David – A Prayer of Repentance October 11 th, 2015 Pastor David Kobelin

Living It – How have you been living; Praying for people

II.Introduction 2 Samuel 11:2-5 English Standard Version (ESV) 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

III.David’s Prayer Psalm 51 English Standard Version (ESV) To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 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. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 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. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

IV.David Turns to God

V.He Prays for Cleansing 1 John 1:7-9 English Standard Version (ESV) 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

VI.David Confesses the Seriousness of His Sin

VII.David Pleads for Renewal I.He prays that God would confirm to him his relationship once again. II.He prays for a heart and a spirit that are new and right and strong. III.He prays for the joy of God’s salvation and for a spirit that is joyfully willing to follow God’s word and be generous with people rather than using them. IV.He asked God to let praise come forth as he walks in forgiveness and repentance. V.He asks that the outcome of all this will be a life of effective discipleship. VI.David has discovered that God has crushed him in love, and that a broken and contrite heart is the mark of all God’s children. 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.)

FOLLOWING THE PATTERN OF PSALM 51, WHAT MIGHT YOUR PRAYER OF REPENTANCE BE?