Sermon -- HVL Chapel (February 25, 2022)

PSALM 51:7-9

LET ME HEAR JOY AND GLADNESS.

 In the name + of Jesus.

     To appreciate the plea in this Psalm, it helps to know what was going on.  The heading of the Psalm gives us the backstory.  “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba” (Psalm 51, heading).  You know David’s story—the temptation from gazing at a beautiful woman, the adulterous affair, the unwanted pregnancy, and David’s plot to kill off Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah.  It might have even seemed like David got away with it.  When he took Bathsheba into his palace, people may have considered David such a benevolent king that he would care for the widow of one of his highest officers.  David could try to suppress the truth, but David knew the truth, and it ate at him. 

     Perhaps you have known the anguish that comes from hidden guilt.  David described it as his bones being crushed.  You might know it by sleepless nights, or by being unable to eat because your stomach is in knots.  You can slap on a happy face and pretend that everything is fine.  But if you are hounded and haunted by your sins, you are not going to find relief by pretending everything is fine.  Hiding the truth never makes it untrue.

     The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront David and to expose his sin.  I suppose it was painful for David to have to hear those words.  And if you have to be confronted about your sins, I am sure that it hurts.  But do you think that God is not grieved when we sin against him?  And do you think that God’s love is so shallow that he would just cast you off when you sin against him?  Friends might be petty; God is not.  If God’s Law crushes your bones or turns your stomach in knots, it is because God wants you to recognize the damage that your sins are doing to you.  God does not want you to lose your salvation or to have your sins choke out your faith.  God’s Law exposes our sins so that we will stop pretending that everything is okay.  If God produces sorrow over sins, it is so that he can finally produce the gladness and joy of salvation.

     Psalm 51 was written in response to Nathan’s preaching.  In it, David expresses his yearning for relief, for joy, and for gladness.  “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” (Psalm 51:7-9).  David sought relief for his guilt.  He no longer attempted to cover up his own sin.  There were no excuses to explain that his wickedness was actually okay.  “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7), David cried.  He threw himself at God’s mercy and begged God to save him. 

     Hyssop was used in ceremonial washing for one who is unclean.  The unclean person would not have access to the Lord’s temple or the Lord’s people as long as he was unclean.  The hyssop was dipped in water and flicked upon the person to splash him.  After the washing, he would be clean.  David longed for such cleansing so that the Lord’s favor would be restored to him.

     He also pleaded that the Lord would hide his face from David’s sins and blot out his iniquities.  We might get the idea that David was asking the Lord to turn a blind eye to what he did.  But God cannot do that.  That would mean that God does not take his own word seriously.  Could God really turn a blind eye to David’s adultery?  Could God really overlook David’s orchestrated murder of Uriah?  Can God really command, “Thou shalt not…” and then later say, “It’s okay if you do”?

     You might think it would be a sweet deal if the teachers or the police turned a blind eye to you when you break the rules.  But what if someone were breaking into your car?  Would you be okay with others turning a blind eye to that?  You would demand that people uphold the law, because then you would recognize that the law is there to protect you and to do you good.  It is all the more true with God’s Law.  He gives his Commandments for the good of all people.  When we break God’s Law, we do harm to our neighbor and we fail to honor God.  He does not turn a blind eye to that.

     The Lord knows our sins—from the words and deeds which are known by all to the thoughts that we pray no one ever discovers.  Like David, we can offer no excuses.  We have no defense.  We can only plead to God to act, to have mercy, and to save.  We cry with David, “Let me hear joy and gladness.”

     Jesus does not waste time trying to pick through what sins are serious and what sins are minor.  He pays for them all.  Jesus bore all guilt and died for all sins.  The joy and gladness that you long to hear come from Jesus.  He cleanses you of every spot and stain of sin.  Listen to what Jesus has done.  “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).  If you are baptized into Christ, you are cleansed of all your sin.  When you hear the invocation, “In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit,” you should hear joy and gladness.  For, in this name your sins are washed away.

     David also prayed, “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” (Psalm 51:9).  The Lord does not turn a blind eye to your sins; he covers them.  Listen to what the Lord does: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).  In your baptism, you were covered with Jesus’ innocence.  When God sees you, he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  And God does not condemn the innocent.  He delights in you—no matter what your past has been, no matter what secrets haunt you. 

     David wrote, “Let me hear joy and gladness” (Psalm 51:8).  He did not write, “Let me feel joy and gladness.”  Because of guilt and regret, our sins may always plague us.  If you feel that way, you are not alone.  Do you think David ever forgot what he did?  Do you think Peter ever forgot his denial of Jesus?  Do you think Paul ever forgot that he persecuted Christians?  Do you think there was ever a day when any of them said, “You know, that just doesn’t bother me anymore”?  That’s why David said, “Let me hear joy and gladness” (Psalm 51:8).  God delivers joy and gladness through his word.  God’s promises do not depend upon your feelings.  God’s promises are confirmed by Jesus.  His death is the payment for your sins.  Your feelings don’t take away Jesus’ crucifixion.  His resurrection confirms God’s favor upon you.  Your feelings don’t nullify the resurrection.  In your baptism, you were covered with Jesus’ innocence—whether you feel like it or not.  Jesus saves you.  God says so.  That is your joy.  That is the gladness of salvation.   

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.