We turn in the word of God to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. Psalm of David. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Oh my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress without a cause. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. According to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease, and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies, for they are many and they hate me with cruel hatred. Oh, keep my soul and deliver me Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. Our text this evening for this preparatory week is verse 11. For thy name's sake, O Lord, Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Beloved in our Lord Jesus, this psalm was written by David, the man after God's own heart. It's a psalm evidently that was written later in his life, probably at the time when his life is sought by his son Absalom. He's in great sorrow. His enemies are many. This here psalm that he writes later in life is the second of seven penitential psalms. And beloved, that is the mark of a child of God, isn't it? The mark of a child of God that his sorrows will bring him to the knowledge of his sin. And those sins and sorrow for sin drives him to his God. And so may this text this evening preached help us to prepare to come, the Lord willing, next week to the table of our Lord. My theme is great sin and abundant pardon. Great sin, but abundant pardon. I want you to notice the heartfelt confession that we find in verse 11. Second of all, notice in verse 11, the earnest plea. And in verse 11, the wonderful basis for this plea. Pardon, oh Lord, mine iniquity. For it is great. My iniquity is great. As the boys and girls have learned in catechism, there's many different words in the Psalms and in the Scripture for sin. One of the words for sin is to miss the mark, rather than aiming for the glory of God, Defiantly we aim in another direction at self. And for sin, for Satan, missing the mark. Another word for sin is the word debts. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors in the Lord's Prayer. And there the idea is the sin and the guilt makes us debtors before God. We increase our debts. and were unable to pay a single farthing for those great debts. And Jesus did it all. Well, the word that is used in our Texas evening is the word iniquity. And that word means bent. That word means twisted. That word means mutilated. In other words, iniquity stands over against that which is straight. It is a discordant sound over against a harmonious song. Instead of beautiful symmetry, there's brokenness. Think a moment at times when we read in the press or hear in the news of when graveyards that are usually very orderly and neatly with stones set there to remind of the person who was here before and has gone on ahead of us. And someone comes and defaces those monuments or tips them over. Vandalism. What iniquity. Or when walls are erected and then young gangs or punks come around and deface it with graffiti. Well that is the idea. Instead of a harmonious life before God and instead of a harmonious relationship with God, walking and talking with God. That's the way God created us. iniquity is when that harmonious relationship is twisted. It is violated by our sins. Instead of walking with God, we're walking contrary to God's laws, over against God, raising up our fists in rebellion. Yes. We see that kind of idea in the world that we live in. Instead of beautiful, harmonious sounds in song, what are the young people sometimes listening to? Sounds that clash, sounds of rebellion, riotous sounds, defiance. Well, that's the idea of iniquity. And it is part of our inherited sin. Adam and Eve, created to walk in the light of God's word, to have fellowship with God, broke that harmonious relationship by raising their fist in defiance, in rebellion and disobedience. And now, that is our lot in life. We are all guilty of iniquity. The beautiful gifts that God has given us for service to Him and service to one another, now twisted and used, those gifts used in sin and selfishly for oneself. Our sexuality given to us in order for one man and one woman to live in love with one another and express that love Now that gift used in lust instead. Instead of giving to the other person, desiring and demanding for oneself. And know this word iniquity does not only characterize the world that we live in, hostile to God, enemies of God and His kingdom. But that word iniquity is also true of you and of me. For we have here before us David, the man after God's own heart. That man who, even though he has a heart for God, sinfully violated another man's marriage, didn't he? He took his wife and then murdered the man to try to cover it up. What a disaster. What a twisted, what a mutilated life that was. So that he did not experience in his life harmony with God, but dissonance His bones dried up. He felt all alone. Iniquity. And now what does the psalmist in this confession say? Mine iniquity, it is great. Why does David say it's great? That's important for us to notice in this week as we examine ourselves to prepare to come to the Lord's table. How often, how often don't we try to minimize our sins? How often don't we look around and we find someone else in the world or so that is misbehaving and we like to pride ourselves, at least I'm not doing those things. Oh, that Pharisee lives in our hearts at times, doesn't he? God, I thank Thee that I'm not like this or that person. And then we like to think that our sins are only minor. My sins are not as serious as someone else's sins. Oh, that defiant wicked. Oh, that idol worshiper in many different countries, whether it be Buddha or some other god of their making. How we look at our sins, we say, well, my white sins, well, they hardly compare to breaking the seventh commandment. Yeah, I gossip, but what is that, really? I won't be excommunicated for that. Or we might think to ourselves, well, at least I don't steal. Or I don't murder. Mine iniquity, it is great. Notice, all sin. The breaking of any commandment is a great sin. And what makes it a great sin, first of all, is because who we sin against, it is against God. That's whom we are sinning against, disobeying. We are defacing His glory and His commandments. David recognized that in Psalm 51. When he had committed adultery and when he had murdered that woman's husband, he cries out in Psalm 51 verse 4, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. David violated God's covenant with him. For as we read in the baptism form, don't we, in the covenant there are two parts. there is God on his part he saves he delivers his unworthy people and our part then is to flee from our sins to cling to Christ Jesus to live a godly life mine iniquity it is great it is great first of all because who we are sinning against yes we're sinning against our neighbors too but it is ultimately we're sinning against the righteous and the holy God. And it is a great sin, second of all, because of who we are. We are God's people. We are those who were delivered from our sins. We were chosen to be His special people, to be the light in the midst of the darkness, to be a people in whom God's glories and Christ's glory is reflected. It's a great sin because of who we are. We're sinners. We're redeemed sinners, yes, but we're sinners. We are those not doing these things in ignorance, but we are doing these things who know better. But so often we choose to do them because they're pleasing to our flesh, even though we know that it violates God's commandments. This is such a great sin because of who God is. This is such a great sin because of who we are, His people. It is such a great sin, thirdly, because of what He has done for us. He has done so much, hasn't He? He deserves our thanks and our praise. he deserves lives lived in gratitude and obedience and we deface that we go contrary to that God has done so much for us when God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David with his sin we read in 2nd Samuel chapter 12 God says to Nathan, David, I appointed thee king over Israel. I delivered thee out of the hands of Saul. I gave thee thy master's house, thy master's wives. I gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah. And then God says, and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such thing. Wherefore, therefore hast thou despised the commandments of the Lord to do evil in his sight. David's sin was so great because of who God is, because of who David is, God's instrument, and because of what God has done for him. And now we can apply that to ourselves. Do that this coming week. Who God is. Our theology is wonderful. A sovereign, independent, everlasting, almighty, all-wise, and the list of the attributes go on. Who we are, and our theology is so right on. God's chosen people, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. What God has done for us. May we say. My iniquity is very great. Fourthly, our sin is very great because of the manner of evil that we do and the number of evil that we do daily. My sin is great Maybe in order to understand the comparison, let's make another comparison. At times I'll come down with a mild headache. It can be excruciating. It's a terrible thing. You want to be delivered of it. But compare a headache over to an examination where the doctor says you have terminal cancer. If one compares those two, one would say, well, what is a minor headache once in a while compared to terminal cancer? As we examine, we're so likely to say, well, my sins, they're not that bad, or we brush them off. Our sin, our iniquity is great. Our violation of God's covenant fellowship is great. Oh, the number of our sins. Not just a simple little phrase in our prayers, and forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake, amen, but my sins, oh, the amount of them and the greatness of them in character, Thoughts. Words. Deeds. Day after day after day. The pride of my heart. The lust of my flesh. The immoral thoughts that sometimes fly through my mind. My tongue that speaks evil. A fire, says James. A fire bringing division in the church. Not only sins that we've committed, but things that we have left undone that we should have done. How little concern we've had for others in the church and we've only thought about ourselves or we're so busy in our own things. Being selfish. Lack of concern for the church and lack of concern for the spread of the gospel. Yes, let us say this evening, Iniquities, it is great. But one more thing in the confession of David. Notice as David writes this psalm, and he writes it for the congregation to be able to sing. He doesn't use the word our. He doesn't say our iniquities, they are great. But he says mine. My iniquity, it is great. Now let's not misunderstand. There are those in the church that would say that we shouldn't be concerned with one another's sins. We've got enough of our own. They become very angry if a member of the church, or they become very angry if an elder comes to visit them in order to reprove them for their sins. And they say, who are you to talk about my sin? Be concerned about your own sins. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself. No, we are concerned about one another, aren't we? Matthew 16, Matthew 18, we will go to the brother that is sinning, not in pride, not as one without sin. We go as a fellow sinner, redeemed sinner. And if they say, what concern is it of yours? Then we'll say, well, I'm concerned about your relationship with Christ Jesus. That's what I'm concerned about. Yes, we are concerned about one another, and we make it our business to be concerned about one another. But David is first of all concerned about, and he confesses his sin, and that's necessary. That's necessary if we're ever going to go to help another brother or sister in the church. And so David, first of all, confesses his own sin here. And you'll notice in verse seven, Sins of the day, sins that he sees in his old age, goes way back to his youth, doesn't it? He says, remember not the sins of my youth. Present sins often make us go back and we look at. Sins that we committed perhaps when we were younger and we didn't know better, or we weren't taking our faith as seriously as we should have. And our present sins make us look back in horror and in humility and in sincerity, and we say, yes, those things, Lord, that I did when I was young and foolish, yes, forgive those, as well as the sins that I'm guilty of day by day, even in my old age. mine iniquities. And he addresses this to the one who is offended. Forgive me. He takes personal responsibility. He says, mine iniquity, it is great. To whom will I turn? And he turns to the one whom he has betrayed, the one he has offended, the one whose trust and friendship he has violated. Heartfelt confession, mine iniquities, it is great. But beloved, that heartfelt confession is brought in order to come with an earnest plea. This is not a hopeless prayer. He doesn't throw up his hands and say, what am I gonna do? No, he goes to the God of his salvation. What is our attitude? Our sin is so great. Is there no hope for pardon? Turn to the Lord. For we have betrayed Him. Many times haven't we? We have disgraced. We have brought riot where there should have been beautiful harmony. Jesus, when Judas came to him in the garden and placed that kiss on his cheek, Jesus asked, Judas, betrayest thou me with a kiss? Or think of Peter, Simon Peter. Jesus has warned him beforehand, this night, before the cock crows, Three times, Peter denies the Lord that he even knows Him. He does it with curses and swearing. We turn to the Lord. We have no hope but in Him. Seek the Lord, child of God. Make confession to Him and plead to Him for pardon. for he is the one that you and I have sinned against, sinned grievously. We do it with a contrite heart. We come humbled by our sins, no pride, not looking over at others and thinking we're better, but with the Apostle Paul saying, I'm the worst of sinners, oh Lord. pardon my iniquity. Why was David able to do that? He knew better. There was a man after God's heart who did these vicious, these violent sins. How could he dare pray for pardon? And the answer is, he had his eye upon the sacrifices that were made when he would come up to the tabernacle. The burnt offerings that were offered and the sin offerings that were brought before the Lord. There in the blood of that shed animal, he had a picture of how the Lord, his God, whom he offended, washes away all of our sin. God forgives. Dismiss, O Lord. That's the idea of pardon. Dismiss my sins. Not in the way that is forgotten, for God never forgets, can He as the omniscient God. He always knows all things. No, in the way of He will not hold those sins against us. It is as if it had never occurred because those sins were dismissed, those sins were sent upon another who would die in our place, whose blood would be shed for us. So here is the request, the earnest plea. Pardon thou, O Lord, mine iniquity. Pardon. Notice it is not merely don't punish me for my sin. It's much more. What he is saying in pardon my sins is really this. Do not disinherit me. Do not cut me off from thy friendship and fellowship. As we sang in Psalter number 141, cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord. Do you remember Moses after the great sin of Israel at Mount Sinai? Yes, God would forgive their sins. But God comes to Moses and says, I'm not going to go with you. I'll send an angel to go with you up to the land I'm sending you to, but I'm not going to go with you. And then Moses says, if thou goest not with me, I don't want to go. If thou art not present with me. That was the most important thing to Moses. To have that fellowship with God. Not to be cast off away from God. And so that's really the plea of David, and that is our plea in this coming week. Do not dismiss me. Do not cast me away from my presence, O Lord. Don't take me away from my standing with Thee. Don't exile me. but keep me in thy presence cause me to continue to experience that sweet communion that we're going to experience at the table with the Lord Jesus as the host and we are the guest sitting and fellowshipping together pardon my iniquity in literature In one of the grade schools, we had to read The Man Without a Country. Because of treason, because he said he didn't care for his country at all and what it represented, he was exiled. He could never return again to his homeland. That is precisely what the psalmist doesn't want. Oh Lord, may not my sins stand before me and between me and thee, oh Lord, so that I'm cast away. Pardon mine iniquity. Presidents have the power to pardon people. Our past president, President Obama, in his last days of office, pardoned a person who was guilty of treason, who sold all kinds of our national securities, secrets, to others. I think the court said that they should be in jail for 40 plus years. And our president said, nah, they've suffered enough. I'm going to let them go. for the time that they have already spent, I think about seven years. What was the basis of that? And there really was no basis for that kind of pardon. It made both Republicans and Democrats shudder and angry. That person didn't deserve a pardon. What causes God to pardon our iniquities? And it is absolutely nothing in ourself, is it? God pardons on the basis of a very important fact. That he had given us to Jesus Christ to be redeemed. Jesus Christ stood in our place. Jesus Christ took the punishment for our sins. Jesus Christ was exiled, forsaken by God instead of us. And because Jesus Christ took that punishment, God pardons, is able to pardon our iniquity. Oh, this is a very heartfelt and earnest plea. I want you to notice with me, if you still have your Bibles open, the strong language that is used. Over and over you have that word LORD in capital letters, don't you? In other words, you have the name Jehovah there. He's calling upon the covenant God, the God who had made relationship or friendship with us in Christ Jesus. Jehovah. The I am that I am. The eternal covenant God of our salvation. The one who never changes in his attitude, never changes in his promise, never changes in his relationship with his people that he has chosen. And therefore, because it's to Jehovah, he dares to pray. But I want you to notice, while he's calling upon Jehovah, the God of our salvation, over and over, listen to him. He says, oh Lord, oh my God. Verse one, unto thee, oh Lord, oh my God. Oh my God, verse two, I trust in thee. Verse four, show me thy ways, oh Lord. Verse six, remember, oh Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness. Verse seven, remember thou me for thy goodness sake, oh Lord. And again in our text. Pardon. Oh Lord, mine iniquity, for it is very great." You see when he is using those words, oh my God, oh Lord, how earnest he is, how heartfelt this is. He is waiting on the Lord. Do you know what that's meaning? You're looking, you're trusting, you're clinging only on God's goodness. Nothing in me but waiting on the Lord, looking to Him, pouring out our prayers. praying for forgiveness of our sins, praying for deliverance from that sin, praying for continued fellowship with God. That, beloved, is a very daring request, isn't it? There's no doubt in his mind. He comes to the one whom he has offended. The one of whom we broke, we violated that relationship, the covenant. The one we disobeyed and rebelled against many different times. That's daring. Boys and girls, you experience that at times when you've done something pretty rotten. Your parents have warned you over and over and right behind their back you did it and now you've got to come to dad and mom and explain what you did. Or how difficult it must be for some of those people who violate the graveyards, break the tombs for no good reason except perhaps they were drinking or because they didn't know what else to do with themselves and now they gotta come to the authorities. They have to come before those whose graves were desecrated and say, I'm sorry. The psalmist, you and I, come before the God who was pleased to choose us, who gave us to Jesus Christ, the One who has given us His Word and Spirit to guide us. And what did we do with that? We squandered it. We defaced that relationship. We made such discordant sounds with our life. And now we act, we ask Lord, act as if it never took place. Forgive, deliver. May we continue to have close fellowship with thee. How do we dare to make that daring request? And that too is in the text for our comfort He says, for thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquities. For thy name's sake. He doesn't say, for my sake. He doesn't say, Lord, I deserve it. You know that most of the time I have a heart for you. He doesn't say, I'm a rather good king, Lord. He doesn't even say, Lord, do it for my benefit. Yes, Lord, I did some bad things, but please remember all the good things I've done. No. Rather, for thy name's sake, O Lord. What does that mean? Here is the basis why God will pardon your and my iniquity for his name's sake. God's name is a revelation of who He is. His name is a revelation of His glorious attributes. It's a revelation of not only who God is, but what God is to His people. For Thy name's sake, Jehovah, I am that I am. The faithful God. The covenant-keeping God. the one whose promises will not fail I will redeem thee from destruction the one who said I am thy God and thou art my people oh Lord not for my sake but Lord pardon mine iniquity for thy name's sake That namesake means not only is He our God, He is the Covenant God. That is the name that is used continually in this Psalm, Jehovah. The one who has established a relationship, a friendship with us in Jesus Christ. He made us His people. And what is this Covenant God like? Well, verse 10 tells us. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. He is the merciful God. How many of the Psalms celebrate that mercy of God? And what is mercy? It is where God takes pity upon those who cannot help themselves. A compassion not that only feels sorry for them, but a compassion that is moved to help them. because God is merciful therefore we dare to pray pardon mine iniquity for it is very great because God is truth he doesn't lie in his word he says he will forgive us our sins in his word it tells us he has and sending And He has sent His only Son to suffer and die for us in our place. God is true. His Word is true. He doesn't lie. Therefore, we dare. Therefore, we earnestly. Therefore, we sincerely make this plea on the basis of Jehovah God, the Savior, the Redeemer. And just as David could make this prayer, remembering the tabernacle, remember he was exiled, he was cast away because his son was seeking his life. He remembers the days in the tabernacle. He remembers the sacrifices that were made, the blood that was shed, blood that pictured the greater one who would suffer and die for our sins. As David looked at the sacrifices and was able to bring this prayer, so are you and I this week we're going to come to the table and we're going to remember the body that was broken the blood that was poured out we're going to remember the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ for us and therefore there's no doubt in our prayer Pardon, O Lord, mine iniquity, for it is great, for Thy name's sake, Jesus our Savior. Great sin, Yours and mine, let me speak for myself, great sin is mine, But better, more abundant is His pardoning grace, ours in Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's look at that part of the form for the communion that deals with that examination. Page 91, in the back of our Psalters. that we may, the Lord willing, next week celebrate the Supper of the Lord to our comfort. It is above all things necessary first, rightly, to examine ourselves. The true examination of ourselves consists of these three parts. First, that everyone consider by himself his sins and the curse due to him for them to the end that he may abhor and humble himself before God, considering that the wrath of God against sin is so great that, rather than it should go unpunished, he hath punished the same in his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, with the bitter and the shameful death of the cross. Secondly, that everyone examine his heart Whether he believeth this faithful promise of God that all his sins are forgiven him only for the sake of the passion and the death of Jesus Christ, and that the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed and freely given him as his own, yea, so perfectly, as if he had satisfied in his own person for all his sins and fulfilled all righteousness. Thirdly, that everyone examine his conscience. whether he purposeth henceforth to show true thankfulness to God in his whole life and to walk uprightly before him, as also whether he hath laid aside unfaintedly all enmity, hatred, and envy, and doth firmly resolve henceforward to walk in true love and peace with his neighbor. All those then that are thus disposed, God will certainly receive in mercy and count them worthy partakers of the table of his Son, Jesus Christ. On the contrary, those who do not feel this testimony in their hearts eat and drink judgment to themselves. Therefore, we also, according to the command of Christ and the Apostle Paul, admonish all those who are defiled with the following sins to keep themselves from the table of the Lord and declare to them that they have no part in the kingdom of Christ, such as all idolaters, all those who invoke deceased saints, angels, or other creatures, all those who worship images, all enchanters, diviners, charmers, and those who confide in such enchantments, all despisers of God and of his word and of the holy sacraments, all blasphemers, all those who are given to raise discord, sex, and mutiny in church or state, all perjured persons, all those who are disobedient to their parents and superiors, all murderers, contentious persons, and those who live in hatred and envy against their neighbors, all adulterers, whoremongers, drunkards, thieves, usurers, robbers, gamesters, covetous, and all who lead offensive lives, all these, while they continue in such sins, shall abstain from this meat, which Christ has ordained only for the faithful. lest their judgment and condemnation be made the heavier. But this is not designed, dearly beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, to deject the contrite hearts of the faithful, as if none might come to the supper of the Lord but those who are without sin. For we do not come to this supper to testify thereby that we're perfect and righteous in ourselves, but on the contrary, Considering that we seek our life out of ourselves in Jesus Christ, we acknowledge that we lie in the midst of death, and therefore, notwithstanding we feel many infirmities and miseries in ourselves, as namely, that we have not perfect faith, that we do not give ourselves to serve God with that zeal as we are bound, but have daily to strive with the weakness of our faith and the evil lust of our flesh. Yet, since we are, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, sorry for these weaknesses and earnestly desirous to fight against our unbelief and to live according to all the commandments of God, therefore we rest assured that no sin or infirmity which still remaineth against our will in us can hinder us from being received of God in mercy. and of being made worthy partakers of this heavenly meat and drink. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we plead that in this week we will examine and we will see how great our iniquity is. hate it in sorrow confessing it looking away from ourselves pleading thee to pardon us to keep us not in exile but near thy heart all for the sake of Jesus our Savior hear us in his name amen Psalter number 110. One of the songs that the children picked in catechism this past week. Thy tender mercies, O Lord, withhold not, I implore. And then stanza three, let all who seek thee now rejoice, yea, glad in thee abide. We'll sing all three stanzas. me I Oh, praise to Ivy League. It goes to sing to earth, my soul, its name and good to find. And may the sounds be both to shame, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, to Bethlehem. Jehovah, bless thee and keep thee. Jehovah, make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. Jehovah, lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.