Confession
Pray Anyway (a study on Prayer) • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsEvery time we pray for God to grant complete repentance, having a broken, contrite, and repentant heart should be our attitude. In this lesson, we will look at the importance of confession as a crucial element of prayer.
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INTRODUCTION
Rattling Confessions
In our world today, we have this aversion to any kind message that strikes us as judgmental: that maybe the way we want to live, the decisions we are making aren’t the best ones for us. Have you ever been driving on the road, and for whatever reason, you drift far enough off the main road that you hit what is called a rumble strip? Rumble strips are loud. They shake the car.
They maybe upset your kids or other passengers. But most importantly: they keep you alive by making you focus your attention on the path you should be taking. Confessing that we believe in the forgiveness of sins as well as the resurrection and life everlasting is a bit like a rumble strip. We’re jolted awake by the knowledge that we have sins that need forgiveness, but at the same time, we’re focused on our road home. Confessing the Apostles’ Creed is a chance to follow that sign home.
David’s downward Spiral of Sin
There are seven penitential psalms that David prays in scripture (6, 32, 40, 102, 130, 143). Davids prayer of repentance is raw and exposed in Psalm 51.
Nathan the prophet had confronted David with his sins. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had covered it up by having her husband Uriah killed and taking her as his wife (thus making it appear as if the child was the pre-mature bi-product of their marriage.
Nathan attempting to expose David’s sin tells him a story of a rich and a poor man. The rich man had many flocks and herds but the poor many had only one little ewe lamb. Now there was a traveler who came to him however, the rich man was unwilling to slaughter one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest so, he took the poor mans one lamb from him and had it slaughtered and prepared for the guests.
Davids initial reaction to Nathan’s story was on of outrage and anger, proclaiming that the man who would do such a thing deserves to die. David exclaimed that such a man must pay for his actions.
Little did David know that Nathan was talking about him and what he had done by taking Bathsheba for his own selfish purposes. Davids’ response to Nathan upon realizing what he had done was “I have sinned,” and then we suppose hie slipped away to a quiet place to pray along the lines recorded in our text today from the book of Psalms.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Nathan’s response then was “The Lord has put away your sin,” you shall not die. What? The outrage. Uriah is dead. Bathsheba is raped. The baby will die. And Nathan say’s, “The Lord will put away your sin.” Just as easy as that? David had committed adultery, he had ordered murder, he had lied about it, he “despised the word of the Lord” by his actions and the Lord will truly “put away his sin?”
What kind of righteous judge would do such a thing? What about child molesters, many people I have shared this story with, when it comes to child molesters there is no forgiveness for such a thing.
The apostle Paul shares our outrage and explained how God could be both righteous and one who justifies murderers and rapists and liars and, yes, even child molesters.
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
In other words, the outrage that we feel when God seems to simply pass over David’s sin would be good outrage if God were simply sweeping David’s sin under the rug. He is not. God sees from the time of David down the centuries to the death of his Son, Jesus Christ, who would die in David’s place, so that David’s faith in God’s mercy and God’s future redeeming work unites David with Christ
The Difference between an Apology and a Confession
In the wake of numerous public confessions by fallen politicians, sports figures, and business executives, in her book The Art of the Public Grovel, Susan Wise Bauer offers a helpful distinction: "An apology is an expression of regret: I am sorry. A confession is an admission of fault: I am sorry because I did wrong. I sinned."
Apology addresses an audience. Confession implies an inner change … that will be manifested in outward action.
Big Idea: Forgiven people are committed to being changed by God.
Big Idea: Forgiven people are committed to being changed by God.
When looking at Confession we learn three important Elements from David’s prayer
1. We must Admit our Sins
1. We must Admit our Sins
What should our motivation be in our confession?
What should our motivation be in our confession?
*The Holiness of God shapes our attitude in prayer
*The Holiness of God shapes our attitude in prayer
1)The seriousness of it (vv.1-3)
1)The seriousness of it (vv.1-3)
Notice that David uses four words to describe his sin which shows that he is not trying to escape or evade his sin. This leads to an attitude of confession that is genuine repentance.
Transgressions: refers to rebellion or deliberately crossing over the line.
Iniquity: suggests a perverseness or twistedness.
Sin: is falling short of God’s standard or missing the target God has set for us.
Evil: v.4 refers to the ugliness or repulsive nature of sin against God.
Repentance is not motivated by a desire to escape paying the cost of our sin, or the fear of punishment and consequences of our sins.
How should we see confession? We do not rationalize our sins, David was awakened to the reality of his sin. Upon Nathan confronting David with his sin the immediate response was a feeling of guilt before God.
Jesus once and for all paid the price for our forgiveness by providing a way for our righteousness to be possible. We can add nothing to the purchase and provision that he has already provided for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. We now share in this hope and in this forgiveness by faith alone.
However, in view of the Holiness of God and the evil of sin, we must daily go before the throne of God by prayer and confession. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:11-12) Daily forgiveness for bread because his is sufficient to meet all our needs according to his riches in glory; daily prayer of forgiveness, because it is fully bought and purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer “Cheap Grace”
When we fail to see the seriousness of our sin we cheapen the Grace of God. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). If we teach forgiveness and fail to require repentance, communion, and confession, we cheapen the price that was paid for our freedom.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all he has to obtain such a treasure. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods to possess. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son.
2)The essence of it (v.4)
2)The essence of it (v.4)
Note: David turns to his hope, the one who he has sinned against. Here is where David comes to the issue that makes sin such a serious matter with God. It is the creature thumbing his nose at his Creator. All sin is directed against God. It is nothing less than saying we wish God were not God ant that his laws would disappear or do not apply to us.
While it is true that David sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah, and the nation of Israel as a whole, but it is God who defines the proper behavior towards others. Any sin against others is ultimately, then, a sin against the God who set the boundaries and laws in the first place.
Possibly the reason that we do not take sin so seriously is that we fail to see it as a direct affront to God himself. We fail to see the very essence of our sin.
Notice in 2 Samuel 12:13 Davids first response was “I have sinned against the Lord,” his immediate response was to go pray for mercy and healing. I wonder if this is our first response when we sin against God? Do we say in our hearts, “I have sinned against God,” let me go and pray for mercy and healing.
3)The Origin of it (v.5)
3)The Origin of it (v.5)
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Note: Now David goes back to the origin of original sin. The sin that David committed was not a freak abnormal occurence for humanity. Look at Isaiah, he also was painfully aware of his fallen state before God.
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
The very element of David’s life from conception was tainted with sin. It was not a matter of if David would fall into sin, David was acting on the total depravity of His human nature from the beginning.
2. We must own our Sins
2. We must own our Sins
*We Honor God when we accept His verdict
*We Honor God when we accept His verdict
Note: By accepting his sin David was agreeing with God about it. Prior to his confession he was was in a state of dispute or denial with God about his sin.
David also recognizes that God’s standard for his behavior is right.
Does God truly know what is Best?
We live in a world and culture that does not want to take responsibility for anything. We are good at passing the buck on to someone else. It’s not my fault, or someone’s actions pushed me to my actions.
The old adage the devil made me do it flies in the face of a Holy God and His standard for His creation. It all comes down to do we truly trust God that He has our best interest at heart. Do we truly believe that He desires good for His children.
If we do then we embrace Romans 8:28 that tells us for those who love God all things work together for the good. If we don’t then we doubt that any of God’s actions bring the good in our lives. We doubt that God has the best plan for our marriage, or the best plan for our job, or the best plan for raising our children.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
3. We must plead God’s Mercy over our Sins
3. We must plead God’s Mercy over our Sins
*Renewal takes place at the mercy seat of God
*Renewal takes place at the mercy seat of God
Have mercy on me Oh Lord for I am a sinner in need of your renewal today.
Note: How often do we throw ourselves at the mercy seat of God when we are confessing our sins, or does our confession seem more like, “my bad God,” I know I should not have sinned in this situation.
Look at verses 7-10, David is pleading for renewal from God.
Remember that FORGIVEN people are COMMITTED to being changed by God.
The adulterer, the cheater, the lier, the child molester hate what they were and set their face to being changed by God.
David pours out his heart to be changed in 6 way’s
1)He prays for God to confirm his Salvation
1)He prays for God to confirm his Salvation
verse 11 “cast me not away from your presence and take your spirit from me.
“Some say that those who are elect and called by God should not pray this way because it might apply they believe they can loose their salvation”
“I do not think so, when we are praying don’t cast me away and don’t take your spirit from me: we mean don’t treat me as one who is not chosen. Don’t let me prove to be like one of those in Hebrews 6 who never truly knew God.
Those in Hebrews 6 had only tasted the things of God. David is saying don’t let me fall away and only show that I was only drawn and enamored by the things the spirit of God could give to me, but that I was never truly a child of God.
NOTE: True Children of God long and desire to be Forgiven. True Children of God can not rest until they have made things right with God. Pretenders may feel some guilt at first but are never truly compelled to seek forgiveness. This is a key marker that they never truly knew God.
2)He prays for a new heart.
2)He prays for a new heart.
51:10 “David wants to be done with the kind of instability that he has just gone through. He wants a solid unwavering heart of allegiance and affection for God.
We read in Ezekiel 36:26 and Hebrews 8:10 that God takes away our stony heart and replaces it with a heart of flesh.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Calls the idea of a heart of flesh a peculiar feature of religion. Other religions like that of the Pharisees begin with the outward appearance working from the outside hoping to get to a persons heart.
No truth is more sure that when Jesus told Nicodemus “you must be born again first” in order to come to Jesus.
Spurgeon goes on to declare that true religion begins with the heart, and the heart is the ruling power of manhood. You may enlighten a man’s understanding and you have done much, but as long as his heart is wrong, the enlightenment of the understanding only enables him to sin with a greater weight of responsibility resting on him.
He knows good to be good, but he prefers the evil; he sees the light but, he loves the darkness, and turns from the truth because his heart is alienated from God.
Note: The great promise of God’s renewal first begins in our heart. When our heart becomes softened and we see God for who he really is, and see ourselves as we truly are in desperate need of saving.
3)He prays for the joy and gladness of the Lord to return.
3)He prays for the joy and gladness of the Lord to return.
Note: When we are in the throws of rebellion and willful disobedience there is no joy and gladness to be found. This is a miserable state to be in as a follower of Christ. You can imagine especially for David a man after God’s own heart.
Notice that no where in the Psalm does David pray about his sexual sin. It all started with sex and deceit leading to murder, or did it?
David speaking for God does not see things that way.
SEXUAL SIN IS THE SYMPTOM BUT NOT THE DISEASE
Why isn’t he praying for sexual restraint of men to hold him accountable. Why isn’t he praying for protected eyes from sex free thoughts.
The reason is that he knows that sex is only the symptom of the issue. People fall into sexual sin because they do not have the fullness of the joy of Christ in their lives. Therefore, they are looking for other things to fill that void that only Christ can fulfill. They waver, they give way, because God no longer holds that place in their feelings and thoughts as He should.
4)He prays that God would bring his joy to overflow with praise.
4)He prays that God would bring his joy to overflow with praise.
verse 15 “Oh Lord open my lips and mouth to declare your praise.
Note: David is asking God to remover every barrier from his heart that has dulled his life from an ever increasing overflowing worship of joy.
What is one of the number one things that keeps the believer from experiencing joy in their worship? UN-confessed sin.
The longer we go without taking time to enter into genuine confession our hearts get dull and lack the joy and luster they did when we first experienced the light of Christ.
So many of us carry this weight around with us day, after day, when the answer to freedom is right in front of us. Jesus came to bleed and die so that you could go before the mercy seat of God and receive forgiveness for your sins. The problem is that most of us left confession at conversion.
The last time we truly got on our knees before the mercy seat of God and sought his grace and forgiveness over our sins was the first time we realized we were sinners in need of being saved. The reality is that he is working out our Salvation in and through our lives everyday.
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
What does it mean to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling?
Even though we know that we are saved by grace and through faith alone. Paul is reminding us that what we do is a strong indicator that we truly have saving faith.
The key word in this text is work-out. What happens when you go to the gym and work-out? For some of you it is a painful experience because you have frequented the work-out facilities so seldom in the past year. However, the more consistent you are in your discipline of exercise will bring great dividends down the road.
The same is true for the discipline of regular prayer and confession. Our joy then begins to overflow in a joyful and productive Christian walk.
5)He prays for the result of effective Evangelism.
5)He prays for the result of effective Evangelism.
verse 13 “Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you.”
Note: How often does God use the sinful life of a wayward person to lead someone else to the throne of God’s mercy.
He is not just content with being a Child of God, He is not just content to be forgiven, he is not just content with having his life wiped clean, he is not just content to be joyful in God himself. He will not be fully content till his broken life serves to heal others.
Have you ever considered that all the pain and struggles you have experienced in this life have the end goal with reaching someone else for the kingdom of God.
Note: David had a two fold confidence in His prayer.
He knew that God could use his experience to influence others.
He also know that God would not fail to here him.
English Standard Version Psalm 51
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise
“He will not despise him, He will not cast him out.”
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Note: Confessing our sins to one another has the ability to bring healing into our lives. The effectual genuine contrite and humble prayer has incredible power for you and me.
6)He prays for brokenness
6)He prays for brokenness
verse 8 “Let the bones that you have broken rejoice”
Verse 17 “ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart...”
BROKEN HEARTED JOY
Warning, be careful that you do not suppose that you get past having a broken and contrite heart before God. When you stop mourning over you sins is the moment you have become comfortable in your own skin.
It is the moment that you have ceased to mortify sin in you life and your pride has led you into the lie that you cannot joy in the Lord and be broken over the sin in your life.
Johnathan Edwards
Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) A Broken and Contrite Heart God Will Not Despise
All gracious affections [feelings, emotions] that are a sweet [aroma] to Christ … are brokenhearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or men, is a humble brokenhearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires: their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable, and full of glory, is a humble brokenhearted joy.… (Religious Affections [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959], pp. 339f.)