Genuine Repentance: Part- 2

The reason why we are going through this Psalm is because we want to examine if our repentance is real/genuine. In doing that what we are doing is: going back to the example of David and seeing what kind of repentance David had. And asking to ourselves a question: If what was true of David is it also true of me? In other words in our attempt to look into this Psalm we are asking some serious questions to the repentance we have done.

(Scripture Reading & Prayer)

The story is told of a famous rabbi who was walking with some of his disciples when one of them asked, "Rabbi, when should a man repent?"  The rabbi calmly replied, "You should be sure you repent on the last day of your life."  "But," protested several of his disciples, "we can never be sure which day will be the last day of our life."  The famous rabbi smiled and said, "The answer to that problem is very simple.  Repent now."

I think this illustration really fits in this scenario. Because, sometimes even believers postpone repentance. And this is exactly what David did and the problems started in his life, in his family and eventually in his kingdom.

This is my prayer that as we are going through these messages the Lord would grant you a proper understanding of genuine repentance. My prayer is especially for those who do not have a proper understanding of genuine repentance; that they would repent and turn from their sin of rejecting Christ and rejecting the gospel. Because if you don’t turn from your sin; right now you are living under God’s judgment.

So, here is the title for the message for this morning.

Genuine Repentance- Part-II

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 5

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Salvation: vs.6-7

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 5

As I thought about the last week’s message; I think it would have been appropriate to name the second point as: “Genuine Repentance understands the seriousness of godly sorrow rather than Confession.”

The reason why I say that is because; vs. 3, 4 talk about godly sorrow. Notice those 2 verses. “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 those two verses David is a representation of a godly man. Because the first sign of a believer in God is that; he feels the guilt of his own sin. We learnt in our Adult Sunday School that in the New Birth the person understands the gravity of his sin, then he understands the weight of Christ’s sacrifice. And the wonderful part of it is: that just doesn’t stop at Salvation, but it goes on even after Salvation. In David’s case: his repentance was after his salvation. He understood the gravity of his own sin; his soul was hard pressed by God. And according to vs. 4 he felt the heat of God’s anger, that’s why he says, “…my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” 

The picture here is of a plant which is dried because of the lack of water. That’s exactly David felt when he lived in sin.

That’s why in Psalm 38:2-4, he says, “For your arrows have sunk into me and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.”

And it’s true of all God’s people. They feel the heaviness of God’s hand upon their heart. Their conscience pricks them of their sin day in and day out. That’s what happened with David; he felt the heaviness of God’s hand, he felt the heat of God’s anger.

But the ungodly people are not like that; they go along in their lives as if that’s the way life works for them. They do understand that they do have problems but though they do notice the root of their problem; they don’t do anything about it. Perhaps they turn to some other methods of psychotherapy. But the inner disease they have is not dealt with.

But that was not the case with David. He was a godly man. And godly sorrow always understands the seriousness of confession. This lead David to confess his sin. That’s what David did in vs. 5, he confessed his sin in this verse.

So, notice 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.”

I like the NIV translation which says, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you…,” the word ‘then’ refers back to the entire episode of David’s sin.

The word ‘Acknowledge’ is very important. Because this word not only refers to the knowledge of sin. David did know his sin but t he did not understand his sin because of his stubbornness. But now when Nathan the Prophet confronted David he fully understood the nature of his sin. That it was ugly, that it was shameful.

Then David says, “….and I did not cover my iniquity…” but previously the opposite was true. Because in vs. 3 he says, “For when I kept silent my bones wasted away…” It simply means that David covered his sin for a long time; he did not open his sin before God as a result he had to face terrible consequences of his sin in every sphere of his life.

Thirdly, David says, “I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Isn’t it amazing to see that; the moment David confessed his sin he received forgiveness from God.

Application:

Isn’t it strange to see that the very thing that blocks God’s rich blessings is man’s stubborn heart? Isn’t it strange to see that the very thing that hinders us from experiencing God’s grace is our pride?

Most of the times we all don’t confess our sins are because we have a defense mechanism activated in our minds. What I want to say is this: we try to find excuses for our sins.

Well, David did not find any excuses for his sin. In 2 Samuel 12 we have the account of Nathan confronting David for his sin. The amazing thing to notice is: David did not make any excuses for his sin. He acknowledged his own sin; he did not blame Bathsheba. Let’s understand that David was a powerful King. He could have easily got Nathan the Prophet killed but he chose not to; do you know why? David feared God. He knew even though he is powerful King there is even more powerful king who is the King of the universe.

David did not confess his sin before God because he had no other way. He confessed his sin before God because he loved God so dearly. Perhaps during the course of time his love for God had diminished but in order to regain his joy back David had to repent and confess his sin before God.

And the result of that confession was immediate. David immediately received the forgiveness of God. Not tomorrow, not day after; but quickly right then.

Do you know that not trusting in Jesus is a sin? That is the only sin which has no forgiveness. If you reject Jesus you reject God’s offer of Salvation. But God is so rich in mercy that He is willing to forgive each person who comes to him in repentance and confession.

Finally, let me ask you this question: Have you repented of your sins? Have you confessed your sins to Jesus? Because Jesus had to pay the price of our sins. The Bible says, “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What it means is: every sin that you and I commit on a day today basis; every evil thought that we think, God treated Jesus as if He did those things. We are not righteous and He is not sinful.

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Salvation: vs.6-7

Now we might not find the word ‘Salvation’ in these verses. But the thought is very much there. Please notice these 2 verses.

“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”

The word ‘therefore’ refers back to the previous verse. And the previous verse speaks of God’s forgiveness. So this is what David is saying: Because God is forgiving let everyone who is seeking for forgiveness offer a prayer of confession to God. What we have in this verse is the urgency. David is urging his readers to repent and confess their sins while God has given the grace. At the same time David is saying it is better to be in God’s presence than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin. And I think David had learnt his lesson painfully. So, David is speaking out of his own experience to leave the sinful pleasures of sin urgently and come to God for forgiveness.

And then if that person comes to God for forgiveness the results are great, that’s what David says further, “…surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.”

The picture in this verse is that of flood waters. The water that is rushing at a mighty speed.

E.g. recently all of us we witnessed the flood waters in Uttrakhand. We saw the mighty force of the water in which many buildings fell; they were literally carried away by that mighty rush of the waters. It was amazing to see on the TV the kind of force that water had.

What David is saying is: the person who humbles himself is like a strong man that will stand even in the rush of great waters. Those waters will not shake him because he is forgiven of God.

In Matthew 7:24-29 we have a story of a wise man and a foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock and the foolish man built his house of the sand. Both had the foundations; but the one which has the foundation on the rock endured the mighty winds and the rushing waters. That house didn’t fall; but the one that fell was the one which was build on sand.

Let’s not fool ourselves in thinking that just a little bit more. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that I am the master of my life and I will live my life according to my rules. No you won’t be able to live life according to your rules. If Jesus is not on your side.

Our Lord said in Matthew 18:4, “Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Matthew 23:12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

1 Peter 5:5-6, “Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

In vs. 7 David says, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”

Let’s observe that the same man who said to God that His hand was heavy upon me is now saying to God, you are my hiding place. At one time David was oppressed by God but at this time David is finding his refuge in God’s presence. Now this verse tells us what a honest confession and forgiveness can do to a person. Before repentance and confession David was running from God now he is running towards God.

Now when David says, “…you preserve me from trouble…” he has eternal torment in his mind. Because, his life was not fine until this time and then his life was not fine after his confession. There were terrible troubles in his life after his fall. His Son Absalom wanted to kill him and take his throne. His daughter was raped by her half brother. Things were not good while he was living in sin and after. David had a full assurance that God had forgiven him and has preserved him from the eternal danger.

He knew that he might have to face the immediate consequences of his sin; but he had the joy of knowing that the eternal consequence of his sin has been removed as far as the east from is the west.

And finally David says something great. “…you surround me with shouts of deliverance…”

It really amazes me even though David was going through a lot of trouble he was able to hear the shouts of deliverance. That means to say that God’s grace was victorious in his life.

Application:

Brothers and sisters that’s what happens when a person turns to Christ in repentance and faith. Have you experienced that forgiveness that Christ gives? He is able to give us that forgiveness even today. Are you willing to humble yourself to receive that forgiveness?

We all know the story of Prodigal Son. A rich man had 2 sons. The younger son wanted the share of his property and wanted to go from the presence of his father. The father gave him the money and the share of his property. He went to a far country squandered away all his money on the things of this world. And finally got his pockets empty. He didn’t know what to do. And there was a drought in the country where he lived and he began to be in want; that is he lacked money to feed himself. So he went to a rich man and he gave him the job of feeding the pigs. Imagine a rich man’s son doing the job of feeding the pigs? Later on he came to his senses, and realized the kind of situation he is in. he remembered that even the servants of his Father’s household are in a better condition than he is. So he decided to get back to his father. And the Bible says; that boy started to get back to his father’s house. The Father saw his son coming from a distance; and the Father ran to his son to receive him. As soon as he came near him the Father hugged his filthy son who was rugged in the filth of pigs. The son said to his father, “Father I am not worthy to be called as your son, please keep me as your hired servant.” The Father called his servants and ordered them to bring the costliest robe to put on him. He ordered them to arrange for a party. Because his son was lost and was back he was dead and is now alive.

My brothers and sisters, this is exactly what God does to every repentant person who repents of his sins and turns to Christ for forgiveness. Are you willing to come to receive his forgiveness?

Do you want his forgiveness? Are you burdened like that of the prodigal son? come to Jesus; come to His Cross, that’s where we all had our burdens lifted up.