The Judge of All the Earth

Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.

Psalm 51:4

David had an excellent understanding of the Character of God. He understood that God is merciful and ready to forgive or he would have been wasting his time in repenting and confessing his sin. He also understood that God is just or he would have been able to simply go on in his practices of wickedness knowing that there would be no real consequence. In the first half of the verse from which our text for today derives, David owns his sin and that his sin has been against God first and foremost. In the portion which serves as our text for today, he highlights the just character of God, ‘that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge.’ David understood the Character of God as it manifests itself in Christ. It was the preincarnate Christ Whom Abraham addressed when he said, ‘shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ It is in Christ that, ‘Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.‘ Christ is the personal manifestation of the God Who is both merciful and just. What we know of God we see in the face of Christ. When we approach God, having failed miserably, let us bear uppermost in our mind that we are coming to the Judge of all the earth, Who will do right according to His Holy Character which is, at once, Merciful and Just. We are in need of such a God as this.

Our Wise and Holy God,
We praise You that You are ever true and faithful.
We rejoice that You will do right
and that Christ will get all the glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

True Confession

For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, a And blameless when You judge.

Psalm 51:3-4

True confession of sin is critical. David understood this very clearly. Here is the heart of true repentance. When we have sinned, we need forgiveness and cleansing. God grants forgiveness upon the basis of repentance. Repentance involves confession. When it comes to confession, David leads by example. He offers no excuses. He acknowledges in a most straightforward manner that he has sinned, first and foremost, against God Himself. We want to take a very good look at this. We may sin against others, as David did against Bathsheba and Uriah. At the very foundation our sin is against God. It is to Him that we must make our confession first. It is from Him that we need forgiveness. This does not remove our responsibility to address our wrongdoing with the people against whom we have sinned. It does show us the priority we should place upon honest confession to God. Again, we go to I John which tells us the results of confession, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Cleansing for our sin comes by the Blood of Christ. Repentance and confession is the only way forward spiritually. Today, let us consider these things carefully. We may need to make confession at this very hour, or if not today, not many days hence. There is forgiveness, by the Blood of the Lamb. Let us know where to go, and fly there without delay.

Our Gracious and Forgiving God,
we praise You that You receive our confession.
We rejoice that You grant us forgiveness
that we might be clean before You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Thorough Cleansing’

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51:2

David was dirty. He had behaved in a supremely selfish fashion. He had robbed a poor man of the love of his life, and proceeded to rob him of life itself. He had involved other people in his evil, and contaminated their lives by making them accessories to adultery and murder. Nathan the prophet had faced him with his sin. Now, David had to face God Himself. God Alone could fix what was wrong with David. David knew that, hence he pled, ‘Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.’ This takes us directly to the Blood of Christ. John speaks of this pointedly when he says, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Two verses before this statement, John declares that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.’ We need to grasp this truth for ourselves. We all find ourselves in the situation of being dirty. We may not have done exactly what David did in the way he did it, but that does not lessen our guilt. When we have sinned, we need cleansing. The only solvent for that kind of stain is the Blood of Christ. Here is the fountain that is opened ‘for sin and for uncleanness.’ Nothing else will do. As we consider these things today, let us dwell upon the fact that although this may not be where we are today, it may easily be where we arrive tomorrow. If we would have cleansing from the filth of our sin, we must look to the Blood of Christ.

Our Kind and Forgiving God,
we praise You that You provide cleansing for us
through the blood of Christ.
We rejoice that as often as we sin,
so often are You ready to forgive and to cleanse us.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Blot Out My Transgressions’

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1

When we sin, we incur charges at the Judgment Bar of God. We break His Law and become guilty. This has to do with the fact that we are sinners by nature, and also with the fact that we are sinners by choice. David made a choice regarding what he did with Bathsheba, and more choices regarding the murder of her husband, Uriah. Of the Ten Commandments which God had given, he had broken at least three. These stood as charges against him. He demonstrates a good understanding of the character of God when he pleads, ‘Blot out my transgressions.’ This reflects a very evangelical understanding of how God deals with sin. This brings us to the Person and Work of Christ. Hebrews makes it very clear that, ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.’ All the Old Testament sacrifices were only types, shadows, and pictures of Christ’s once-for-all Sacrifice. It is the Blood of Christ Alone which can ‘blot out’ our ‘transgressions.’ David had an evangelical understanding of this, which he reflects by his plea. So, when we come to God, having sinned grievously, we appeal to Him to ‘blot out’ our ‘transgressions,’ by the Blood of Christ. The joyful news for us is that, ‘there is forgiveness with You the You may be reverenced.’ Today, let us look to the Blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin. Here is what will ‘blot out’ our ‘transgressions.’

Our Good and Forgiving God,
we rejoice that there is forgiveness with You.
We praise You that by the blood of Christ,
You do indeed, blot out all of our transgressions.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Have Mercy’

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1

When we have done wrong, and know that we have done wrong, it is hard to face it. The Psalm before us reflects David’s facing his sin with Bathsheba and the evil which he did to orchestrate the death of her husband. David has sinned greatly and now repents deeply. He begins with the cry, ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness.’ When we have sinned against God, and we all do, we can only approach Him on the basis of His Own Character. We come to Him empty-handed, and utterly guilty. David cries for mercy because he cannot speak of merit, nor can he bear the full justice of God, lest it destroy him utterly. He must plead for mercy. To look at this in an evangelical sense, this bring us to Christ. Christ is the most thoroughgoing manifestation of the mercy of God. In Christ, ‘Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.’ Our pleas for mercy, when we have sinned, will lead us inevitably to Christ. We deserve the justice of God. We have boldly and impudently served ourselves instead of obeying Him. We can only hope that He will be merciful to us. That mercy will only arrive upon the scene in the Person of Christ. You may find yourself today upon David’s ground.  In times of spiritual health, we look to Christ to lead us forward in grace.  Now, in our spiritual failure, let us look to Christ to heal us. He is the answer for every season. He is the One to Whom we fly when we need mercy.

Our most Gracious and Kind Savior,
we rejoice that we may ever look to You.
We praise You that You are merciful to us
when we have grieved You most.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning