When "Sorry" Is Not Enough! — A Call To True Repentance

Good morning everyone. Today we’ll meditate on Psalm 51. We have recently finished a series on the Sermon on the Mount. Today we will look at Psalm 51. And if you are in Christian faith for some time and if you are a student of God’s Word, I think you wouldn’t have missed Psalm 51, right? And Psalm 51, it unravels one of the saddest stories, yet penitential prayers in the entire Bible.

And who doesn’t like King David, right? And who, I mean, every sincere student of the Bible loves David, not because of his greatness or as a great king, or but because of his humility, right? And, and many of his Psalms are an expression of his desire for God, and this is one such Psalm, and it which speaks to our situation, right? And if you look at verse 1, Psalm 51 verse 1.

“For the choir director, a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone into Bathsheba.” One of the saddest words that we see here. I’ve titled this sermon as “When Sorry Is Not Enough. A Call to True Repentance.”

Why I titled this way is because one of the most frequent words that we use or that slips from our tongue is “sorry.” Right? We don’t think of the meaning of sorry. That’s the reason I titled it as “When Sorry Is Not Enough.”

And I want to focus on what true repentance actually entails, doing a study. Let’s look to the Lord for His grace. Our Father, we thank you for your goodness and your mercies, and as we look into your word we come to you as a needy people, a people in need of your grace, a people in need of seeing ourselves as you see us, and help us see what we actually need, oh Father, in our daily lives. We pray for the work of your Spirit in our lives, and we pray that you will strengthen spirit in Jesus Christ, and we pray. Amen. The psalm is a plea for forgiveness, and the context of this psalm is set in Second Samuel chapters 11 and 12.

And this psalm was written when Nathan the prophet confronted David, uh, King David, a year after his sin with Bathsheba. Well, that means a year has passed since David committed this sin, and, uh, and he was still ruling as a king, right? First let us read Second Samuel chapter 12, and we’ll read verses one till 5. 2nd Samuel chapter 12 verses 1 till, let’s read till verse 7. 2nd Samuel 12 verses 1 till 7. Let’s read it together. The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he, when he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other

poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from the cup, his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man, uh, refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die. He must pay for the lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and he had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man.” You are the man. These words, “You are the man,” it must have pierced David’s heart like a dagger, right? And Nathan was pointing to David’s sin, which is recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 11.

David, a man after God’s own heart, was once a God-fearing king of Israel, one of the finest kings that Israel ever had. And this was likely when David drifted from God and lost his the sense of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. And the scripture says it was a springtime, a time for the kings to go for the battles, and yet you see here that David stayed home, walked on the rooftop and saw Bathsheba bathing, and he lusted over her. The lust overtook him. He asked about her, inquired about her, ignoring that she was married to Uriah.

And we see that, you know, that if lust resides in our heart, we see that it’s so harmful. Even if not as blatant as David, desiring someone who isn’t your spouse is sinful. Jesus said, as we have studied in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 verse 28, looking at a woman with lust, it’s like committing adultery in the heart. Despite knowing she was married, and David already had wives, despite knowing she was married, David summoned her, and he, and he had sexual relationships with her. And when she became pregnant, David tried to cover it up by calling Uriah from the battle, hoping he’d sleep with his, but Uriah refused

So David arranged his death in the battle, and after Uriah’s death David married Bathsheba. The story illustrates themes of moral failure, the abuse of power and the courage required to speak the truth, genuine repentance and also divine justice tempered with mercy. David’s life was very illustrious, and his story and psalms serve as great encouragement to even believers now. And the Holy Spirit testifies in Acts chapter 13 verse 22 that — it says the — here we read there that “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do

all my will.” And after the life of David had passed, after many years, the Holy Spirit, God, testifies these words about David: “a man after my heart who will do all my will.” Listen to me, do not take sin lightly. If the Holy Spirit points out a sin, do not ignore it. It may — it may not be lust, it may not be adultery. It could be pride, it could be a cynical attitude, it could be judgmentalism, it could be gossip. It may look like a very silly sin, like slander or even lying, hypocrisy, self-centeredness, self-indulgence, prayerlessness

lack of generosity, all these things are sins, and there are many more. And and we should not know coercion or mask our heart feelings or the feelings of hatred with a smile, right? We are good at it, right? When we have hatred towards a person, we can easily mask it with a proper smile. The point is that we must deal with sin that’s in our heart, because it grieves the Holy Spirit with whom we are sealed until the day of redemption. If David, the man after God’s own heart, could fall, you and I can easily stumble as well, right? If

David, the man of the God’s own heart, who spent hours together in the presence of the Lord — you read his psalms, you will, you will see that how he used to pour out his heart in the presence of the Lord and sought God’s help. If such a person could stumble, brothers and sisters, we who hardly pray, we who hardly look into God’s word intently, we who hardly pour out our hearts in the presence of the Lord, it’s easy for us to stumble. Sin is always crouching at our doors.

The story of David reveals the destructive nature of sin. We are all born with it. Sin easily deceives us. If you are controlled by sin, it will influence your mind, your actions. It will influence your mind in such a way that to commit specific sins in different ways.

David lusted and he slept with a woman. He tried to cover it up, but when his plan didn’t work he plotted a murder, and he murdered a man, an innocent man. A year passed, and he thought his subordinates would not speak against him because he could eliminate them. But he — could he hide from the eyes of God? Would God spare him of that grievous sin? Will God spare his children? We will — we can learn from the story of David that God will bring sin to light. Brothers and sisters, this is a very serious thing. God will bring sin to light. David slept with

a woman, made her pregnant, killed her husband. The entire nation knows it. The entire nation knows that she was Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and since he was a king people couldn’t raise their voice. Yeah, year passed. God could have dealt with that the very next day, but year passed. He thought that everything is settled, right? But God brought that sin to light. That is the nature of God: he will not hide our sins. We may be good at hiding our sins, covering up our sins with good deeds or whatever that we do, but God will bring sin to light. You may be thinking that no one is watching what you do in that dark room, or you may believe that no one notices, know what you’re thinking in your mind.

You may be thinking that no one notices how you long for that woman or that man in your heart. You could think that no — could no one sees your intolerance towards that brother or that sister. You may feel that no one will discover what you have slandered about others, and or how you turn people against someone. Remember, God is watching. He forgets nothing. Sin is vicious, leading to more sin and hardening our conscience, which results in greater sins and destruction. It damaged — it damages our relationship with God. It takes away the joy of salvation, and it harms our relationships with others, with our spouses, with our family, with our church members. And sin can destroy all the good work that you have done and

Many underestimate pornography, right? But some crimes committed against women and children are linked to porn addicts. Pornography is deviant behavior. Watching naked bodies is evil. The more you indulge, the more your mind and actions become deviant. And most movies on the OTT platform, there may be good, but the good movie if has a sexual scene or a passionate kissing scene, they are not right, as because that influences our minds and our behaviors. My wife asked me for a commentary on the book of Philippians. There was a series lying in my bookshelf. I pulled one out and it was written by Steve Lawson, and I

gave it to my wife. She said she didn’t want to read it. I said, “Good content, ma’am.” She said, “No, I don’t want to read it.” She insisted she didn’t want to do that. Point is, sin will destroy you and your influence.

Especially sexual sin. Don’t take God’s patience for granted. His patience is not his approval. Not experiencing consequences of sin doesn’t mean God dismisses our sin or approves of it. It’s still a big deal. When God convicts us of sin, don’t silence that conviction.

It’s an opportunity for grace and repentance. God brings conviction through his word, and sometimes through other people. There will, there are other Nathans in our community. They will, they are watching us, our brothers and sisters. They watch us and they come to us, they confront us, right? Do not silence Nathans in your church, in your community. Identify sins that dominate your mind, emotions and your behaviors. Look for patterns your life. And with these thoughts, let’s explore Psalm 51 to understand sin, repentance and restoration. Psalm 51, let us read couple of verses. “For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came to him after he had gone into

Bathsheba, the praise, be gracious to me, O God, according to your, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak, and blameless when you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear

joy and gladness; let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” Now, when Nathan came to David, a humble man, insignificant man, you have, you probably never heard his name in the Bible, he came to this powerful man. He could have put him to death. But when these words came

out of Nathan, “You are the man,” that pierced his heart. He could see his sin. He could see that this man was sent from God. And he just, he didn’t give any justification, but he ran into the presence of God and he prayed this prayer. We can divide the psalm into three parts. Verses 1 till 4, we see the essence of repentance, which includes the recognition of sin and pleading for God’s forgiveness. And verses 5 to 12, you see the aim of repentance. He pleads for cleansing and restoration.

In verses 13 to 19, you see the fruit of repentance. Firstly, the essence of repentance. Often we assume that saying sorry is enough to show repentance. “Hey sorry bro, I didn’t mean that.” Right? “Sorry darling for hurting you last night.” Right? The word sorry easily come out.

Yes there are people who could who never say sorry, that’s a different story. Right? The point is that for many apologizing comes easily. Genuine sorrow comes from genuine repentance. Without true repentance you are not truly sorry. Without true repentance you are not truly sorry. The key to understanding the essence of repentance is verse 17, is in verse 17. It says that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken, contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. True repentance shows that you are broken. You’re sorry that you have hurt this person. You’re sorry that you have hurt God, yours, and you’re so sorry that you don’t want to do it again. You don’t want to repeat it again. That’s the essence of repentance. True repentance involves that

and contriteness. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 verses 2, verses 1 till 10, Paul differentiates between the worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is self-focused. You feel sorry to avoid guilt or to avoid some consequences, not because you offended God. It is driven by punishment, sorry, fear, by fear of punishment or some loss. Or for example, as with Esau, you, if you read the story of Esau and then later the commentary of Esau in the book of Hebrews, you see there that Esau repented with tears but was not heard, because he mourned losing something that he didn’t want to lose. Right? Contriteness arises

from the sorry, you know, for the, from the sorry of having done something that you shouldn’t have done. It is a heartfelt sorry of grieving someone or God. It involves feeling remorse for committing a sinful act, and you don’t want to repeat it. That’s the essence of true repentance.

You say this is sorry and tomorrow you want to behave the same way. Brother, sister, you’re not truly sorry. In verses 1 till 4, you see the terms like, “blot out my transgressions,” “wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,” “cleanse me from my sin.”

How are they different? How are transgressions different from iniquity? And how are iniquities different from sin? They’re mostly like synonymous terms. But transgression signifies rebellion. An active rebellion. Knowingly rebelling against God. Iniquity means it’s a deviation from righteousness. And sin is failing to meet certain standards. So David says in verse 3, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” He’s saying that I know, that I know my rebellion against God. I know that I have deviated from the righteous path. And I know that I have fallen from the standard of God. Lord, I have failed in every way.

And you see there the word “know” here. It says verse 3, “I know.” I know means here a deep awareness of his sins. And he’s aware that his sins deserves God’s judgment. He admits that he has chosen a wrong path. He has deviated from God’s standards. He admits that he deserves God’s punishment now.

And his sins deserve God’s displeasure. He’s confessing that I know, and he says that if you even deal with me severely, I know that I deserve it. So what sins can be categorized as transgressions and iniquity? Only murder and adultery? Any deviation from scriptural standards is considered as rebellion against God. It’s considered as deviation from his righteous path. It’s considered as falling short of God’s holy standards.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, every transgression or every sin should be viewed in this light. And we should repent of every transgression with similar severity. There should be brokenness each time we sin. There should be brokenness each time we fall off short of God’s standard, every time we deviate from his righteous path. Oh Lord, I’m sorry, I did not, last night I lied, I’m sorry. No, brothers. You have to see it as a rebellion against God.

And simply saying sorry and falling back into that vicious cycle is not true repentance. That is, you’re only trying to ease your guilty conscience. But you’re not truly sorry. Identify patterns of sin. Look for those patterns that lead you to transgression, or recognize the patterns you have established in your life that cause you to sin, and deal with that in the presence of the Lord. For example, lusting after another person sexually involves temptation. When you are tempted by another person’s beauty, you desire them, and when you desire them, you give into that longing. And alternatively, if you want to satisfy a legitimate sexual desire, how should you do that?

You should marry. You should be close to your spouse. That’s it. Let’s say there’s an urge to watch something. And you watch it. And in doing so you succumb to that sin. Or you try to imagine a person in your mind, and you are also succumbing to that sin.

Let’s say someone hurts you. What do you do if someone hurts you? You may not want to confront the pain genuinely in the presence of God and then address it with the person who offended you. Let me say there is a pattern. What is that? You want to brood over your heart. You want to go into self-pity. At least once you have. You want, you want to think that, oh, that person has hurt me. How he has hurt me, how she has hurt me, right? And then you want to grow, you want to grow in bitterness towards that person. You want to feel that, no, angst against that person. Then you want to talk about it to

someone. You want to pour out your heart to someone. You’ll find a person, you’ll talk, you’ll pour out about that person, no? Right? You malign that person, someone, somehow seek that vengeance. You want that, you want to put that out, right? And this is a vicious cycle you fall into whenever you are hurt. And when someone points out your wrongdoing, in order to appear good to others, you say sorry. Oh, sorry for doing that, I was hurt, that’s the reason I did that, I’m so sorry. But what about the damage that you have done to that person’s, no?

Or maybe you offer a word of prayer to God. Lord, I’m sorry. But the point is, you are not repenting of the root problem of self-centeredness and the desire to hurt others in a similar way. You are not turning to the scriptures to learn how to deal when you’re hurt.

trying to understand God’s solution to this problem. You have developed your own mechanism to deal with your heart. When dealing with sin, address it at the heart level by identifying your motivations and underlying desires. Recognize patterns and bring everything before the Lord to seek His grace. Seek true repentance. True repentance involves not only recognizing sin but also reaching a point where you no longer want to repeat that sin again in your life. Until you accept God’s terms, you haven’t truly repented of your—until you’re dealing with that hurt or that sin in God’s prescribed ways, you’re not repenting. You

must confront your sin, recognize your weaknesses, understand that no technique, no human mechanism, only by submitting to God, admitting your sin, and seeking His mercy, will help you find a solution. Otherwise, you remain off the path of repentance. The essence of repentance is that it understands that sins are against God. Any sin is against God. That realization, that these are against God. These are active rebellion against God. That is the essence of repentance.

Look at verse 4. David says, “Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Yes, David sinned against Bathsheba. Yes, he sinned against Uriah. A repentant heart recognizes that horror lies primarily in offending God. When we sin repeatedly, brothers and sisters, if you’re falling into that vicious cycle of sin, saying sorry, again committing the same sin again and again, if you’re falling into that vicious cycle, brothers and sisters, it means that you have a belittle God in your mind. You do not know who God is. Do you think that you can escape God’s judgment? Or do you think that he will simply spare you? Fail to see the horror of offending God. In 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 13, after Nathan confronted him, David could see the horror of sin and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

“I have rebelled against the Lord.” And in this psalm, David classifies his sin as evil in God’s eyes. It’s not just adultery or the murder. The under, our underlying sins of lust, conspiracy, manipulation and lies, every sin is seen as evil by God. We need to confess every sin to him. We need to be broken at every sin. That’s how we deal with sin. It’s not like, not only if I’ve committed lust, I am, I seriously repent. If I said a small lie, no, that’s okay, the Lord will understand. No, every sin should be dealt in the same manner. When we confess, we should not hide our sin. We should not blame others. We should not blame our upbringing or have any more excuses. We admit it and we

must take full responsibility of our sin. Confessing means agreeing with God’s judgment on our sin. We are agreeing that, “Lord, my sins are evil in your sight, my sins deserve punishment.” We acknowledge that we have rebelled against God, a holy God. We have broken his commandments, grieved his Spirit, defiled this temple of the Holy Spirit, and we confess that we have done what is evil in the sight of God. Then David says, “so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge.” It means David is expressing what a true God-fearing person understands. They live in awe that God could condemn us

to hell. Because of my sins, God is justified in doing so. God is always justified if he simply condemns us to hell. Because we are sinful. And this doesn’t contradict the idea of once saved, always saved. We believe in the perseverance of the saints. We believe that. But people who have sinned against God, broken at sin, there, you did, they don’t use that card. They don’t claim this right, “Lord, I’m, I persevered till the end, I know that he will.” No, you wouldn’t use that card with God. And when you sin, when you’re confronted with sin as a rebellion against God, you

realize that you will have that sense that God is rightly justified if he condemns me to hell right now. You’re accepting that and he laments of it. “God, you have all authority to judge me.” That’s the broken contrite heart the God seeks to bless. So whenever we sin against God, we turn to God solely on the basis of God’s character. Look at verse 1. David pleads with God on the basis of God’s character. “Be gracious to me according to your loving-kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgression.”

Our forgiveness is only based on God’s grace and compassion, not just for salvation but also for our restoration. Every time we commit any sin, in order to be restored to God, it is always dependent on God’s loving kindness and his compassion. I’m utterly hopeless in and out of myself to restore myself and to undo what I’ve done. Only because of Christ finished to work on our behalf there is grace. That’s the reason the apostle John said, “If we confess our sin, he is faithful and righteous so that he will forgive us our, of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The second point is, the first is the essence of our repentance. The essence of repentance is that we have

realized that we have rebelled against the holy God, right? That’s the essence of repentance. We understand that our sins, every sin is against God. Secondly, the aim of repentance. Look at verse 5. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The word behold is an important word here. It calls us to pay very careful attention, very careful attention. It traces the presence of sin to the very beginning of his existence, not only from the time of his birth but even before that, to conception. It acknowledges, it acknowledges that from the moment of conception a moral human person exists in

that form of fetus. That infant and birth, at birth, and the fetus at conception are affected by Adam’s sin, and that is theologically called as the original sin. When Adam sin he acted not merely as an individual but as a covenant representative of entire humanity. His disobedience had immediate and also universal consequences for all his descendants, all his offspring. As the descendants of Adam we participate in the fall, we have participated in the fall, we have, in, we have not only inherited the sin nature but we have also inherited the guilt of Adam sin and therefore the condemnation. The only person who is ever born in this world who is free from

that Adam sin is our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not affected by Adam’s sin. And because we are sinners, sin comes naturally to us. But David doesn’t take this original sin for granted or as an excuse for his rebellion. He’s just affirming that because he’s a sinner by birth, he is sinning. Sin comes naturally to him. Therefore the rescue from sin doesn’t come from any human or self-made mechanism, right? From anything that man has ever invented because everything is sinful. Everything will be tainted with sin. Deliverance from sin comes from God alone. Holiness comes from God alone. Look at verse 6.

There it says, Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being and in the hidden part, will make me no wisdom he prays that God would do a deeper work in him brothers and sisters this is the way you we must deal with repentance deal with sin not just saying sorry but in the presence of the Lord we must unroot those desires of sin as the Lord to plant the new seeds of his truth he says that he confesses His desire, his need for the truth. He confesses that what God desires in his life. God desires to see that there is truth, that there will be truth in his life.

He prays that God will do a deeper work in his life. Holy life should flow from within. Can flow only from within. So he asks the Lord to do that deeper work. David asked, David is asking to do a work of transformation within him. He’s asking the Lord to purge him from all those false and evil desires. Brothers and sisters, there is a sinful act because there is a sinful desire. There is a sinful act because there is a sinful desire. We must deal at that desire level. He is asking the Lord to deal at the heart level. Let that desire to be true in your sight flow from my heart.

He is asking the Lord, you do that work in me, Lord. You plant that seeds of truth in my heart. You bring that fear in me. Fear of you in me. That desire for holiness within me. You do that deeper work in me, that lasting work in me. He’s pleading with the Lord there. And every time, brother, we see we sin, we must see the desire and we must seek the Lord to uproot that desire and plant the truth in our hearts. And David uses the language of Leviticus here in verse 7. He says, “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.”

Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Hyssop is a plant used for ritual sprinkling. It was used during Passover. David appeals to God himself to perform that priestly act in his soul. To cleanse him from that defilement. All the Old Testament sacrifices prefigure the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hear these words from the book of Hebrews chapter 9. I request one of you to read those verses loudly and clearly. Hebrews chapter 9 verses 11 till 15.

Loudly, clearly and slowly. “He entered once for all into the Holy Place, but not by means of blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus ensuring an eternal redemption. Gold is the blood of goats and bulls, and is the blood of the defiled person as is of the dispersed, sanctified for the purification of the flesh.”

Verse 15 also. Right, so you see here that, uh, when Christ — you miss reading verse 11 — “Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not to the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood he entered into the holy place once for all, obtaining eternal redemption.” And verse 15 affirms that, “For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that since the death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the

first covenant.” What is the first covenant he’s talking about? The people, old covenant, right? So that means David’s hope is based on the sacrifices of the Old Testament that prefigures David’s son, that is Christ Jesus, his ultimate sacrifice. Only when, the point is, only when God himself washes us with the blood of Christ we will be whiter than snow. And verse 8 he says, “Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which you have broken rejoice.” Right.

Look at verse 8. See here, bones that were rightly broken, they symbolize the sorrow caused by what David did. A feeling of being crushed by the thought that you have grieved God is a sign of genuine repentance. Repentance. You're crushed under that feeling that you have grieved God. That you have hurt God. Right? And you're crushed under that feeling. That is broken. That is true brokenness. That is true repentance.

And verse 9 he says that, “Hide your face from sins, my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.” And he’s also asking the Lord in verse 8 that brokenness may be replaced with joy. He’s asking the Lord to fill his heart with gladness of being forgiven and being made right with God. And in verse 9, David is painfully aware that his sins have caused great displeasure to God. And it is a confession that his sins have upset the heart of God. And he is sorry for that. It is a confession that his sins are in rebellion against God. And it is a request for God not to see him as a rebel anymore.

But as someone who is forgiven. And such is the privilege of all who genuinely repent of their sin. God hides his face from their sins in the sense like he forgets their sins. If one genuinely repents, if you genuinely repent, God will not bring that sin into account anymore. He won’t remind you of that sin anymore. So that comes only when you have genuinely repented of your sin.

And then, that is such a privilege of all the people who genuinely repent of their sin. And trust in the sin purging, soul cleansing, fellowship restoring work of Jesus Christ. Not just that. He goes on to ask the Lord in verse 10. “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

spirit within me. And the word create here is called bara, which is also used in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, “In the beginning God created.” Christopher Ash says that in the entire Old Testament only God is subject of that verb bara. Only God creates in that sense. And the same word is used here by David, is asking him to give him a new beginning, new desires that please God, is asking God to take away those sinful evil desires. And he asked for a steadfast spirit, a willing spirit, a spirit that is morally fixed, that is steadfast, resolute in its royal loyalty to God. He’s

asking for a new heart, new desires and a firm spirit, because he wants to continue in willing obedience and holiness. Brothers and sisters, this is the next step in repentance. The sign that you are genuinely repenting is you want to continue in willing obedience and submission to God. That is a sign of repentance. If that desire is not there, if there is a desire in you to go back to that sin again, brother, sister, you have not truly repented. This the real sign that you have repented. You’re asking the Lord to uproot those evil desires.

Asking the Lord to do a deeper work in your heart. So that you will be fixed. You will be a willing servant of the Lord. Obeying the Lord. Seeking His holiness. And look at verse 11. He says, “Do not cast me away from your presence. And do not take away your Holy Spirit from me.” In the first part of this verse.

not to, not to banish him from his presence or his favor, right? And in the second part of the verse he asked the Lord not to take away the Holy Spirit from him. Brothers and sisters, may I tell you, many people use this verse as a proof text to lose salvation. This is not a proof text, no, on losing your salvation or losing the Holy Spirit. You must understand the context of the old works. In the old covenant the kings were anointed along with the prophets and the priests. David as the king was set apart by the Holy Spirit to serve him, right? God, if

you remember the story of Saul in 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 14, God removed his Holy Spirit from King Saul. And David, more than anything else. He is asking God not to take over the anointing of being a king over his people. He is expressing that the repercussions of his transgression should not result in the termination of his reign as a king of Israel. Therefore, David requests not to be subjected to the same treatment given to Saul. Instead of being removed, he asked the Lord to allow him to continue serving as a king in his presence, before his face.

Saul never repented like David. David repented it, right? And you know that the Lord is no respecter of man. Because David repented, God allowed him to continue in his reign. You keep sinning, brother. You keep sinning, sister. Remember, you are losing God’s favor on your life. You won’t experience his grace to live in this world, nor will you find God’s favor. That’s not the end. As the Lord reminds in Hebrews chapter 12, his discipline is coming. If there is no life of repentance, if you keep taking God’s grace for granted, remember the Lord will discipline you, because God cares for you. God cares for us. Let’s keep our hearts open to the

loving correction which he brings through his word and his people. Let us also be open to Nathans in the church, and let us seek to live in a way that honors him. Look at verse 12. He says, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” He said sin defiles us. It separates us from God’s grace. David seeks for restoration to live under God’s favor. He wants to live with joy that comes from knowing that he’s God’s child. And he asked the Lord to bless him with a resolute spirit in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.

And to us, the joy of God’s salvation is only found in the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. A believer who repents this way, approves sin, sin’s desire from their life and rejoices in God’s saving grace and strives to live a life that pleases God. And repentance is not just saying sorry every time you commit sin. It entails recognizing sin, and its underlying desires, observing patterns, seeking God’s gracious help to uproot those desires. It also involves approaching God as someone who can condemn us because of our sin. But we have hope for restoration through Jesus Christ. His redeeming work.

Aiming to live a godly life. Sin has terrible consequences. Though there is forgiveness and restoration, sin has terrible consequences. David had to face the consequences in his life. Later there was a great turmoil in his own family because of these sins. But in spite of those consequences, there will be joy of salvation.

Joy of forgiveness. Sorry and the favor of the Lord. So count the cost whenever you sin. There will be consequences. Some relationships won’t be restored back to normalcy, because you have grieved so much that there can be forgiveness but that trust cannot be rebuilt again. There are consequences. There are consequences. If you’re unfaithful to your spouse, there are consequences, right? So count the cost whenever you sin. There are consequences. And finally, the fruit of repentance, verses 13 to 19. In the life of a repentant believer, there will be a particular fruit. Look at verse 13 and 14 and 15. David says, “Then I will teach transgressors your

ways and sinners will be converted to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation, that my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness.” Verse 15, “O Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise.” A forgiven person knows the awful weight of sin.

He knows the joy of forgiveness and restoration. And when he sees an erring brother or a sister, his heart goes out for them. Because he has experienced that sinful, sin is awful. And he has experienced that joy of forgiveness and being restored. So whenever he sees an erring brother or a sister, he goes after them so that they can be restored. He’s not with them with a holier-than-thou attitude. Brothers and sisters, if anyone approaches you with a whole, with a holier-than-thou attitude, that means that person hasn’t experienced grace. But as no, but as Paul said in Galatians chapter 6 verse 1 and 2, Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 and 2, Paul says, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in spirit of

gentleness. Each one looking to yourself. So that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens. And thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Brother. Sister. If there is no spirit of gentleness. Towards those who are erring. It means. You are not grateful to God. For his forgiveness. In your life. It means you do not see sin in your life, or as a person who is susceptible to the same sin. As Paul said here, “each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted.” Brothers and sisters, we must point people to Christ and the grace and the hope that we

have alone. Do you know what the people with gentleness, so spirit of gentleness, do? They will persuade people to repent. And when they don’t repent, they are patient with the people who are failing. They will not condemn them, right? They will not make opinions about others. They will bring them into the presence of the Lord, because it is he who has to work in their hearts. It will bring them, he, they will bring them into the presence of the Lord, and they will pour out before God for mercy on their behalf. They will plead with God, “Lord, have mercy upon this erring brother, this erring

sister. Open their eyes that they may see their sin. Oh Lord, please do your gracious work in them.” That’s what a gentle person does. He will not give up on people just like that. They will plead for them in God’s presence. They are not impatient with people.

The top trait of a repentant believer is not being judgmental towards other sins. Instead they approach others with gentleness and with an aim to restore them to Christ. It’s okay if they reject your counsel. You’re patient with them. Your aim is not that they will listen to your, is that they will understand the awful weight of their sin and come under the conviction of the truth of God’s Word. And you will wait, you will plead, you will, you will, you will, you will pour out in the presence of the Lord for their sake. And the next dominant fruit will be a life of thankfulness to

God. You see there, the hearts will be swelled up with songs of joy and praise unto the Lord. And in verses 16 to 19, it focused on the community. Look at verses 16 to 19: “For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You’re not pleased with burnt offering. That sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, or broken in a contrite heart, of God you will not despise. By your favor.” See here, the sacrifices, the burnt offerings, altar, building of the walls, they refer to the community of God’s people.

Alec Motyer, the Old Testament scholar says, says, “David as king could not sin simply as a private individual. His sin threatened the fabric of public life. If wrath falls on David because of sin, it falls on all Israel.” David as a king and representative of God’s people, he acknowledges this reality. If David’s sin is public, then there is an opportunity for the enemy to blaspheme against the Lord. David prays for righteousness to prevail in that nation, and he prays to build the walls of Jerusalem to prevent enemies from breaking in.

If you do, he says, “Lord, you will delight in right sacrifices, burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.” And a new covenant believer can pray that the Lord will build his church. The way God builds his church is when there are people who are sensitive to God’s Word and they are always repenting, is not simply saying sorry but repenting in this manner. God builds his church through these genuine people, when you are sensitive to God’s Word and you are always repenting, not grieving the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, the renewed community is composed of penitential individuals or repenting individuals. If you are not repenting of your individual sins in this manner, brothers and sisters, our church is weak. Our church is weak. If

There is no life of this biblical repentance, brothers and sisters. Whatever theological distinctions that we have, we are still weak. We are weak in spite of God’s grace, in spite of God’s work. We are still weak because we are bent down to doing our own wills. We are bent down on walking on our own carved paths. If you’re not seeing sin as God sees it, and if you’re not dealing with sin as God wants to deal with it, and if you’re not seeking for to God to implant this truth and wisdom in your heart and uproot those sinful desires from your heart.

Brothers and sisters, we are not walking in that pathway that God has carved for us. And we will be. We will remain as weak people and weak witnesses in this world. We will remain as weak witnesses in this world. The church should be filled with people who are broken and are of a contrite spirit.

If you think you are a believer and you continue in a life of sin without any remorse for sin — maybe you said a sorry or a word of prayer at some point of time in your life — may I tell you that maybe you are not a believer. The sign of a believer is a life of repentance, no matter what you believe. The sign of a believer is a life of repentance. A sign of a believer is continually trusting in Christ and His finished work. And fashioning one’s life according to the word of God.

And if you are an unbeliever, you must understand that your sins are against the Holy God who created you. You are accountable to God. He will either save you or He will punish you. He will save you only if you look to Christ who suffered and died for the sins of his people. You deserve God's punishment and you cannot do anything about it. You cannot do anything to save yourself from sins because you are utterly incapable of saving yourself from your sins. Christ alone, God alone can save you. God alone can pull you out from that life. Because he suffered.

Christ suffered for you on that cross for the sinners. He suffered for the sinners. He paid the penalty of sins on that cross through his death. And he rose again on the third day victorious. Brothers and sisters, if you reject Christ, God will not spare you.

He alone is your hope. You will suffer. If you reject Christ, you will suffer in the eternal lake of fire. We are asking you to come to a God that is forgiving, that is willing to show, who is willing to show grace and mercy.

So brothers and sisters, it's a plea to see repentance in this light. There is a way we should repent. So brothers and sisters, are you truly repenting? Or do you ease your conscience by simply saying sorry or praying a prayer every time you sin?

If there is no life of repentance, brothers and sisters, we, and if you’re the child of God, the discipline of the Lord is awaiting for us. Let’s see. I request you to go back, read this psalm again, meditate on the psalm again, and examine your own life of repentance in the light of this psalm. Let’s pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word.

Help us understand our own sins that are in rebellion against you, Father, and give us grace to learn how to truly repent and approach sins desires from our lives. Pray that you’ll be gracious to us. In Jesus Christ name we pray, amen.