- Call to Worship – Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
- Hymn # 406 I Hear Thy Welcome Voice
Words of Assurance: (Micah 7:18-19 ESV)
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
God's Will for our Lives – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Hymn # 699 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-17
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 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.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Sermon: According to Your Abundant Mercy
Sermon Notes
Time of battle. David sent his army off to battle. David had seen a woman who was the wife of one of his 37 mighty men Uriah. He made her pregnant. He tried to make it look as though Uriah was the dad. But Uriah was an honorable man.
David arranged for Uriah to die. He then took Bathsheba to wife. God was displeased and told David that through Nathan the prophet. And so David's heart was broken. He knew what he had done.
From this event comes this Psalm.
David was fully aware of his sin, he was broken by this awareness.
David gives this line "against you God alone have I sinned".
The core of all sin is rebellion against God.
That is what sin is. It may affect others around us....but sin is at heart rebellion against God. It is just a sign of the corruption of one's heart.
We need to realize that we are all that bad. We all sin. And all that sin is against God alone.
When we sin it is like we say God nothing you did matters. I don't care God. That is what sin is.
And so all we can is call out to God for mercy. To plead for God to give us a clean, right heart.
We need God to take that rebellion out of us. Only God can make it right.
So David asks God to blot out his sin because nothing he does can make it right. Only God can separate us from our sin.
Nathan told him that the Lord had forgiven him. What God wants is a contrite heart.
God provided Christ to show his mercy. Christ is God's mercy. This is how and why God can forgive us. Through Jesus God creates in us a new heart. This is why God doesn't hold onto his anger with is forever. This mercy means he can love us steadfastly. And God delights in doing that...loving us steadfastly.
So come to the Lord. Seek his mercy. Let God love you steadfastly. Come, he will not despise you. Lean on Christ's actions. He will be merciful.
- Hymn # 704 Jesus, Keep me Near the Cross
- Hymn # 86—1-2 Now Thank we all our God
- Hymn # 86–3 All Praise and Thanks to God