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Lesson 4 | The Movement of the Gospel Bible Text: Psalm 51:1-17 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

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Have mercy on me, O God, according to your Commentary steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me The tragic story of David’s adulterous thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me relationship with Bathsheba and subsequent from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, sins and their consequences is recorded in I 4 and my sin is ever before me. Against you, Samuel 11-12. The Lord’s rebuke to David came you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in through Nathan, and the important introduction your sight, so that you may be justified in your of Psalm 51 states: To the choirmaster. A Psalm 5 words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, I was brought forth after he had gone in to in iniquity, and in Bathsheba. O Lord, open my lips, and my sin did my mother Whoever coined the conceive me. 6 statement, “The Old Behold, you delight mouth will declare your praise. Testament is the New in truth in the inward Testament concealed, being, and you teach and the New Testament is the Old Testament me wisdom in the secret heart. revealed,” could not have been more accurate. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Although the gospel is the good news of the 8 wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let person and work of Christ, it is communicated in me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that this Psalm in a wonderfully compelling way. you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from The New Testament teaches us, as we have seen my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in previous lessons, that the gospel calls us to a in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right life of repentance, faith, obedience, and worship. spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your Psalm 51 preaches the gospel to us using that presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from same outline. me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. The Movement of the Gospel 1

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 13

The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). This power is not dormant or impotent, but alive and active. Specifically, the gospel moves us in three directions: deeper, higher, and wider. page

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Deeper The gospel moves us deeper in repentance as we cry out: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there by any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:24-25)

World Harvest Mission, page 44) identifies four biblical characteristics of genuine repentance: 1. “Is oriented toward God, not me”

2. “Is motivated by true godly sorrow and not just selfish regret” 3. “Is concerned with the heart, not just with external actions”

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The human heart, apart from the supernatural work of the Spirit, is radically committed to selfprotection. When confronted with wrongdoing, our natural (carnal) strategy is to protect ourselves with denial and blame-shifting.

Think of the most recent time in your own life when someone accused you of something. What was your very first impulse? Excuse-making, a very common (i.e., natural) response, is rooted in self-justification (a form of self-righteousness). Blame-shifting, another common strategy, is pointing out the speck in someone else’s eye while being blind to the log in our own. Such statements as, “Sorry to yell at you but you made me angry,” or “If you hadn’t done what you did then I wouldn’t have done what I did,” are crass examples of these two strategies. The gospel teaches us to “write with the opposite hand” by rejecting these habitual strategies of selfjustification and self-righteousness.

4. “Looks to Jesus for deliverance from the penalty and power of sin”

According to that excellent description of biblical repentance, we see that David is truly repentant.

First, his repentance is oriented toward God, not himself. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment (Psalm 51:4). David is here speaking of the essence of his sin, not its consequences (which included hurtful actions against Bathsheba, her husband, the people of God whom David ruled, etc.). Ultimately, all sin is a form of rebellion against God and is rooted in our pride and unbelief.

Second, David’s repentance is motivated by “true godly sorrow.” Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice (Psalm 51:8). This reference to broken bones is a Repentance is not regret. We might feel badly powerful metaphor. In Psalm 32, which many that we have been exposed, or our reputation believe was also written by has been tarnished, or we David after his affair with have lost the respect of Bathsheba, David gives a Repentance is not regret. others; but these regretful similar description of his We might feel badly that we feelings have no connection genuine “brokenness”: have been exposed, or our to genuine repentance. We For when I kept silent, my are simply feeling badly reputation has been tarnished, bones wasted away through about our failure and the or we have lost the respect my groaning all day long. For impact that failure has on of others; but these regretful day and night your hand was our perception of ourselves feelings have no connection to heavy upon me; my strength and the perception of others. genuine repentance. was dried up as by the heat of Two of the biggest idols in summer (Psalm 32:3-4). the human heart are the constant quests of our soul Third, David shows concern for his heart, not just for satisfaction, not through Christ, but through his external actions. Behold, I was brought forth our performance and our appearance. in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. The Gospel-Centered Life study (produced by page 2

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Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart (Psalm 51:5-6). David fully understands, in contrast with many Christians today, the absolutely fallen nature of the unconverted human heart. When we define sin merely as an “action,” we minimize its gravity and show great naivete. How often have we had a “slip of the tongue” and said something to someone that was unkind, spiteful, or hurtful? What is our first line of defense when caught in such a verbal indiscretion? “Oh, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean that.” Jesus, however, renders a very different verdict concerning such things:

The reference to hyssop is highly significant to a Jewish believer. There are 12 references to hyssop in Scripture (ten in the OT and two in the NT). Several relate directly to the idea of salvation and cleansing. In Exodus 12 God instructed his people on the eve of the exodus to:

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But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person (Matthew 15:18-20a).

Our Lord delight[s] in truth in the inward being (Psalm 51:6), not denial and blame-shifting.

Finally, David evidences genuine repentance by looking to the Lord alone for his deliverance from the penalty and power of sin in his heart:

Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you (Exodus 12:22-23, underlining mine).

David may have had this picture of God’s deliverance in mind when he wrote Psalm 51. It is more likely, however, that he was thinking of the use of hyssop in the cleansing of a leper:

Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field (Leviticus 14:3-8, underlining mine).

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Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:910).

The gospel is not a self-improvement, behaviormodification strategy to compensate for our sins by engaging in some form of penance. As we shall see next, God calls us to face and name the reality of our sin in repentance and then to trust in his free offer of forgiveness by his grace:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that 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 right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit (Psalm 51:7-12). page 3

In the gospel, we have been healed from the leprosy of our soul through the finished work of Christ. He is the Lamb whose blood was slain. He is the Priest who has sprinkled his blood on our sin-sick soul and pronounced us to be cleansed.

Indeed, in David’s prayer we see the downward movement of the Spirit, taking David deeper in repentance and faith. Higher

The result of the downward movement of the gospel is an upward movement in our response: Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit (Psalm 51:12).

hide and look for the biggest fig leaf we can find (career, busyness, entertainment, church work, reputation, etc.). God sees through this folly and penetrates the defenses of our hearts with his truth: Woe is me, for I am lost (Isaiah 6:5). But the gospel promises us full exposure followed by full acceptance. This is a new formula, a new way of thinking, a learning to write with our opposite hand. For immediately after placing us on the operating table for openheart surgery, often with no anesthesia, God’s grace abounds:

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Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise (vs. 1415).

Great theology produces great doxology. That is, a deep understanding of the finished work of Christ produces in the believer a joyful celebration of God’s grace expressed in worship.

This would suggest, therefore, that if worship does not engage the heart of a believer, then we must ask if the gospel is really evident in that worship experience. The regenerate human heart rejoices at the transformational change that the gospel has brought to that heart. We see this clearly in Hebrews 4:12-16. This well-known text begins with a profound description of the detection power of God’s word. It is sharper than any two-edged sword (v. 12). It “discerns” or “exposes” the thoughts and intentions of the heart (v. 12). The truth of God performs open-heart surgery on us, and we are terrified at the sight of blood (especially when it is our own). God in his grace shows us the selfishness and corruption of our heart through the scalpel/sword of his word. This candid description of spiritual surgery concludes by stating, And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (v. 13).

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Amazing! In God’s economy of grace, full exposure brings us full acceptance through the finished work of Christ on our behalf. We approach his throne, a throne of grace, with absolute confidence. This is worship at its best. We approach in humility and doxology the throne of the Sovereign of the universe, the Lord of our lives, and the Savior of our souls. This was David’s experience. Indeed, before we go higher we are called to go deeper. The latter is the mother who gives birth to the former.

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We spend a great deal of effort in hiding from the truth. We fear exposure. We abhor detection. We believe, based on our experience of human relationships, that exposure produces rejection. Therefore, like our first parents, we

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Let us then with confidence draw

near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need

Questions

Wider Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you (Psalm 51:13).

The gospel moves us outward toward those who do not know the Lord. David has been taught the grace of God in and through his moral failures, and now he wants to share that truth with transgressors with the evangelistic desire that sinners will return to you.

1. Of the three movements of the gospel (deeper, higher, wider), which one do you tend to focus on the most? Which one do you focus on the least? What has this produced in your Christian walk and witness?

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The word “gospel” appears 90 times in the Bible. Forty-one of those occurrences refer to preaching, proclaiming, testifying, or making known the gospel to those who are lost.

There is a clear connection between the believer’s personal understanding of the gospel and his/her subsequent desire to make that gospel known to others:

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; . . . All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:14,18).

The word (sunecho) translated “controls” means “pressure that produces action, constrain, compel.” Clearly, as we receive and rest in the love of Christ for us, we are compelled to share that love with others. Love received is the mother of love shared.

2. Ponder relationships that you have had with others over the years that have been either very meaningful and/or very painful. In what ways have you seen the following formula worked out in those relationships: “Full exposure = painful rejection”? With this formula in mind, what strategies do you use to avoid exposure so as to avoid rejection? What have those strategies produced in you? What have those strategies produced in your relationship to others?

3. Ponder your relationship with God. Do you believe that, in Christ, “full exposure = full acceptance”? When you fail to believe the gospel in this regard, what strategies have you used to vainly seek to avoid exposure to the Lord? What has that strategy produced in you and in your relationship with the Lord? When you do believe the gospel formula, what has this produced in you and your relationship with the Lord?

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4. Jack Miller, founder of World Harvest Mission, used to say, “Cheer up, you are worse than you think; but the gospel is better than you know.” Do Psalm 51 and Hebrews 4:12-16 bear witness to the truth of that statement? Are you rejoicing in the Lord and in his gracious and eternal acceptance of you in Christ?

A Suggested Prayer from The Valley of Vision

(a collection of Puritan prayers, used by permission, Banner of Truth Trust, 1975, page 24) Jesus My Glory

O LORD GOD,

Grant that I may value my substance,

not as the medium of pride and luxury, but as the means of my support and stewardship.

Help me to guide my affections with discretion, to owe no man anything,

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Thou hast commanded me to believe in Jesus; and I would flee to no other refuge, wash in no other fountain,

build on no other foundation,

to be able to give to him that needeth, to feel it my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving,

to show the world the likeness of Jesus.

receive from no other fullness, rest in no other relief.

His water and blood were not severed in their flow at the cross,

may they never be separated in my creed and experiences;

May I feel equally convinced of the guilt and pollution of sin, feel my need of a prince and saviour,

implore of him repentance as well as forgiveness,

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love holiness, and be pure in heart,

have the mind of Jesus, and tread in his steps.

Let me not be at my own disposal,

but rejoice that I am under the care of one who is too wise to err, too kind to injure,

too tender to crush.

May I scandalize none by my temper and conduct, but

recommend and endear Christ to all around,

bestow good on every one as circumstances permit, page

and decline no opportunity of usefulness. 6