Are You Broken?

Psalms 49-51, “Are You Broken?”

There’s an interesting progression in these three psalms.  Psalm 49 addresses the lie of independence from God & shows that riches & power do nothing to stop the day of death.  Psalm 50 addresses the lie of outward hypocritical worship & shows that God will absolutely judge sin and that He calls us now to repentance.  Psalm 51 then moves to an example of heartfelt repentance and brokenness before the Lord.  We move from the person who didn’t think they needed God at all to the person who understands his desperate need for God’s grace.

Psalm 49 (NKJV) – “Riches Don’t Save”

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

• Introduction…appeal to wisdom.  (Vss. 1-4)

1 Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2 Both low and high, Rich and poor together. 3 My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.

• Call to all the world to hear.  What the psalmist is about to teach applies to all nations, all peoples, all socio-economic classes, etc.  This is a universal truth & everyone needs to hear it & pay attention.
• The psalmist’s mouth may speak wisdom, but ultimately wisdom comes from God.  God’s wisdom is truly WISE…  It’s universally true & universally applicable.

• The futility of riches (vss. 5-13)

5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches,

• No reason to fear!  We don’t know the situation, but perhaps the psalmist felt threatened by someone waving his wealth/power around.  The psalmist takes one look at his adversary & one look at his God & realizes there’s no contest.
• Rich people may boast in their power, but in reality they have none.  Power in this world is nothing in comparison with power in the next world!

7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— 8 For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever— 9 That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit.

• Money can’t buy salvation.
• Money certainly can’t redeem or pay a ransom, but we definitely need to be redeemed!  Our sin has enslaved us to the grave – we’ve earned the wage of eternal death (Rom 6:23), and we need to be purchased out of that. The good news is that this is what Jesus did when He died upon the cross for us!  His blood purchased our redemption.
• The pit = the grave.  Jesus is the only way to escape the grave.

10 For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish.

• For as much as different medical procedures get various amounts of attention, it’s interesting that the death rate has remained remarkably constant: 100%.  Ultimately, 10 out of 10 people die.
• What happens when a rich person dies?  He leaves this earth with the same amount that he came in with: nothing.  The old adage is true: you can’t take it with you.
• The skeptic might say, “Well I might not be able to take any riches with me in the grave, but at least I can build up a house for my family & make my name famous!”  Granted, someone might be able to purchase a name for himself, but no one can buy immortality.  Even if his name is honored after his death, ultimately he’s still dead.  At that point, he’s no different than the animals.

13 This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah

• Don’t delude yourself!  Money can buy a lot of things in this life, but it can buy nothing in the next.

• The promise of God (vss. 14-15)

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.

• Reiteration of the reality of death.  Riches get passed along and beauty disappears.  The most beautiful face in Hollywood will still rot and decay over time.  (Even if the amount of botox & plastic surgeries slow the process down! )
• BTW – the upright will literally have dominion over the dead.  We walk on top of graves.

15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah

• Praise God for the little word: “but”!  Death WILL come to all.  Whether we are rich or poor – whether we are famous or unknown – none of what the earth values as treasure will give us immortality.  Even the most righteous among us will taste death.  But none of us has to stay in death!  God will redeem our souls from the power of the grave!
• Speaks of eternal salvation
• Speaks of physical resurrection

• Application of the teaching (vss. 16-20)

16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; 17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him.

• Don’t fear the rich – their riches and power is temporary.
• We ought to seek after our eternal reward!  This is what Jesus told us to do in the Sermon on the Mount.

18 Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), 19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light. 20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish.

• Deserved praise is better than purchased flattery.
• Without understanding & godliness, man is no better than beasts.  Ultimately, the only thing that separates us from the animals around us is not our intelligence, or our opposable thumbs, or our use of tools, or any of the things the evolutionary scientists attempt to persuade us with – the only thing that separates us from the animals is the favor of God.  We have been made in God’s image.  In the garden, Man fell from that high place – but in Christ Jesus we are restored to what God intended us to be.

Psalm 50 (NKJV) – “God’s Case Against Israel”

A Psalm of Asaph.

• Who was Asaph?  One of the worship leaders of David.  Technically, the name here could have been adopted as a title for his sons who followed Asaph.  Scholars are divided whether or not this is the original Asaph.

• The glory and righteousness of God the Judge (vss. 1-6)

1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.

• This description of God is simply amazing in its power.  In Hebrew, verse one starts off simply by listing the names of God: El Elohim Yahweh.  God – the Majestic Triune God – the Covenant-making Ever-Existent God.
• THIS God is the everlasting Creator
• THIS God shows His favor to Zion, as His attention is upon Jerusalem.  His favor upon the city makes it the perfection of beauty.  It is beautiful because Christ will shine forth from it during the Millennial reign.
• The general idea here is of the glory of God shining out of Jerusalem at the 2nd coming.  This is exactly how the NT describes Jesus at the end of the age.
• Jesus not only comes in glory, He comes in violent judgment.  See vs. 3…

3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.

• Fire, power, and judgment – this is what’s going to be seen at the 2nd Advent.  Obviously at Christmas (the 1st Advent) we celebrate & remember the humility, meekness, and grace of God Incarnate.  Jesus comes to the humblest of families in the most humble of circumstances, even to the point of seeking refugee status from an insane earthly king who wanted to kill the Holy Child. …  Yet at the 2nd Coming, we see a dramatically different picture!  The Lord Jesus will not come in humility, but in power!
• The fire that devours speaks of the all-consuming holiness & judgment of God.  We know this to be both metaphorically & metaphorically true.  Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone (Gen 19), the believer’s judgment will face the purifying fire of Christ (1 Cor 3), Peter writes of the world being dissolved with fervent heat (2 Peter 3).

4 He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people: 5 “Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 6 Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah

• Talking about Judgment Day.  God will call all creation as a witness.
• God will call His covenant people to give an account.
• Question: is this OUR judgment?  Probably not.  This seems to speak of the judgment that will happen after the 2nd Coming.  The Church will have already been raptured prior to the Tribulation, and our judgment (the Bema Seat) will most likely take place during the years of the Great Tribulation.  Contextually in Ps 50, God is judgment His saints who had covenant by sacrifice – a reference to the nation of Israel.  Our covenant with God is based upon Jesus’ sacrifice; not our own.

• Sacrifice is not a bribe (vss. 8-15)

7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God! 8 I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.

• If there were any doubt who this is in reference to, vs. 7 makes it clear: “O Israel.”  This is God speaking to the nation; not to the Church.  Although there are certainly applicable principles to us here, we don’t want to confuse the Church for Israel.  We have but one Messiah, but there are definitely two different peoples.
• Interestingly enough, God is testifying against Israel, but does NOT rebuke Israel for their sacrifices.  Apparently at the time, the nation was being faithful to offer the sacrifices as God had commanded within the Law, and God was not upset with them over the sacrifices.  Apparently the problem was that the outward sacrifice was the extent of Israel’s faithfulness to God.  God desired much more than outward sacrifice & ritual; He desired a full-hearted life change and commitment to Him.
• Christians can find themselves guilty of a similar sin.  Obviously we do not bring physical sacrifices to God – but we do bring our worship and prayers to the Lord.  We do serve Him in various ways within the Body of Christ.  If we’re serving & singing, that’s all well & good – but hopefully that’s not the extent of our commitment to Jesus.  If our worship of God is purely outward, then it’s not really worship at all.

9 I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats?

• God is not asking for more sacrifice – He’s not asking for something to eat.  It’s not as if God is poor & hungry & needs the nation of Israel to feed Him.  It’s not as if Israel falls back on their outward worship that God is going to somehow dry up & wither away.  Their sacrifices were NOT done for God’s sustenance; the sacrifices were supposed to come out of an overflow of their heart.
• How this so often gets forgotten in American Evangelicalism!  We quote this verse so often in terms of God’s physical provision for us (“Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so we know He can provide for us!) – and while that is true, it’s not the point of the passage.  God owns those cattle because God owns the universe.  When we give to God, it’s not as if we are giving to Him something He doesn’t already have.  God does not need our financial giving because He’s poor & He might not be able to sustain His work without our help…perish the thought!  Our God is fully capable of doing whatever He wants to do – with or without us.  On the contrary, our financial giving & worship is supposed to be done out of an overflow of our heart!  We are grateful to God for what He’s done in our lives, so of course we give back to Him.  He’s the one that provided for us in the first place out of His infinite abundance, so our giving back to Him is our declaration of trust that He is indeed our Lord.  IOW, we give to God not because HE needs it, but because WE need to remember that God owns it all.

14 Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. 15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

• What did God want more than a sacrifice of a bull or goat?  A sacrifice of thanksgiving!  A vow of dedication and trust!
• God promises His deliverance to those who trust & worship Him.

• Israel’s crime & wickedness (vss. 16-21)

16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, 17 Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?

• Why quote the Bible if you’re not going to obey it?  Why pretend worshipful spirituality if you’re going throw away Biblical counsel?  This was the problem that God had with Israel.  They had apparently brought plenty of sacrifices, but they neglected the rest of the Law that God gave them.
• Jesus accused the Pharisees of doing the same thing.  They should have done the former without neglecting the latter….
• God goes on to list the specific crimes in vss. 18-20…

18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers. 19 You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit. 20 You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.

• Much of this deals with consent.  Being an accessory to a robbery is just a much of a crime as actually walking into a bank & taking the money.  Apparently the nation of Israel gave their approval to these crimes, even if they actually didn’t commit them themselves.
• Thieves – 8th commandment
• Adultery – 7th commandment
• Lies/Deceit – 9th commandment
• Slander – also the 9th commandment…actually more to the point!

21 These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.

• God may have been silent, but He was not ignorant of the sin.
• God’s silence never equals God’s approval.
• God may be silent for a while, but eventually He WILL bring His correction and discipline.
• The question then becomes: will we confess our sin to God, or will God be forced to make us confess our sins before everyone else?

• Call to repentance (vss. 22-23)

22 “Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver: 23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

• Listen up – God WILL judge!
• What ought to be our response?  (And Israel’s response?)  Go ahead and offer praise, but ALSO order our conduct.  Worship God outwardly, but ensure that our character and actions also reflect that of God’s as well.  THAT’s the person that knows Jesus!
• Jesus told us the same thing at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  The wise builder hears Jesus’ words AND does them.  It’s not about putting on a Christian show because we know the words & the songs & the expectations of outward Christianity – it’s about honest & true faith, which will not only be expressed in our words but our heartfelt actions as well.

Psalm 51 (NKJV) – “David’s Repentance”

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba.

• Although there are many psalms in which we have no idea of the historical context, Psalm 51 makes the context absolutely plain.  [2 Samuel 12.]  When David was finally broken on account of his sin, he understood his need for repentance.  What does repentance look like?  That’s what David wrote about.
• Notice this was given to the Chief Musician.  The typical thought is that any psalm with this designation was specifically to be used in worship.  Think about it for a minute: David’s immense sin and humble confession was used by God to help His people worship.  Even today, David’s experience still helps us worship today!  You may be in the depths of grief because of sin now, but once you confess & repent, how will God use you for His glory?  Was it humbling to be used as an example by God?  No doubt.  But think of the people it helped turn away from similar sin, or bring to conversion & repentance.  This is the amazing grace of God!

• David’s confession of sin (vss. 1-6)

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.

• What did David need?  1st: Mercy!  Not just half-hearted “looking the other way,” but true mercy according the covenant promises & love of God.
• 2nd David needed forgiveness.  “Blot out my transgressions.”  The idea is of a line item in an accounting book getting erased.
• 3rd, David needed cleansing.  It’s one thing to have God show kindness upon him in God’s loyal love – it’s one thing to have the guilt of the sin done away with – it’s another to be cleansed from the stain and the filthiness of it all.
• This is exactly what we’re promised in Christ!  1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” []

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 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.

• There’s hardly a more transparent statement of confession in the Bible.  Confession is simply agreeing with God that our sin is indeed sinful.  That’s what David demonstrates!
• Notice that sin is primarily vertical – it’s against God.  What’s so interesting here is the fact that David’s particular sin here was not done in a room by himself without anyone else around.  Although there’s no such thing as a “victimless” sin, what David did certainly could not have been claimed to be victimless.  He lusted after Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, lied to Uriah, placed his generals in a terrible position, committed murder, and then finally pretended as if nothing ever happened.  There were victims all over the place with this particular sin!  Yet David writes, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight.”  How?!  Because sin is primarily vertical.  Granted, there are always horizontal aspects of sin in its effects with other people, but all sin is first and foremost an offense against God.  God is our Sovereign Lord – He has full authority and jurisdiction over our body, mind, and mouth.  Any rebellion against Him is an act of spiritual treason against the God who created us.  Thus when we sin, we must be reconciled to God!  It’s not that reconciling to others isn’t important (it is – and Jesus tells us to leave our gift on the altar if we remember our brother has an offense against us), but our primary problem is a problem with God.
• Keep in mind that even atheists will apologize & try to be reconciled with friends and family if they feel that they’ve done some offense against them.  Yet their family apology does nothing to solve their spiritual dilemma.  They (and we) must be reconciled to God!

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

• Two valuable truths here.  #1, we sin because we are inherently sinners.  It’s not that we’re otherwise good people that unfortunately fell into a bit of sin; it’s that we’ve been born with a nature of sin.  We inherited a fallen nature from Adam, and it doesn’t matter how “good” we believe we’ve been – we still have sin that needs to be forgiven.
• #2, God desires internal purity.  Our outside could be seemingly scrubbed clean, but we still have that inner nature of sin.  And that’s exactly the place where God desires truth & purity.  It’s not a matter of attempting to cover over our sin on the outside; our inner parts need to be absolutely cleansed and made holy by God.

• David’s prayer for forgiveness (vss. 7-12)

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

• If God cleanses us, they we’re truly cleansed!  We can trust that God is faithful to His promise and His work!

8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.

• David had grieved over his sin, but he desires to hear joy again.  When would this come?  After God’s discipline.  “That the bones You have broken may rejoice.”  We may not enjoy the times of discipline that we experience from God, but God does it for our benefit & because He loves us.
• Again, David asks for forgiveness – praise God that in Christ, God DOES hide His face from our sins, and blot out our iniquities.  The charges that were laid against us – the condemnation that we had incurred because of our sinful thoughts & deeds have all been provided for at the cross of Christ!  There is no wrath of God for the believer in Jesus because God already poured out His wrath upon Jesus at Calvary.  Take heart & rejoice!  It is good to grieve over your sin, but it is also good to rejoice in the promise of your forgiveness & salvation!

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

• God is in the creation business!  2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” []
• Although we might have questions on how this might actually apply to us as believers in Christ, keep in mind this was a very real possibility for David.  He had personally witnessed this happen with Saul.  Because of Saul’s disobedience & lack of faith, God took His Spirit from Saul & took away any possibility of a perpetual covenant & gave it all to David instead.  David rightly fears the same possibility & prays that God would have mercy upon him.
• Because of the work of Christ, the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee – a down payment upon eternity.  The Holy Spirit will not forever depart from us because we have temporarily slipped into sin.  He is gracious & good to His word.  His presence in our lives is based upon the work of Jesus; not our own.
• At the same time, our fellowship with God CAN be broken because of unrepentant sin.  We dare not ignore the need to humble ourselves before God.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

• In contrast to having the Spirit leave him, David prays that he would be upheld/ strengthened by the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26).  When we’ve fallen into sin, we can cry out for the Spirit’s strength & power to help us humbly repent.
• What happens as result of forgiveness?  God’s forgiveness brings joy!
• Too many Christians linger in despair and don’t experience the joy of their salvation because they are unwilling to confess their sin.  They are more afraid of the consequences of their confession than of the breaking of their fellowship with God.  Know this: healing cannot begin until confession takes place.  James 5:15–16, “(15) And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (16) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” [] James makes reference to this in a physical sense, but there’s a spiritual aspect of this which cannot be ignored.

• David’s response to God (vss. 13-17)

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

• What’s one result of David’s own forgiveness?  He has a testimony of God to share to others.  He can help others not make the same mistake that he did & help other sinners be converted to faith in God.
• There is indeed guilt that comes as a result of sin.  Sin isn’t alone in a vacuum – it brings guilt.  Sometimes people have a tendency of forgetting this.  They think “Oh I know I’ve sinned – but it’s no big deal.”  It IS a big deal!  You’ve incurred guilt that needs to be absolved.  And the only way of dealing with it is the cross of Jesus Christ!
• But that guilt can turn to a song of praise upon confession and forgiveness!  Forgiveness is a reason to praise the Lord!
• Again, note the public aspect of this.  David’s sin had been public – his confession is public – and his forgiveness by God & praise of Him would be public as well.

16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

• Interesting comparison with Psalm 50.  In Ps 50, God did not rebuke the nation for their sacrifice, even though they were inwardly wicked.  David goes a step further here & states that any outward worship he did would be hypocritical and worthless if he remained in unrepentant sin.  What was needed far more than ritualistic sacrifice & outward motions was true inner repentance & contrition.
• Is your heart broken because of sin?  We can get so calloused to it & we often don’t see it for what it truly is.  Sin was important enough to God to send His only begotten Son to the cross on our account – yet we treat it as an inconvenience.  “I wish I hadn’t done that – oh well.” “I know I should have done that differently – well, at least I can ask forgiveness later.”  May God make us acutely aware of our indifference & help us repent!  When we’ve sinned, what God desires are not excuses, but a “broken and contrite heart.”

• National prayer (vss. 18-19)

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

• The ending of the psalm seems to come out of nowhere.  Some scholars believe this was a later addition to what David had originally written.  Maybe, maybe not.  Remember that David was obviously the king of the nation – he represented the nation to God, and in many ways helped lead the nation in their worship of God.  With David repenting for himself, he also helps lead the nation in repentance.
• Just as David’s forgiveness would cause him to be a witness to others, the nation’s forgiveness would cause them to rejoice in their own worship of God & be a witness to the nations around them.

Conclusion:

Where do you fall in the spectrum between Psalms 49-51?  Are you the person who believes that your own abilities, power, wealth, etc., is enough to give you everything that you need for eternity?  Are you the person that needs a wake-up call – to come to the understanding that God is not ignorant of our sin?  He will judge ALL sin where it is found; He will hold His people to account…God certainly will not be mocked.  OR are you the person who has had his/her sin revealed to him & now you are in a place of brokenness & confession?

May we be those who stay in that place of brokenness!  Not that we are to live in our guilt; Jesus has dealt with our guilt at the cross & offers us forgiveness & cleansing through faith in Him.  But once we’ve received His forgiveness, may we never move away from that understanding of our desperate need for His grace.  The tendency is for Christians to become easy with the grace we have received & confident in our own abilities – and soon enough we find ourselves in the independence of Psalm 49 all over again.  Sure, we might have faith in Jesus as Lord, but we think we can do it all on our own & we don’t really need God any more.  If that’s you, you need to know that is a lie from the pit of Hell.  There is never a point in our lives that we don’t desperately NEED Jesus Christ & His grace!  Everything we are is absolutely dependent on Him.

Stay in that place of brokenness & dependency & allow Jesus to give you the joy of your salvation.  In response, give Him all the praise that is possible – singing of His righteousness & grace, sharing the testimony of forgiveness to all who will hear.

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