Our scripture reading this evening from the book of the Psalms, looking at Psalm number 51. Psalm 51. This is the word of God. To the chief musician, the Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone into Bethsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, the only, have I said, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, and are broken in a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem, then Shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering, and they shall offer bullets upon thine altar. May God add his blessing to the reading of his own inspired word for his name's sake. Our meditation this evening from Psalm 51, But we do so in connection with Lord's Day 51, question 126, which is the fifth petition. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. That is, be pleased for the sake of Christ's blood, not to impute to us poor sinners our transgressions, nor that depravity which always cleaves to us. even as we feel this evidence of thy grace in us, that it is our firm resolution from the heart to forgive our neighbor. We confess that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. It is because of Christ and his sacrifice that forgiveness is possible. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. And who can forgive sins but God? Amazingly, at conversion in our justification, God graciously forgives. He pardons all our iniquity, past and present and future. And on the basis of that pardon, he accepts us as righteous in his sight for the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us and received by faith alone. I've been asked many times over the years that if God has forgiven our sins, when we're justified, why do we have to confess our sins on a regular basis? I compare it somewhat to marriage. I've been married for some 51 years. And I suppose if I looked hard enough, we could find the papers to prove it. There is a legal relationship. There's a legal relationship. But I have to confess to my shame that there have been a few odd times in those 51 years when we have not seen things completely eye to eye. We've had some disagreements. And most likely because of my tone as I'm speaking, there's been some hurt feelings. And with those hurt feelings comes a relationship that is marred. Still married and could find the papers to prove it. But yet that action and that foolishness on my part caused some friction in a marred relationship. And so I say, I'm sorry. I apologize. And everything once again is good. And so it is in our justification There is a legal pardon that is absolutely irreversible. But our daily sins mar the relationship that we have with God. And it requires that we confess our sins because we need that forgiveness that we might once again come into that experience of communion and fellowship with God. And it is this particular need that Christ addresses when he instructs us to pray in the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And you understand that the word debt there is not simply referring to a monetary obligation, but the obligation that we have before God to keep his law, to obey Him in every way, and we know that in our daily experience, that's not the case. And there's always the potential when we have these unconfessed sins to lose out, to fail to enjoy and to experience the fellowship and the communion that we ought to be able to have with God. There is forgiveness. We confess that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. And we need that daily forgiveness as much, if not indeed more, than we even need our daily bread. And echoing the patterns of forgiveness in the Bible, Our catechism underscores the ground for forgiveness. Did you see that? For the sake of Christ's blood. It says something to us about the need of forgiveness. Our transgressions as well as those sins that are embedded within us by nature. And it speaks to the result. Our conformity. to God himself. The Catechism teaches us, as the Bible does, even more forthrightly, that it is not a vain thing for us to pray for forgiveness because God, as Nehemiah says, is ready to pardon. More literally, he's the God of forgivenesses. Micah said that there is no God like unto our God that forgives iniquity. John assures us that if we confess our sins, that he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Catechism directs us to appeal to God and his mercy. Oh, our sins, our sins, they are many, but his mercy is more. In Psalm 51 that we have read together, is an inspired casebook detailing the patterns for forgiveness. What does praying for forgiveness look like? And Psalm 51, I say, illustrates for us what a prayer for forgiveness is to look like. This prayer is in response to David's guilty conscience. after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, after he had murdered Uriah, and all of the deception that accompanied those acts of transgression. For almost a year, David refused to acknowledge his sins. But finally, finally the accusing voice of his conscience drove him to God. Go back and read Psalm 32 and you can see the agony and the inner turmoil that David was experiencing prior to this confession. So we're thankful for the grace of a guilty conscience, but let us not postpone our approach to the throne of grace. This psalm occurs in three sections and three different stanzas, but my focus this evening will be upon the first of these stanzas, verses one to nine, where we have particularly the plea for forgiveness. David goes on in the Psalm to plea for renewal, and then a promise of praise. But our attention will be given to the first nine verses, where we have the plea for forgiveness. Three thoughts, the appeal to God, the confession of sin, and the assurance of pardon. First of all, then the appeal to God. Since God is the only one that can forgive sins, who can forgive sins but God? Jesus posed that question and David knew that and so immediately after he comes to this place where Nathan, remember Nathan comes and tells the story to David, motivating David finally to make his confession in his prayer for forgiveness before the Lord. But there was only one place he could find that forgiveness, and that was God, and so he comes directly to God. If forgiveness comes, it's because of the character and the heart of God. Psalm 85 says, for thou, Lord, art good, ready to forgive, plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon thee. He makes his appeal directly to God, and there are three things, there are three appeals particularly. And I want us to see something of the argument that David uses here as he begins his prayer, his plea for forgiveness. He appeals, first of all, to God's grace. Look how the Psalm begins. Have mercy upon me, O God. Perhaps more to the point, David says, be gracious unto me, O God. The word mercy can have multiple meanings. This particular word is sometimes translated mercy as we see it here. But there are other words that are translated mercy as well. And mercy tends to make us think of that display of pity when there's a bad circumstance. Be merciful because of my circumstance. But this is the word for grace. Be gracious unto me. that grace of God that is an objective display of God's favor, that he gives completely altruistically irrespective of man's merits or demerits. Simply, we define grace very often as that unmerited favor. That goodness of God that man has no claim to, that display of favor that God is not obligated to give to any man. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. The reason for grace is not ever to be found in the one who needs the grace, but the reason for grace is always found within the giver of that grace. He is a God of grace. So David offers no excuse. David doesn't offer any extenuating circumstances that led to his transgression. He makes no self-defense. He acknowledges that He doesn't deserve. He doesn't deserve the least of God's favor. He understands that God is under no obligation to be gracious. Grace is a sovereign manifestation, a sovereign demonstration of the heart of God. And the reason for grace, Isaiah, is always within God. Oh, David needed grace for sure. Every sinner does. But it's not just the need for grace. It is the heart of God. It is the sovereign disposition of God to give grace to whom he will give grace. And so David appeals to the Lord, be gracious unto me. He appeals to that which he knows he doesn't deserve. He appeals to that which in one sense he has no claim for and no claim to, but yet with boldness, not presumption, but with boldness. He appeals to that which he has no claim to be gracious. Very first appeal. Very first appeal is to the character of God. The very first appeal is to the person of God. I say no excuses, no excuses, no self-defense. He comes to the Lord as we pray. As we pray, as Christ is teaching us to pray in that commandment, forgive us. Who's he referring to? He's referring to God. It's God that forgives. He appeals to grace. But he then appeals to the covenant. He appeals to the covenant. According to thy loving kindness. According to thy loving kindness. What a concept. This word loving kindness is translated sometimes mercy in our King James Version. Sometimes it's translated goodness. Different translations. But this is a covenant word. This is a covenant word. One of the most beautiful concepts that we have in all of the Old Testament scriptures. God's loving kindness. God's, I like to translate this word as covenant loyalty. This is God's loyalty to his covenant. It's a word that is based upon relationships. It's a word that is based upon relationships. And this is a word that in the scripture, when God is involved, is only in behalf and demonstrated towards his people. It is an act of God, an attitude of God, that is going to be according to the needs of his people. But I say it's a relationship, it's based upon a relationship. God never demonstrates this word to the wicked. The wicked are never the recipients of this loving kindness. Oh, they need grace. They need mercy. But God only demonstrates this covenant loyalty with those with whom he has a relationship. And having that relationship, yeah, it's having that relationship. that determines then what God is going to do and obligates God. This is the wonder of it. This is the wonder of it. By this covenant relationship, God obligates himself to act on behalf of his people. The relationship makes all the difference. If I'm driving down the road on a rainy day, say, and I see a car pulled off on the shoulder, and there's someone there that has a flat tire, and they're seeking to change that tire, and it's raining, and I can drive by. I can drive by saying, I really feel sorry for that individual. I feel sorry for him, but maybe it's just me. I can drive by in a clear conscience. But if I drove by on that rainy day and there's a car pulled off on the shoulder of the road and the one seeking to change the tire was my wife, it's a whole different story. I no longer can drive by. I no longer can keep on going. Now I must stop. Now what's the difference? The difference is the relationship. There's a relationship that I have and so it obligates me then to do a certain thing. And so it is. So it is with God. Because of the covenant. Because of this relationship. And David knew the covenantal relationship that he had with God. He knew it. And he relies upon it here and he appeals to that covenant relationship. He knew that the loyalty of God endured forever. You think of Psalm 136. And the refrain, every verse, every verse of Psalm 136, the mercy of God, this word, the loving kindness of God, this word, the covenant loyalty of God endures forever, verse after verse after verse. I think it was Spurgeon that said of that Psalm that occurs every verse, but not once too often, not once too often, the loyalty of God, the covenant loyalty of God to his people, something that we don't take for granted, something that we ought to rejoice in. And it becomes part of the argument here of prayer. I say by covenant, God obligates himself to keep his promise to his people, to act on their behalf. Sometimes that action is going to be a discipline. It may be a hard providence, but God will do for his people what must be done. Now, do you see the wonder of this? Do you see the wonder of this? He appeals, first of all, to grace. Be gracious. No claim to grace. God is gracious to whom he will be gracious, but he appeals to that which he doesn't deserve on the basis of the covenant. And on the basis of that covenant relationship, he asked God and he appeals to God to do that which otherwise God would not be obligated to do. But God, this is the mystery of this to me. This boggles my mind that God obligates himself. He obligates himself by that covenant relationship to act on behalf of his people. So he appeals to the loyalty of God for grace. Is that not the logic? Is that not the logic of what we have in 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins? What does it say? If we confess our sins, he is, what's the first word? He is faithful. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He is faithful. That Greek word faithful takes us right to this covenant loyalty. It's what it looks like. He appeals to the covenant. And then he appeals to the tender mercies. According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Hebrew logic is not quite the same as Western logic. We tend to think linearly. Hebrew thought was not always linear. It had a construction that looked like an X, if you will, and you think of where the X intersects. Beginning and the end would be parallel, but the intersection is where the main point of consideration is. And in this verse, we see something of that, according to loving kindness, according to the tender mercies. That's at the intersection. You have an imperative followed by an imperative, but the intersection is loyalty and tender mercy. And so he appeals here, not only to the grace of God and the loving kindness of God, but he appeals to the tender mercies. This is an emotional word. This is a subjective concern for those that are in a pitiable circumstance. Oh, we know that God does not have emotions like people have emotions. Confession says that God is without body parts and human passions. In the sense that our emotions are always dictated by something outside of ourselves. They fluctuate, therefore. But God is the same. God is not a reactionary. God does not respond, if you will, in the sense of being influenced. He's completely independent. But yet so often we have these emotional terms that are applied to God to help us understand something. of who God is. Remember our confession? That God is incomprehensible. God is incomprehensible. How can we begin to understand who the Lord is and what God is like? And so God in his grace to us will reveal himself in ways that we can understand. And so he uses sometimes body parts. We talk about the hand of God, we talk about the eyes of God. The arm of God, God doesn't have eyes or hands or arms as we, but it says something to us, helps us to understand something of who God is. And so it is with these emotional terms. This is primarily a mother's word. This word is based on the word for womb. It's the mother's word and it speaks of the, Pity that a mother is going to, what mother, yeah? What mother is going to see her child in some kind of a situation that is needful, that the child is hurt or sick or what, and the mother is going to do everything that she can. Her heart is aroused. Her heart is aroused and she's going to do whatever she can do to alleviate the need of that child. It's a mother's word. Tender mercies, pity, pity. Psalm 103 tells us that fathers are capable of that too, doesn't it? As a father pities his children, same word, same word. But the very fact, the very fact that David here appeals to the tender mercies of God says something about how David sees his sin. He sees that he now is in a pitiable circumstance. He sees that he's in a desperate situation and he needs help. He needs help, and he's praying now in this plea for forgiveness to help. See my need. See my need, O Lord. See my wretched condition. Is that how we see sin? When you've done those things that have marred the relationship between you and God, how do you see your sin? Do you see the desperate situation? Is it a desperate condition of the heart? O Lord, see my need. See my need, he recognizes here his desperate place and so he appeals now to the mercy of God to help him. Makes no offer of penance, doesn't make any odd vow to God, forgive me and I'll do this. No bargaining with God, but he throws himself completely on the mercy of God for if forgiveness comes, if forgiveness comes it must, indeed come from the Lord. Father, Father, see my need. And so Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father who art in heaven, forgive us, forgive us. That's the appeal to God. The second thought is the confession of sin. Our catechism draws attention both to the actual transgressions and that depravity which always cleaves to us. And as we look at David's confession, it's exactly what he does as well. Attention to his transgressions, attention to his own nature. It starts off with a series of imperatives, commands, petitions, if you will, that highlight for us the seriousness of sin. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. Giving different images, each of these petitions, Describe for us, first of all, how David viewed his own sin and what had to be done to forgive those sins. What was forgiveness going to look like? Different images blot out my transgressions, to obliterate. This word is sometimes used for the clouds that would obscure the sun. But very often it's used for written records to erase, to erase the written document. I think this is the imagery that we have here. Erase my transgressions. One of the most forceful words for sin in the Old Testament. The transgressions, that behavior that is outside the borders of God's law, the behavior that is outside the borders of God's requirements for us. It's that which speaks of a willful defiance. And here it's plural, the many, and certainly as he has in mind, you know, the adultery of Bathsheba, he has in mind the murder of Uriah, he has in mind all the deception, all of these crimes. All of these crimes against the law of God were just building up and now David, as he appeals to God, he sees himself as a criminal. He sees himself as a criminal that has violated the law of God and now he is pleading for God to completely exonerate that criminal record, exonerate me, wipe it clean. Wipe it clean. Praise. That is criminal record. might be exonerated, that he might be exonerated from that criminal record. And certainly, that's what sin is. Every sin becomes a violation. It's outside the borders. It's outside the borders of God's law. We step across that. We step across that we have violated, we've committed a crime, a spiritual crime against the holy God, blotted out. But then he says, wash me. Wash me from my iniquity. The word wash here literally is to beat, to beat, to tread. And it's often used for the washing of garments as those garments in that ancient time would be beat against a rock, put in the water and beat against the rock. That's the picture here, a beating, a treading. Jeremiah says, although you wash yourself, that word, Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before me." So what's the imagery here? The image is a stain, a stain that is upon a garment and it doesn't take much of a stain, does it? To ruin the whole appearance of the garment. I'm old school in a lot of ways. And one of my old ways is I like fountain pens. I carry a fountain pen. And I learned a lesson some years ago, many years ago now, but I've never forgotten it. Had a fountain pen in my pocket, got the ticket out of my pocket, and I was on an airplane. And as I was flying on the airplane, I didn't notice anything. I got to the destination. I was going someplace to preach, and I had my dress shirt on. And when I looked at my coat, the bottom of the pocket The bottom of the pocket was just stained with ink. All the ink, I don't know how it happened. In proportion, in proportion to the amount of clean shirt I had, that stain was very, very small. But it spoiled the appearance of the whole thing. It doesn't take much of a stain. It doesn't take much of a stain to ruin the appearance of the garment. And David now looks at his sin, and he says, Lord, wash me. Wash me, beat it, and tread me. Wash me thoroughly for my iniquities. There was a stain upon a garment, and David saw it to be that which made him useless, the deepness of the stain. And the stain here was his iniquity. Key words for sin in the Old Testament. But this word is perhaps a bit different than the others. It can refer to sin, the actual commission of the sin, and it pictures sin as a perverseness, a twisted and perverted action. It can also be used for the punishment of the sin. Gain said that my sin is The punishment is greater than I can bear. This is the word, my iniquity, greater than I can bear, punishment. But it's also the principal word for guilt. It is the key word for guilt of sin in the Old Testament. And I think that's the idea that we see here. The authorized version typically translates it as iniquity. But every time you see that word iniquity, you ask yourself, is this talking about the sin itself, the punishment, or the guilt? Here, I think it's the guilt. It was the guilt. That was what was left. The sin was done. The sin was gone. The sin was more than a year earlier. But the guilt remained. It was the guilt that stained him and made him worthless. Lord, take away the guilt. Wash me from the guilt. And every again, can you see this place? The guilt. And I trust that if you're a believer, I trust that if you're a believer, when you sin, you know that guilt. There is, I say, the grace of a guilty conscience. For if you can sin without paying of conscience, if you can sin without that sense of guilt burdening your heart, maybe you are as spiritually ignorant as David was in postponing the forgiveness. But there ought to be that, as we'll see more in a moment. There ought to be that struggle. And David says, there's a stain on me that has to be removed. And then he says, clean me. Clean me, cleanse me from my sins. Word sins, there's your typical word for sin, to miss the mark, to fail short, to fall short of God's requirements. But this is a religious word. This is a word that involves all of the laws of cleanness and uncleanness, remember? To be clean was to be in fellowship with God. To be unclean was to be out of sorts with God, for whatever reason, different reasons for cleanness and uncleanness. This is the word that refers to that ceremonial cleanness. To be ceremonially clean meant that you could worship the Lord in the public place. It's a picture of fellowship, but to be unclean caused a separation. You could not worship with the rest of the community. ostracized. David here sees himself as out of sorts with God. He sees himself as out of sorts with God. He'd lost the communion. He'd lost the fellowship. He'd lost that enjoyment and that experience of communion with God. He needed to be clean. He needed to be restored. He sees himself, I say, as unclean. A failure to meet God's standards. Oh, my guess is that had anybody else looked at David, they would not have seen what was going on in David's heart, but inside David was a wretch. Can you go back to Psalm 32 and you see the description of David there before he makes this confession, his bones were out of joint and a terrible description of the plague of guilt that was upon him. Out of sorts with God. Losing communion, the fellowship was marred. When we pray for forgiveness, we're praying, Lord, restore us. Restore us to fellowship. So the seriousness of sin, but then the nature of sin is before us as well. The nature of sin, I acknowledge my transgressions, verse three, and my sin is ever before me. It's ever before me, and that word before is often used for armies that are in opposition one to the other. Armies that are facing off against each other. And David is saying here that my sin is ever before me. It's ever before me, like two armies that are about to do battle. Hostile. Sin is a hostile presence. Touched on this a moment ago, but here it is again, that sin is a hostile presence in the heart of a believer. He admits here the heinous nature of that sin, again the unrelenting pressure that he was experiencing. It's a battle going on. It's a battle going on. Paul said something of this in Romans 7, right? I struggle. Here's this struggle I want to do, but I don't. Don't begrudge the struggle. Don't begrudge the struggle. The struggle is itself an evidence of grace. If you can live peacefully, if sin can co-inhabit your heart without a paying of conscience, without a struggle, you need to be worried. You need to seek the Lord for grace and salvation. Sin is always a hostile presence in the life of a believer. It's a battle. It's a battle. It's against God. It's against God. Against you, you only have I sinned. No, there was adultery with Bathsheba. Yeah, there was murder of Uriah. Yeah, there was, but cuts to all of that. Others involved, yes, there's no such thing as a private sin, but David here is overwhelmed with the reality that he's offended his God. against thee, the only." Have I sinned? The reality of God was sinking in. Every sin he committed was in God's face. Every sin he committed was right at the footstool of the throne of God. The reality of God was sinking in. The nature of sin, the inherited depravity. I was shaped in iniquity. In sin, my mother conceived me. This is what our confession is speaking of when it speaks of that depravity that always cleaves to us. Yes, there are actual transgressions, but I'm born in sin. He doesn't offer this as an excuse. He's not saying, Lord, I'm born in sin. I'm inherently depraved. Therefore, I'm only doing what I, you know, I can't help myself. No, it's a consciousness. It's a consciousness of the depth of sin. Forgive me. Forgive me. He says, I confess all this. I confess all this, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." Forgiveness is up to God, and he throws himself here on the mercy of God. His behavior has been contrary to God's expectation. You desire truth, but, yeah, I've sinned. And he throws himself, he throws himself on the mercy of God, the confession of sin. And that leads to our final thought, the assurance of pardon. And finally, the assurance of pardon. The very fact that Christ instructs us to pray for forgiveness is a prayer, therefore, that we know is in the will of God, a prayer indeed that will be answered. In the closing verses of this section, there are petitions that bring us, I think, to see something of David's assurance that God indeed would forgive him. He says, first of all, purge me. with hyssop. Word purge, interesting word. It's a word that literally means to sin. Sin. Same word for sin. But just a little alteration by putting a dot, by putting a dot in the second letter of the word. turns it around, unsend me, if I can make up a word here. David is saying, unsend me, desend me with hyssop. Catechism says that God is pleased to forgive for the sake of Christ's blood. In the imagery here of the hyssop, brings us right to Jesus. Hyssop was a brush-like plant that was used for the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices. A couple of issues ago in Table Talk, I wrote a little article on hyssop and the theological significance of hyssop. For deliverance from bondage, it was the hyssop, remember, of the Passover. that was used to sprinkle the blood upon the doorposts. Speaks of the cleansing from sin as the leper being healed was then sprinkled with the hyssop. Speak to the reversing of the curse and that red heifer sacrifice when death was being dealt with and now here for restoration. It's a beautiful imagery. And I say the very fact that hyssop is brought to our attention brings us to the reality of the sacrifice, whereby the fellowship is going to be restored. For the sake of the sacrifice for the blood of Christ, there is forgiveness. Fellowship restored. The blood of Jesus is not refused by the Father. How does John put it? If we sin, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's the propitiation. It's his bloodshedding that satisfied God's wrath against our sin, and he pleads for us. Oh, there's the assurance, the blood of Jesus cannot be refused by the Father. Look at the wounds, and can you just see Can you just see Jesus there now at God's right hand, interceding for us? And we pray, we pray for the forgiveness of sins, and now Jesus is our intercessor, points to those glorified scars on his hands and his feet, and he says, Father, I died for that one. How much we owe. How much we owe to that intercession of Jesus. Purge me. Purge me with hyssop. Wash me. Wash me purity cleaning again same imagery that we saw before. Cause me to hear the joy and gladness that the bones which thou has broken may rejoice. Again you go back to Psalm 32 and you see what David's bones were like there before the confession. His bones were aching, his bones were out of joint, they were dry, he was a wretched mess. He was a wretched mess. And now David is asking the Lord to let him hear, not the joy and gladness, but the figure of speech here, let me hear that which causes the joy and gladness. Just as the leper, remember the leper that was cleansed, he waited for that proclamation of the priest, clean! Fellowship restored. And now he's waiting, as it were, for the declaration of the prophet. Nathan pointed his finger at David. Now he's waiting for David to give him that assurance, Nathan to give him that assurance that he has forgiveness. Oh, we have the word of God. Can we be assured? Can we hear that which brings joy and gladness to our heart? The assurance of pardon if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's not a maybe promise. We confess as God has set down for us. Forgive our debts. Forgive our debts. We can have the assurance. We can have the confidence that for Jesus' sake, Our sins are forgiven. And then hide thy face from my sins. Hide thy face. Blot out my iniquities, take away the guilt, but hide thy face. Every sin in the face of God. Every sin in the face of God. But David now, and here's what God does in forgiving our sins, Here's the assurance that we have that God indeed forgives. He no longer regards those sins that were in his sight. He puts those sins in the sea of his forgetfulness. He causes those sins to go as far as the east is from the west. God forgets. God forgets. He refuses to think. Oh, there are times when we can't seem to help but remember. And John says that even when our heart condemns us, when our heart condemns us in these, don't you love what John says? The heart condemns us. God is greater than the heart. He's greater than your heart. And here's the assurance. Here's the assurance that we can have that God forgives for the sake of Jesus. Actual transgressions, those that are embedded within us, He forgives. Oh indeed, Psalm 51 unpacks the fifth petition. as to how forgiveness is to be attained. And let me just close with how David described the wonder of this. Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Amen. O Lord, how gracious thou art. How merciful thou art. how loyal thou art. We pray, Lord, that as believers here tonight, those that are believers, that when sin enters, when they have transgressed once again the law and marred the relationship, Lord, teach us what it is not to wait so long as David waited, but to appeal to Thee, to listen and to obey the command, the instruction that Jesus gives as to how to pray, forgive us our debts. Forgive us our debts. Thou art a God of forgivenesses, for which we give our thanks and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.