We will first read Psalms 51:1 : If we need any music to this Psalm, we must have the liquid melody of tears, sighs, cries, entreaties. It is above all the others, the penitential Psalm. It is the Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had committed his great sin with Bathsheba.
Thus, David prayed:-
Psalms 51:1-3. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
And there is no hope of pardon unless we do this. We must not try to cloak or hide our sin from God; but we must acknowledge our transgressions. Our sin must be ever before us,-a ghost that haunts us, a black cloud that hangs over us, which we greatly dread.
Psalms 51:4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Whatever God may say to us, however sharp it is, and whatever God may do to us, however terrible it is, we deserve it; and when we are in a penitential frame of mind, we feel that it is so.
Psalms 51:5-7. 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.
David does not hope to wash himself, he does not trust in outward ceremonies: but he appeals to God, the God against whom he has sinned: «Lord, cleanse me. Thou alone canst do it.»
Psalms 51:8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
When God's Spirit deals with sinners, he does not play with them. A sense of sin is like the breaking of bones; but God, who breaks the bone, can heal it. He that takes away our joy, when we are under a sense of sin, can give us back that joy by a realization of pardon.
Psalms 51:9. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
«And when thou hast done that, change my nature, that I may not sin again.
Psalms 51:10-11. 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.
He might well be afraid that, after so foul a fall, so disgraceful a crime, God would cast him away; but he prays that it may not be so: «Cast me not away from thy presence.»
Psalms 51:12-13. 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.
«I will tell others what thou hast done. Thy free grace, thy pardoning mercy, shall not be hidden away in my breast; but I will begin to be a preacher of thy love; ay, and I shall have converts, too, for the news of thy grace to me shall draw others to thee: ‘Sinners shall be converted unto thee.'»
Psalms 51:14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
He puts his finger on the sin. He might have said, and at one time he did say, that he did not kill Uriah the Hittite. Ah, but when he is right with God, he makes no pretences! He does not mince the matter, but he confesses the blood guiltiness, for he was guilty of Uriah's death: «Deliver me from blood-guiltiness.» Be honest with God. You will not receive pardon till you are. He can see through you: what is the use of attempting to hide anything from him? Out with it, man, that God may out with it, too.
Confess it, that God's pardon covering thy confession may cover all thy sin.
Psalms 51:15-17. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew 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: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Are you bringing this sacrifice to the Lord? Are there some in this house of prayer who have greatly sinned, and who are now greatly ashamed of themselves? Take heart of hope, poor sinner, for God delights to accept a broken and contrite heart.
Psalms 51:18-19. 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: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Now turn to the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 51:1; and Zechariah 12:10-14; Zechariah 13:1-6.