Repentance Reflections #2                March 12, 2025

Psalm 51:3-4                                        Pastor Ryan Wolfe

Recognizing Against Whom We Sin

King David, the writer of Psalm 51, knew about the nature of sin, but personal experience. Last week we talked about David’s sins and the Lord’s call to repentance through the prophet Nathan. We were reminded how sin, if left unchecked, always leads to more sin, and that God’s people will recognize this by faith and turn from sin in repentance. When we fail to repent, either by denying the depth of our sinfulness or by refusing to turn from something we know is sin— that drives us away from God’s grace and ultimately into unbelief. That’s where David was when Nathan came to him.

Nathan showed David his need for repentance. In turning from his sin, David found God’s grace waiting for him. That’s how it always is. God leads us to see our sin so that we turn back to our Savior Jesus. Tonight, as we continue our Lenten walk to the cross, we consider another facet of sin. Who we sin against. No matter who we hurt with our sin, every sin is an act of rebellion against God. Because of that, David says, God’s judgment is always just.

Nobody likes to admit when they’re wrong. When we have strong opinions on something, it’s hard to understand how someone else might think differently. I mean, we know we’re right, right? The sinful nature in all of us has a strong opinion too. It’s the opinion of the law, or the opinio legis if you want a fancy Latin term for it. The sinful nature in each of us believes that we can keep God’s law and avoid condemnation. Because our sinful flesh so strongly believes this we don’t like to admit our sinfulness. We rationalize sin so that we feel better about ourselves.

The sinful nature likes to think in terms of a scale of justice. When we sin, the sinful flesh wants us to think that it’s within our power to cancel out our sins. We simply need to balance those bad things out with good things. That may work in some relationships, but it does not work with God. God doesn’t tell us just to do more good than bad. He says do no sin. No matter how much good we might try to do, we don’t’ take away any sin from that scale. And even one sin leads to death.

Repentance begins with the recognition that we are both sinful by nature, and sinful in what we have done and said and thought. But part of repentance is recognizing just who we’ve sinned against. In Matthew 22 Jesus summarized the commandments into two commands: love the Lord with all our heart and mind and strength, and love others as ourselves. To do anything less is to disobey his command. That means whenever we sin we are at that very moment rebelling against God, no matter what the sin is or how minor it seems to us or others. In the final analysis, every sin is a sin against the First Commandment. We are sinning against God himself. We are not giving God the glory he deserves.

We don’t like to think of sin in those terms. We’d prefer to downplay sin and its impact on our relationship with God. We sin against others in a moment of weakness. We disobey the authorities, we hurt people who have upset us, we harbor lustful thoughts, we take things that do not belong to us, and we talk about others behind their backs. We realize that these sins may harm our relationship with other people, but we bury the direct impact they have on our relationship with God.

In a logical sense, we compartmentalize our sins or put them into columns under which commandment they break. But that’s a backwards way of looking at God’s law. And it’s a way that can lead to a self-righteous attitude that looks for loopholes or ways to blur the lines between commandments so we can again tell ourselves we’re not doing so bad. The sinful nature knows what it wants and it absolutely will try to tell us the commandment we’re struggling with is just a smaller part of the commandments.

Jesus said, “Love God and love your neighbor.” Love is the most basic summary of God’s law. The commandments then are just specific descriptions of what love does in certain aspects of Christian life. When we sin in any way, when we act or think or feel or say anything that is less than perfectly loving, we put ourselves and our desires ahead of God. Whenever we sin, whatever we do, we ignore God and serve ourselves. Through experience, David understood that and he confesses it plainly in verses 3-4 here. “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and I done what is evil in your sight.”

As we reflect on repentance we recognize just whom it is we have sinned against. Not just our coworker, our spouse, our parent, child, fellow member. We have sinned against no less than God himself.

Knowing that, there is only one thing to say. Like David, we confess, “So you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” I actually really like the EHV translation here. “you are justified when you sentence me. You are blameless when you judge.” God is not unfair in his judgments. Repentance recognizes we all deserve hell for our sins, and God is blameless in doling out his wrath. When we consider his anger over sin we too often forget just who God is.

We know from Scripture that God is beyond our comprehension in every way. He is eternal and unending in every category: time, presence, wisdom. There is no limit to God in any way. He tells us he is also unchanging. Pure. Holy.

The two most important perfect and unlimited qualities of God when it comes to our sin? God is perfectly just without limit. He will—and he must—dispense perfect justice. As a perfectly holy being he hates sin and must punish those who transgress his commandments. Sin separates the sinner from a holy God. Here and forever if nothing changes. But God is also perfectly and unlimitedly loving. He loves without end. And in perfect love, he is merciful to sinners. He desires that all sinners would be saved from his wrath and live forever.

Unbelivers don’t often grasp how both of those qualities can be true in one God, but by faith we do. In perfect justice God must punish sinners for their sins, but perfect love means he wants sinners to avoid that punishment. So how could God be both just and loving at the same time? In only one place – at the cross. In only one person – in Christ. In Jesus, we see God’s perfect love satisfying his perfect justice. David was right, God’s judgment was just, but that judgment didn’t fall on him, and it won’t fall on us who believe.

Jesus willingly became man. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, the Son of God entered the world without sin. As true man, he was subject to the law and required to obey it. And he did! In our place, Jesus did it all. That’s the open door to heaven we heard about last Sunday. In Jesus’ life, righteousness could be credited to us. And in his death, punishment for sin was taken from us. While hanging on the cross, Jesus endured the just judgment of God, the perfect sacrifice for all sinners. And the most famous verse in the Bible tells us that all who believe shall NOT perish but have everlasting life.

Imagine being a fly on the wall in David’s palace. The Holy Spirit led David to realize the depth of his sin. He hadn’t just sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah and his people – he had rebelled against God himself. More important, the Holy Spirit led David to recognize the depth of God’s love for him. And in response, David worshiped his Savior-God in the Psalm’s other verses we heard last week and will focus on in weeks to come.

Today, the Holy Spirit uses David to enlighten us. Through David’s confession, we see the depth of our sinful rebellion, and through God’s mercy to David, we know the depth of God’s love for us. More than that, every Lent we see Jesus our Savior suffering, bleeding, and dying for us. What beautiful peace comes from such an ugly scene! May our response forever be to worship Jesus!

We worship a God of perfect justice AND perfect love. And because of both we turn from our lives of sin and turn to our God of grace. Brothers and sisters repent of your sin and live. Confess your faith in Christ and have peace in the salvation he has won for us. To God be the glory. Amen.