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Online-SUNDAY SCHOOL
Bible
Studies For Life
A Prayer of Confession Unit
2 Session 6 18 NOV 18
MATT
MATT
Ps 51:1-2 Dr. Hobbs wrote in his
Studying Adult Life and Work Lessons,
Jul-Sep 1997, page 79 "David wrote it following the events described in 2
Samuel 11:1-12:23." This may be correct but why didn't David include the
situation of the unnamed first born
of Bathsheba? So there are three areas that are hard to understand:
1. Why
did Nathan say: "The Lord has also put away your sin" and yet
declare: "the child that is born to you shall die"? This may seem a
conflict to (Psa 103:10 RSV) "He does not deal
with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our
iniquities." The Hebrew for "requite" is 1580. gamal,
gaw-mal'; a prim. root; to
treat a person (well or ill), i.e. benefit or requite.
·
The answer is God does forget forgiven sin but
the results of one's sins may remain and have to be deal with in this lifetime.
If I kill someone and repeat, I will be forgiven, but the person still will
remain dead and I may die in the electric chair as a forgiven sinner.
·
The David's sin impact went far beyond him and
affected the nation. God had to show that David attitude of "despised
me" (Hebrew - 959. bazah,
baw-zaw'; a prim. root; to disesteem:--despise, disdain,
contemn (-ptible), + think to scorn, vile person.)
could not be allowed to a Holy God. See 2 Sam 12:12.
·
Note particularly (Luke 12:48b RSV)
"…Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him
to whom men commit much they will demand the more." The principle applied
to David as the king of God's people.
2. Why
did the innocent unnamed child have to die? This is a hard one in light of (Deu 24:16 RSV) ""The fathers shall not be put to
death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers;
every man shall be put to death for his own sin."
·
Babies do not sin until the age of
accountability. Therefore, the unnamed child was not killed by God because of
his sin, but because of David's gross sin. Yet this seems counter to the Law.
However, look at (Exo 34:7 KJV)
"Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third
and to the fourth generation." Deut 24:16
addresses the just thing of protecting the innocent, but Ex 34:7 addresses the
life effects of the sin. Note 2 Sam 12:11-12.
·
Life in those days was much more pagan.
Everything that happened was thought to be because the gods made it happen. God
needed to show he had no part in causing David's sin.
·
God had set a tough precedence in the wilderness
when people "despised" him.
·
It certainly is true the child went straight to
Paradise. This still does not set well with most people.
·
The answer is not easy to find and is open to
interpretation.
3. David's
prayer for the child was answered with a "No." David's acceptance of
the answer is a model. But it is unlikely he wrote this psalm knowing the
answer. Surely he would have included it in the psalm.
This psalm starts with a call to God's mercy and not his justice.
Justice requires a payment be made for the illegal act. Mercy is waving the
payment. David wanted mercy based upon the love-nature of God. (1 John 4:8b
RSV) "… for God is love." "Love"
in the Greek is agape meaning in
context God's kind of love. The Hebrew means essentially the same. God showed
both to David. Always it is God who decides and not our request-demands to him.
David uses parallelisms. His facts are right. Only God can forgive sins. Only
God can make a sinner, lost or saved, clean of one's sins. "Blot out"
is as David wrote in (Psa 103:12 RSV) "as far as
the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from
us." When God forgives he also forgets. That is Godly mercy. However, we
rarely forget what we forgive. Some cannot even forgive themselves.
PS 51:3 David admitted openly
his sin he had been trying to keep a total secret. This is the first step. But
many people admit their sins only because they get caught and mean nothing more
than "I'm sorry I got caught." Admitting the nature of one's sins is
only a part of repentance. A vital and essential component of repentance is
(Luke 3:8 KJV) "Bring forth
therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within
yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say
unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham." David offered none of this in the psalm and none is found in 2
Sam 12. But God declared he had "put away your sin." Perhaps this is
another reason why the unnamed child was taken.
PS 51:4 David's words sound
pious yet so self-centered. "Sinned" in Hebrew
means 2398. chata', khaw-taw'; a prim. root; prop. to miss; hence (fig. and gen.) to sin; by infer. to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causat.)
lead astray, condemn:--bear the blame,
cleanse, commit [sin], by fault, harm he
hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend (-er), offer
for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make) sin (-ful, -ness), trespass. He harmed not just God but
Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, Nathan, and the nation. Sin is not just against God.
But God is the only one who can forgive sin as to its eternal harm. Note (1
John 3:4 KJV) "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." David is not showing a
full theological and social impact of his sin. But God saw the sincerity of his
heart. So in spite of his errors, God forgave him his sin.
PS 51:5 This
is not an easy verse. Many use this verse incorrectly to support the wrong
doctrine that humans babies are sinners when they are born. (Isa 7:16 RSV)
"For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good,
the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted." A
child has to be able to choose before there is accountable
sin. All children, not at their age of accountability (this age varies with
each child), who die will go to be with the Father. Therefore "in sin did
my mother conceive me" means neither David was a sinner when he was born nor was his mother got pregnant in a sinful manner.
He actually speaks a parallelism. "Shapen in
iniquity" and "in sin" refers to the fact that all children are
born with the tendency to sin. Note this carefully. Jesus was also born with the SAME tendency
to sin because he was born as a 100% human. (Heb
2:14 RSV) "Since therefore the
children share in flesh and blood, he
himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might
destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil," By doing so
Jesus proved a person does not have to choose to sin. He justified the Law.
Children are born into a sinful environment. Jesus was the only one who rose
above his environment and choose never to sin.
PS 51:6 Another
parallelism. Wisdom exists only when based on truth. God wants both in the
inner person of each of his children. (2 Pet 1:5 RSV) "For this very reason make every effort
to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge," (Eph 1:9 RSV)
"For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery
of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ"
PS 51:7 Another
parallelism. God is the source of forgiveness and forgetfulness.
PS 51:8 "Joy" is of
the inner person being in a salvation relationship. It has nothing to do with
physical circumstances. "Gladness" is an outward expression of that
joy. God convicts a person of sin. David felt it so much soul-pain that it was
as if his bones had been broken.
PS 51:9 This
mercy aspect of God's forgiveness has been addressed previously. There is no
need to revisit repented sins in continual remorse and repentance. When in
verse 3 David said "and my sin is ever before me", he was not yet
forgiven. He was still asking for it. Certainly God does not forgive casual
repentance. One cannot just sin and expect automatic forgiveness if one is not
sincere in repenting.
PS 51:10 The Hebrew for
"right" means 3559. kuwn, koon;
a prim. root; prop. to be
erect (i.e. stand perpendicular). So it is not a new salvation but a new
stability that David requests. David's request is not Biblical. See (Eph 4:22-24 RSV)
"Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of
life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, {23} and be renewed in the spirit
of your minds, {24} and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of
God in true righteousness and holiness." God's saves but the individual
makes a pure life (heart).
PS 51:11 This
is yet another parallelism. Much depends upon what words are capitalized. But
the context is of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never permanently indwelt
saved people. The usual was for the Holy Spirit to be with a saved person. For
God's reasons, the Holy Spirit might leave a person as in 1 Sam 16:1,76,14.
PS 51:12 "Free" in
Hebrew means 5081. nadiyb, naw-deeb'; from
H5068; prop. voluntary, i.e. generous; hence,
magnanimous. The Grand Holy Spirit is the one who makes joy known.
PS 51:13-15 This
should be the action of all forgiven Christians as Jesus commanded in Matt
28:19-20. David is the rare Israelite who ever talked about witnessing to
Israelites (transgressors) and to Gentiles (sinners). Note David calls upon
Yahweh to forgive him (open his lips) so he can properly praise Yahweh.
Therefore,
Psalm 51 was written after David got caught in his many sins and was given time
to think about them. David was not studying the Law as the Law required. The
more you know of the Bible and its meanings, the less you will sin and the more
sinful sin will be to you.
Marvin
Ganote, Hobbs Study Class, Adult Teacher. ganotemd@gmail.com
Home Page: http://dma1.org/~ganotemd/lesson.htm