and collective problem solving, and peace, have led us into hostility and anger and rancor as a nation.
So what is God saying to our world? Mark 1:15 says Jesus began His ministry with these words: “The time has come. Repent and believe the good news.” The ‘good news’ Jesus spoke of was that God is ready to do dramatic, life changing work, in any person, and set them free from the evil stuff that destroys people, marriages, families, neighborhoods, and societies. So what does REPENT look like and what might happen if all across America and around the world there would be what I’d like to call a ‘pandemic of Repent’?
Psalm 51 is one great example of “REPENT” we have in the Bible. David, the shepherd boy who became king of Israel, had achieved great success in the ways most people measure ‘king success’. But then David became prideful and lax in his own high ethical standards, and he fell into sin with another man’s wife, Bathsheba. That sad story is found in 2 Samuel 11.
For nearly a full year David lived a secret, pretending nothing wrong had taken place. He even was seen as a benevolent king, marrying the pregnant wife of one of his soldiers who’d been killed in battle, so she would not be a destitute single mother. Only David, Bathsheba and God knew that child had been conceived in an adulterous affair. When leadership lives a lie or refuses to acknowledge their wrong, it’s a dangerous time. God is patient, giving us time to REPENT as a vital step in RESTORE. But David didn’t.
Finally, after nearly a full year, God sent His prophet Nathan to confront David as recorded in 2 Samuel 12. Then, and only then did king David REPENT and deal with the sin deep in his life, which had already affected so many people. Psalm 51 is what David wrote in that season of REPENT. Let’s look closely at these powerful words, my friends, and let them illuminate a very important pathway for all of us. We need to learn this well, for REPENT needs to be a very real experience in all our lives. None of us is immune to the need for REPENT for all of us have sinned. (Romans 3:23)
David wrote out his prayer of repentance to God: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:1,2) It’s a desperate request and we too have asked God to do this in our lives haven’t we? But why should God forgive? Justice would suggest David and all of us should die for our sin. (Romans 6:23) Notice David isn’t offering to DO anything to make amends for his wicked deeds. There is not enough good we could ever do to atone for the wrong we’ve each done.
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You and You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely You desire truth in the inner parts, You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” (Psalm 51:3-6) David is making no excuses. He’s not attempting to negotiate. He’s acknowledging that he’s sinful to the very core of his being. And David acknowledges that God has every right to judge him as guilty and punish David with God’s holy justice. This is a very important part of REPENT. No blaming of others, no excuses, no evading of the guilt. Repent demands that I proclaim my guilt before God with clarity and honesty. Repent demands that I prepare to receive my justice punishment, expecting nothing less.
David’s appeal in verses 7-9 gives us some insight into how desperately David longs to be released from the shameful, secret dungeon of guilt he’s been living in for more than a year. “Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.” Oh how desperately David hungers for forgiveness, even though he knows he does not deserve it and could not earn it. But I believe David had reached a point that the thought of living much longer in this despair of guilt was more than he could bear.
Finally these desperate words: “Create in me a pure heart O God.” David knew ONLY God could restore his heart to purity, he could never do it himself, and he was desperate for this cleansing work of God. “and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” David longed for God to RENEW in his heart that tender spirit which had been so sensitive to God’s Holy Spirit.
“Do not cast me from Your presence, or take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Nothing was more frightening to David than the thought of being alienated from God because of his sin. It’s important we remember Jesus’ promise: “Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away” (John 6:37); “I shall lose none of all that The Father has given Me…” (John 6:39) But it’s also important we remember Paul’s warning “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed unto the day of Redemption.” (Eph. 4:30) David had deeply grieved God and he knew it. While the Ark of God’s Presence was under a tent near his palace (1 Chronicles 15,16), I imagine David felt so much shame he had not gone there to worship during this year, and the spiritual void in his life was killing him.
“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.” Oh how David longed to be restored into the very special relationship that he had enjoyed for so many years with God. He had a deep desire to share his experience with others so they would not fall into the same trap. This is part of why he wrote Psalm 51 for his generation and all of us since.
And finally these powerful words of repentance: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” There it is my friends, the essence of Repent. . .a broken spirit and contrite heart. No pride, no excuses, no blame, no pretend, no cover up… repulsed by my sin, I am broken and ready to receive the punishment of God’s holy justice. Only in that place, is God able to do a cleansing and restoring work in my repentant heart! Listen to this word from God: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2)
God is prepared to forgive because the wrath of God’s justice was poured out on Jesus in His death (Rom. 6:23) But God’s forgiveness is given and restoring cleansing takes place, only after true REPENTANCE from a broken spirit and contrite heart. So let’s stop right here and join God in looking deeply into our hearts today my friends. What does He see? What does God want us to do in response to what He sees in our hearts?
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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