King David: A Repentant Heart
As we continue our 1st Sunday of the month series, “Pray Like the King”, we’re going to look at King David again today. Back in March, Teresa Heath did an excellent job looking at David as an extravagant worshiper of God. The Reader’s Digest “Who’s Who in the Bible” points out that David’s name occurs more than 1000 times in the Bible, more than any other. It lists these titles for David – shepherd, warrior, musician, outlaw, faithful friend, empire builder, sinner, saint, failed father, ideal king! Although David is one of our great heroes of the faith, he is a hero who was tempted by the intoxication of power and desire, who paid dearly for his shortcomings. I want to put it to you today that God called David a man after God’s own heart not because David’s virtues outweighed his vices, as merely a mercenary mathematical measurement, but because David had a repentant heart.
Years ago, a wise guy friend of mine was filling out a mission application form, and when he got to “hobbies” he wrote “repentance.” I laughed at first but quickly realized that his attempt at humor actually points towards an important truth. God wants us to have repentant hearts, not a one-shot deal to get us going in the Christian life. Let’s take a look at what it means to be repentant. In the New Testament there are 3 Greek words used to denote repentance. “Meta-melo-mai” is used to indicate a change of mind, such as regret or even remorse, but not necessarily a change of heart. Judas had this kind of repentance. The second and third Greek words for repentance, “Meta-noe-o”, a verb, meaning to change one’s mind and purpose as a result of after-knowledge, and “Meta-noia”, a noun, indicating true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life. It includes a true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness; understanding and receiving God’s mercy in Christ; hating sin to the point of turning away from it and toward God; and persisting in seeking to live a holy life according to His ways.
David is arguably the central figure of the Old Testament as Israel’s greatest king and predecessor of the Messiah. Even as a young shepherd boy, David had a heart that focused on God. The faith David had in the Lord led him to attempt great feats of courage throughout his life, from protecting his flock from lions and bears to felling a giant to possibly his most courageous acts – intimate encounters with Israel’s mentally unstable first king. David grew as a leader through his time in the wilderness with a motley crew, and finally as king over Israel. He had his strengths, he had his weaknesses. One of the most crucial and troubling times in David’s life as king came as a result of a decision he made not to go to war at the head of his troops.
Instead of fulfilling his responsibility as a leader, David sent someone else to do his job and stayed at the palace. One day, out of what was probably sheer boredom, he was hanging out on the rooftop and caught a glimpse of one of his officer’s wives. David’s resultant adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband, Uriah, had long-term personal consequences for David, his family, and the nation.
The true David came to the forefront, however, when Nathan confronted him with his sin. Heartbroken, David confessed his sin and repented before the Lord. Psalm 51 helps us understand how even a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) must deal with sin in his own life. I’ve provided the entire Psalm for you on your handout, and will be referring to it frequently throughout this class.
(The Royal Requests)
David’s royal requests can be put into six simple, straightforward categories:
- Confession
David offered a statement of confession. v. 4 – “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.”
The Hebrew term shuwbah (shoo-baw’) is used to express the idea of genuine repentance. It stresses a radical change in one’s attitude toward sin and God. It implies a conscious, moral separation, and a personal decision to forsake sin and to enter into fellowship with God. It is translated as either “repent” or “return.” When the New Testament, originally written in Greek (a very rich language), is translated into other languages, there is great difficulty in expressing the true idea of a change of thought with reference to sin. The intention of the original Greek text was to convey that abandonment of sin is the primary idea. But in Latin (which English has inherited), penitence, or grief over sin, is presented as the main idea. The change brought about in true repentance is so deep and radical that it affects the whole spiritual nature and involves the entire personality. The intellect must function, the emotions must be aroused, and the will must act. But many in our day have embraced the idea that penitence (which is regret for sin) is the same thing as repentance. Knowledge of sin, even if we regret it, without turning from it is an awful thing which dishonors God and ruins us – it may only lead us to a dread of punishment and not to the hatred and abandonment of sin. One type of grief results in repentance and another just plunges us into remorse. Godly sorrow brings life; worldly sorrow brings death (2 Corinthians 7:10). We must have a consciousness of sin and its effect on us and others and our relationship with God before we can wholeheartedly turn away from unrighteousness.
Incidentally, penitence comes from the same Latin root word as penance (a voluntary punishment taken as an expression of penitence). We may not embrace the Catholic-sounding formal process of penance, but how many times have any of us tried punishing ourselves in some way, either internally or externally, in the hopes that in doing so by our own strength, we can kill the sin that keeps plaguing us. (e.g. overeating – punishment might be to eat nothing the day after a binge – it doesn’t fix the problem and likely only makes one feel even worse) Whereas penitence is limited only to feeling pain, grief, and distress, Scriptural repentance in the original language was intended to convey a change of thought and purpose (which will lead to a change in actions). Repentance, which begins with confession, is when we determine to make a change in our mind and our will that comes out of deep sorrow for sin. This change in thinking leads to a transformation of our lifestyle!
2. Clemency
In the second part of David’s royal request, he asked for clemency, for forgiveness. vv. 1a, 11, 14a – “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. . . . Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me . . . Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves.” David’s ability to ask for clemency is rooted in the very nature of God. It is because of the Lord’s “unfailing love” that those of us who follow Christ today can, as David did, boldly ask the Lord for forgiveness. It is in God’s nature to forgive. As soon as we confess with a repentant heart, we have His forgiveness!
Notice that David begins his prayer with a cry for mercy, not an appeal to justice. This is where we should begin our prayers, too – we do not deserve God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t owe it to us. We need to firmly place our hope in the compassion of our infinitely benevolent Father. Because God is consistent and faithful, since He has been merciful to great sinners, and we are sinners, because mercy is part of His character, we can appeal to His mercy. The Hebrew word for mercy carries with it the picture of someone bending or stooping in kindness to an inferior. Hosea 11:4 has become a very precious verse to me over the years – “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.” These cords and ties refer to leading-strings that parents used to help their little children along when they were learning to walk. God is eager to help us learn to walk and is ready to offer us clemency, to forgive us when we stumble – we need only to cry out to Him and ask for mercy. His mercies are new every morning!
3. Cancellation
David asked for forgiveness, but he went further, and asked that God would completely cancel, blot out, forget his sins.
vv. 1b-2a, 9 – “Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt . . . Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.” God has not only promised to forgive our sins, but to forget them! Hebrews 8:12 – “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” The Message – “They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.” We can’t fully understand why God extended forgiveness to forgetting, especially in light of the fact that He knows everything! I think He doesn’t want us worrying about the possibility of sins we thought were forgiven being held against us later on. God our heavenly Father delights in new beginnings, and in His amazing grace He gifts us with a totally clean slate!
Did you see the news story a couple of weeks ago where 3 men were charged with the murder of a 15-year-old boy in Massachusetts? The unusual thing about this case was that the murder occurred in 1969. Apparently a witness made some new statements recently, which combined with old evidence to bring about a break in the previously unsolved case. Can you imagine walking around for 40 years wondering if and when your past was going to catch up with you? That’s what life without Christ is like. In Christ, we have not only forgiveness but when we repent, God completely cancels, blots out, and forgets our sins.
In Isaiah 43:25, God says “I–yes, I alone–will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” To blot out means to completely erase, but also carries with it the idea of smoothing it out as if with oil, reaching out to us with a personal touch. The Lord is the most tender, intimate Savior who cares incredibly deeply for us. The thought of blotting something out with an eraser can be abrasive or harsh. God is tender in applying His oil to the places in us that are broken, not only to bring comfort and healing when we repent, but also so nothing and no one can grab onto where the sin was because it’s completely gone and smoothed over.
When God says He will not remember or think of something again, the Hebrew word used (“zakar”) speaks of marking it so as to be recognized. The Lord marks our sins “forgiven” – it’s not the kind of remembering where our transgressions are constantly uppermost in His mind; it’s the kind of remembering that says “this is taken care of – I don’t need to re-look at that ever again.”
Isaiah 44:22 says, “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”
When I was in high school, I would occasionally have to walk to school through a cloud that settled on the top of Mt. Lofty where we lived. I can’t remember the fog ever suddenly disappearing, but that’s what God promises to do with our sins. In this Scripture, the word “cloud” speaks of a “scud cloud,” which are the kinds of clouds that are commonly found on the leading edge of a storm front. Sometimes scud clouds will condense and organize into a wall cloud. Scud clouds are a sure indication that rain, hail, strong wind, and lightning are on their way. There’s no such thing as harmless sin. It’s a sure thing that one sin will lead to others if not dealt with, and they just pile up like a wall in our lives and resulting in huge storms that keeps us from intimacy with Him and right relationships with others. God says that when we repent, He will completely cancel and sweep our sins away.
4. Cleansing
David asked for one more thing – that God would cleanse him from the stain of his sins.
vv. 2b, 7 – “Purify me from my sin . . . Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” There are always consequences to our sins – when we commit sin as Christians, people we love get hurt, we damage ourselves, or someone might be turned off from Christianity or Christ. But when we come to God in repentance, He goes beyond forgiving and forgetting.
Getting out tough stains on clothes, dishes, driveways, and kids takes a whole lot of time and commitment, doesn’t it? God doesn’t give us a quick rinse and set us out to dry. He gives us the full soaking and scrubbing cycle so we’re completely clean, pure, and stain-free. He doesn’t make us as good as new, but He makes us actually and completely new. The movie doesn’t do it justice, but there’s a passage in C. S. Lewis’s “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” that is one of the most powerful portions in literature that speaks to our inability to transform ourselves. This is Eustace, who had become a dragon, speaking:
“The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain . . . But the lion told me I must undress first . . . I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off . . . I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one . . . So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one . . . Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? . . . So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good. Then the lion said — but I don’t know if it spoke —“You will have to let me undress you.” I was afraid of his claws, but I can tell you, I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it…. That very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’d ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off . . . Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off – just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt – and there it was lying on the grass . . . And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on – and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone . . . After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me . . . I don’t exactly remember that bit. But he did somehow or other: in new clothes”
Transformation begins only when we recognize that we cannot change our nature. There is no “extreme soul makeover.” Only if and only when we surrender to the One who rips deep the fibers of our dragon-ness, can we ever hope to be the people we were created to become. Christ, and Christ alone, can make us clean.
The closer we get to God, the more we realize how much even a seemingly small stain hurts His heart, affects us, affects others, damages our witness. We can pray that God will give us that longing and desire to have all of our sins blotted out and every stain cleansed, that God would eliminate every secret place in our hearts so that there’s no place for favorite lusts to lurk.
God washes us clean and gives us clean clothing to put on – clothing that reflects His glory and is a testimony to others. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
5. Cure
Keith Green made the next part of David’s prayer unforgettable as he requested a total cure that included renewal and a restoration of fellowship with Him –
v. 10 (ESV) – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” The Message phrases this beautifully, “God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” David learned the hard lesson that the only way to walk in purity was to depend upon God to give him what was needed in order to live in a way that pleased Him. It is God who gives us, in response to believing prayer, hearts that are pure and steadfast. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Purity is lived out daily in the decisions we make, but its source is from God. I want to encourage you to listen to some of the excellent teachings on the Atlanta Vineyard website from our “Sermon on the Mount” series for more encouragement in living a Christ-centered, God-honoring life. When we repent and confess our sin, God gives us clemency, cancels our sins, cleanses us, and completely cures our hearts and our relationship with Him, making fresh starts in us and shaping the chaos of our lives into Genesis weeks.
6. Catalyst
Finally, David asked for renewal and restoration for Zion. v. 18 – “Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.” One evidence that he received the conviction and correction of God is that he realized that his sin damaged not only himself and his loved ones, but also many others, the entire nation. A catalyst is someone who causes a change in others. David realized he’d been a negative catalyst for sin and suffering. David now expressed the desire for God’s blessing to return to his nation, the people of God.
Certainly a king’s decisions have a wider-ranging impact than those of an ordinary citizen. But I put it to you that there is no such thing as private consequences for sin, whether the sin is public or private. Romans 12:5 (NIV) says, “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Did you catch that? Each of us belongs to everyone else. Everyone else belongs to each of us. What I do affects you, whether I am aware of it or not. What you do affects me. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “For what kingdom is my life a catalyst?” God created us to be Kingdom catalysts, to cause chain reactions that will bring glory to His name. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul points out that God redeemed us in order that the blessing God gave Abraham might be extended to people everywhere. God created us and redeemed us not only to live in intimate fellowship with Him, but to be a blessing to others. Any sin that remains in us blocks our fellowship with Him, and blocks the blessing that others around us would otherwise have received. By the way we choose to live, we are either welcoming or hindering the work of the Holy Spirit in our personal life, our family, our church, our city, our nation, the nations of the world.
(The Key to a Repentant Heart)
Temptations will always arise to sin, and there will be times when we fail. The key to having a repentant heart is to “keep short accounts with God.” As soon as we recognize sin in our lives, we are to confess it and renounce it. We can determine before God to turn away from that sin forever. There may be consequences for our sins; however, we can always know that we are forgiven when we repent before God. God isn’t interested in our excuses (“I can’t help it”, “It’s no big deal”, “Everyone’s doing it”). God is interested in a change of heart and a turning away from sinful behavior. He is more than able to help us to change the way we live through the power of His Holy Spirit. Nancy Penton had a picture at the prayer retreat this weekend of a prison cell with the doors wide open yet with some people remaining inside. Jesus has already freed us from sin – our part is to repent and accept His forgiveness. Brother Yun, author of The Heavenly Man, said, “I feel so sorry that many Christians live in bondage even though Jesus has signed their release form with His own blood. When you’ve been set free, you should act like it!”
(Personal Habits)
There are two personal habits I’d like to share with you, in the hopes that they may help you too in the area of repentance:
- I’m a big fan of calendars . . . it helps me greatly to have regular reminders on things that I probably wouldn’t think of in a timely manner (if ever) like mammograms, emissions tests, dentists, and tax returns. This is one of the main reasons why I like to use a daily devotional that includes prompts or reminders for different kinds of prayer (bring examples – Al Vander Griend’s book, Phyllis Tickle, others) – it helps me a lot to be stirred in areas that I might not regularly think about, to examine my heart in the light of God’s presence and Word. These have been a tremendous help to me over the years in helping me to keep short accounts with God.
- The second habit is that when the Holy Spirit moves me significantly in any area, whether conviction, vision, or guidance, I try to intentionally tell at least two other people – the reason is that the enemy is often close behind trying to douse the flames of the Spirit or scare us off from doing what God’s told us to do . . . telling others gives me some built-in accountability – they’ll likely ask me about it again later, plus if it’s something the Spirit has convicted me about then I need to be obedient to James 5:16, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed”)
(Return from our indifference)
Jesus spoke of repentance when He addressed the believers in Laodicea – “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” (Revelation 3:19, NIV) “Be diligent and turn from your indifference.” (NLT) This verse immediately follows the well-known “I stand at the door and knock” verse. How Jesus loves us. He doesn’t barge in. He waits for us to welcome Him. He exhorts us to turn from our indifference. In preparing for this class, I’ve been praying for God to show me what He wants to specifically address today. I believe indifference has become a hindrance to some of us personally and as a church. I feel like I’ve been under a full-frontal attack in this area in recent times. This temptation towards indifference seems significant, because this is not something I ordinarily struggle with. As I’ve told many of you, when the Lord gives us a message, God wants us to live the message before we speak it. I stand before you today as a broken vessel in as much need of the Lord’s mercy, grace, and restoration as anyone. I try to pay attention to what the Lord is saying, and have noticed that many others have shared struggles and temptations in this same area.
Looking at Revelation 3:19, Jesus tells us to “turn” from our indifference. This could also be translated as “returning” from our indifference. In closing, I want to share with you part of a devotional from Rick Renner’s book, “Sparkling Gems” (a travel-sized devotional, as Mark Norris put it!) The March 6th devotional ties repentance and turning from indifference and slothfulness together. The King James Version renders Hebrews 6:12, “Be not slothful.” Rick points out that slothfulness is something quite different from laziness, as this verse is often translated. The Greek word for slothful, “nothros,” could be typified by a candle that no longer burns brightly as it once did; the candle still gives light, but not the way it once did. Hebrews 6:12 could be interpreted, “Quit being slothful – quit acting like someone who has lost his enthusiasm and excitement and has now sunk into a state of being slow, boring, monotonous, sluggish, dull, and uninterested.” If we are serious about serving and pleasing God, we must view a loss of passion, momentum, and desire as totally unacceptable. God has a high calling for each one of us, and for our church. Let’s decide that we’re not going to miss any of it. We can get back on track again and remove this hindrance from our lives by repenting and deciding to turn from slothfulness and neutrality.
As we look at David’s repentant heart, may we each take time to humble ourselves before God and ask the Father to examine our hearts. It may be indifference that He wants to deal with today, it may be something else. We need to pay attention to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When we repent of sin before the Lord, He washes us clean and fills our hearts with the peace of His loving forgiveness and the kind of joy that King David experienced when he was reconciled to God.
