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PSALM 51

Intro: One of 7 penitential Psalms. Written after Nathan came to David. "Thou art the
       man" -  "I have sinned against Jehovah" - "Jehovah also hath put away thy sin."
       This psalm is an interpretation of David's confession to Nathan.

I. SIN IN RELATION TO GOD.
        A. David cast himself on God's mercy "Have mercy."
                1. In the Book of Exodus where God gave the Law, God declared Himself to
                   be "A God full of compassion, and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous
                   in mercy and truth."
        B. Conscious of sin in the presence of God.
                1. "My transgressions" - definite rebellion & disobedience.
                2. "My iniquity" - the result of transgression which is perversion
                   or pollution.
                3. "My sin" - includes all the fact, sense of failure & ruin, conscious &
                   unconscious actions. I willfully disobeyed, I am polluted, I am
                   a failure.
        C. What David sought.
                1. "Blot out" - erase as a mark from a book.
                2. "Wash me" - original Hebrew word trample me.
                3. "Cleanse me" - Hebrew word difficult to translate. "Unsin me"
                   Seeking a forgiveness so complete that the whole fact & issue of sin
                   can be canceled.

II. I ACKNOWLEDGE "FOR, MY TRANSGRESSIONS."
        A. Acknowledge - I know it, I confess it, make no attempt to hide it.
                1. Psalm 32  last week.
                        "When I kept silence bones waxed old. Day and night thy Hand was
                        heavy upon me. My moisture turned to the draught of summer. I
                        acknowledge my sin unto thee. I said, I will confess."
                2. No cleansing without confession.
                3. When does confession of sin have great value?
                        a. When confessed to a priest.
                        b. Made to the one I have wronged (not enough..
                        c. Confessed one to the other.
                        d. When it is made to God. This comes after I have confessed to
                           myself "I have sinned."
        B. Against thee & thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
                1. Sinned against Bathsheba? sinned with Bathsheba.
                2. Sinned against Uriah?  Noble sin two choices.
                3. When a man wrongs a woman, he hurts God. When he wrongs a man the last
                   hurt is felt by God.

III. SIN IN ITS RELATION TO THE SINNER.
        "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
        A. Facts concerning my own being -in essence corrupt.
        B. Vs. 6 Though nature corrupt you have placed within a guide a consciousness
           of wrong.
        C. New appeal for cleansing from inherited pollution. Vs ?, 8
        D. The effects of unconfessed sins.
                1. Wrong spirit, Vs 10
                2. Separated from His presence, Vs 11
                3. Joy of salvation gone, Vs 12
                4. Witness is gone, Vs 13
                5. Inner song gone, Vs 14
                6. Praise is gone, Vs 15
        Great truths from this psalm.
                1. Sin is against God and destroys personality & paralyzes influence.
                   Utterly incurable by human action.
                2. God responds to confession & trust in His mercy.

Voltaire sat down to write an irreverent parody to this Psalm and when he reached the
petition "Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me" he became
frightened, stopped his work and destroyed his parchment.