Genuine Repentace: Part- 1

While I was on my way to Nasik; I was listening to a message preached by Ps. Conrad Mbewe. He is pastoring Kabwata Baptist Church, Zambia, Africa. He was preaching from Psalm 32 and the title of his message was: “The True Nature of Repentance.” He was speaking from vs. 8-11. While I was listening to this message my heart started to get burdened about this Psalm. At the end of this message I could realize that this Psalm is a very relevant subject which is helpful to examine my own repentance and our repentance; in a sense to question if our repentance has the true biblical nature in it. Another thing that we want to follow during this Psalm is that: we will take the Lord’s Table for the next 3 weeks until we finish meditating on this Psalm.

So, I just want to inform you that for the next 3 weeks we will go through this Psalm. And as we go through it; we will examine our own repentance and ask a question to ourselves if our repentance matches with that of David’s repentance. This becomes extremely important because; if our repentance is not the “kind” of repentance that David had. Then you must really question your “kind” of repentance; if you don’t you may be in a danger of going to hell.

So, let’s begin by understanding what repentance is:

A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word "repentance."  A little boy put up his hand and said, "It is being sorry for your sins."  A little girl also raised her hand and said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."

It so true that repentance is not to merely feel sorry about our sin but to turn from it. And this is exactly what David do. He lived in sin for a long time but when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet he repented and turned from his sin.

So, here is the title for the sermon this morning:

“Genuine Repentance”

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Sin and the Joy of Forgiveness: vs. 1-2

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 3-4

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Sin and the Joy of Forgiveness: vs. 1-2

Before we begin to explain this Psalm let me give you some information about it. Many scholars say that this Psalm was written by David after he wrote Psalm 51. Because in Psalm 51 we find David pleading with God for the forgiveness of his sin. In this Psalm we find him explaining the kind of joy he experienced after God forgave him his sin.

Another reason why we think David wrote this Psalm after Psalm 51 is because of vs. 5, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. This verse has a direct parallel to Psalm 51:3, “For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.”

So, let’s notice

vs. 1-2, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

We must notice in these 2 verses that David is not speaking about any 3^rd person here; though he is writing about the 3^rd person but he is mentioning himself in this Psalm. Perhaps he was so transformed after he experienced the forgiveness of God that he became humble.

Secondly, we can also find that this Psalm is similar to Psalm 1 vs. 1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”  On the other hand this Psalm is also similar to the Sermon on the mount which we find in Matthew chapter 5. In the sermon on the mount our Lord uses the word ‘blessed’ for 9 times.

And the word ‘blessed’ means ‘happy’.

So basically the idea is in order to be truly happy we must be repentant. That’s what David is saying in vs. 1 that the person whose sins are forgiven and the person whose sins are covered is ‘happy.’ Basically, the word ‘forgiven’ and ‘covered’ carry the same meaning. But we need to ask, why the person whose sins are forgiven is happy. Or why the person whose sins are covered is happy. It’s because of the guilty conscience a person has when he or she sins. That guilty conscience does not allow a person to enjoy happiness. They lose their happiness because of the sin they have committed. And this is particularly true of people who know God. They know they have sinned; they know they have disobeyed God. And their conscience does not allow them to enjoy almost anything. They lose peace, they lose sleep and their conscience always condemns them for what they had done.

This was true in case of David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba his conscience was pricking him. It was condemning him for the adultery he committed with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband. It seems David lived in that sin for almost one and a half years. It was not because of his ignorance of what he had done but because of stubbornness. Perhaps he hiding away his sin or sweeping away his sin under the carpet he had become stubborn. And that’s what happens when we don’t deal with our guilty conscience at the right time. We become stubborn.

But when David genuinely repented of his sin and when he actually experienced God’s forgiveness it was like a heavy burden that was lifted off him. That’s what he says in vs. 4, “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

Secondly, when we go to Romans 4:6-8, “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

If you look at the context of the passage; you will notice that Paul was laboring the point that; man cannot achieve God’s righteousness by works of the law but by faith. And there Paul gives the example of David’s Psalm.

The point is: even David understood that the only way to be happy and blessed is not by offering many Lambs and Bulls. But by having broken spirit in the presence of the Lord; and by having a contrite heart. That’s what he said in Psalm 51:16-17, “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.”

Application:

Brothers and sisters almost all the times the Devil uses this lie to trap you. If you leave your sinful life you will not be happy. If you leave that sinful life you will not draw pleasures which you are drawing now. Or if you do not leave ungodly habits then you will not be happy or joyful.

While you are hanging on your sin; let me ask you this question. Are you really happy? Are you really enjoying your life? Knowing that if you have to die today it’s the hell that awaits you. Does that concern you my brethren?

Let me ask you this question. Have you repented like David? David repented and he found the forgiveness of God and he was happy. You cannot imagine of happiness without repentance of your sins. Have you repented of your sins? Have you believed in the righteousness of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins? Have you really turned away and turned to Jesus?

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 3-4

Notice vs. 3-4, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

In these 2 verses David is referring to the unconfessed sin. ‘When I kept silent…’ means that David knew he had sinned against God but he chose not to confess it to God. And because he was stubbornly silent the immediate consequence was that: “…my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

I don’t know what connection sin has with bones. But when you know that you have sinned against God your entire body groans. Your entire body kind of shrinks; not in a literal sense. What I want to say is that: when you sin you lose a sense of liberty. It’s because of the guilty conscience that brings your sin before you again and again.  

e.g. if a man goes into the honeycomb. Takes all the honey in his hands. Do you think those honey bees are going to let that man enjoy that honey? They will make sure he doesn’t enjoy it by stinging, and stinging until he finds his entire body in pain.

That’s exactly true of the person who sins against God and does not confess.

Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper, But whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

David knew that he was outside of God’s mercy when he lived in sin. But those days for him were not good days because he loved being in sin rather than in God.

Vs. 4 says, “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

This verse explains the heavy sorrow David had to go through because of his unconfessed sin. Since David fell in this sin his entire family had to go through suffering. That’s what sin does; sin promises pleasure but delivers pain. Never has a man who has lived in sin has lived in happiness. That’s why the key verse of this Psalm is vs. 10, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked…” and David had experienced it painfully.

Application:

I remember my own family at this point. Many of you know the background of my family. Many people say that if my mother had escaped from my father’s house she would have lived and so on. But the issue is because of my father’s selfishness the entire family had to suffer. Because of my father’s sin; all of us had to suffer. Because of his sin we all were scattered in different places. Because of my father’s sin our family never ever came to normalcy. And all of that was because of sin.

My brethren, sin always promises pleasure but delivers utter pain. My question to you this morning is this: are you living in sin? Think how much your sin is causing so much of suffering to your family, your friends, your siblings.

Does your heart get burdened with it? If so I have good news for you. Your burden can be lifted up at the cross of Calvary. That’s where we all went with our burdens. Jesus Christ lifted up our burdens and gave us a new life he gave us a new heart. It’s only through Jesus our burdens can be lifted up because He paid the price of our sins on the Cross; He died and rose again from the dead and that’s why we must believe in Him only.