Purge me with Hyssop (Psalm 51:5-8)
In v1-4, David had thoroughly confessed his sin before God, and cast himself on God’s mercy and asked Him for His full forgiveness and cleansing. However, his repentance (turning from sin from God) was not yet complete. Through his great sin, God opened his eyes to the fact that his sins were a manifestation of a deeper problem of depravity, for a bad tree brings forth bad fruit, so that the evil fruit was the result of an evil root of sin within him (Matt 7:11,17-19, Luke 11:13). His acts of sin revealed that he was a sinner by nature, having inherited a sin-nature at conception. His sins were not just isolated incidents or mistakes, but expressions of a corrupt inward nature. He could no longer claim he was basically good, but failed occasionally. He sinned because he was a sinner: “Behold,I was brought forth in INIQUITY, and in SIN my mother conceived me” (v5). ‘Behold’ indicates he has received a revelation of his inherited sin-nature. David was not saying that his conception was the result of his mother’s sin (adultery), or that sex in general was sinful, for it was created by God and children are God’s blessing (Ps 127-128), nor was he excusing his sin (saying he could not help it, because of his sin-nature), but acknowledging the depths of his sinfulness. He traces the act of sin back to the pollution of his nature (Eph 2:1-3). The doctrine of Original Sin says that all men are born sinners in Adam, for the sin-nature is transmitted through birth from Adam, through the father (John 3:3-7, Gen 5:1-3), making us all by nature slaves of sin. This is true for all of us, except Jesus, the Son of God, who had a virgin birth. Therefore, He alone is free from sin, and He alone can set us free from sin (John 8:34-36). This revelation kills our pride and breaks all our self-righteousness. If David was tempted to pride due to his gifts, position and devotion to God, that was all broken by this revelation of his inner corruption. Now he knew his utter dependence on God for an inward work of grace, for he was powerless to fix himself. He knew he could not save himself from sin, nor overcome sin by himself - only God could save him. True repentance goes deeper than the outward action; it acknowledges that our sins spring from our heart, under the power of our sin-nature, to which we yielded the members of our body. Thus, in v5, rather than minimising his sin, David is bringing it to the light in a deeper way, in order to see it for what it is, hate it and turn from it, and ask God to deliver him from it, by pulling it up from the roots, rather than just cutting off some branches. This revelation of the inward origin of sin is necessary for a full repentance, and it is the basis for us to call upon God to transform us from within and set us free from sin by His Spirit (v10-12). True repentance includes a desire for a purified heart. It is not just to avoid punishment, but involves turning from sin at its root, and a turning to God, so He can remove the root of sin within us. When God gives repentance, we don’t just confess our sin (to cancel the consequences), but He enables us to hate (reject) the sin (root and fruit), giving us the desire to be free from it, so that we call on God to change our hearts, so we do not sin again. This turning to God in prayer to ask Him to fill us with His Spirit to help us overcome sin is the completion of a true repentance. v6, which also starts with ‘behold’ is a twin with v5, giving a contrasting revelation (antithetical parallelism): “Behold, You desire TRUTH (faithfulness) in the INWARD PARTS (the spirit and heart of man)” (v6a). Whereas we are inwardly sinful from conception (v5), God desires faithfulness and truth in our inward parts (v6). A major emphasis in Jesus’ teaching is that God requires righteousness in the heart, not just the outward actions, and that sin begins in the heart, in contrast to legalism which focuses on the outward. God desires obedient actions that flow from a true submitted heart. The contrast between God’s will for man’s inner being and his natural sinful state reveals the true depth of man’s sin-problem, and his desperate need for God to give him a heart transformation, for trying hard to control his actions and clean up his act will not change his heart. It highlights his need for salvation, and makes it clear that only God can change our hearts and save our spirits and souls. David realises he needs a deep work to be done in him, not just a superficial one. His sin of lust began in his heart, so he needed more than forgiveness, namely inner transformation by the Holy Spirit, to be truly free from sin....
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30 сен 2024
