Confession of Contradiction; Petition for Instruction

Review of Psalm 51:1-5 and the Context of David's Confession

0:06 This is the seventh in the series of studies that we are conducting in this that is perhaps the most instructive of all the penitential psalms. David's psalm of confession following the wounding of his heart under the ministry of Nathan,

0:25 that wounding which came when God in His grace dealt with his erring sinning child and sent a prophet to awaken his slumbering conscience and bring him to the place of brokenness that he might once again know the blessedness of fellowship with his God. And I would remind you that we are studying this psalm not just to know how David confessed his sin and how David repented, that we might admire David's penitence and David's confession, but we're studying this as a model for us to follow, that we might learn how to intelligently pray through the fifty prophets when we find ourselves in David's situation with our consciences smarting under the sense of our sin and our hearts desiring to seek the mercy of God. What a blessed thing to be able to fall upon one's knees and open up the fifty-first psalm and not only mouth the words but enter into the very spirit of David. To do so, we must first of all enter into the understanding of David, for it's only as we understand what he meant in these words, that we can enter into the experience of them in our own situation of confession and repentance. Just briefly to review, you'll remember that we had in verses 1 and 2 the two great needs of the convicted sinner.

1:48 He has a problem of legal guilt, and David says, blot out my transgression. He has the problem of personal defilement, and so he prays in verse 2, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. And that's always the two-fold problem that sin creates, the realization that we have broken the holy law of God, the realization that we have been besmirched and fouled, befouled by the sin that we have committed. And then we consider together the only refuge for a convicted sinner, the mercy of God.

2:25 And so David comes pleading nothing but mercy, have mercy upon me, O God, according to the multitude of thy loving kindness, tenderness, and mercy. He pleads this attribute of God above all others, for there is no attribute of God that can give comfort to a convicted sinner but the mercy of God, as expressed to us who live this side of the full revelation of God, His mercy expressed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we have just concluded a study of the three ingredients of true confession as found in verses 3 to 5. The first ingredient is, the painful awareness and acknowledgement of the presence of sin.

3:09 Verse 3, I acknowledge my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. The second ingredient is an awareness and acknowledgement of the nature of sin. Verse 4, Against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. Not only conscious of the presence of sin, but the nature of sin.

3:32 It is against God. And then in verse 5, an awareness and acknowledgement of the root source of sin. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. And if our confession is genuine, though it may not involve those particular words, it will involve those things in substance.

The Substance of Genuine Confession

3:56 There will be a complete owning of the sin, no dodging the issue, no rationalizing, Oh God, this sin is before me, as it is before thee. Oh God, this sin has as its greatest crime that it was against thee. And oh Lord, this sin was the product of what I am, my foul, inherent, natural depravity. Then the last time I talked to you, I said I didn't have sufficient light to preach on verse 6.

4:23 Well, I think I've got enough light to preach on it. And I appreciate the fact that some of you did some homework. I had someone sent me, leave me a couple of pages of homework. Someone gave me a phone call, and said they went to work on this verse, and they felt the Lord had given them a little light, and their light tallied with my light, so at the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything should be confirmed.

4:46 And so I appreciate the fact that what I share with you tonight is not only the fruit of my own study, but also the fruit of the study of others. If enough of you do that, why, I can just leave and go start a new church somewhere, and you can go on, uh, and have a brethren assembly here. All right then, verse 6. Verse 6.

5:09 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

5:30 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free or thy willing spirit.

Sin as a Thief and the Transitional Role of Verse 6

5:53 Verse 6 seems to stand as a transition between the first five verses and then what follows in verses 7, particularly through verse 12. In the first five verses, you have David's honest, open acknowledgement of his sin, his genuine, frank acknowledgement of the presence of sin, the nature of sin, the root of sin, and his plea with God for mercy. Then in the section beginning with verse 10, particularly through verse 12, you have David going back, as it were, and recapitulating and praying for a rest and restoration of that which sin robbed him of. Sin is a great thief. It's like a man coming to the door promising you something, when the only reason he wants to get in the door to give you a little trinket is to steal your house clean. And that's what sin does. And David found to his own bitter experience that sin was a great thief.

6:55 It came to him promising him temporal and transitory delight and pleasure. When it came in terms of this inducement to this adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. Sin came to David, and the sales pitch of sin was this. David, would it not bring great gratification to your appetites to follow the course of your own thinking at this moment?

7:19 And David had to concur. But when he submitted to the seductions of sin, David found that he lost infinitely more than he had gained. You see, sin is such a thief that in promising us thirty minutes' pleasure, it can rob us of a lifetime of virtue. It can take the reputation that has been rightly gained over the years for godliness and consistent walk with God, so that a man who's been an example of piety and true Christian grace, suddenly, in a moment as it were, can be robbed of all of this.

8:01 And David experienced a tremendous thievery of sin. It stole a good conscience. It stole his joy. It stole his witness.

8:10 It stole his sense of the presence of God. And now he's praying, Oh, God, give back all that which sin robbed me of. And that's a vital part of confession. And every one of us who's experienced this, our hearts answer and say, Oh, how well we know that sin is a terrible thief.

8:30 But verse 6 seems to stand pivotal, in a transition period between these two main thoughts that we have in verses 1 to 5 and then following in verses 7 to 12. Well, what do we have then in verse 6? I would like to render the verse as it's found in the RSV, the Revised Standard Version, which renders it as follows. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being.

Confession of Contradiction: What I Am vs. What God Desires

8:56 Therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart, so that the latter part of the verse becomes a petition rather than an affirmation. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being. Therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart. To think our way through the text, consider with me first of all this confession of contradiction.

9:22 You have here a confession of contradiction, and then you have a petition for instruction. You say a confession of contradiction, where do you see that? Well, notice verse 5 begins with Behold, and verse 6 begins with Behold. There seems to be a paralleling here in David's mind.

9:45 He says, Behold, O God, look upon me. I was shaped in an iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, God, I am sinful to the very core of my being.

9:57 That's what I am. But behold, Lord, you desire that I be truth to the very roots of my being. This is what I am, seen to the core of my being. This is what thou desirest, truth in the core of the being.

10:12 O God, behold the great contradiction between what I am and what thou dost desire. This seems to be the thought that is in David's mind as he prays. Do you sense it? Behold, I was shaped in.

Defining Biblical Truth and Inward Parts

10:25 Behold, thou desirest the great chasm between what God requires and what David finds himself to be. Now, let's define several words that he uses. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Now, the concept that David had of truth is the biblical concept, which is never that primarily of simply statements that are valid in an abstract form to which we nod the head.

10:57 We say, Oh yes, George Washington was first President of the United States. That is true, a truth of history. I assent to that truth. It won't affect what I eat, how I sleep.

11:08 It won't affect what I do at the job, how I drive my car. It has no practical relationship to my life. It's a fact of history. I assent that it's true and I receive it as a truth.

11:20 Now, when the Scripture speaks of truth, it always has overtones that go far beyond that. Listen as Job says in Job 28 and verse 28. And this, as it were, gives us a key to the biblical concept of truth. Job 28 and verse 28.

11:39 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. Indicating that to know something in its truest sense, to know revealed truth, is that that truth has an effect upon the life. And upon the experience. It's used in this sense as a synonym with integrity, uprightness, holiness.

12:10 O God, Thou desirest uprightness. Thou desirest integrity. Thou desirest holiness, purity in the inward parts. Truth is not simply abstract facts to which men assent, but they are living realities which affect and transform the life.

12:30 Now David says, Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts or in my inward being. In other words, the deep recesses of life. Another word, the heart. God desires that truth in all of its sanctifying, purifying, elevating power take up its residence in the deep recesses of our being.

12:54 For David recognized that the heart is the seat and spring of all of life. And whatever is rooted in the heart will be expressed in the life. Whatever rules in the heart will rule in the life. We read in Proverbs 4.23, Guard thy heart above all that thou guardest, for out of it are the issues of life. David here acknowledges that God desires truth to reign in those deep recesses of the human personality, that reigning there, the whole life might be dominated by truth which will result in holiness and purity. But in contrast, he says, I was shaped in an iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive me.

13:40 God, what I've done, has its roots ultimately in the fact that I am depraved to the core of my being. So here's the great contradiction. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts, but O Lord, I am sinful to the very roots of my inward parts. Here is the grave contradiction.

Lessons from the Contradiction: Inflexible Standard and Deep Roots of Sin

13:59 Have you been made aware of that contradiction? David was as he confessed his sin to his God. And there are some tremendously helpful lessons to be learned from this confession of contradiction. Several lessons to be learned about the matter of conviction of sin.

14:20 First of all, the only person who's convicted of sin is the one who views the standard of God as inflexible. The thing that caused David to confess this contradiction was this. Thou desirest truth in the inward part. Lord, this is what you require.

14:39 And even though I'm a fallen creature, you have not bent your standard to accommodate yourself to my natural depravity. You see, if David had the idea that God's standard for his creatures was flexible and that God accommodated his requirements to man's condition and said, well, since you're a fallen creature and you will act consistent with your nature, I won't require truth in the inward parts. Since you're a sinner by nature and birth as well as by choice, it would be wrong for me to require that you be anything other than sin. Therefore, I won't require truth in the inward parts.

15:15 Why, David would have experienced no conviction. But the thing that produced conviction was his recognition that the standard of God was inflexible. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. That's what you desire.

15:29 But Lord, this is what I am. But what I am has not changed your requirement. What I am has not in any way relaxed your standard. If you and I live in a realm of moral relativism, there'll be no conviction.

15:43 And we've reared a generation who can feel no conviction of sin because they've been reared on the diet of moral relativism. Nothing is absolute anymore. And I trust, as I've been sounding this note quite often recently, you realize it's not simply because of a lack of other things to say, but I feel it's one of the crucial issues in our day. For this spirit of relativism is creeping in to some of the most unlikely places.

16:12 And I could give names and places and examples that would cause some of you to drop your jaw. Where the whole concept that God who is changeless and who knows man in his basic sinfulness and he hasn't been one whit different basically from that fall in the garden, God has made certain pronouncements of his requirement upon his preachers and they will not change. For God is the same and man is the same and his law is forever settled. David experienced conviction because he viewed the standard of God as inflexible.

16:52 And then another lesson that I see in this text is that conviction is only possible when we realize that the standard of God touches the deep roots of our being. He said, Lord, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. As David confesses his sin he starts, as it were, on the upper level. He says, Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity.

17:18 Cleanse me from my sin. He's acknowledging here his adultery, his murder, starting with the deeds and the acts. But now notice where he is. He's down into the very deepest caverns and recesses of the human personality.

17:31 Lord, Thou desirest truth in the deep hidden inward parts. David recognized what you and I must recognize. There'll be no conviction of sin in the biblical sense unless we realize that God's standard touches not only what we do but the intents, the thoughts, the attitudes, the deep basic springs, the inward parts, as he calls them in our text. David recognized that outward conformity was not acceptable.

18:04 It was one thing for David to repent of the deeds. It was another thing for him to trace the deeds back to their source and to mourn the fact that at the roots of his being there was a problem. One of the great differences between the child of God and the mere professing Christian is that the professing Christian is only concerned with his outward appearance. If his life and his conduct is such that he is accepted by his peers, by those about him in the church, looked upon as a relatively good Christian, he's content.

18:41 Content. You'll never find him alone mourning the fact that there's problem, a problem in the inward parts. Whereas the true Christian, one of the clearest marks that he is a true Christian, that he's a man who's vitally concerned about the inward parts. Now he's not only concerned about the inward.

19:00 The true Christian is concerned about the inward and then its expression outward into the most minute details of his life. A man who's genuinely concerned about his inners will be concerned about his outers. But you can be concerned about your outers and not be concerned about your inners. What was it that Whitfield said?

19:24 He got on the boat and he began to... What was the phrase?

19:29 Something like that. He began to not examine their hearts. It was much more...

19:34 It was a phrase somewhat similar to this. He began to examine their inners. Something like that. What he meant was he began to probe the surface and wanted to see if these people who were professing churchmen, who had been baptized in the Church of England, who made a confession of faith at their confirmation, he wanted to see if there was a concern for the inward parts.

The Mark of a True Christian: Concern for Inward Parts

19:54 For he recognized that this is the essence of true Christianity. It's involved with the heart. And so I cannot help but ask you the question tonight. Do you know anything of this concern with the inward parts?

20:09 Or do you only confess that which is obviously sin, to others? You see, David had done his job as far as human beings are concerned when he got as far as verse 3. I acknowledge my transgression. All right, Lord, I've sinned.

20:23 All right, that clears him before others. David's repented. Fine. But he doesn't stop there.

20:28 For this was not primarily written or not primarily penned for you and me, but it was in its original setting penned as David's honest confession to his God. And he goes beneath the surface of the act to the very disposition of his heart. And that forms one of the great differences between the child of God, the true child of God, and the mere professor. The difference between a mature saint and an immature saint is the measure to which the heart is guarded.

20:57 Do you guard your heart, as the writer to Proverbs says, above all that thou guardest? That's what David is doing here, concerned about the heart. And there's a great lesson for us here. And then in his words, Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts.

The Nature of Truth: Living, Dominating, Sanctifying Principle

21:13 There is not only a vital lesson about conviction, that it's only present when we view the standard of God as inflexible, only possible when we realize that that standard touches the depths of our being, our attitudes and dispositions as well as our acts. But there is a great lesson here about truth. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts. That truth is something more, as we mentioned earlier then, ascent to abstract propositions, but it's a living, dominating principle which brings with it godliness and holiness.

21:47 Let me quote several verses, both from the Old and the New Testaments, that capture this concept. I believe you'll get it better by seeing it embodied in certain phrases of the Scripture than by my trying to give a formal or technical definition of it. In Psalm 43 and verse 3, notice the prayer of the psalmist. O send out thy light, and thy truth.

22:15 Let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go to the altar of God unto God, my exceeding joy. Notice what he says. Let the truth be the instrument by which I come into living, vital fellowship with my God.

22:35 He doesn't say, send out light and truth, that I may know some propositions. No, no. His prayer is, send out light, illumination, and thy truth. Let them lead me to thy holy hill, to thy tabernacles, that I may go to the altar of God, unto God.

22:54 Notice the progression. Let them lead me to thy hill. Well, David, do you want the hill? No.

23:00 Well, let them lead me to the tabernacle. Is that what you want, the tabernacle? No. Well, let them lead me to the altar.

23:05 Well, do you want the altar? He said, no. The hill, the tabernacle, the altar, as a means to the end, that I may stand before my God. He said, I want truth to lead me into living, vital fellowship with my God.

23:20 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, that impartation by the grace of God, of His truth that leads to vital fellowship. Proverbs 16 and verse 16. Proverbs 16 and verse 6, I'm sorry. By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil.

23:56 Here, truth is mentioned in its instrumental, as the instrumental cause of purging away iniquity, and by the fear of the Lord, departing from evil. Again, truth is seen, not as simply some propositions to which one assents, but a principle which is active in living, leading to fellowship with God, leading to the purging away of iniquity. Malachi 2 and verse 6. Malachi 2 and verse 6.

24:29 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. The law of truth was in his mouth, not as something divorced from his heart and life, but something that affected even the way he spoke, and iniquity was not found in his lips. Truth was a living, dominating, shaping, molding principle affected his speech.

25:03 John 3 and verse 21. John chapter 3 and verse 21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Here the possessor of truth is described as a man who longs for exposure of his conduct.

25:35 He's not willing to hold certain propositions off here in an airtight category and allow his life to be unaffected. No, he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. And then there are many other references. Our Lord said, Thou shalt know the truth, and the truth shall what?

25:55 Not pad your head or make you feel proud of your learning, but the truth shall make you free. Truth liberates. And then we read in Titus 1.1, the truth which is according to godliness.

26:07 And on and on we could go, multiplying scriptures which all cluster around this basic theme that David mentions in this prayer. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward part. The truth of God doth so permeate my being that I will experience its sanctifying, purifying effects in my life. And so we have in the first part of this text a confession of contradiction.

Petition for Instruction: God Alone Can Impart Inward Truth

26:36 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. But then it's followed with a petition for instruction. Though thou desirest this and by nature I am not that way, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

27:01 Rather than rendering it as we have in the King James and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know, it could well be rendered as it is in the RSV, a petition. Therefore make me to know wisdom in my secret heart. Notice what he acknowledges. That that which God requires only God can impart.

27:26 Thou desirest truth in the inward parts, but Lord though you desire this I have no power to attain it. Teach me truth in my inward parts. He acknowledges his utter dependence upon God for this work. And I think that this is perhaps one of the most difficult lessons that I have to try to learn as a Christian.

27:50 That only God can impart the truth in this way so that it becomes a living, sanctifying, transforming principle rather than simply abstract propositions to which I assent. And David in his prayer recognizes that. Lord thou must teach me truth in the hidden part. And of course this truth is emphasized in many parts of the scriptures.

28:18 In John 3 and verse 27 we read a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. David prayed open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Paul prayed in Ephesians 1.17 that God would grant the spirit of wisdom and revelation to these Christians that they might know certain spiritual truths.

28:44 And as David falls before his God confessing his sin, recognizing that the problem is not that he goes as far as the deep springs of the secret areas of his life, he says, O God, only thou can teach me truth in those inward parts. And he acknowledges his dependence upon God and calls upon him to perform in him that which he requires but that which he cannot do of himself. It's as though David says, O God, if only truth had reigned in the moment of temptation this would never have happened. Somehow folly and falsehood had to be reigning or I never would have submitted.

29:26 For the scripture likens sin to folly. And it's only when folly reigns in the inward parts that we succumb to sin. If truth is reigning in the inward parts truth liberates, truth sanctifies, truth leads to fellowship with God not to the breach of fellowship. Truth leads to the purging of iniquity rather than to the involvement of iniquity.

Truth as a Preventative Against Temptation

29:49 And isn't this basically our problem in the context of truth? In the context of temptation? If I were to ask you the next time you're tempted to succumb to some lust or some inducement or temptation to evil, do you believe that that evil will rob you? You'd say, yes.

30:05 Do you believe that sin will stain your conscience and be a blot? Yes. Do you believe that that sin will bring grief? We'd say, oh yes, that's true.

30:14 But if we succumb, why do we succumb? It's because at that moment folly has somehow taken up its rule in the hidden parts rather than wisdom. For if truth and wisdom are reigning when temptation to sin comes we will be governed by that truth and we'll have as it were our spiritual bearings and spiritual sanity enough to refuse the temptation. And to say as did our Lord when He was induced to evil with a calmness that is beautiful, it is written, that's your inducement.

30:50 But the truth of the matter is this and I am committed to truth. And He turned from sin. You see, it's not by quoting verses to the devil that you get victory over temptation. I used to get frustrated.

31:03 Everybody told me, well, one of the ways you fight temptation is with the Word of God. And they take Matthew 4 as an example where Jesus quoted verses to the devil. Well, you can quote verses to the devil while you're sinning. You see, it wasn't quoting verses to the devil that our Lord brought deliverance to our Lord.

31:19 What He was doing was, what He was doing was this. The devil came and said, now look, the truth of the matter is this. You're the Son of God, aren't you? Yes.

31:27 Well, if you're the Son of God, then it's only obvious that you're the object of your Father's tender concern. We'll all agree to that. And certainly, since He's allowed you to come as a true man and you've gone forty days and forty nights without anything to eat, it's only reasonable that you should have something to eat. So why don't you turn those stones into bread?

31:49 Looks like a pretty reasonable proposition, doesn't it? Doesn't it? But our Lord says, no, the truth of the matter is this. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

32:02 And my Father has not yet revealed to me that it's time for me to break my fast. My Father's revealed to me that it is not His will as yet that I eat. So truth possessing me in the inward parts, here I stand on truth. It's written.

32:16 I'm committed to truth. You see, truth reigned in His inward parts. He could not be turned aside. And then you see the same sequence in the other temptations.

32:26 Why don't you go on up there to the pinnacle of the temple? You know, a fellow can't be a success unless he has something sensational about him. If you're just one of these run-the-mill preachers, nobody will ever listen to you. So do something astounding.

32:39 Fall down from the pinnacle. The Scripture says that His angels will take charge of you, that you will not dash your foot against a stone. Sounded pretty reasonable, didn't it? Our Lord turned and said, No, the truth of the matter is this.

32:54 Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. It would be tempting, my Father, to put myself in a way of danger that is not pressed upon me by His will. The truth of the matter is this. I shall not tempt Him.

33:05 I am committed to truth. You see what it means to have truth reigning in the inward parts, so that in the context of temptation, when the inducement to evil and sin comes, truth stands there as a preventative. As it were, immaculating us against that temptation, and we affirm in the context of that temptation that our commitment is to the truth. And David says, O Lord, only You can teach truth this way.

The Holy Spirit's Role in Imparting Truth to the Heart

33:33 And if you don't believe that, you just teach a Sunday school class for a while, or you young men preparing for the ministry, you just preach a while, and you'll be convinced that only God can teach truth this way. For you will stand and seek to be plain in your explanation of truth, be specific in your application of truth, and yet people will go right smack out from the very place where you've been preaching and do the very thing that utterly contradicts the truth you've preached when five minutes earlier they've shaken your hand saying, thank you for the truth you gave me this morning. And if you don't see it in others, you'll see it in your own heart. And so David says, Lord, as You desire truth in the inward parts, therefore do Thou teach me truth in my secret heart. Lord, You must teach me. And when we begin to learn that, what a difference it'll make when we come to hear the Word of God. We'll come not expecting primarily something from the servants of God, but we'll come crying out, O Lord, as Your servants open the Word, O Lord, do Thou teach me the truth in the inward parts.

34:43 The preacher can bring the truth to the outer ear, but O Lord, only Thou can spring it to the inner heart where it will possess me and grip me and mold me and have its blessed fruits of sanctification. Only God can teach the truth there. Only God can. Now we who are called upon to teach it to the outer ear, we ought to do all within our power to make sure it falls lovingly, firmly, clearly, emphatically, and all the rest, fall as best it can upon the outer ear.

35:12 But when we've done all to make sure it falls as best as we can make it fall upon the outer ear, we must prostrate ourselves before God, crying out to Him to send His Spirit that it would fall upon the inner ear. That's what you Sunday School teachers must do. Don't just pray that God will open the inner ear, because if it doesn't come with some semblance of clarity and organization to the outer ear, it's doubtful it'll ever get to the inner ear. But when you've done all within your power to make sure it comes to the best of your ability here, now cry out to the One who by His ability and who alone can make it fall upon that inner ear.

35:48 That seems to be the sense of David's prayer. Thou shalt make me to know wisdom in the hidden part, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret. Oh, I trust as we, with David, are sinners, even though we are redeemed, justified sinners, and the problem of sin is with us till that day when we are brought into the presence of our Lord, that we'll be able to intelligently and heartily enter in to the prayer of Psalm 51, that our dealings with our sin will go beneath the surface of the act, tracing back to the very source in our inherent depravity, and then, as it were, crying out to God for that deep heartwork of His Spirit that truth may be set up in those deep recesses, in all of its sanctifying, liberating, life and power. Well, I think that's what David's praying about in Psalm 51, 6. I'm sure there's much more there. And if I'm around to preach on that text five years from now, I hope I understand a little bit more in my head and in my heart of what he's saying there.

37:05 But I trust that these thoughts will be of help to you as God's people as you seek to deal scripturally with sin when you've been made aware of that sin by the wounding, pricking work of God the Holy Spirit. Let us unite in prayer.