One of the most dreaded words in the English language is cancer. And, if one receives this diagnosis, a second dreaded question arises: Has it spread? We all know that, if a tumor is malignant, it is critical to remove all of it.
In the beatitudes, Jesus paints a portrait of spiritual vitality and health into which Christ’s kingdom members are being transformed. But at the root of that transformation process is cutting out the cancer of sin. Such excision of sin requires both confessing it, the first beatitude, and grieving over it, the second beatitude. The combination of these two attitudes is called repentance.
The problem is that Christians can be lured into a kind of shallow, incomplete repentance that is destructive. It might be compared to surgery to remove the cancerous tumor that misses part of the tumor. Paul calls it “worldly sorrow that leads to death.” In contrast,” says Paul, is “godly sorrow leading to repentance.” This godly sorrow corresponds to getting all the tumor and then using chemotherapy to destroy what is microscopic and missed. This kind of sorrow is the heart attitude Jesus refers to in the second beatitude. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It is an attitude that is exhibited by David. It is described in unmistakable detail in Psalm 51, which he wrote after being confronted with his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, Uriah. It is chemotherapy for sin.
As we saw last week, in Jesus’ portrait of kingdom living in Matthew 5-7, Jesus identifies eight foundational heart attitudes that characterize his kingdom members, introducing each one with the Greek word, MAKARIOS, which scholars translate, blessed. But “blessed” is inadequate to capture the meaning of MAKARIOS. “Blessed” sounds like God will like me better if I have these attitudes. But MAKARIOS means much more than favor with God. It describes the richest possible fullness, happiness, and contentment. Right off the bat, Jesus teaches us that happiness, i.e. pleasantness in life is NOT determined by our circumstances. It is determined by our inner attitudes. This truth is expressed in Proverbs 15:15, All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. Cheerfulness is an attitude choice as is complaining or thankfulness. We might ask, “why is choosing the attitude of sorrow for our sins, i.e. heartfelt contrition, a life-giving attitude?” I believe that fully grieving over our sins, as David demonstrates in great detail in Psalm 51 cleanses us. It is like chemotherapy, completing the process of full repentance.
Last week, we began to put a magnifying glass over this heart attitude that David revealed in Psalm 51. We continue to examine the structure of this Psalm with a review of last week:
A. DAVID RECOGNIZES THE AWFULNESS OF HIS SIN
Verses 1-6
We observed five components of this admission in verses 1-4.
- Our sin is too severe to ever excuse, leaving us no hope but the mercy of God.
- We feel dirty in the presence of a holy God because we ARE dirty, the only detergent for our cleansing being the blood of Jesus.
- Our sin was not a slip up. To the contrary, sin has spread to every part of us including our desires.
- Our sin is not merely breaking an impersonal law in some rulebook but a personal violation of our relationship with our God.
- God is 100% justified in his punishment of our sin, which means that the more we grasp the depth of our sin the greater will be our love for Jesus because he who has been forgiven much, loves much.
In verses 5-6, David summarizes these four verses, saying “Instead of being one in whom truth and wisdom dwell, I am one in whom sin dwells.” I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
B. DAVID SEEKS RESTORATION OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Verses 7-9
Sinful choices not only destroy us, they put a wall between ourselves and those we’ve offended. This fact of human life rests beneath Jesus’ command to his followers. If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. It is interesting that this command comes in the context of Jesus' warning against anger, and sharp, demeaning words that cut into the tenderest part of a human— his self-esteem. As husbands and fathers, we need to remember that when we sin against our wives or kids, asking God’s forgiveness is not enough; we must seek theirs. We need to keep the pathway between our hearts open, not blocked by wrongs we’ve never owned and apologized for or resentment will build incrementally, putting permanent distance between us and our loved ones hindering our leadership.
But, of course, Psalm 51:7-9 addresses the wall David’s sin built that stops access to the Holy God. This break is experienced ultimately and permanently with the non-believer who refuses to repent and trust Jesus’ death alone for his salvation. But it is also true that the failure to repent puts a distance into our fellowship with God in this life. David addresses the break in fellowship. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (7). One commentator observes:
“Purge me with hyssop alludes to the cleansing of the leper, sprinkled seven times with the sacrificial blood into which the bunch of hyssop was dipped as a sprinkler. Or it may refer to ritual cleansing for those who had come into contact with a dead body. In either case, it ended with the forthright pronouncement, ‘and he shall be clean’ a promise which David takes up in the first person.”
In both cases the unclean person who was cut off from the assembly was restored to fellowship. David continues in verse 8, Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Think of all the Psalms David had written that were filled with the joy of praising and worshipping God. e.g. Psalm 100. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
That was the kind of joy David was missing because of his offensive sin to his God. David’s phrase, “Let the bones that you have broken, rejoice” refers to a custom of Palestinian shepherds. When they had a strong-willed lamb who kept going astray, who would not listen and follow the shepherd, they had to take drastic measures, or the lamb would be eaten by predators. As a last resort, the shepherd would break the front legs of the lamb so it could not wander from the flock. When the flock moved, the shepherd would carry the lamb over his shoulders. In this way, a bond would form with the lamb and when his legs healed, he wouldn’t stray but would follow the shepherd’s voice.
I suspect that there isn’t a man who gets this podcast/blog who hasn’t had to have God break his front legs at some point—all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way. And God carried us and still might be carrying us so that we get familiar with his voice.
Verse 9 continues, Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. David loves God so much that he can’t bear to have God look upon him in his sins. He is so ashamed of his failure to love God with the obedience God deserves, that he begs God to hide his face from the revulsion of his rebellion. He can’t bear to be repulsive to God when he so desperately wants to be loved by God. His only hope is to cast himself upon God’s mercy. David has zero power to earn forgiveness—no ability to make the horrible guilt go away. He begs God to do what only he can, Blot out my sins. This of course is the story ultimately of the cross.
C. DAVID SEEKS RENEWAL THROUGH GOD’S GRACE AT WORK WITHIN HIM
Verses 10-12
Just as Jesus taught that heart transformation, i.e. spiritual fruit is produced by abiding in Jesus the Vine, David looks to his relationship with God to provide the spiritual might he needs going forward. Notice his six requests:
- Create in me a clean heart—God only you can change the selfishness of my heart motives.
- Renew a steadfast spirit within me—God strengthen me inwardly with the strength I’ve known before with unwavering obedience to you.
- Do not cast me from your presence—God don’t shut me off from yourself for you are the very source of spiritual power to please you.
- Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me—God, I know that past victories have only come from your Holy Spirit’s power. Please don’t take away that help.
- Restore me to the joy of your salvation—God, joy has always come from the victories by which you brought Israel and me your salvation. Make salvation from slavery to lust bring the same joy.
- Grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me—God my heart is desperately wicked. I will rebel if left to myself. Please give me a willing spirit to sustain me or I will be right back here confessing my horrible sins again.
D. DAVID KNEW THAT SALVATION INCLUDES RESTORATION IN THIS LIFE
Verses 13-15
David understood that the gospel is not just that sinners are forgiven but that they are restored and participate in that restoration in the culture. Notice how David looks forward to being used by God to promote righteousness.
- Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. David’s influence for the kingdom of righteousness will be restored.
- Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. David knew he deserved to die for murdering Uriah. But God’s forgiveness for this horrible crime would not lead to David cheapening the moral law. Being saved from the punishment he deserved would make him sing of God’s merciful salvation and the glory of God’s righteous law all the more.
- O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. Perhaps because David knew the truth Jesus would later speak, “one who is forgiven much loves much,” David tells God that his heart will be so tuned back into adoration of God that all God needs to do is pry open David’s mouth and praise will automatically flow.
E. RESTORATION IS ALSO A FOCUS OF THE SECOND BEATITUDE
In Matthew 5:4, Jesus not only taught that training our heart into an attitude that mourns over our own sins and the harm done to the world because of sin is a foundational attitude for flourishing, in the second half of the beatitude, we read that part of the blessing for this kind of mourning is BEING COMFORTED. What does Jesus mean by this statement? I believe that Scripture teaches that God, himself, will comfort us and he will comfort us three ways.
1. We will be comforted by total, complete forgiveness. For the one who has owned up to his sin with a contrite heart, recognizing his spiritual poverty and need of the shed blood of Christ to cleanse him from his sin, there is TOTAL forgiveness. We are doubly declared righteous (justified). Christ-followers trust Christ’s death as payment for the punishment we deserve. The law has no further claim against us because our debt is paid. But also, Christ’s perfect life of obedience is imputed to us, meaning that at the top of Christ’s straight A moral report card, his name is erased and ours is written in. I love the way the Phillips paraphrase translates Romans 8:33-34. Who would dare to accuse us, whom God has chosen? The judge himself has declared us free from sin. Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us!
2. The second way God comforts us is giving us hope that God can still weave together the dark threads of our sin into a beautiful tapestry that glorifies him. Our comfort lies not only in forgiveness, but in the fact that even though every decision we have made to disregard God’s law has brought destruction into our lives, if we repent, God has given us his amazing promise to turn those ugly scars into beauty marks. Jesus came not just to forgive but to restore, beginning his ministry by reading the great messianic text, Isaiah 61 that described his ministry of restoration. Notice the words, comfort, and mourn.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified (Is 61:1-3).
The ESV Study Notes explain the fuller picture behind Jesus’ claim to be fulfilling this prophecy of the Messianic Suffering Servant. “Jesus’ mission includes proclaiming good news to the poor and liberty to the captives (in the OT this meant release for those enslaved in exile, but more is included here, since “liberty” elsewhere in Luke—Acts refers to forgiveness of sins.) Sight to the blind includes both the physically blind and the spiritually blind. Liberty for those who are oppressed included, in Jesus’ ministry, healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sins, and ethical teachings that promote social justice.”
Notice the way Jesus' work of fixing everything broken by sin is portrayed as restoration in the Isaiah text:
- Jesus was sent by the Father to bind up the broken-hearted. The Hebrew says literally, “He comes to put a bandage on the heart’s wounds.” Though many are celebrating their mothers today there are many mothers grieving over the loss of their children and children grieving the loss of their mom. In this life, Jesus, HIMSELF promises to bind up the broken hearts of all who grieve the loss of loved ones. I know several men in their forties who have lost sons in their twenties. I cannot fathom their pain. I can only find hope in the promise that Jesus will personally bind up their torn and broken hearts.
- Notice how closely this Isaiah 61 language matches what Jesus taught in the second beatitude. The Messiah comes to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. God is in the business of restoration. His specialty is comforting those in pain because of sin. By his grace he is turning our lives around to give us a diadem of honor instead of the ashes of repentance and shame on our heads. He is restoring us to the life he intended for us to experience—enjoying the oil of gladness upon us instead of regret and remorse for our sins. He is reshaping and redirecting our lives so that we go through life wearing a cloak of renown instead of being clothed in feint-hearted self-doubt. This glorious triumph over sin and its effects begins with a broken and contrite heart over our sin and that of others.
3. The third way God comforts us is with the joy of our future destiny, when there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. The more sin breaks our hearts because of its destruction in our loved ones, our world, and in our own hearts, the more precious is the truth that IT DOES NOT WIN. John, in his great vision of the destiny of those who belong to Christ, wrote:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:1-4).
F. FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT BROKEN HEARTEDNESS OVER SIN
Verses 16-17
Psalm 51:16-17 continues with a summary of what David has said up to that point. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. This message is identical to the second beatitude, which we might translate this way: O the bliss of the man whose heart is broken for the world’s suffering and over every particle of his own sin, for he will taste the joy of restoration to what he and this world were created to be. And be will be undergirded by the joy of knowing that one day everything broken by sin will be remade, renewed, and restored to even greater glory and beauty.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- How would you defend the argument that confessing our sins is not enough; we need to grieve over them?
- What most stood out to you about David’s confession of his sin in Psalm 51?
- How does Jesus’ claim to be the messianic suffering servant whose ministry is described in Isaiah 61 show that his mission goes beyond going to the cross so we could be forgiven for our sins? What clues in Isaiah 61 and the second beatitude point to Jesus’ current work of restoration—fixing whatever was broken by sin?
