Psalm 51

01 August 2010
St Cuthbert’s

Introduction

Have you ever made a mistake, a bad mistake?

SLIDE

The Times December 9 2005

CLUMSY typing cost a Japanese bank at least £128 million and staff their Christmas bonuses
yesterday, after a trader mistakenly sold 600,000 more shares than he should have.

The trader at Mizuho Securities, who has not been named, fell foul of what is known in
financial circles as “fat finger syndrome” where a dealer types incorrect details into his
computer. He wanted to sell one share in a new telecoms company called J Com, for 600,000
yen (about £3,000).

Unfortunately, the order went through as a sale of 600,000 shares at 1 yen each.

That error alone would have been bad enough, but the consequences were much worse
because 600,000 shares represents more than 40 times the total number issued by the
company, and the vast discrepancy effectively created a technical shortage of shares, worth
about £1.6 billion.

Despite Mizuho’s attempts to rectify the mistake, some estimates put the possible financial
damage to the firm at about 60 billion yen — a figure that may be big enough to destabilise
the securities arm of what is one of the four largest financial groups in the world.

A trader at a rival firm said: “Someone in that office had to pick up the phone to his boss and
authorise the use of billions of company dollars to correct a stupendous cock-up. Not a call
you want to be making a couple of weeks before Christmas bonuses.”

Mizuho said it was discussing with the Tokyo stock exchange how to deal with the matter.
There is a chance that Mizuho will persuade the Tokyo exchange, which is under pressure for
allowing the obviously mistaken trade to go ahead, to have it cancelled.

As if the hapless trader was not unpopular enough, the firm also cancelled its end-of-year
party, scheduled for last night.
FALLIBLE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

February 2005: A broker tried to sell 15,000 shares in music publisher EMI at 280¼p but
instead placed an order for 15 million in a transaction worth £41.5 million

April 2003: A trader accidentally bought 500,000 shares in GlaxoSmithKline, the

pharmaceuticals group, at £13.00 each when the market price was 70p less

November 2002: A market maker confused the price of Ryanair shares in euros and sterling,
sending the London quote up more than 61 per cent, from 404.5p to 653.7p

October 2002: A keyboard error at Eurex, the world’s largest derivatives market, halted trade
for three hours and caused its index to fall 500 points after an unidentified London trader
entered the wrong price during a futures transaction

September 2002: A Eurex trader intended to sell one futures contract when the DAX,
Germany’s index of leading shares, reached 5,180. Instead he sold 5,180 contracts, sending
the market into a free fall. Five hours later the exchange announced the cancellation of a raft
of other trades

December 2001: A trader at UBS Warburg, the Swiss investment bank, lost £71 million in
seconds while trying to sell 16 shares in Japanese advertising giant Dentsu at 600,000 yen
each. He sold 610,000 shares at six yen each

May 2001: A trader at Lehman Brothers mistyped a trade and wiped £30 billion off the stock
market. He wanted to sell £3 million of stock but typed too many zeros and sold £300 million.
The bank suffered a £20,000 fine for his clumsiness

November 1999: A dealer put his elbow on the keyboard and inadvertently placed 600 trades
in 16,000 of the Premier Oil’s shares at 19p, worth more than £1.8 million

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We all make mistakes.

So, for example, I made a mistake myself on Thursday…

Water rocket at Nursery service….. SLIDE x 2

There is a difference, though, between a mistake and a crime. A crime

occurs when someone deliberately decides to do something they know
to be wrong, or does something they should have known was wrong.
There is no such intentionality about a mistake.

What’s the difference, then, between a crime and a sin? A crime is an

offence committed against the law of the land. A sin is an offence
committed against God. Sometimes there is an overlap: if I murder or
steal, I both commit a crime and a sin, I transgress against the law of
the land and also against the law and therefore person of God.

But there are also areas where crime and sin do not overlap. I hate
your shirt. I am jealous of your car. I want to have sex with your
wife. None of those things are criminal. But they are sinful. It is
important that we observe this Godward or theological dimension of
sin, for it is only when we bring God into the picture that sin becomes
an issue. Without God there would be no sin, or more accurately,
there would still be sin, but it would have no label. That is exactly
what has happened in our society.

Whatever happened to sin?

In some respects the marginalisation of sin is a good thing. After all,

it is not the subject which cheers people up all that much. Also, the
church has, historically, tended to be sin obsessed and has often used
its talk of sin and the consequences of it as a rod with which to control
or exploit.

Repent and believe KJV

Do penance and believe Vulgate Dei paenitemini et credite evangelio

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Dave Allen programme intro
In another respect, it is a bad thing, a very bad thing. Bad in terms of
people’s relationship with God – why bother with God if He is only
some sort of optional extra rather than the awesome reality that the
bible describes - but also bad for people’s relationships with one
another and themselves - note the deep psychological insights
contained in Psalm 51 which was written 2500 years before Freud.

Out, in many quarters, has gone a sense of moral responsibility and

accountability, of humility and respect, of a desire to live according to
set values and standards. In has come individualism, self-
determination, autonomy, an I'm right philosophy the results of which
are visible in very daily paper and every trip to Tesco’s.

All of which makes Psalm 51 important because it is the most famous

of the penitential psalms and not only that, probably the most famous
confession in the bible barring that of the prodigal son - i have sinned
against heaven and you and am no longer worthy to be called your son
- and the publican- God have mercy on me a sinner - both found in
Luke’s Gospel.

Note, incidentally, that there are only seven penitential psalms out of a
total of 150. And so we might say, penitence is important, but it does
not dominate the OT let alone the NT which I think holds a number of
important implications which there isn’t time to go into here.

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I. Realisation

Houston we have a problem! Famous words

David didn’t think he had a problem….

He had risen from shepherd boy to king on a wave of popular support.

He had been chosen by God to lead His people.
He had been enthroned as king in a new capital city.
He could decide what he would and wouldn't do

And so…

SLIDE
1
And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth
to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and
they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried
still at Jerusalem.
2
And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and
walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman
washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3
And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this
Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
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And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he
lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto
her house.
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And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

c.f. Psalm title

Not content with taking another man’s wife when he was away at war,
a deed which involved both wrong desire and theft, David added to it
murder and deception by having the unfortunate Uriah killed.

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David had, however, forgotten the Lord and so was brought up short
by the prophet Nathan who, after telling a powerful story about the
exploitation of a poor man by a rich man, pointedly declared ‘You are
the man!’ with the result that David was brought to his senses.

No one, you see, is exempt from the judgement of God not David, not
me, not you, not any of us.

Harrod’s clamping SLIDE

Hence his cry for mercy and acknowledgement of wrongdoing.

We see the depth of David’s acknowledgement of his wrong doing in

the language that he uses

1: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to

your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2:Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

Transgressions = rebellion (note the plural)

Iniquity = waywardness, going off track
Sin = failure, failing short

In addition, David understands that what he had done went deeper

than a one off aberration. It said something about who he was in
himself

3:For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4:Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so
that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5:Surely
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

This is not, as with us, an attempt at self-justification, trying to shift

the blame like a stubborn teenager - Its not my fault!!! – rather it is an
admission of further guilt
IX. Of Original or Birth-Sin.
Original sin… is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that
naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far
gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil,

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II. Repentance

David does not, cannot, leave things there. His realisation of the
wrongness of what he had done and the waywardness of his heart,
leads Him to turn to God for mercy.

SLIDE

Note the way He begins the Psalm with such confidence

1: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to

your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2:Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

David knew that the Lord was holy, that is, He was pure and so
against all that is wrong. But he also knew that He was loving, hence
he speaks of mercy, unfailing love and great compassion. It is as if
the three qualities of God he describes cancel out David’s
transgressions, iniquity and sin - and that they do!

More specifically, David asks that all that was wrong in his life be

Blotted out = wipe away, like writing from a book

Washed away = put me in the washer on 60 degrees
Cleansed = make me clean, remove that which spoils or stains

He then enters into a further round of appeals in vv.6-8

6:Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost
place. 7:Cleanse 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 you have
crushed rejoice. 9:Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

This demonstrates that David’s repentance, his turning around, is not

some simply a religious transaction, a ‘lick and a promise’ as we
might say, but is a deeply personal dealing with God

c.f. Teresa and me

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III. Renewal
SLIDE

David does not stop there and I'm glad he doesn't. What would it say
to us if he had? That sin could be forgiven, but that there was no hope
for David or any of us of ever being different.

What David asks for is a renewal of his spiritual, his inner life. A new
beginning, a re-creation (c.f. the word used in v.10)

10:Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11:Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12:Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to
sustain me.

Note the language of the ‘inner person’

o A pure heart
o A steadfast spirit within
o A willing spirit

Its not that the bible is unconcerned with outward behaviour – it is –

but it makes it clear that outward behaviour springs from inner
motives and feelings and that these are the root of the problem.

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IV. Restoration

SLIDE

And then in vv.13-17 David offers his life afresh to God to be used in
His service, which is what lies at the heart of true worship. In so
doing, he looks ahead to the time when he will be of service to God
and he does so, once again confident in God’s mercy

c.f. v.14
c.f. v.17b

13:Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
14:Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will
sing of your righteousness. 15:O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare
your praise. 16:You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not
take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17:The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

SLIDE

Finally, David prays for Jerusalem

SLIDE

18:In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19:Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

An odd, though important conclusion, which whether it was added to

the Psalm later or not, shows that David’s determination to get things
right with God wasn’t simply about his personal well being, but was
also about the well being of others. The same is true today

c.f. William Wilberforce

It also demonstrates that God is not averse to religious activity, only

when it has no true meaning (v.17 c.f. 19)

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Conclusion

What about us? None of us are kings. None of us have done what
David did. But I don’t need to be a prophet to know that each of us, in
our own way, has rebelled against God, has gone off track and has
fallen short. I suppose that this is the reason that these words have
spoken to people so powerfully over so many hundreds of years.

Like David was, for quite some time we might not be aware that there
is a problem. We might, like Charlie Brown, be accustomed to shoot
out bows and then paint the target around where the arrow lands

SLIDE

But once we remember who God is and what His standards are, then
like David, we must make if not the words then the sentiments of
Psalm 51 our own.

And as we do so, we, like David, can be confident that God will
forgive, renew and restore us

SLIDE
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If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness.

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