All right, we're here in Psalm chapter 51, and the name of the sermon is True Repentance.
True Repentance.
And when I'm saying True Repentance, I'm not referencing a person getting saved.
When it comes to getting saved, you'll see during the sermon, you change your belief,
you believe on Christ, you get saved.
When it comes to the life of someone who already is saved, when we have times we need to get
right with God, there's a difference between True Repentance and Godly Sorrow, and then
a Fake Repentance and a Fake Sorrow.
Now, in Psalm 51, the overview of this chapter is basically, David has been rebuked by Nathan
already, and this is basically his response.
This is his attitude after he's been rebuked, and now he's trying to get right with God.
And notice what it says here in verse number one,
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy love and kindness, according unto the multitude
of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
And the key is that you actually acknowledge that you're guilty, that you admit and realize
that you're guilty.
You don't make excuses, you don't say, well, you know, it's because of this or that, it's
somebody else's fault, but he says, I acknowledge my transgressions.
And here's the thing, when it comes to people in life, everybody will act like they acknowledge
their transgressions, but God, of course, looks at the heart.
Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart, and obviously
we know from this chapter and just the life of David overall, that David truly did get
right with God.
When he said, I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me, he's saying,
I'm not making excuses, I didn't have any right to do this, I'm guilty, and he's just
wanting mercy from God.
Go to 1 Samuel 15, 1 Samuel 15.
So really the key to getting forgiveness is you have to admit that you're wrong, and you
know, it makes perfect sense because when you're raising kids and your kids do something
wrong, you know, if they say they're sorry, and they mean it, and they hug you, it's like
always forgotten, it's okay.
But then sometimes they know that they're expected to say they're sorry, they know they're
expected to hug you, but they don't really mean it, right?
They'll say it because it's, you know, obligatory, they feel obligated, but they don't really
mean it, they're not really acknowledging their transgressions, and then as a parent
you've got a problem because you're like, well, no, you have to really mean it.
It's like what you did was wrong, you need to acknowledge your transgression, right?
And one example of a man who does not acknowledge his transgressions is King Saul.
When you look at these two men, it's a great comparison to the Bible, King Saul and King
David.
And of course, when King Saul was going down the road, bad road, King David's on the right
road, then of course years later in the life of David, he goes down the wrong road.
Now, when you look at the life of King Saul and King David, which one of them committed
worse sins?
I would say King David.
I mean, adultery and murder, I always tell people, I mean, obviously Saul committed suicide,
murder's worse than suicide because you don't just harm yourself and your family, you affect
another family also, and it's out of like hatred and cold blood.
And so for me, what David did was definitely worse than what King Saul did.
But the difference is King Saul was not really sorry and David was.
First thing, the 15 verse 10, then came the word of the Lord on Samuel saying, it repented
me that I've set up Saul to be king for his turn back from following me and have not performed
my commandments.
And it grieved Samuel and he cried unto the Lord all night.
So Samuel feels really bad about this.
He grieves about it.
He feels bad because he likes Saul.
Of course, Samuel knew Saul when he was a good guy and a humble guy, and now he's gone
down the wrong road and Samuel's grieving about it.
It says in verse 12, and when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was
told Samuel saying, Saul came to Carmel and behold, he set him up from place and has gone
about and passed on and gone down to Gilgal.
And Samuel came to Saul and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou the Lord, I have performed
the commandment of the Lord.
Now here's the thing, if you, if you're right with God and you haven't done anything wrong,
you don't really feel the need to say, I've done the commandment of God.
It's kind of expected that you did it, but he comes up and he meets Samuel and he's like,
and he kind of goes a bit over the top in my opinion, the way that I read this, blessed
be thou the Lord.
I mean almost like he's super spiritual, hyper spiritual, and he did not perform the commandment
of God.
He didn't listen to what God said.
Verse 14, and Samuel said, what meaneth in this bleeding of the sheep in mine ears and
the loaning of the ox in which I hear?
And Saul said, they have brought them from the Amelokites for the people spare the best
of the sheep and of the ox and the sacrifice of the Lord thy God and the rest we have utterly
destroyed.
Of course they were supposed to destroy all of them.
So did he perform the commandment of God?
No, he didn't.
He did not listen to what God said.
And you know, it's interesting because Samuel is privately grieving for Saul.
And then when he talks to Saul though, he rebukes him sharply.
And that kind of shows you with spiritual leaders, you hear them preach sermons.
It's like, oh, they're so hateful and so mean.
When in reality, it's like they talk that way because they need to.
Doesn't mean that's what they're privately thinking on the inside, right?
Nobody likes to rebuke other people.
It's not a fun thing to do.
It's something that you grieve about, but sometimes it's necessary.
Then it says this in verse 16.
Then Samuel said unto Saul, stay and I will tell you what the Lord hath said to me this
night.
He said unto him, stay on.
And Saul feels justified.
He doesn't feel like he did anything wrong.
And Samuel said, when thou was little in thine own sight.
And when it says little in thine own sight, obviously Saul was a very tall man.
He was head and shoulders above anyone, but it's an expression to say that he was humble.
He had humility in Saul's own sight.
He felt little himself.
You remember when, when they're, the king is being, you know, promoted and known and
he's going to, they're having like this big celebration.
It's like, where's the king?
They couldn't find him, right?
He was hiding because he's embarrassed because he's shy.
He doesn't want all the attention.
He feels, you know, a bit embarrassed about that's how we started.
And that shows you somebody can go from being humble to air again or vice versa.
It is possible to be a humble person like Saul and then end up the exact opposite.
Then it says, was thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel?
And the Lord anointed the king over Israel.
And the Lord sent thee on a journey and said, go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites
and fight against them until they be consumed.
Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil
and didst evil in the sight of the Lord.
So Samuel directly tells Saul, you did not obey.
I mean, he's told him this several times.
Now, very clearly, you're supposed to kill all of them.
You did not listen to what God said.
And Saul said unto Samuel, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way
which the Lord sent me and have brought Agag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed
the Amalekites.
And he says, yes, I did obey God's commandments.
It's like obeying 50% is not obeying.
It'd be like if you tell your kids, I want you to clean your room and brush your teeth.
And then all of a sudden, 10 minutes later, you walk into the room and it's a mess.
And then you're like, what are you doing?
You know, I told you to clean your room.
You know, you didn't listen to me.
Yes, I did.
I brushed my teeth.
But the room's a mess.
And then you're still justifying yourself.
I told you to clean your room.
Obeying part of it is not obeying.
You have to do all of it.
And Saul is still trying to justify himself at this point.
And by the way, why would you keep the king?
I mean, of all the people to keep from the enemies, why would you keep the leader?
That doesn't make any sense.
The one person you would get rid of is the leader.
I mean, what are you doing?
But he keeps Agag, the king of Amalek, and about only destroyed the Amalekites.
So it's like, yeah, you know what?
We fought Iraq.
We destroyed them.
We just didn't kill Saddam Hussein.
We fought Afghanistan.
We just didn't kill Osama bin Laden.
What?
It doesn't make any sense.
The one person you get rid of is the leader, right?
Then it says, I mean, you should get rid of all of them, but I'm saying that's the last person you would keep alive.
The architect behind the Amalekites.
But the people took of the spoils, sheep and ox, and the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed,
to sacrifice them to the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
And Samuel said, hath the Lord his great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and a harken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because I was rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected me for being king.
And look, what Saul did was not as bad as what David did.
But David did not get rejected.
You say, why?
Because David got right with God, and Saul didn't.
I mean, Saul is justifying himself over and over and over again.
He's just refusing to do what God says.
He's being stubborn.
He's being rebellious, as the Bible says here.
He's refusing to listen to what God says.
And then notice this in verse 24.
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned.
Right?
And when Nathan rebuked David, David got to the point of I have sinned a lot sooner than Saul.
Right?
I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, because
I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
And so, he admits that he was in fear, which I guess is good.
But he also kind of subtly blames the people, and obeyed their voice.
This isn't really what you're supposed to do as a leader.
I mean, if you're a leader, and you mess up, don't put somebody else in the actions.
And you're still seeing he's not really sorry.
He's still justified.
And the next statement makes it very clear he's not really sorry.
Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship
the Lord.
And, you know what, I'm not going to read all of 1 Samuel 15 to go on to the story.
What you're seeing is, he wants to be forgiven, because he doesn't want to be embarrassed
in front of all the people.
It's like, you know, just honor me now, turn with me now.
And it's all about wanting to look good in front of the people.
But he's not truly sorry.
I mean, it took several times of being rebuked, and then all of a sudden he's like, okay,
I'm sorry.
And see, a mistake people make is that if somebody says they're sorry, they automatically
assume that it's sincere.
Look, obviously if somebody apologizes about something, we should give the benefit of the
doubt.
Otherwise, some people say they're sorry and they're not.
Right?
One of the great examples in secular history is, you know, Jeffrey Dahmer, you know, famous
serial killer.
And when he got caught, immediately he screamed out, for what I did, I deserve to die.
It's funny because you didn't feel that way when you killed all of those people.
How did you all of a sudden come to that point?
Because here's the reality.
He didn't want to die.
He didn't want the death penalty.
He already was starting his alibi and his part of his alibi to try to get out or get
a lighter sentence or get off from getting the death penalty.
And you say, well, how do you know that?
Look, the guy who killed him in prison said he killed him because he was bragging about
molesting kids to the other inmates.
Him and one of the other pedophiles in jail were bragging about what they did to little
kids.
And that's why one of the inmates killed them both.
He was never sorry.
He never felt bad about it.
But of course he said he was sorry.
He said what?
Well, he's sorry he got caught.
He doesn't want to have a big sentence.
And look, Saul got caught and he didn't want to get in trouble.
He wanted to be forgiven, but he wasn't truly sorry.
And you can see it in this chapter, the fact that it's so hard for him to apologize.
And I've seen this before in ministry, you know, every once in a while you have big problems
at church in terms of people that get kicked out for various reasons and everything.
And when somebody gets in major trouble for committing big sins, what I'm looking for
is real sincerity.
Because everybody's going to say they're sorry, but if they refuse to listen to what you say,
they don't do what you say, then you know it's not really sincere.
And I can tell you with people that have been kicked out of our church before, you know,
I saw that in them where they would, they say, yeah, you know, I'm sorry, I messed up.
But then you see them not really admitting to their fault.
They're just trying to get out of being in trouble because they don't want to get caught.
They don't want to get in trouble, but they're not really sorry.
And here's the thing, what's foolish about this is it's not even the sin that gets committed
necessarily.
It's whether or not you actually get right with God.
Because even the guy in the church of Corinth that was sleeping with his father's wife,
he got right with God.
But you have people that want to come to church and they're not really sorry.
They'll say things where it's like, they'll say, yeah, you know what?
I don't have any examples in front of me, but I have many examples from my history in
the ministry.
I don't want to go too much into it.
But they'll basically say something where they're not admitting they're sorry.
It'll be something like, I'm sorry this situation happened.
But they're not saying that they're sorry for what they did because they're not.
Because it's not sincere.
King Saul was not sincere, even though what he did was not as bad as what King David did.
Go to second Corinthians chapter seven.
Second Corinthians chapter seven.
And here's one thing you need to understand, and we all need to understand, we can't trick
God.
Meaning, if we got to clean up an area of our life and we get down on our knees and
tell God that we're sorry, but in the inside we really don't mean it, you're not tricking
God.
Right?
You can go through the motions.
You can go through the actions.
One of the famous examples, I don't remember, he was a Pentecostal preacher in the US and
40 years ago he got caught from being with prostitutes.
He's a mega church pastor and then he literally said the words, I have sinned.
And he's like crying in front of this massive congregation.
It's like, I have sinned.
It's like, it's so over the top.
I'll show it to you after the service.
And you know, he's saying, you know what?
I've sinned against my wife and he says all these things.
And so everyone assumes it's sincere.
And a couple of years later, he's caught with prostitutes again.
Now, the second time he said, it's none of your business.
So at least he was more honest where it's like, hey, I can do whatever I want.
You know, I'm already a millionaire or whatever, right?
But you cannot fool God.
And look, you might be able to fool me.
You might be able to fool other people because whenever somebody in the news or
a celebrity gets in big trouble, people, they'll always say they're sorry.
And then you'll hear people talking about, were they sincere enough?
They're trying to figure it out because everybody knows just because somebody
says they're sorry doesn't mean that they actually mean it.
The thing is, though, some people are better at being deceiving.
So you can't necessarily tell based on the words they say.
Right?
So how do we know?
Well, second Corinthians, chapter seven, verse eight.
For though I made you start with the letter, which is the letter of first
Corinthians, I do not repent, though I did repent.
And what he's saying, what Paul is saying is, you know what?
I wrote that letter and when I wrote it, I didn't really want to because he was
very harsh in his words and of course he cared about those people and he
wanted to be nice, but he's saying, I didn't really want to do it.
I felt kind of bad about it.
And he's like, I do not repent presently, but I did repent.
And in the past when he wrote it, he's like, do I really need to come down this
hard? You know, should I come in person?
How should I deal with this?
And he says, for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though
it were before a season and he's saying, you felt bad for a season and then
you were able to get over it.
And it's kind of like when the preaching the word of God hits, sometimes it
makes you feel bad because you've got an area of your life that you need to
get right with God and it makes you sorry, but it's only for a season and
then you make the change and then you're cleansed, right?
In Psalm 51 that we're looking at verse nine.
Now I rejoice not that you remain sorry, but that you sorrow to repentance.
He said you felt bad and you made a change for your made sorry after a
godly manner that you might receive damage by us and nothing.
What does he say that he might receive damage by us?
Because if the word of God is preached and you hear what the Bible says and
you do not do it, you're more accountable than if you didn't even know.
What he's saying is if you're hearing the word of God preached, let me be
clear, if you go to a church like Verity Baptist Church and you're hearing
the word of God preached throughout the week and you're learning the word
of God and we've got Bible reading programs, you talk to other people
at church that know the word of God, we have soul and we have these things,
you're held more accountable if you're not doing what God says.
And the Bible says in verse number 10, for godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation, not to be repented up, but the sorrow of the
world worketh death.
Now verse 10 is possibly the most quoted verse to say you got to
repent of your sins and be saved.
But hold on a second.
Number one, this is a church full of people that are already saved.
That's number one.
Number two, it's written through a church, not an individual.
Of people that are already saved.
And number three, the word salvation in the Bible is not usually referring
to spiritual salvation.
You actually look it up.
It's usually not referring to spiritual salvation.
We know it because obviously we go soul winning, we focus on salvation,
but the word salvation means a lot of things and especially, you know, in
the Old Testament and throughout the Bible, it's often a physical
salvation.
So what are you talking about?
Well, the Bible says, he that endureth unto the end, the same shall
be saved.
You say, well, brother Saki, you've got to endure to the end if you
want to go to heaven.
But wait a minute, in the context of Matthew 24 and Mark 13, the three
times it mentions that phrase endure to the end, what's it referring
to? It's referring to people killing one another.
It's referring to going through persecution and he's saying you've got
to endure to the end and then you're saved.
Well, how are you saved?
Well, by the rapture.
It's a physical salvation.
It's not spiritual salvation.
You say, what's the salvation here?
Well, the salvation here is referring to, you can refer to a lot of
different things.
It saves the church from being destroyed.
I mean, look, if this church did not get right with God, God would have
been done with this church.
It doesn't get much worse than a man sleeping with his father's wife.
If they did not get right with God and handle it correctly, it would
have been the end.
Imagine that we had a church playing this game and this is just a hypothetical.
It's not something that we have going on.
But imagine we start a church somewhere, start a church in Tarlon.
Let's say, for example, you got somebody who's running the church
there and then all of a sudden there's a major, major, major sin.
One of the key members is sleeping with the prostitute or something
huge.
And then all of a sudden you find out about this.
So we deal with it and say, hey, you got to deal with this.
And then the leader doesn't want to deal with it.
Well, they are no longer very Baptist Church Tarlon.
Done with the church, unless somebody else can take it over, right?
Because we're not going to have a church that's not doing
what they're supposed to do.
And quite honestly, it's like, why aren't they following Paul?
Paul's only the start of this church.
He's an apostle.
They should be listening to him.
And they're refusing.
I mean, if they refuse to and they don't get right, they're going to be
done.
It's going to be like, well, sayonara, I'm not visiting this church anymore.
We're not going to recommend this church anymore.
They'd be done.
Right?
And in our personal lives, remember it said that you might receive damage
by us and nothing?
Here's the thing.
When you hear the word to God phrase, if you apply it, it will save you
from destroying your life.
If I've reached a sermon on alcohol and you drank, and you quit drinking
as a result of sermon, it will save you from destroying your liver,
destroying your marriage, destroying your life.
If I preach a sermon against smoking and you stop smoking, it will save
you from destroying your life Bye-bye creature anger or bitterness.
If you apply it to your life.
It'll save you from destroying relationships.
It'll save you from destroying your marriage
and parenting and your job and all of these things.
And so with the church itself,
the church would have been done
if they did not get right with God.
But when it comes to the preaching of the word of God,
when we turn from our sins,
this is after we're saved and we get right with God,
here's the thing, it saves us
from the destruction that's gonna come.
And what the Bible says is,
for Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation.
Notice this, not to be repented of.
What it's saying is,
Godly sorrow results in a change that's this.
This young man that was sleeping with his father's wife,
he quit it and he never went back to it.
It's Godly sorrow.
You say, well, what would worldly sorrow be?
The sorrow of the world, worldly sorrow.
Well, the sorrow of the world that works death
and destroys you is basically,
all right, I'll quit sleeping with her
and a couple of weeks later you go right back to us.
Or you quit drinking and one week later you go back to us.
Yeah, worldly sorrow will destroy your life.
It could result in physical death,
but it will destroy your life,
it will destroy every part of your life.
And look, we need to have true Godly sorrow
and true repentance in our life
if we want our life to be blessed
and live a life where we're cleansed from our sins
and we draw close to God.
But here's the thing, if somebody says they're sorry,
how do you really know if they're sorry?
What I would say to you is,
when someone first tells you they're sorry,
and really be sure.
You say, why?
Because here's the thing,
the Bible says the challenge of Godly sorrow
or worldly sorrow is that you don't go back to us.
So the thing is, you can't go back to it in two seconds.
There has to be time that goes by to really find that out.
Right, so take for example,
let's say somebody got kicked out of our church
and we decide to let them back in church.
I make the decision,
whatsoever is bound in heaven is,
bound on earth is bound in heaven,
whatsoever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven.
So basically we say, okay, this person's done their time,
they said they're sorry, they're getting right with God,
we'll let them back in church.
But you better believe,
if I let somebody come back to church
that had gotten kicked out,
I'm gonna have a bit of a closer eye on them
than I would other people
to make sure they're not doing the same thing.
Because they might just say,
hey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
And then a couple months later,
back to the exact same thing once again.
So we need to make sure that it's actually Godly sorrow
and that's gonna require some time to go by.
And then verse 11 gives us kind of the challenges to know.
For behold the self same thing
that you started after a Godly sword.
What carefulness it wrought in you.
What does that mean?
It means being very careful not to commit the same sins.
Look, if you're someone who is a drunkard
and you get told, hey, you know what?
Drunkards are not welcome in the house of God,
you gotta get rid of the sin.
And then all of a sudden you're getting right with God
or you say you're getting right with God.
Well, I would expect that if you're really truly sorry,
you're not gonna even wanna go close to that.
I mean, you're a drunkard
and you get warned about getting kicked out of church.
And then all of a sudden I find out
that you were at the bar last night.
Well, I wasn't drinking.
Number one, it's hard to believe that.
Number two, I don't think you really have Godly sorrow
because you're gonna have carefulness.
You're gonna be very careful.
It's kind of like if you break a piece of glass
and it splashes everywhere.
And then all of a sudden you're looking
because it's hard to see glass, right?
Especially if you had a floor like this.
So what are you doing?
Well, you put on sandals and you're very careful
where you're stepping because it's hard to see.
The Bible's saying if you're getting right with God,
you're gonna be careful.
You're not even gonna wanna go close to that line
of committing that sin, right?
It says, yay with clearing of yourselves.
Yay with indignation.
Indignation means to be angry and insulted.
And so they've cleaned up their reputation.
Nobody's heard about this.
They assume this guy's gotten right with God.
There's no rumors or anything.
And you have an anger and hatred toward that sin.
Not at other people, but you're angry at yourself.
See, Saul, well, the people, right?
It's not godly sorrow.
What godly sorrow would be
would be indignation with yourself.
I know what's wrong with me, Samuel.
I messed up.
I don't deserve, you're right.
I don't deserve to be the leader.
If you told me to do this, I didn't do it.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
That's godly sorrow.
But, well, the people made me do it.
You're blaming other people.
Yay with fear.
Yay with vehement desire.
Yay with zeal.
Yay with revenge.
In all these things,
you have approved yourself to be clear in this matter.
And my point is this,
that a time would go by to know for sure
whether someone was truly sorry or not.
Go back to Psalm 51.
Psalm 51.
You say, well, brother Saki,
how did Nathan know immediately then
that Nathan was sorry?
Because God told Nathan.
He said, well, how do you know that?
Because Nathan said to David,
fear not, God has put away the sin,
thou shalt not die.
God told him, hey,
I'm not going to have David put to death for this.
So obviously, Nathan knew David was going to get right.
Because God must have told Nathan.
Obviously, you know what?
This is not the way God operates today.
It's not like, you know,
God comes down and talks to me
before I'm dealing with the situation.
But Nathan's aware, right?
He says, God has put away the sin,
thou shalt not die.
That was not his judgment.
That was God's judgment.
He knew.
Because obviously, God had told him,
hey, go to David.
You're going to rebuke him.
He's going to be sorry.
And then I'm not going to have him put to death,
even though he deserves it.
But he's going to have a punishment
because everyone's going to find out
that he's given an occasion in the enemy to blaspheme.
Verse number four, Psalm 51, verse four.
Against thee, thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest.
Now look, obviously when David sinned,
he sinned against Bathsheba,
he sinned against Zorai,
he sinned against Anithefel,
and everybody involved.
But at the same time, when we commit sins,
the biggest person that we're sinning against is God.
What we should really look at when we do wrong
is I'm sinning against God.
Like if you're going to steal a pencil or a pen
from someone, I'm not going to do this
because I'm sinning against God.
Well, I'm only two pesos,
but I don't want to sin against God, right?
What we do wrong above anyone, we're sinning against God.
And David recognized, hey,
you're the one I need to get right with.
You're the one who's the judge
that makes the decision.
And I want to be justified.
I'm asking for mercy and I'm begging for mercy,
but you know what?
You judge properly, you judge righteously,
and your judgment is just.
Obviously David was hoping
that his baby would not be killed, right?
Because he's fasting for his baby
and his baby gets killed,
and then he doesn't have a bad attitude though, right?
I mean, David, some of these characters
in the Old Testament are quite amazing
because they do such amazing things
I can never imagine myself doing.
They also do some pretty bad things
that at least I hope I would never do, right?
And then all of a sudden when his child dies,
I mean, he handles it really well, right?
He's fully gotten right with God at that point.
And by the way, when God judges David,
he gives David actually the judgment that David said
in the parable that David gave him before he punished him.
When I was younger, I didn't really understand
what's that fourfold punishment
because a lot of bad things happen to David
in a lot more than four.
And you know what?
I believe what's being said about the fourfold punishment,
what makes the most sense to me,
is that he had four sons that died at a very early age.
His baby son was the first.
And then you had Amnon, you know the story of Amnon,
had a friend where Amnon, you know,
suffered from pain and then Absalom, you know,
killed Amnon.
So if Amnon, then you have Absalom.
You know, Absalom dies at a young age.
And then the fourth is actually after David's gone.
But remember, Adonijah rebels against Solomon
and then Adonijah dies at a very young age.
So three out of those four, David was actually alive for.
And look, as a father, one of the most painful things
would have to be if you outlive your children.
Nobody wants to do that.
I mean, I want to live a long life,
but I don't want to outlive my children, right?
I mean, I hope to, I mean,
I hope I live to be 100 years old
and I have energy and strength.
I hope I'm a Caleb and I'm able to serve God
when I get older, but I don't want to outlive my kids.
I think all of us that are parents in this room,
we have the attitude that if there had to be a choice,
my life to spare my child's life, right?
Which shows you God's true love,
God the Father's love, that he still loved the world,
that he gave his only to God the Son,
that he would be willing to sacrifice his son.
It shows how much that he loved the world,
as the Bible says.
Because here's the thing, as a parent,
it's like, I would rather just die myself than my children.
Or let's say that there was, you know, obviously, you know,
we don't wish any of these things.
You know, I'm just giving an example.
But it's like, let's say there's a major car accident
and it's either myself or my son and we can't walk anymore.
It's like, I hope it's me.
I don't want it to be my son.
He's got his whole life ahead of him.
As a parent, you'd rather that it happens to you,
not your children, right?
And so that's a pretty bad punishment to date to God.
Look, sin is never worth it.
But David got away with it, he wasn't put to death.
I mean, in some ways, he might've just wanted to die
than all of the things that he went through.
The only reason why it's good for him that he didn't
is the fact that he was able to serve God
and still get people saved and get right with God.
But the things that he had to deal with as a result, right?
Verse number five, the old I was shapen in iniquity
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desire'st truth in the inward parts
and in the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
And I was gonna have you turn here,
but I'm not going to for sake of time.
The famous example with the Pharisees,
how on the outside that they were really cleansed,
but on the inside they were full of wickedness.
The thing is, it's easy at church to look really good, right?
You know, you dress nice, you come to church,
you put a smile on your face.
And when we see you, we assume,
hey, they're reading the Bible every day,
they're praying every day, they're serving God,
they're cleansing themselves from sin.
And on the inside, you might not be right with God at all.
And none of us really know
because man looketh on the outward appearance.
That's what I see.
It is an interesting thought though,
if your beauty or looks were determined
based on who you are on the inside,
if that is what has manifested itself on the outside,
if that were the case,
then maybe he would spend a little bit less time
on their physical appearance
and more on the spiritual cleansing,
getting cleansed on the inside, right?
Psalm 51, verse seven.
Urge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.
Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Now, hyssop is, you know, what I read online
is it's a flowering plant.
It grows in Southern Europe in the Middle East.
The parts that grow above ground are used to make medicine
and it's used for digestive and intestinal problems,
infection of the airways, poor circulation,
skin problems and other conditions.
And so, and this is what hyssop was used for
back in those days.
Basically, hyssop was used for things on the inside.
You know, mention the intestines and things such as that.
So it was a medicine that would cleanse the inside of you,
right?
And that's what, you know, David's talking about.
He's talking about getting cleansed on the inside.
God desires truth on the inward parts,
not just on the outside,
but on the inside that you're right with God.
It's a very beautiful flower.
I mean, if you look up hyssop on Google images,
it's a bright purple color, which is very beautiful.
And look, I personally, I love the color purple.
I think it's a great color.
You know, it's a great color to look at,
especially in flowers.
I think it's very beautiful.
It looks amazing.
It's a very beautiful flower.
And from what I read though, that hyssop,
what it does is it cleanses you on the inside,
physically on the inside.
And that's what, you know, makes sense
because that's what David is talking about here.
Verse number eight.
And then he used the example, whiter than snow.
And the idea is that when you have sin, you are dirty.
And you want to be whiter than,
and here's the thing, this is not in a reference
to being spiritually saved,
although you can use this sort of analogy
because obviously, you know, whiter than snow,
100% clean, but basically in our lives,
you know, we're full full of sin.
So we need to keep getting right with God.
And it's kind of like, you know, your kitchen.
Let's say you have a kitchen that's white.
It's like, you got to clean it regularly
or it's going to start looking dirty.
And if you don't clean it, it's still dirty.
And when it comes to our lives,
it's like, you better believe every single day
we're spilling spaghetti sauce.
Every single day, we're making a mess in the kitchen
and we got to clean it up.
Right?
And so every single day we need to get right with God
and say we're sorry because we have a lot of sins
and these are just the ones that we're aware of.
What about the ones that we're not aware of?
And that's probably a lot more than the ones
that we are aware of.
Right?
Because the closer you draw to God,
the brighter the light is, the more you can see.
So the thing is probably a lot of things that we do
that we think are okay or feel justified might not be.
But the key is cleansing the inside.
And as man or woman draws close to God,
God will reveal even this on you, the Bible says.
This is why, you know, and I preach obviously
on all manner of doctrines and I preach about things
because the outside does matter.
I'm not saying the outside doesn't matter.
But the inside matters a lot more.
A lot more.
Because the inside will fix the outside.
And so for example, let's say somebody's new at our church.
Let's say they just started coming.
They just got saved last week.
If somebody just got saved last week, let's be honest.
They listen to the wrong type of music.
They watch the wrong things on television,
on their cell phones or whatever.
They're probably not gonna be dressed right.
They're probably gonna have a lot of standards
that aren't gonna be really right.
They need to make a lot of changes.
It's just, that's the way it's gonna be.
Because they just got saved.
They're just learning these things.
Well, here's the thing.
I believe that if they come to a church like this
and they hear the word of God preached
and we can get them to start reading the Bible
in their free time,
we can encourage them to do the Bible reading challenge
in January that we do and things like that.
Then all of a sudden, God will manifest to them,
oh wow, I need to change this.
Oh wow, I need to, but we gotta be patient with people
because we can't expect people to day one
just already have this stuff figured out.
Verse number eight.
Make me to hear joy and gladness
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Basically, David is miserable.
He wants to have his joy back
because living in sin is the most miserable thing
for a saved person.
Hide what I face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, oh God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
And once again, he doesn't say anything like,
God, I need to get saved again.
God, I need to get my sin,
I mean, I need to get eternal life again.
No, he's saying I need to get right with God again.
But nothing about needing to get saved again.
And what the Bible says is that we ought to be renewed
in the spirit of our mind
and I believe this is something that is a daily thing.
The way I look at it, when you wake up in the morning,
you are neither in the new man or the old man.
Step one, you down that coffee,
then all of a sudden it's like, all right,
new man or old man, I've got to make a choice, okay?
And the thing is, if you start your day
by doing worldly stuff, you're in the old man.
You start by reading the Bible, you're in the new man.
But this is a daily thing because the thing is,
on days when you're serving God and doing right,
he got your momentum going forward,
but at the start of the day, there is no momentum.
And it should be easy, but it's not.
It should be easy to just, every morning,
just read the Bible, pray to God,
and yet it's a battle.
It's a battle with your flesh.
It is a daily battle you must fight
if you want to draw close to God.
The Bible says in verse 11,
cast me not away from thy presence
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Now, I understand why people are confused by this verse,
because people read this and they say,
but wait a minute, I thought that you're, you know,
indwell with the Holy Ghost forever,
so he's saying, take not the Holy Ghost from me
or the Holy Spirit from me,
then he's saying, you know,
I don't want to lose my salvation.
Then it doesn't make sense because we have eternal life,
so people get confused.
But hold on a second.
In the Old Testament,
were people indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God?
No, they weren't.
Because remember what Jesus said is,
unless I leave, the comforter is not going to come.
And so when Jesus was here,
they were not indwelled with the Holy Ghost yet.
That hasn't taken place yet.
So what is David talking about?
Well, he's talking about the Holy Spirit coming upon him
to do something mighty.
And you'll see this throughout the Old Testament
where the Holy Spirit comes upon Samson.
Holy Spirit comes upon Saul.
Holy Spirit comes upon David.
And the Holy Spirit comes upon someone
to give them boldness.
Now, here's the other mistake people make.
People say, okay, I get that.
I got what you're saying.
It's not about salvation.
It's like the Holy Spirit comes upon him
and he wants the Holy Spirit to be with him
so he can do great things.
But then they get confused because people think
that the indwelling of the Holy Ghost,
which happens to us today,
they think that replaces the Holy Spirit coming upon people.
It does not.
Today, if you're saved,
the Holy Spirit is indwelling you.
However, when you draw close to God and get right with God,
the Holy Spirit can come upon you to do great things.
And so, for example, when you're right with God,
and what's a sign of the Holy Ghost?
Boldness.
Not having fear, but being incredibly bold, right?
Well, here's the thing.
When you're right with God,
isn't it true that you're more bold out of soul winning
than when you're not right with God?
There's no comparison.
I mean, it's when you're not,
because going soul winning is not a normal,
natural thing in your flesh, you know what I mean?
So the thing is, you better have the Holy Spirit upon you
because otherwise, it's gonna be very, very difficult.
But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
when you're filled full of boldness,
you know what, it's not intimidating.
You don't mind if somebody rejects you.
You don't mind if somebody says something.
You're filled with boldness.
Same is true when you preach sermons.
Same is true for me.
I can tell when I'm more right with God than at other times,
and then I'm filled full of confidence.
I'm filled full of boldness.
Sad thing is, none of us are all of the time
filled full of the Holy Spirit of God.
We're dwelled, but the Holy Spirit is not always upon us
because obviously we sin and we do wrong.
But it's amazing when you are filled with the Spirit,
and it gives you so much boldness.
I mean, it's such a great feeling,
and you're able to do so much more
than you could ever do in your own flesh, right?
And so what he's saying is,
I don't want to lose the Holy Spirit
because I want to do great things for God.
Then he says this in verse 12.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
Here's the thing.
He did not say restore unto me my salvation.
He didn't say that.
He said unto me the joy.
What has David been talking about?
Being depressed, being miserable?
He says, I want to hear joy and gladness.
You say, why?
Because when you're not right with God, you're miserable.
Nothing worse than having a guilty conscience.
I mean, and here's the thing.
When you do wrong, and you know you did wrong,
and you ask God for forgiveness,
you still feel bad about it,
and an hour later, it doesn't just go away.
You feel horrible.
You don't have any joy.
It takes time to get that joy back.
And he's saying, I want the joy of my salvation.
And look, God wants us to live joyful lives.
He wants you to be happy serving God.
He wants you to be happy in life.
He wants you to be filled full of joy.
And how do you get that?
Get that by being filled full of the Holy Spirit of God,
having the Holy Spirit upon you.
But then he says this in verse 13,
which is very interesting.
So he's saying, give me my joy back in verse 12.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways,
and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
What is he talking about in verse 13?
He's talking about good old fashioned soul women, right?
Saying transgressors, I can teach transgressors thy ways,
starting with I am thee way, the truth of life, right?
And sinners shall be converted unto thee.
And he's saying, if I give my joy back,
I can go back to getting a lot of people saved.
How many people do you think that David got saved
from between when he committed adult truth, that's too bad.
So when his baby died, which is more than nine months,
probably nobody, probably nobody.
Because when you're not right with God,
you're not going to be zealous to do right.
And I doubt David was doing anything.
That's why he's saying, I need my joy back.
And then I'm going to start converting sinners again.
Then I'm going to teach transgressors thy way.
I'm going to get people saved.
And look, if you're not enjoying the Christian life,
if it's a chore to you every day,
you know what, you got to make a change
because you don't do things that you don't enjoy forever.
You don't.
We do things that we enjoy.
And if you don't enjoy, it's going to die out.
Say, well, how do I learn to enjoy?
Get ready for sin.
That's how.
Get closer to God.
Get more sins out of your life.
You find an area that's a little dirty.
Nobody wants to go into their white kitchen.
And then all of a sudden you notice that, oh man,
there's a big mess here I got to clean up.
But when it happens, you got to clean it up.
I mean, if you don't clean up food that falls on the ground,
then bugs and cockroach and whatever else
is going to come in, right?
So you got to clean it up.
Well, here's the thing.
Nobody likes to find out that they've got areas
of their life they need to fix.
It's not fun.
I mean, people hear sermons against certain types of music
and movies and stuff.
And it's like, oh man, I didn't even know.
It's not fun to find out that you're not right with God.
But then once you find out, it's like, well, fix it.
Fix it.
Makes no sense to find out and then do nothing about it.
Right?
And if you want to get your joy back,
you got to drop close to God.
Deliver me from blood guiltiness, oh God.
Thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall single out
of thy righteousness.
Oh Lord, open now my lips and my mouth shall show forth
thy praise.
Now go to Acts 16.
We'll look at a few more places, Acts 16.
Acts 16.
Now look, I understand that there are times in life
when things happen and you're not going to be happy
and there can be a grieving process
and you can get depressed and upset about something.
And of course, when people go through tragedies like Joe,
it's foolish to sit here and say, well, Joe, get over it.
It's like, he deserves some time to grieve.
When people go through things, they deserve time to grieve.
But here's the thing.
Obviously there's times things come up
and you might have to grieve about it.
But the reality is being happy or being not happy
is not really dependent on the outside circumstances.
It's really not.
Now yes, if something major happens,
you're going to have a depression that comes in
for a short time, but really it's about
the inward circumstance, not the outward.
Because somebody could have everything going well
for them in life.
Like King Solomon had everything, had all the money,
had the power and he said, therefore I hated life.
Look, people that are world leaders and rich celebrities,
they're not enjoying their lives.
But the outside circumstances are good, they're rich,
they go to nice restaurants, nice clothes and everything.
They meet all these famous people
and yet they're miserable.
And yet you can have nothing in life and be happy.
Acts 16, let me give you an example.
We talked about showing, praising God with our lips,
saving praises to God.
Acts 16 verse 23.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them,
they cast them into prison,
charging the jailer to keep them safely.
So they get hit with many stripes.
They get whipped, they get beaten.
Whoever receives such a charge,
thrust them into the inner prison
and made their feet fast,
made their feet fast in the stocks.
And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed
and sang praises unto God
and the prisoners are alone.
What?
You're praising God?
You just got beaten.
You've got permanent scars on your back now.
You're in pain.
Why would you be happy?
You're in prison, aren't you scared?
Aren't you afraid?
How could you be?
But they're happy.
And look, I've known at times in my life
when things are just not going well,
but I'm really happy because I'm reading the Bible
and I'm serving God.
And I've literally thought about it before.
I've been thinking it's not going well right now,
but man, I'm very happy right now.
On the contrary, there's times
things are going very well in life.
And you're miserable.
You're not reading your Bible,
not that close to God,
and you're not happy.
Boy, we really ought to follow that advice
that money is the answer to all problems.
I mean, money will give you happiness, right?
You just get more money,
everything in life's going to be great.
Is that what the Bible teaches?
Is that what you've noticed in your personal life?
I mean, I haven't noticed that in my personal life.
It's not dependent based on outward circumstances.
And here's the thing, they praise God.
I think this is the big reason
why the Philippians generally get saved.
I mean, they don't hold a grudge against them either.
Right, they give them the gospel
and they get saved by the whole family.
And they're rejoicing.
They're happy.
Even though things are not going well.
See why?
Because happiness is not determined
based on outward circumstances.
Go back to Psalm 51.
Psalm 51.
Psalm 51, verse 16.
The Bible says, for thou desirest not sacrifice,
else would I give it.
Thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Why does David say this?
Because the penalty for his crimes is the death penalty.
There's no burnt offering that forgives that
in the Old Testament.
You get killed.
Saying, it's not like, okay, committed to sin,
sacrifice the lamb.
No, no, actually,
no, you get the death penalty.
Which Nathan told him, you're not gonna die.
The thing is, there is no burnt offering.
There's just a death penalty.
So the thing is, God's not asking for a burnt offering
because, and those were just a picture of Jesus Christ.
And David's saying, it's like,
you know, do whatever you want,
but this is not written in the law
because God is showing mercy.
He's kind of outside the law.
God says, even though you deserve this,
I'm not gonna give it to you.
And he's saying, thou delightest not in burnt offering.
So what does this God delight in with David?
What can David give God then if he can't
kill a lamb or kill, you know, whatever animal?
Verse 17,
the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
a broken and a contrite heart.
Oh God, thou wilt not despise.
And here's the thing, we obviously live in a day
where we're not sacrificing animals, right?
Obviously the lamb of God has already died
and paid for our sins.
And those burnt sacrifices were pictures
of Jesus Christ dying and paying for our sins.
Depending on what was done, it was a different offering.
And those things were required,
but a person in those things had to be done
for God to be happy with you.
But those things could be done
and on the inside, you don't really mean it.
Here's the thing with David, there is no burnt offering.
They say, all I've got to offer is a broken spirits,
a broken and the contrite heart.
All I can offer is the fact that I'm really sorry, God.
I really messed up.
I'm really sincerely sorry.
I have true offense.
Here's the thing, for us living in 2023,
there is no burnt offering when you commit a sin, right?
If you do something wrong, it's not like,
well, just say five hell bearings.
It doesn't work that way.
It's not like, kill this lamb, kill this bird.
It doesn't work that way.
What can we offer God?
Because we're saved forever.
We have eternal life.
We can't lose it.
But there's no offering mentioned.
What can we offer?
We can offer God a broken and a contrite heart.
We can truly get right with God.
What does God want from us in our lives when we mess up?
Say, God, I messed up.
There were no excuses.
I am not blaming anybody else.
I did it.
I chose to do it.
You say, my brother, that person's 80% wrong.
I'm only 20% wrong.
You're not getting mercy from God if that's your attitude.
You might be right in what you're saying.
Maybe you're 20%, but God wants you and that 20% wrong
to have a broken and a contrite heart.
He wants you to get right with him.
As I said, you can't fool God.
Man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart.
God knows whether or not you're getting right with him
on the inside or not.
Say, my brother, it's like God desires you
to come on down to this big old-fashioned altar
and show your contrition to man.
No, God says on the inside,
I want you to get right with me.
And look, when I preach a sermon like this
or preach any sermons, it's like, I don't see your heart.
I preach sermons on whatever topic, anger or bitterness
or whatever the topic is that I'm preaching on.
And the thing is, it's up to you and God.
It's not something for other people to know about or see.
It's up to you.
Now, of course, there will be a result.
I mean, if you get right with God, it's gonna be evidence.
When someone talks about the Bible all the time,
you know what that tells you?
They are reading the Bible all the time.
All they're doing is reading the Bible
and listening to sermons, right?
Because out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth is speaking.
So if somebody is, let's say, in big sin,
and then all of a sudden, they, you know,
sermons preached about their specific sin
and they get right with God,
and all they're doing is talking about the Bible
and having a good attitude,
you know what that's showing you?
Unless they're a very good actor
that they've gotten right with God,
that they're reading the Bible a lot,
that they're memorizing the Bible,
that they're listening to sermons, right?
You can fool man, but you can't fool God.
God wants a broken and a contrite heart.
Go back to Psalm 51.
Psalm 51.
Psalm 51, verse 18.
Do good and thy good pleasure unto Zion,
build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice
of righteousness, with burnt offering
and hope burnt offering.
Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
And, you know, one verse that we can take away,
which is a great verse in the Bible,
is, you know, where the Bible says
God's mercies are new every morning.
You know, that's where we get that song,
Great is Thy Faithfulness,
a great song in the Word of God.
And the Bible says His mercies are new every morning,
where if we've messed up, we can come to God.
And, you know, the way it seems to me,
or the way it works in my life,
is that if you're not right with God,
and, you know what, you say you're sorry at nighttime
and try to get right with God,
in the morning, sometimes you still carry
a bit of a burden with you.
And, of course, you should start your day
by spending it with God.
And then we need to be reminded,
because, you know what, here's the thing,
we need to get right with God,
but at the same time, realize God will forgive you
if you get right with Him.
You don't have to carry that burden and guilt forever
from things 20 years ago.
I mean, you get right with God, God will forgive you.
He wants a broken and contrite heart,
and His mercies are new every morning.
Even, I mean, what David did was horrible,
but he truly got right with God.
And he had a fresh and brand new start.
And I'm pretty sure, at least I hope,
that what David did was worse
than what anyone in this room has done.
But he got right with God.
And in our lives, regardless of what the sin is,
or what the mistakes is, look, you know what,
you're not gonna just go awkward
your entire life serving God.
You are gonna have some bumps in the road,
some mistakes, some mountains, some valleys,
you're gonna be going up and down,
you know, having some high points, some low points,
seasons in your life where maybe you get a bit backslid,
but here's the thing, God's mercies are new every morning.
Come to Him and say, God, I'm messed up, sorry.
I have a broken and a contrite heart.
That's all I have to get.
Great thing is God accepts that.
Let's go to the Lord forever.
Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today,
just getting to see this great chapter
about King David in Psalm 51.
And I ask you to help us to try to serve you
and do right and not fall into major sins, God,
and get cleansed every day and put on the new man.
But if we do mess up, help us to realize
that you are a benevolent God,
that if we truly get right with you,
and we have godly sorrow, that you will forgive us, God.
Your mercies are new every morning.
We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.