KING DAVID’S REPENTANCE.
-PSALM
51:1-17.-OCTOBER 18.-
Golden Text.-“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
PROSPERITY did not
work to King David’s personal advantage. After years of phenomenal success
under the Lord’s blessing, when his kingdom was mighty and his name honorable,
and the necessity for his personal participation in wars was passed, and his
heart had begun to gravitate towards earthly pleasures and was less zealous for
the Lord and the Law than at first, the king fell into very grievous sins,
which appear all the more black in contrast with the high moral character shown
by him in his earlier life, when he was the man after God’s own heart. The
story of his sins, how he became enamored of Bathsheba and committed adultery
with her, and subsequently, to shield himself, caused her husband Uriah to be
placed in the forefront of the battle that he might be killed by the enemy,
involving the loss of several other lives as well, is told in the Scriptures in
a most straightforward manner, without the slightest effort to condone the
king’s wrong-doing. No excuses are offered in connection with the account; the
full weight of these awful crimes is laid directly on the king’s head.
Whatever excuses may be offered on his behalf must come from the reader of the
account. We may suggest some thoughts along this line: In that day the kings
of the world exercised a despotic authority, and it was a theory among the
people that the king could do no wrong-that whatever he pleased to do was
proper to him because of his high position as the head and ruler of the
nation. We could in no sense of the word agree with such a thought.
Nevertheless we can reasonably suppose that a sentiment so general would have
more or less influence upon the mind of the king. He who respected Saul’s life,
because he was the Lord’s anointed, may have to some extent fallen into the
misconception that his own anointing by the Lord relieved him in some degree
from the responsibilities resting upon others of his nation.
For about two years after these crimes were committed the king sought to
stifle his conscience, and to consider that he was only using kingly liberties
in what he had done. Nevertheless his conscience smote him, and he felt an
alienation from God and a condemnation under his law such as he would not have
felt had he been of a different stamp of character. God was not hasty in
reproving him, either. He allowed him to have a full taste of heart
bitterness-allowed him to feel the darkness of soul, absence of joy, resulting
from the cloud which had come between him and the Lord. It was at the
appropriate time, after David had passed through secret mournings and
travailings of the soul, that the Lord sent him a reproof through Nathan the prophet
to bring the whole matter clearly before his mind. Nathan, under the figure of
a parable, excited the king’s sympathies and declaration of a very severe
judgment-a death sentence-against the person offending, and then the Prophet
brought home to him the lesson saying, “Thou art the man!”
King David, we are to remember, did not belong to the spiritual house of
sons, and hence had a far less clear view of such matters than that which would
properly belong to every member of the house of sons, begotten of the spirit
and “taught of God.” We are not, therefore, to expect to draw a lesson to
ourselves along similar lines. Rather we of the spiritual house, under the
clearer conceptions of the divine will, are to remember the higher
interpretation of adultery and murder set forth in the New Testament: that
whoever desires adultery, and is merely restrained from it by outward
circumstances or fears, is really an adulterer in his heart (Matt. 5:28); that
he that is angry with his brother, he who hates his brother, is a
murderer-because the spirit of anger is that which, unrestrained, would lead to
murder (Matt. 5:22); and that the person who covets the things of another and
is merely restrained from taking them for lack of opportunity or fear of
consequence, is at heart a thief. If these principles be applied by the New
Creation in the examination of their hearts, it is entirely probable that some
of the “house of sons” today may find themselves very near the plane of King
David as respects sin, and so viewing matters they will exercise
proportionately greater compassion in their judgment of the royal
transgressor. Such, too, will find great consolation in the Lord’s compassion,
provided they are exercised in respect to their offences as David was concerning
his. “There is compassion with thee that thou mightest be feared,” is the
prophet’s expression. If God were wanting in compassion, as are many of our
fellow creatures, there would be nothing to hope for under such circumstances.
It is when we realize that there is forgiveness with the Lord for all who are
penitent at heart, and who, therefore, give evidence that their sins are not
willful, but rather of the weakness of heredity and under the pressure of
blinding temptations, that we are moved to repentance by a hope for better
things.
The 51st Psalm is generally recognized as being the one in which the
Psalmist expresses to God his contrition for his sins, and the fact that it is
dedicated to the Chief Musician implies that it was the king’s intention that
it, in common with other of the Psalms, should be chanted in the Tabernacle
services, for which he had set apart a large number of singers. We thus
perceive that if the sin was flagrant and gross, the atonement which the king
endeavored to make was a most public one. Probably many of the nation had felt
more or less of the king’s condemnation, and its influence must have been very
injurious; and now in his public view of it as sin, and his prayer for divine
forgiveness, the king would undo so far as possible not only the injury which
he had inflicted upon his own conscience, and which as a cloud hung between the
Lord and him, but he would undo also the evil influences as respects the
conscience of the nation-on the subjects of adultery and murder.
Here again we see why David was described as a man after God’s own heart.
His sins were not pleasing to God-quite the reverse; but the after appreciation
of the enormity of the sins and the hearty repentance therefor to the Lord, and
the desire to be cleansed from every evil way, were pleasing to the Lord. Here
we have an illustration of how all things may work together for good to those
who love God. By reason of his heart-loyalty to the Lord, and the principles
of righteousness, even these terrible sins resulted in bringing a great
blessing to David’s own heart-humbling him-giving him an appreciation of his
weakness and littleness, and of his need to abide close to the Lord, if he
would have the Lord’s fellowship and compassion and be safe from the temptations
of his own fallen flesh. So, too, with the New Creation. How many of them
have realized profitable lessons and blessings out of some of their
stumblings-not that the stumblings were good nor of the Lord, but that the Lord
was able to overrule such circumstances for good to those who are of the proper
mind-rightly exercised by them to repentance and reformation.
The first three verses of the Psalm express David’s appreciation of his
sin and his trust in the Lord, without any attempt to apologize for his
shortcomings. He trusted to the Lord to make whatever allowances could be made
and merely appealed to his great “loving-kindness.” In calling to mind the
multitude of God’s tender mercies in the past, he expressed faith and trust
that in some way the Lord could blot out these grievous transgressions and
forgive them. The Lord had not yet clearly defined the way in which he could
be just and yet be the justifier of sinners. Only vaguely through the shadows
of the Day of Atonement sacrifices had he intimated that he had some way of his
own by which in due time the guilty but repentant ones might be cleansed.
David grasped the thought of mercy as understood in the types and shadows of
the Law, and much more may we of the house of sons grasp the thought of our
Father’s forgiveness when we see that it is exercised towards us by the Lord
Jesus Christ, who already has given himself a ransom for all, to be testified
in due time, and whose sacrifice has been accepted of the Father,-as manifested
by our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, and by the descent of the holy Spirit
at Pentecost. If, therefore, David could trust the Lord for loving-kindness
and tender mercies and forgiveness of sins, the members of the house of sons
should be able to exercise full faith in the divine character and plan of
salvation from sin.
The fourth verse would seem to ignore the fact that wrong-doing had been
done to fellow-creatures, but we may preferably understand it to mean that
while this wrong to fellow-creatures was recognized by the king, he recognized
a still higher responsibility to God, whose laws he had broken and whose kingly
office, typifying that of the Christ, he had dishonored. Hence, in contrast
between what man might think of his crime as against man and his own still
higher consciousness of his sin as against the Lord, the latter seemed so much
greater as to practically obscure the former. The greater sin as against the
Almighty quite overshadows the wrongs to humanity. David declares his
recognition of the fact that God is the great Judge, and that whatever his
judgment would be he knew in advance that it would be right.
In the fifth verse he introduces an extenuating thought, as though
reminding the Lord that he was born in sin and therefore that perfection was
not possible for him. But he does not use this fact as a screen behind which
to hide his own responsibilities. Free to will, though a sinner by nature, he
was necessarily responsible for yielding as he did to temptation, but he was
confident that the Lord would give him the benefit of every mitigating
circumstance.
It will be noted that David expected punishment from the Lord for his
sins, and was here expressing his confidence that the Lord would send no
punishment which would not be reasonable and within the limits of justice.
What he was praying for in this Psalm was not a remission of proper punishment,
but rather for the cleansing of his heart in the sight of the Lord and for his
restoration to the divine favor. As a matter of fact we find that the Lord did
send a severe punishment upon the king, and that he restored the sinner to his
favor, granting him to experience again the joys of his salvation. According
to the sentiments of other kings of his time, evidently acquiesced in by the people
of Israel, the king had taken an extremely moderate course in sin, in that he
had not directly taken the life of Uriah but merely connived at his death in
battle; but the king appreciated the fact that God was looking deeper than this
and desired truth-righteousness in the inward parts-in the heart. Outward
crime and a crime allowed in the mind are alike heinous in God’s sight: his
experience had taught the king wisdom. Now he wished to be thoroughly cleansed,
and poetically says, “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I
shall be whiter than snow.” Hyssop was used in the sprinkling of the unclean
under the Law. David, grasping to some extent the significance of the symbol,
desired the antitypical cleansing of his heart. His appreciation of the
Lord’s thoroughness in dealing with sin and of his compassion in forgiveness
are good lessons for some of the still more favored members of the “house of
sons.” Many of the latter, although having seen with “the eye of faith” the
great Atonement for sins made by our Lord Jesus, are still unable to appreciate
the fact that the application of the merit of his sacrifice is quite sufficient
to cleanse us from all sin and perfect us, that we may be recognized as
absolutely pure in the Father’s sight and dealt with accordingly-not as
sinners, but as sons.
From the statement of verse 8 we may reasonably infer that during the year
that preceded this repentance King David was in so miserable a state of mind
that even the music of the singers and of those who played skillfully upon the
harp and all the joyous songs of Nature were sore to his heart-had no gladness
in them to comfort his heart when it was barred from the Lord’s presence and
fellowship. This is the thought of our hymn, which says of the soul which
enjoys the light of the Lord’s favor:-
“Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers
Have all gained new sweetness to me;” and
“His presence disperses all gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice;” and
“While I am so happy in him,
December’s as pleasant as May.”
King David was longing for the joy and gladness which he had experienced
in times past, and figuratively he likens himself to one whose bones had been
broken. He knew that his joy and comfort would return if he could but have
back again the Lord’s favor. He knew, too, that the Lord could not look upon
sin with any allowance, hence his prayer: “Hide thy face from my sins and blot
out mine iniquities [unrighteousness]. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take
not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and
uphold me with thy free Spirit.”
No true Christian can read these words without feeling a deep sympathy
with the different expressions; and even though as New Creatures in Christ
Jesus we have had no experience with such terrible sins as those which weighed
upon the heart of David, nevertheless our higher responsibilities and higher
conceptions of sin under the “new commandment” and under the instructions of
the holy Spirit, as sons of God, cause us to feel with proportionate weight
transgressions which in the sight of the world would appear nothing-such, for
instance, as we have just mentioned: covetousness, hatred, slander, which are
thefts and murders from the higher standpoint of the divine view appropriate to
the New Creation.
In verse 13 the prophet proposes to the Lord that his discomfiture in
divine disfavor was used for the instruction of others,-to show transgressors
the Lord’s ways and to turn sinners from the evil of their course. How
appropriate this thought to us! Not until we know experimentally through faith
in the blood of Christ that our sins have been put out of the Father’s sight,
not until we have experienced the joys of his salvation and forgiveness, are we
in any condition to be servants to the truth or illustrations to others. Hence
we see that it is only those who have been begotten of the holy Spirit who are
anointed to preach the gospel. To others the Lord says, “What hast thou to do
to take my word into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my
words behind thee?”-refusing to submit to the divine requirements.
The 14th verse repeats the same thought in a different form. If the Lord
will deliver him from his guilt in connection with his sin, his tongue
shall thereafter sing loudly the Lord’s righteousness-not David’s
righteousness. This is the song that all the blood-washed may sing, “True and
righteous are all thy ways, Lord God Almighty. Thou hast redeemed us from
amongst men.” None of us have any right to sing our own righteousness, for as
the Apostle declares, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” The mission of
the cleansed ones is to accept and use the Lord’s mercy towards them, to extol
his righteousness, to acknowledge their unworthiness and to call upon others to
recognize this fountain of righteousness and forgiveness.
“O Lord, open thou my lips: and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”
This expression implies that none need expect to have a proper opening of their
mouths to show forth the Lord’s praises, and give the call from darkness into
his marvelous light, unless the Lord shall first have opened their lips with
his mercy and truth; for otherwise how could any expect to tell the glad
tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people? This equally implies that
all who have had forgiveness of sins should be in a condition of spirit to make
a full consecration of their all to the Lord, and then all such should expect
an unsealing of their lips, that the message of God’s truth and grace may flow
out from them for the instruction and blessing of others-as it is written,
“Grace is poured upon thy lips.” “Thou hast put a new song in my mouth, even
the loving-kindness of our God.” While these are appropriate specially to our
dear Redeemer, they are appropriate also to every member of “the Church which
is his body,” and all claiming to be of “the body,” who have never had
their lips unsealed to confess the Lord to the extent of their opportunity,
have reason to question everything pertaining to their relationship to the
Lord.
In verses 16 and 17 the King shows that he had acquired a deep insight
into the meaning of some of the typical sacrifices;-though probably, by
inspiration, he wrote more wisely than he understood. As we have seen in our
study of Tabernacle Shadows of Better Sacrifices, only the Day of Atonement
sacrifices were sin offerings, the burnt offerings and peace offerings of the
remainder of the year representing the consecration to the Lord and his
service. Grasping this thought prophetically, to whatever extent he also
grasped it intellectually, King David expressed his realization that the Lord
is pleased rather with a broken and contrite condition of heart than with burnt
offerings, which were but types. So, too, we learn that nothing that we can
give the Lord, even after our acceptance in Christ, has any value in his sight
until first of all we have given him ourselves,-our hearts, our wills.
Let us ever keep in memory that a broken and
contrite heart the Lord never despises, will never spurn. Therefore into
whatever difficulty any of the Lord’s people of the New Creation may stumble,
if they find themselves hungering for the Lord’s fellowship and forgiveness, if
they find their hearts contrite and broken, let them not despair, but remember
that God has made a provision through the merit of Christ which enables him to
accept and justify freely from all sin all that come unto him through Jesus-through
faith in his blood. There is a sin unto death-a sin unto the Second
Death-from which there will be no recovery, no resurrection; but those who have broken and contrite hearts on account of
their sins may know that they have not committed “the sin unto death,” for
their condition of heart proves this, as the Apostle declares: “It is
impossible to renew again unto repentance” any who have committed the
sin unto death-willful sinners against full
light and knowledge. Let all, therefore, rejoice in the grace of our God, who
is able through Christ, his accepted way, to save unto the uttermost all who
come to him, laying aside sin and its desires.
“Now, if any man [of the Church stumble into] sin [through weakness and
temptation-not intentionally] we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous.” (1 John 2:1.) Such, therefore, may come with faith to the
throne of the heavenly grace that they may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in every (future) time of need. (Heb. 4:16.) But, like David, their prayers and
hopes should be for a restoration of divine favor and not for escape from
chastisements needful to their correction. God forgave David, but also chastened
him.-2 Sam. 12:11-14.
Surely King David must have learned a great lesson in mercy from
this sad experience. How many times must he have called to mind his response
to Nathan’s parable, “The man that hath done this thing is worthy of death:
and he shall restore the lamb four fold, because he did this thing and because
he had no pity!” Alas, poor David! these words showed that he had a mind, a
heart, that was no stranger to justice and pity in other men’s affairs, and
hence that he was the more guilty in his much more serious violations of
justice and compassion. “Blessed is he that is not condemned in that which he
alloweth,”-who is not condemned by his own declarations in respect to the
affairs of others. Oh, how merciful to the failings of others it should make
us when we remember our dear Redeemer’s words, “If ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses”; and
when again we remember that we may not even pray for forgiveness of our sins
unless we from the heart forgive those who have injured us and again desire our
fellowship.