Gospel Purpose (Psalm 51:1-19)
Mr. Ben Castle, February 10, 2019Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
David had a deep personal experience with the Gospel; he trusted in God’s salvation. Psalm 51 shows us the purpose of the Gospel. John Calvin offered two purposes of the Gospel: where salvation is found, and how we worship God rightly. Psalm 51 is a psalm about forgiveness and worship. Characteristics of ancient church worship were the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 51. There are three sections to this Psalm. Vss. 1-6 are confession; vss. 7-13 are cleansing and vss. 14-19 are the purpose of worship. God has promised to forgive sin, but it is not our confessions that bring forgiveness. Forgiveness is based on the Gospel. We must glorify God in our confessions, so that God is proclaimed as just. We should not commend or glorify ourselves on the amount of sin we have confessed. We confess sin so that God can grow us in faith. Our sins don’t make us sinners; we sin, because we are sinners. If we confess our particular sins, we learn from them individually. This process teaches us that we are abominable without grace. There are many images of cleansing in the Old Testament: washing, the bronze laver, blood sacrifice, sprinkling of blood on the people by the high priest using the hyssop branch are among them. In reality, only God can cleanse us. Only God can create a clean heart within us, change our nature, transform us and give us a new spirit. Cleansing is from and for God. Unless our sin is removed, we cannot dwell with God. Sin separates us from God; it robs us of His presence. Joy is the presence of God, and joy is a fruit of the Gospel at work within us. We taste the presence of God in worship through song, sacrifices and the sanctuary. Christ the Lord himself is the sacrifice, and He prays for the sanctuary, His Church. For our part, there are no sacrifices without the heart engaged. We are to worship God through Christ in the Holy Spirit.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « David's Hope | None | Living In The World » |
Psalm 51 (Listen)
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 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.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 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.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
(ESV)