What we've been doing on our Monday night
study is we've been unpacking 2 Chronicles 7
-14.
If my people who are called by my
name will humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways,
I will hear from heaven, God says.
And we've been talking about humility, seeking and
praying.
And then this Monday was the final point
on if my people turn from their wicked
ways.
And that's the type of sermon you can't
really advertise because nobody will come to it.
Right?
There's been created in our culture this need
to get away from the word sin, to
get away from the word repentance, where God
says run to it.
Run to these things.
There's salvation in these things.
And you'll see an article I wrote in
the Christian Post last week entitled, Are Churches
Avoiding the S&R Words?
Are churches avoiding the S&R words?
And that doesn't mean sex and Republicans, right?
Churches are avoiding sin and repentance.
It's no secret that there's a significant shift
in the church today to avoid sin and
repentance.
God's word says to confront, confess and turn
from sin.
Whereas many encourage us to ignore, overlook and
continue in it.
Isn't that interesting?
God's word says to confront sin, to confess
it and turn from it.
But the culture says just the opposite.
Ignore it, overlook it and continue in it.
So you see this struggle, the culture war
with what God's word says, but which not
only the culture now, many in the church
are promoting.
Promoting don't talk about these issues, Shane.
People don't want to hear it.
And I think it's time where we need
to start talking about the things we don't
want to hear.
Because our hope is in those things.
Our hope is in the word of God.
Our hope is in truth and turning back
to him.
And I wanted to talk briefly about Chuck
Swindoll commenting on a famous text in Matthew
4.
It's really how I want to open up
the message.
And many of you have heard the parable
of the sower, right?
This person goes out and he sows the
word of God.
And as he's sowing the seed, some of
it falls on hard soil.
So the devil comes in and grabs it.
Some of it falls on rocky soil and
it goes nowhere because there's no root there.
There's no soil.
There's no depth.
It just falls on rocks.
And then there's a third group where the
seed actually falls into the thorns.
And it grows with the thorns and the
thorns choke that good seed.
And then the final seed falls on good
soil into good hearts.
And from that produce 30, 60, 100 fold
from the good soil.
And Jesus gave that parable showing the different
kinds of soils.
And it really begs the question, what kind
of soil are you?
What kind of soil am I?
When the word of God falls on our
ears, does it just go to the wayside?
The enemy comes and just grabs it?
Or does it fall on rocky soil and
it takes no root?
It's like, oh yeah, okay, whatever.
Or does it fall on thorny areas where
there's thorns and what we call weeds?
And those weeds choke out the good seed.
Or does it fall on good soil?
And you know what?
A lot of it has to do with
the condition of your heart.
That's where it falls.
That's what determines what happens.
And here's what Chuck Swindoll said.
It's obvious that the first two groups are
those who are not born again.
They are rootless, lifeless, and fruitless.
It's obvious that the last group is born
again.
They are submissive.
They are active.
They are productive.
But frankly, he says, I'm bothered by the
third group.
They are Christians because they grow and get
right on the verge of bearing fruit.
But their growth becomes retarded.
These people hear everything the fourth group hears.
But those insights and needed truths are never
accepted.
They never fully allow them to take root
and grow.
Why?
Because thorns have come in.
Thorns which suffocate the normal healthy growth of
each plant.
Thorns like these trip us up and cause
untold misery.
They are killers.
And I want to parallel this with sin.
Because the Bible says that the enemy goes
about as a roaring lion seeking whom he
may devour.
And if we never talk about this subject,
then I think many people can have a
false view of a number of things.
Of what put Christ on the cross, number
one.
Why he went there, justification, all those things.
But number two, to not really live in
the freedom that God has given us.
Because with repentance, there's freedom.
And being in right relationship with God, there's
freedom in that.
So what happens, sin comes in and chokes
the word.
Sin chokes the word and suffocates it spiritually.
Okay, you have to realize that.
I want to be clear here.
I'm talking about besetting sin.
All of us struggle with sin.
You too Shane?
Oh yeah.
If Paul did, I sure do as well.
Paul said, O wretched man that I am,
who will deliver me from this body of
sin and death?
For with the mind I serve the law
of God, but with the flesh the law
of sin.
I'm not talking about struggle.
I'm talking about a lifestyle.
I'm talking about besetting sin that we keep
ignoring.
God's people were good at ignoring it throughout
the Old Testament.
The prophets, the false prophets would come in
and say, Peace, peace, there's peace, there's safety.
And God would say, I've not even sent
these prophets.
Yet they ran.
I've not spoken to them.
But they spoke.
But had they truly stood in my counsel,
they would have turned those people back to
me.
So it hasn't changed from 4,000 years
ago.
People wanting to hear the feel-good messages.
Tell me everything's going to be okay.
Tell me I can look at porn and
hit my spouse and get drunk.
And it doesn't matter to God.
He's just going to wink like a doting
grandfather.
Well, I'm here to tell you that the
Bible says that we must turn from these
things known to be wrong in the sight
of God.
And that's healthy.
That's a good thing.
It's not a bad thing.
So the message is this.
If you turn, God will heal.
If you turn, if my people turn back,
God says I will heal their land, I
will forgive their sins, and I will hear
their prayers.
My hand's not short that it cannot save.
My ears are not heavy that they cannot
hear.
But your sins, your iniquities have hid my
face from you so that I will not
hear.
Listen, I understand going into this, that this
is not going to be a popular message.
I understand that some people will not come
back.
But you have to understand when I go
home, I don't say, oh, is everybody happy?
I say, God, did I do what you
called me to do?
And I can rest in that.
I can rest knowing that this is what
your Word of God.
This is nothing I would not preach to
my kids.
You know, I say, oh, you're poor kids.
Oh, oh, oh.
But Paul spent a large majority of his
ministry warning.
Warning the church.
Drawing the church back.
If you look at all the prophets, Isaiah
and Jeremiah, right?
Ezekiel, Joel and Amos and Obadiah and Jonah,
Micah.
All those prophets, they were calling the people
back to God.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of
years.
Even judges, the Bible says, and there arose
another generation after them who did not know
the Lord.
And God is drawing His people back.
You think that's different now?
God is still drawing us back.
And wanting us in right relationship with Him.
And let's tonight, let's be honest, open and
transparent about sin.
No more excuses.
No saving face.
And no more justifying our actions.
Can we just be honest tonight?
You don't have to raise your hand.
God knows our hearts.
Let's be honest.
We minimize sin so we feel better.
Right?
Or is it just me?
Yeah, I know I had a prideful attitude,
but.
And I cover it up, right?
A minimalist, big deal.
It's no big deal.
But the Bible says that God hates proud.
A proud look.
Proverbs 6, He says, I hate the look
of pride.
These things, these six things, the God says,
I hate six, yet seven are an abomination
to me.
A proud look, lying tongue, hands that shed
innocent blood.
All these things.
So we have to look at sin from
God's perspective.
Sin leads to damnation.
You're not going to hear that on Christian
television tomorrow.
Why not?
Well, I've got my views, but a lot
of times, because it's not what the people
want to hear.
Shane, come on, ratings, marketing.
You know, I know.
I know all about marketing.
I know all about branding.
And God's Word says, do not make the
truth palatable.
Do not make the truth taste good.
Make the truth clear.
You see, that's my job is not to
say, did the truth feel good?
Listen, before you leave, fill out a survey.
Did the truth feel good?
I don't care.
I want to know what is the truth
of God.
Clear, crystal clear that there is a narrow
road and there is a broad road.
Jesus said it, not me.
All we do is preach His words.
So if you get upset, get upset at
Him.
He said, strive to enter that narrow gate.
Broad is the way to destruction.
And there are few who find this narrow
gate.
That's how vital this is.
Sin leads to damnation.
Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin
is death, not life.
Death.
Sin separates.
Sin misleads.
Sin deceives and sin destroys.
Don't worry, there's good news coming.
I've got to put the bad news as
the backdrop, though.
Or you won't appreciate the good news.
See, if you can paint sin dark and
demonic, and then you can paint the light
of Christ glorious, how much more appreciation do
you think you'll have for the light?
That's why people don't appreciate Christ.
They don't appreciate God.
They have no idea what He did.
We just sang that song, reconciling the world,
reconciling those that drove the five-pound sledgehammer
with four-inch nails into His wrist as
they're hitting the nails in His wrist.
He's saying, I died for this.
I died for you.
I'm reconciling God and man.
As the hammer goes down, you're covered in
that sin if you repent, and you turn
to Me.
You don't think those guards would have a
little bit of a joy and excitement there
over that good news?
Absolutely.
That's powerful.
If you understand the darkness of sin, you
understand the demonic influence, you understand it pulling
apart families, you understand how can a man
abuse his child, and we sing it's no
big deal.
How can a mother abort her child and
say, sorry, you came at the wrong time?
How has this happened?
Because we've dumbed down the consequences of sin.
We've dumbed down what it looks like.
If Christ had to hang on a cross
for it, we'd better wake up.
A blood-stained cross.
A Savior dying for me and you.
Ah, yeah, it's no big deal.
It's my little vice.
Well, that little vice had a hefty price.
And we need to look at it that
way.
If you look at it that way, it
will change your whole view of everything.
Sin led to a blood-stained cross, a
son being separated from his father, and absorbing
unimaginable wrath.
Sin is not a little vice in the
same way that cancer is not just a
little division of abnormal cells.
Nobody says that.
No, I just have a division of abnormal
cells.
The cancer is set to destroy.
Right?
Most cancer is not going the opposite direction
towards health and vitality.
It's destroying.
The same thing with sin in our lives.
And what I'm talking about really is unconfessed
sin.
Unconfessed sin is that last nail in the
coffin.
Confession just means, Lord, I'm bringing this to
the light.
God, I need you.
I'm a sinner.
I need your grace.
I'm bringing these things to the light.
Would you save me from this?
Would you deliver me?
Would you set me free?
I want to return to my first love.
Lord, I've been weighed down so much by
the sin, by the depression, by the debauchery,
by the sexual immorality.
I've been weighed down so much by it.
Lord, I want to experience that freedom again.
That's what confession is.
See, sin in and of itself is bad,
but when it's unconfessed, then it becomes hidden.
And sin either grows or it withers.
There's no middle ground.
So as we hold on to it, it's
either growing or it's withering.
It's not holding its own.
It's growing and it'll eventually take over.
I like what a Puritan said, John Owen.
Secret lusts.
Think about this.
Secret lusts, secret sins, lie lurking in your
own heart, which will never give up until
they are either destroyed or satisfied.
Secret sins lurking in your heart will never
give up until they are destroyed or they
are satisfied.
And most people do this, don't they?
They satisfy that instead of destroy it.
And that word lurking there is interesting.
It's almost like lurking and waiting for the
opportunity to come in and grab.
And I'm reading a missionary book that was
written in 1920.
I want to share it next Saturday, some
of the excerpts with you.
But it talked about in Africa in 1920s,
there was this little boy who walked outside
of his hut.
And a leper came and grabbed him and
they could hear the screams of the child
going off into the night.
Can you imagine?
That would be a parent's worst nightmare.
But what was the problem?
What caught my attention is they said he
went outside of his safety and protection.
And that leper was there lurking.
See, that's how serious this is, folks.
This is destroying families.
It's destroying marriages.
It's taking us away from Christ, our relationship
with God.
Everything is hinges on this.
He's there lurking, ready to destroy.
Sin.
Sin is devastating.
What makes a young adult take their own
life even before they start to live?
What makes a spouse give up everything for
a night of demonically inspired pleasure?
Sin.
What makes a person shake their infant so
violently that they convulse and die?
These are all news headlines.
What makes a person abort their own child
and calmly say, I'm sorry, but you came
at the wrong time?
What makes a person live their whole life
in rebellion and perish eternally?
What does this?
And here's what happens.
We want to soften the blow.
See, I even want to soften the blow
of this message.
I mean, I'm going through this going, oh,
Lord, that's not going to go over well.
Let's soften the blow.
Soften the blow.
And sometimes we need a hard right hook
and another left hook.
Wait a minute.
Joelstein isn't telling me this.
Exactly.
I know.
We need to wake up.
Wake up.
I only say that because everybody recognizes that,
you know.
But we want to soften the blow, right?
Just come in and soften.
If I could just soften what I'm saying.
But God's Word doesn't say soften.
It says proclaim.
It doesn't say make it easy.
It says, rose hard.
It's narrow.
And the enemy wants us to soften the
blow.
The world wants us to soften the blow.
Ephesians 5 says, take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of
darkness, but instead expose them.
But what do we want to do?
We want to hold them and hide them
because a lot of it involves humility.
It's hard to say, I've been a Christian
10 years and I've been struggling with this
and I can't let it go.
I've been a Christian for 15 years.
You know, pride gets in there.
And we don't expose the unfruitful works of
darkness.
We hide them.
And what happens when you hide something like
that, like a mushroom in a damp spot?
It just grows and grows and that's what
sin does.
If it's held there, it's growing and growing.
C.S. Lewis said, the safest road to
hell is the gradual one.
The gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings,
without milestones, without signposts.
The safest road to hell has no signposts.
It's soft under your foot.
You walk down, down, down.
It's interesting.
Every time I talk about this topic, people
usually email me or something and say, man,
that was pretty hard.
Wake up on the wrong side of the
bed?
And it's interesting that Jesus spoke more about
hell than heaven.
Did you know that?
The good teacher, right?
Everybody thinks he's just a good teacher.
He spoke more about the realities of hell
than on the glories of heaven.
He warned as much as he encouraged.
See, we always like to talk about Jesus
told the woman caught in adultery, you know,
your accusers are gone.
I don't accuse you either.
Yeah, but keep reading, keep reading.
He said, and sin no more.
Jesus said, for this reason I have been
sent to proclaim the gospel, to preach to
sinners.
He sent out his disciples and said, go
and preach repentance.
Peter's first sermon, repent and be converted.
The times of refreshing may come from the
presence of the Lord.
Repentance is powerful.
We need to look at sin from God's
view or really doesn't convict us.
We need to look at sin from God's
view or really doesn't convict us.
Think about this.
How can we justify the beatings Christ took
for us?
How can we justify the most horrific death
a person could endure to be separated from
God for me?
And many live in deception.
Many Christians live in deception.
The only way to deal with it is
to expose it.
Do you realize that if you're living in
deception and most people know if you're living
in deception, the only way to break out
of that is to expose it.
Say, Lord, I've been lying to you in
this area.
I've been coming and playing in church.
I've been doing all these things.
Lord, I need to expose this cancer.
I'm in deception.
I need to expose it.
And you bring it to the surface.
What doctor would say, let's not worry about
the cancer?
Are any of you doctors in here, nurses?
What doctor would say, let's not worry about
the cancer that we just found.
Let's talk about the wonderful weather, your beautiful
kids and the luxuries of life.
Let's just smell the roses even though death
is knocking at the door.
They would lose their license, right?
They would lose their license, yet the pulpits
can remain silent about something far more important.
We can remain silent about something far more
important and it's no big deal.
We're written off as fundamentalists, as narrow minded,
as bigoted, as angry.
No, we're just contending for truth.
The power of confession.
Here's the part I wanted to get to.
God says, if you turn, I will forgive,
I will hear, and I will heal.
Modern psychology says, deal with your inner struggles.
But how?
They say, let the past go.
But how?
They say, heal the wounded child within.
But how?
They say, retrain your cognitive behavioral patterns.
But how?
How?
The root problem is sin, not self-esteem.
The answer is a Savior, not psychology.
And that's the world's answer to all of
our ills.
Just talk about your past and maybe your
wound is a little boy and now that
hurts coming out.
And that's why it's like, no, we need
a Savior.
We need a Savior.
The root problem is sin, not self-esteem.
Proverbs 28, 13.
He who conceals his sin does not prosper.
He who conceals his sin does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Did you catch that?
Whoever conceals his sin will not prosper.
But whoever confesses it and renounces them, they
find mercy in the sight of God.
There's power in confession.
1 John says, if we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just and will forgive us of our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Listen guys, if this message convicts, if it
upsets, if you're upset and angry and wanting
to get out of here, that's a good
thing.
Let me tell you up front, that's a
good thing.
This is the answer.
Walking out those doors will not change anything
if change doesn't take place.
I talked about physical, mental and spiritual healing.
I want to touch on all three and
then I'll be out of your way.
James 5, is anyone among you sick?
Let him call for the elders of the
church and let them pray over him.
And we want to do that tonight.
There will be people back there in the
prayer area.
We believe in this scripture.
Is anyone sick?
Let him call for the elders of the
church and let them pray over him.
Anointing them with oil in the name of
the Lord.
And the prayer of the faith will save
the sick.
And the Lord will raise him up.
And if he has committed sins, he will
be forgiven.
Confess your trespasses to one another and pray
for one another that you may be healed.
See, this is something a lot of people
don't want to talk about.
But sometimes, unconfessed sin can lead to physical
ailments.
Unless you read that scripture any other way.
Sometimes holding on, because unconfessed sin is like
a toxin.
Right?
Have you ever met a Christian holding on
to a lot of sin?
Are they happy to be around?
Are they great to be around?
Good, you know, fun and joyful?
Or are they just miserable?
And they want to take everybody down with
them.
We know they are miserable.
They are not happy.
The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much.
Confession can bring healing.
Hebrews 12.6, listen to this verse.
The Lord disciplines the one he loves.
And he chastens everyone he accepts as a
son.
The truth is, without pain, we often don't
change.
Without pain, we often do not change.
In this verse here, the Lord disciplines the
one he loves.
If you are being disciplined, that is a
good thing.
What parent in their right mind would never
discipline their children?
What would that look like?
Well, we are seeing a lot of what
that looks like, aren't we?
But God loves us so much that he
disciplines us.
And without that pain, we won't change.
I don't like that.
Neither do you.
But it is the truth.
That is why a lot of times it
is good to bring up things.
And say, thus saith the Word of God.
You need to change.
You need to feel the pain and the
weight of what has happened.
It is interesting.
I spoke about this a year ago.
I heard on the radio.
There is a pastor here.
It wasn't you, Sylvester.
It was a different pastor from Africa.
And they are asking him, Why is there
so much counseling in the American church?
You guys have counseling appointments from 8 in
the morning until 8 at night.
Monday through Sunday.
All the time.
There is so much counseling in the American
church.
Why is there not a lot of counseling
going on in the African church?
And he calmly said, Because in America you
counsel.
In Africa we repent.
Let that sink in.
That is a sermon in itself.
I think the devil wants his mic to
come off, huh?
It is on its way.
But think about that.
In America we counsel.
Everybody wants to counsel.
We want therapy.
We want a therapist.
We want this, this, this.
I want to talk.
I want to dialogue.
But God says, Repent and be healed.
Repent and be healed.
Sometimes we need to shut our mouth.
And we need to get our faces on
the floor before God.
You need to tell that therapist, I love
you, but I don't need you as much
as I need Christ.
I need to talk to Him.
I need God to change my heart.
That is what I need.
And I am not against therapy.
My mom is a registered marriage and family
therapist.
But she would tell you just as quick
as I do, that the majority of problems
are due to a lack of repentance.
A lack of taking responsibility.
A lack of saying, I am the problem.
I am the issue.
I repent.
And they change.
Because repentance just opens the door.
It is like confession.
Lord, I confess.
I repent.
I was wrong.
God says, good.
Now I can fill you with my spirit.
Now I can use you.
Now I can bring that joy that you
used to have.
Do you remember when you used to have
that joy?
I don't know about you, but do you
remember that joy of salvation?
It's joy unspeakable.
You're right standing with God.
You're like on a cloud.
I don't know if you've ever had that
before.
And then what happens is it gets weighted
down.
That's why Jesus said, I see all your
works, but you've left your first love.
You need to repent.
Do what you first did.
Repent.
There's that word again.
Repent and turn back to me.
That's what people say, Shane, you talk so
much about repentance.
So much.
I said, when are you going to stop?
And I said, when you do.
When this nation is, when the church in
this nation is in a form of repenting,
then we'll switch gears.
But until that day, this is a topic
we need to talk about.
A.W. Tozer said, it is doubtful whether
God can bless a man greatly until he
has hurt him deeply.
Isn't that true?
It's doubtful whether God can bless a man
greatly until he has hurt him deeply.
Why is that?
It's because in that hurt, I'm humbled.
And now that I'm humbled, He can use
me.
I've been hurt so much, Lord.
I've been hurt.
I look to You.
Now He can use you.
Oswald Chambers said something very interesting in his
devotional, My Utmost First Highest.
He said that on this issue of being
broken before Him and being hurt, that the
message of the gospel hurts and it offends
until there's nothing left to hurt and to
offend.
And that is so true.
As you read the Bible, it hurts and
it offends and it hurts and it offends
and it hurts and it offends until there's
nothing left to hurt and to offend.
And I cry out and say, Lord, I'm
Yours.
I humble myself.
I'm Yours.
See, there's power in confession.
There's power in repentance.
The church needs to hear this message.
We've got guys coming in saying, Praise the
Lord, praise the Lord, and they go home
and they beat their spouse.
Not here, but other churches I know of.
This is a serious issue.
They just looked at porn six hours ago
and they're going to come saying, Worthy is
the Lamb.
Where does this come from?
A heart in deception.
A heart living in deception is where it
comes from.
And I want to move through this quickly.
Mental and emotional health.
Romans 5 says, Therefore, since we have been
justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you do not have peace tonight, this
is your answer.
This is your answer.
Not Buddha.
Not Hindu.
Not Harry Krishna.
Not Joseph Smith.
Not Brigham Young.
None of those things.
This is where true peace is found.
Only in Jesus Christ.
Not in works.
Only in Jesus Christ.
I actually was able to get a group
of four or five Jehovah Witnesses at my
sidewalk this morning.
And I said, I can't embrace any of
that because you say Christ plus works.
They said, Yeah, you've got to please the
Father through your obedience.
And I said, Why did Christ die on
a cross?
Jesus Christ plus something else is heretical.
It's dangerous.
You don't have to do anything.
He's already done it.
You just walk in that freedom.
Now, there should be works.
A heart that's in right relationship with God
better be doing something for God.
They better be loving the things of God.
They better be wanting the things of God.
If they don't, it's called a false conversion.
If you don't have a genuine love for
God and His Word, and your heart's not
going in that direction, your heart's loving the
things of the world, I would challenge you
tonight and ask, Have you truly repented of
your sin?
And have you embraced Him as your Lord
and Savior?
There's no middle ground here on this one.
And the final thing is spiritually.
Psalms 107.20, He sent out His Word
and it healed them.
The Bible says He sent His Word and
it healed them and rescued them from their
destruction.
So did He just go and throw this
at people?
Does that work?
He sent out His Word.
How did He send out His Word?
Through preaching.
Through the Word being read.
For people seeing the Word of God and
being shattered by it, being broken by it
and seeing their need for a Savior.
He sent His Word and it healed them.
How did it heal them?
Because they were receptive.
They were receptive of the Word.
And it's funny sometimes when my sermons are
loud and convicting, people say, Now you're preaching,
brother.
But when I focus on the love of
Christ, they say, Oh, you're losing your prophetic
zeal.
You're softening up.
And not really.
You've got to have both.
You've got to have the thunder and the
lightning, but you've got to have the soft
rain and the gentle calm of God.
They go together.
The conviction and the love of God are
married.
You've got heaven and you've got hell.
You've got right and you've got wrong.
These things, when you look at the grace
of God and the mercy of God, and
then you look at the judgment of God,
they're together.
You can't overemphasize one over the other.
As a popular contemporary song says, I love
these lyrics, The arms that hold the universe
are holding you tonight.
Isn't that so true?
I don't think if it's sappy or not
to some people.
But the arms that are holding the universe
are holding you tonight if you know him.
The voice that calmed the raging sea can
calm your anxious heart.
Satan has to bow to the Father.
Fear has to run.
Darkness has to flee.
If my people who are called by my
name will humble themselves and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways, I will
hear and I will heal and I will
forgive.
I'm just going to close with Psalm 51.
Have mercy on me, O God.
Think about this.
This is David.
You know David, right?
Good old David.
Committed adultery, then had the husband killed, and
then lost the baby because of it.
And he's been confronted.
Oh, there you go.
Confrontation.
He's been confronted with the word of God
by a prophet named Nathan, and he repents.
And this is what he says.
Lord, 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.
Cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgression and my sin
is ever before you.
Against you and you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and
in sin.
My mother conceived me.
Purge me with hyssop and I shall be
clean.
Wash me and I will be whiter than
snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness again.
Let the bones that you have broken may
rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot
out my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart 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.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways and
sinners will return to you.
Did you catch what he said there?
Against you only.
David said against you and you only have
I sinned.
Lord, it's only against you.
And he says, behold, I was brought forth
in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.
He takes full responsibility here.
Purge me with hyssop.
Hyssop is like a disinfectant.
Purging that toxins out.
Purge me.
Remove these toxins.
Purge me with hyssop.
Wash me as white as snow.
Let the joy return.
Let the bones, the bones that you have
broken, let them rejoice.
Create in me a clean heart.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Let the joy and the happiness of my
salvation come back to me.
Then I will point people to you.
Then transgressors will return.
Then the sinner will come home.
Why?
Because now I'm in right relationship with God.
I can point people to the Savior.
I can point people to the cross.
And that's what God says.
I will talk of His goodness and forgiveness
all the days of my life.
That's what David is saying.
Though he was in the pit of hell.
Though he just had tremendous, his bones.
Have you ever felt that your bones were
broken?
That the bones you have broken, God may
rejoice.
And then David just said, and many need
to say this tonight.
Create in me a clean heart.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Amen.