the joy of being forgiven by Andrew Murray. The Psalms. A psalm of David for the chief musician. The book of Psalms is the innermost sanctuary. It is the holy place of the sanctuary of the Bible. In the rest of the Bible we receive instruction from God on the way to draw near to him in psalm. God opens the door of his secret dwelling place. He shows us how his believing people come to him, speak with him, and enjoy fellowship with him. There we see the throne of grace surrounded with petitioners. There we learn to pray. There the grace of God is manifested in the most glorious way. Praying with God's words. Similarly, the Book of Psalms is like the lowest class of a nursery school. In the more advanced classes, the teacher tells the children what they have to learn. They know how to work independently and only need the teacher's help from time to time. But with the youngest class, who are learning the ABCs, a different method is needed. Every letter must be pronounced and dictated to them. The teacher must put the sounds for them in their mouth until they learn to pronounce and know them for themselves. This is the way the Lord God deals with us in the Psalms. He comes as the faithful one, nearer to us than in the rest of the Bible. He gives us the very words we need in order to come to Him. He is aware that we do not know how to pray. Therefore, He comes and tells us what we ought to pray for. When we speak His words, it is with the desire to understand them so that we can feel and pray as He has expressed them. Then He gives us His blessing. And His Spirit makes the words living and powerful in our souls. In these precious Psalms, God's Holy Spirit Himself teaches us to pray. prayers that meet our needs. This book will become more precious to you when you consider the way the Lord God has dictated the words so that you can pray them. Has he sent directions from heaven for prayer as if he had ordained them there for us? If that were the case, they would not be truly human, nor would they be relevant to our situations on the earth. The Holy Spirit has taught us to speak in the language of men, with the feelings of men, and from the heart of men. The Lord has used men with passions like ours, and sinners like we are, who have experienced every possible condition of human need and sorrow. God has taught these men by His Holy Spirit to speak these prayers and commit them to writing. Now, he offers them to us as a prayer book adapted to our needs. They are adapted to our needs because they come from his spirit. Therefore, they are divine. Yet, they are just as human because they come from those who are our flesh and blood and are in every way like ourselves. For this reason, the Psalms has been precious to sinners who are concerned about their salvation. It will also become precious to you if you earnestly desire to seek after God. In other books of the Bible, much is written about sin and conversion and the conflict of believers. In the book of Psalms, you can see and hear the believers themselves. You have the key to their inner chamber. You can see them in their fellowship with God. You hear how they confess sin and ask for forgiveness. You can see how they praise God for His grace and pour out their heart before Him. You can kneel down and pray with them. Your heart will be kindled by their repentance and their faith. Alone with God in the light of His presence, the writers of the Psalms lay all their life before Him. Like looking in a mirror, you can see your life reflected in the concerns problems and joys expressed in the Psalms. You can see the hidden conflict coming from the sense of guilt as well as conversion and faith. You can see what it is like to be with a soul in whom God is working. You will never learn to know sin, especially your own, until you have learned to agree with the deep confession of the writers of the Psalms. When you have learned to give praise and thanks with the poets of the Psalms, you will learn to glory in God and rejoice in His grace. For this reason, seekers of salvation have always loved the Psalms. For this reason, many of the most distinguished saints of God have said that the Psalms become more precious to them the longer they use them. Think of the Son of God. He taught us to use the Psalms and sanctified them for us. When he was in the heaviest stress of his conflict, he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27, 46. Were the words of the 22nd Psalm written to meet his condition? When dying, he cried, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." Luke 23, 46. Was that not a word from Psalm 31, 5? If Christ Jesus needed the words of the Psalms to comfort and strengthen himself in prayer to his Father, how much more must you and I have used these divine prayers to correctly draw near to God? Praying with the Psalmist. The blessings that come from using these words are abundant. The word is nigh thee, saith the Lord, in thy mouth and in thy heart. Romans 10, 8. Whenever we take God's words and express them, a way is prepared for the word to get from the mouth to the heart. Through the mouth, the word comes into the heart. you will see that the words of God are the living seeds which germinate, shoot out roots, spring upward, and bear fruit. Your heart is the soil. All you have to do is open it. Then you will see that it is the word of God that works mightily in the believer. I invite you to meditate with me on the 51st Psalm. Let us learn to pray this Psalm together. Let us think about it verse by verse. Learn it by heart and receive it into your spirit. Then speak it before God on your knees. For David, this psalm was the way out of the depths of sin to the joy of forgiveness. It was his way to a rich experience of the grace of God. Psalm 51 can also bring you and me into this blessing. It will teach you that confession is the road that leads to true forgiveness. Prepare yourself to learn by heart and to pray this psalm. The blessings it will bring you are beyond your present comprehension. Psalm 51. For the chief musician, a psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone in to Bathsheba, We find different kinds of psalms in the Psalter of David. There are psalms of thanksgiving for praising and thanking the Lord. There are psalms of instruction to teach us one portion or another of divine truth. There are petitioning psalms where God's help is asked for in the midst of distress or sorrow. And there are repentant psalms where, after confession of sin and guilt, request is made for forgiveness and redemption. why David wrote this psalm. The 51st is one of the seven repentant psalms. Indeed, it is the greatest of them all. To understand this particular psalm, we must pay special attention to the situation David was in when he wrote it. The introduction to this psalm gives us some information. David had deeply fallen into sin. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. Then he tried to conceal his sin. When he did not succeed, he had Uriah put to death. Even this was not the worst aspect of his situation. If he had really confessed his sin, everything might have worked out. Instead, for a whole year, his heart remained hardened. Finally, after the birth of David's child, God sent the prophet Nathan to him, and he realized the true nature of his sin. Nathan had drawn from him a sentence of condemnation against a rich man who had robbed a poor man of his only pet lamb. After David himself condemned the man, Nathan exclaimed, Thou art the man? Then David humbled himself and acknowledged, I have sinned against the Lord. See 2 Samuel 12. The prophet spoke to him in the name of God. The Lord also has put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. 2 Samuel 12 13. This, however, was not enough for David. He was so grieved about what he had done. that he went to the Lord in deep humility to confess his sin. David begged God to give him divine grace for the forgiveness of sin and renew his heart. This psalm was written to confess his sin and express his need for forgiveness. I want you to learn to understand this psalm because its lessons are of such great value. There are three elements in the spiritual life which we must know if we are to live and die as believers. We must know how great our sin is, how we can be delivered from our sins, and how we should live in thankfulness to God for this deliverance. These lessons concerning our sinful nature, deliverance, and thankfulness are most clearly explained in this psalm. Let us ask God to open our hearts and impress these lessons on our spirit. The magnitude of our sin. The first lesson we must learn is how terrible and wretched our sins are. Think for a moment who David was. He was the man after God's own heart. He was the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel, 2 Samuel 23, 1. Think of the wonderful things God did through him and for him. He had been purified through many difficult trials. God had highly honored him, and David had gloriously praised God. Yet look what became of him whenever God gave him over to the desire of his own heart. He fell into intense sin and remained hardened in it for a long time. Nothing but the word of God by the prophet could bring him to his senses. I am afraid that there are many among us who do not know what their sins are. Until they know their sins, they cannot really come to the confession of their guilt or experience mercy. They will die in their sin. When it is too late, in eternity itself, they will see what sin was. This is the reason I present this psalm to you. I want to show you the sin of David, and like Nathan say to you, thou art the man. I want to show you how corrupt the nature of man is. I want to show you how your heart is the source of all sin and makes you capable of all sin. I especially want to show you how the power of sin can blind a man. You are not aware of your sin until the Spirit of God teaches you to know it. You do not know the real nature, the ugliness and the curse of sin. until God makes it known to you. Therefore come and listen to the prayer of David, a man of God. You will learn what you still do not know about sin and the misery it brings. The deliverance from our sin. You must also learn what glorious deliverance is available from God. In this psalm you will see that great things must be done in you. David feels he must be washed by God from his sin and that his transgressions must be blotted out. He also asks that he be purified within, renewed in heart, and that the Spirit of God dwell in him always. Reader, come with me and you will hear from David what must take place in you. No matter how sinful and helpless you may feel, You have access in prayer to a God who can and will work in you. David's prayer is designed by the Spirit of God to teach you how you must come to God and what you can expect and receive from God. Gratitude from our heart. You must also learn what it means to live a life of thankfulness to God. You will understand in this psalm how one who is redeemed feels united with God. It is the believer's desire to praise and serve God. It is a joy to tell others what God has done for him. This is not a burden upon him, but a work of love which his heart needs and which the grace of God makes possible. Grace will sanctify not only the hidden life of the heart, but the outward life, conversation and walk. The redeemed soul is known as one who has become an entirely new man. This is brought about by grace and given to a sinner who has the same feelings and problems as you. Yes, in this psalm you will see a man confessing his sin with the deepest sorrow and anxiety. Then under the working of the grace of God, he receives redemption. Finally, he glorifies God as a redeemed and emancipated soul. I want you to join me in the study of this psalm so that you can see how God has made confession the road to forgiveness. You will see how God accomplishes everything you need. You will see that God demands nothing which he does not first give. The service to which He calls you is a blessed, joyful service of willing love. This love is awakened by His love, shed abroad in the heart. Chapter 1 The Mercy of God Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. Psalm 51 1a. In this verse is the key to Psalm 51. During the long period before David was brought to humiliation by the spirit of God, he could not pray this simple prayer. Only the person who has been brought to an awareness of sin by God himself is in a position to use this word in prayer with his whole heart. Only the person who prays it from the heart can truly understand it. David learned to pray this prayer on his knees with a broken heart in bitter sorrow for his sin. This prayer must be spoken upon the knees with humility and to God. Then it can become a blessing to us and we can make this psalm our own. There is mercy with God. Have mercy upon me, oh God. We must believe that there is mercy with God. The greatest wonder of his divine being is that with God, there is mercy. Here on the earth, we give little thought to this great wonder of God's mercy. However, in heaven, people are humbled by the thought of it and never cease to adore and thank God for his mercy. Their God is known as the Holy One and he comes against sin as a consuming fire. In heaven, sin is known for what it is, the shameful rejection of the perfect one, of his law and love. It is known that man deserves to be rejected by God. Therefore, it is in this mercy of God that glory is seen. Angels do not understand how he could have compassion for our fallen race. and that he himself would pay the ransom for our sin at the cost of the blood of his own son? The idea that he longs after the ungodly, forgives them everything, and receives them as his children is so great that the angels cannot account for such mercy. David heard that there was mercy with God, and he draws near to him with this prayer. We also must try to understand and believe that there is mercy with God. We need God's mercy. Have mercy upon me, oh God. We must also feel that we need mercy. Mercy is something that is entirely undeserved. David feels that his sin is so shameful It makes him guilty in the eyes of the holy God, and he deserves to be condemned. It is not God alone who condemns him. He condemns himself. He feels that he is entirely deserving of the judgment of God. His sin shows how he had withdrawn from God in spite of all the goodness of God toward him. He feels that mercy would be marvelous if he is considered worthy to be made a friend of God. Yes, the true petitioner feels that he needs mercy. Nothing but free grace can be his hope. We must seek God's mercy. Have mercy upon me, oh God. We must desire for mercy to be shown to him. David knows that there is mercy and he feels that he needs mercy, yet this is not enough. He wants God to show that his mercy is intended for him. He knows that the showing of mercy must be a personal action of God toward each person. I know that God is merciful, he cries. The fact that there is mercy for everyone does not satisfy me. I need to know that God is merciful to me. Be merciful to me, O God, of mercy. This longing for mercy is in harmony with what God's Word teaches us on these points. The Word always speaks of finding mercy, obtaining mercy, receiving mercy, partaking of mercy, and having mercy. From God's side it is called giving mercy, showing mercy. Sin is a personal offense committed against God. Conversion is coming to God to receive redemption from Him so He can show mercy to us by taking away sin. Many people have mistaken ideas about God's mercy. They comfort themselves with the thought that God is merciful. They have, however, no idea that this will personally affect them. Mercy must be given to them by God and must be experienced in the soul. They forget that there is a work which mercy does for the soul. They forget that God is the righteous one as well as the merciful one. Before his righteousness can liberate a single soul, his holy law must be fulfilled. The sinner must partake of the righteousness of Christ and the acquittal of God. Even with the word of mercy on their lips, many go on to meet destruction. This does not happen because there is no mercy with God for him, but because he has never personally experienced the work of divine grace let us review these thoughts concerning mercy first of all remember that there is mercy with God let your soul be filled with the thought that with God there is mercy and the highest joy of his heart is to show mercy furthermore you need mercy without mercy you will be eternally miserable Especially remember that you must have a personal experience of this mercy. You must have mercy. Without this you cannot rest contentedly. God must do something for you. He must show you mercy. Let God's great mercy and your great misery be the two arguments which cause you to pray this prayer more earnestly. Pray, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, until you receive mercy. Chapter 2, God Removes Our Sin. According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51, 1b. In the second half of the first verse, David gives a more precise explanation of what he meant in the first part of the prayer, have mercy upon me. He knew there was something that mercy could and would do for the sinner. It was his desire to experience this precious work. Therefore, he prayed, Blot out my transgressions. Be specific. The general prayer for mercy is not enough. The Lord wants us to know and say what we want mercy to do for us. The blind man cried, Jesus, the son of David, have mercy on me! Mark 10, 47. Jesus called him to himself and asked him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Mark 10, 51. He had already prayed for compassion and mercy, but this was not enough. The Lord wanted a specific statement of what His compassion was to do for him. It is not enough for us to be content with a general request for mercy. The Lord will test the sincerity of our desire for mercy. by finding out if we know what we want. Many people pray for mercy and yet receive no answer. Some think that the first work of mercy is to comfort the heart. This is not so. Later in this psalm, David prays for comfort and peace. Others believe that the work of mercy consists of changing their heart and their way of life. Later on, David asks for this, but it does not happen at first. Others suppose they must ask for mercy and trust that it will take them to heaven when they die. They think that in this life, we cannot be sure that we have mercy. David teaches us that this is not what he desired. This is what we should ask God to do for us. according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. God alone blots out sin. Our transgressions must be blotted out by God himself. This is the conviction which drew David near to God. He feels that transgression must be blotted out. He feels that he is not able to do this work. Mercy must do it for him. Moses said to God, Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. Exodus 32, 32. Our sins are also written in God's book. The law of God takes into account every sin we commit. In the account book of heaven, they stand against us as a record of our guilt. David knew there could be no fellowship with the holy, righteous God as long as his guilt was not abolished and blotted out. He knew that mercy could not convert or change the sinner. It could not bring him to heaven unless his guilt was first blotted out. First the wrath of God must be appeased. Past guilt must be removed. The sinner must have acquittal and forgiveness of his sins. This is the first work of divine grace. Without this, God the holy judge cannot receive the sinner into his friendship. Therefore he prays, have mercy upon me, blot out my transgressions. Many people remain unacquainted with the holiness of God and the dreadful character of sin. They think that if they repent, live a better life, and pray to God that God, because of this great change, will receive them. This is not true, although change is good. Rather, you should pray to be changed by the Spirit of God. But this is not enough because it does not get rid of the old guilt. The fact that you want to get rid of your guilt does not cancel it either with God or man. What you must know before all else is the status of the guilt of your former life. Does it remain in God's book against your name? Is it blotted out? Until we know that it is blotted out, we can have no real peace. This is why we must pray the prayer, have mercy upon me. The blotting out of guilt is absolutely essential. We cannot work this out by our repentance. God has promised To grant it, his promise is, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Isaiah 43, 25. The blessings of forgiveness. This is what the New Testament calls being justified. In the parable of the publican, he prayed to God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Luke 18, 13. And he went down to his house justified. This was what grace did for him. This was the answer to his prayer, and he went home with forgiveness of his sins. Like David, he could sing when he received the answer to his prayer. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not. Iniquity, Psalm 32, 1 and 2. Does this seem too wonderful to believe? Remember that the tender mercies of God are very great. It is on God that David calls He prays according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies. Come and experience the great wonderful and divine element in the grace of God. It will blot out all your guilt at once and remove it completely from God's book. Come and experience the blessing and power of mercy to grant the forgiveness of sins for Jesus' sake. Chapter 3, Washed in the Blood. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. Psalm 51, 2a. This verse will make the meaning of the preceding chapters clearer. David begs for mercy. He expects the manifestation of it in the forgiveness of his sins. He longs for his transgressions to be blotted out of God's book and taken away from his eyes. but the sin which he looks at weighs heavily upon his soul. It is not only recorded in God's book, but it has stained his conscience and clings to him like a blemish that makes him detestable in his own eyes. Therefore, he prays to be freed from the sense of guilt and from this awareness of inner sin. He knows that this same mercy can erase sin in God's book and in his own conscience. The act of God in heaven is also an act of God in man's own spirit. Therefore, he prays, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. He knows that the only way his sin can be removed is by a spiritual act of the grace of God. This must wash him of his sin. The symbol of washing. Why did David use such an expression for the work which he desired to be accomplished by grace? The ceremonial washings and sprinklings of the Old Testament led him to pray this way. Under the Old Covenant, every priest had to wash himself whenever he offered a sacrifice. Also, any Israelite who had in any way come into contact with something unclean had to first be washed. before he could mingle among the other people. David knew that these washings were symbols of what must take place in the heart of man. They were a symbol of cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ. The New Testament speaks of Jesus as Him that washed us from our sins in His own blood, Revelation 1.5. Of believers upon the earth, it says ye are washed." 1 Corinthians 6, 11. Of the redeemed in heaven, it says, they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7, 14. In full light of these expressions, let us consider this prayer, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. The blood of Jesus. What does it mean to be washed in the blood of Jesus? The Word of God teaches us that the sprinkling of blood under the Old Covenant was a symbol of the cleansing from sin. Everyone who had sinned was guilty of death, but God permitted the Israelites to bring a lamb or another victim to die in his place. Then when the blood of that victim was shed, It was proof that the punishment of death, which the man had deserved, had been met. When it was sprinkled on the altar, the blood was accepted by God as valid, and the sin was washed away. So the blood of Christ was shed as the payment for our sins. We are all under the death sentence. We have sinned and made ourselves guilty according to the law of God. The law has spoken its curse over us as transgressors. It can by no means withdraw its demands until they are met. God would not be righteous if he did not maintain the authority of his law and uphold its power. He would not be a perfect judge if he welcomed transgressors of his law into favor. Therefore, No one can inherit heaven if they are not pronounced clean by the law. And no one can possibly be pronounced clean who has not fulfilled its demands. No person by himself has been able to do this. Therefore, the mercy of God steps in between us with the gift of his son. Christ has fulfilled the demands of the law in our place. He was our representative. He came in our nature to do in our place all that was required of us. He was our surety who paid the price in our place. He was the Lord of the law, but was born under law to fulfill its demands. He has honored it by perfect obedience. By dying an accursed death, he subjected himself to its sentence on our behalf. He has borne our punishment. He has taken its curse upon himself. Because of that, he has paid what he had to demand from us. His blood, his soul, and his life is poured out in his death. Like the sacrifice, the outpouring and the sprinkling of his blood is the proof that atonement has been made. You must be washed. We should be washed in that blood. What does this mean? If someone wants to be cleansed from his sin, it does not help to have a stream of water flow past him. If he does not enter and come in contact with the water, his sin will not be washed away. So it is with the blood of Christ. You must have a personal part in it. Your soul must come into contact with that holy blood in order to experience the power of it. Christ did not come, as many suppose, to abolish the claim of the law, but to fulfill it. The law has a claim upon you personally and individually and will ask you if you have obtained the righteousness and atonement of the Lord Jesus. The law will ask. Have you been sprinkled and washed with the blood of Christ? If you have been washed, then you are also acquitted. It is not because the law has no claim upon you, but because it sees that Jesus has fully met that claim for you. If you are not washed in that blood, then it does not help you that Jesus has died. Fellow sinner, realize what must take place within you, or there is no hope for you. The Lord Jesus still says, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. John 13, 8. With all your praying, seeking, and all your piety, you will not be saved unless the everlasting God does this spiritual wonder in you, unless you are washed in the blood of Christ. Do not reject the precious blood of Christ any longer. Come to God with the prayer of David, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. The blood of Jesus has been shed for you and God himself is prepared to wash you in that blood. God himself by the Holy Spirit will bring your soul into spiritual contact with that divine blood. He will make it possible for you to appropriate and experience the power of that blood. It is the work of God. He will do it. Just believe what the Word says. Believe that the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin. Believe that without any worthiness in yourself, you can, by the attributes of that blood, be freed from all your guilt. in a moment. Believe that God is sincere when he offers that blood to you because of your faith in Jesus' blood. Let your prayer become more urgent. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. Being freely justified by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. Romans 3, 24 and 25. Chapter 4. Cleansed from sin. And cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51, 2b. David's sin weighed heavily on his soul. Three times he cried out before the Lord to free him from his sin. He did not mean deliverance from punishment. He did not mean being restored to God's favor. It was his sin which was so terrible to him. This was what he wanted God to take away. It is obvious that he deeply felt what sin was because the three utterances he used represent sin in a distinct light. Cleansing according to the law. David saw sin as a transgression of the law of God, a violation of the honor and authority of his King and Lord. He calls it iniquity according to its inner character because it was the exact opposite of all that was good, holy, and righteous. He confessed it as sin, a condition of disobedience and misery. He had prayed that these would be blotted out of God's book. He wanted to be cleansed of his iniquity. Once again, in view of his sin, David prays for cleansing. He makes known his desire for the redemption which he expects from God's grace. Cleanse me from my sin. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes, and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.