Dealing with Sin Because it is Sin

Introduction to Psalm 51 and David's Penitence

0:02 I shall make just a few remarks for the visitors who are with us tonight.

0:09 This psalm is the basis of our Sunday evening studies, or has been for some ten weeks, and will be, the Lord willing, for some weeks to come. We are studying this 51st psalm, which is perhaps the greatest of those psalms called the Penitential Psalms, psalms which in a peculiar way focus upon the actings of the heart of David or the other psalm writers when they were conscious of sin and were drawing near to God, imploring him for forgiveness.

0:46 Penitence, not penance, the perversion of the teaching of the Roman Church, by which you gain merit. No, penitence, true penitence, the attitude of a man who, knowing he has no merit, but is seeking God for forgiveness and for God to put to his account the merits of Christ. Penitence is one of the most important graces that can be cultivated within the heart of a true Christian. And so we are studying David's Penitential Psalm as a model of true penitence, that understanding the principles that moved him into this state of true penitence, we too, by the grace of God, may be brought into that state of penitence.

1:29 And may find ourselves able not only to mouth the 51st Psalm, but to enter in with our hearts to this cry that begins, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest.

2:10 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 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 white.

2:29 Lighter than snow, make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Thus far we have studied the eight verses that I have just read, seeing the sinner's only refuge in the mercy of God, seeing David acknowledge the fact of his sin, my sin is ever before me, seeing David acknowledge the nature of sin against thee and thee only have I sinned, he's acknowledged the root of sin, he acknowledges he was a sinner from his very birth, and then as we saw last week, not until he has honestly faced the question of sin, does he even begin to deal with the consequences of his sin, namely the loss of joy.

3:15 But in verse 7, David does pray, verse 8, I'm sorry, that God would make him to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which were broken might rejoice. David feels in this verse as a man whose every bone, every bone has been utterly crushed, and he's crying to God, that as God speaks words of pardon and forgiveness, he may be like a man whose bones, though crushed, were instantly healed, and this would be David's joy. But it's interesting as we come to study verse 9 tonight, that having mentioned the matter of joy, he returns immediately to the basic issue of the entire psalm, namely dealing with sin because it is sin,

The Meaning of David's Prayer: 'Hide Thy Face' and 'Blot Out'

3:58 not because of what it means, not because of what it did to him, robbed him of his joy or his peace or his blessing, but because it was an affront to God, because it was something vile in the sight of God. And having mentioned his need for a restoration of joy, he immediately returns in verse 9 to the basic theme of the psalm, and he cries out, hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Now as I've done in past nights, I've done in past nights, I want to take a few minutes to just lay out as simply as I can, the Lord helping me, the meaning of the words. What did David mean when he said, hide thy face from my sins,

4:43 and blot out mine iniquities, and having discovered the basic meaning of the words, then we want to spend the majority of our time with the principles that are bound up in those words. Very well then, what did David mean when he prayed, hide thy face from my sins? Now it's obvious he's using poetic language, for first of all, God doesn't have a face.

5:11 I heard the incident one time when Dr. Walter Martin, no relation to mine, except I believe a brother in the Lord, was in a meeting where some Mormons were present, and he was discussing some of the errors of Mormonism, one of which, perhaps the most basic, is that they teach that God is not spirit, but God has a body, and so the man was seeking to prove that God has a body, and he found the verses that speak of the face of God, speak of the feet of God, the eyes of God, the ears of God, and he said, see, you've constructed an entire body, and this to him was proof that God had a body. Well, Mr. Martin, in his very deft way, completely annihilated this man's position by simply saying, will you please open to Psalm 90 or 91, whatever it is,

5:55 in verse such and such, and he opened up, he said, now read it out loud, and it speaks of hiding under the, the pinions of God and under his feathers. Well, you see, the man saw the implication. If God has pinions and feathers, then God must be a bird, you see. How ridiculous.

6:15 Well, we have the same thing here, in that when David prays, hide thy face from my sins, he is not thinking that God is actually a great giant somewhere with a great big face, such as you might see on one of the huge billboards on 8th Avenue. No, no, God doesn't have a face in a physical sense, for the scripture says in John 4, 24, God is spirit. The very essence of God is spirit.

6:41 He has no body.

6:44 So this is poetic language. We also know it's poetic language because nothing can truly be hid from God. The scripture tells us in Hebrews 4, in verse 12, that all things, all things are naked and opened before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. This same psalmist, in Psalm 139, said, There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

7:12 Thou knowest or understandest my thought afar off,

7:18 seeming to indicate that David says, even before the thought becomes resident in my consciousness, God knew it as it was rising up from the subconscious or being framed or formed in my mind. So this is poetic language. And when you come to poetic language, don't handle it as though it were hysterical, it's poetry. Now, thank God, it's inspired poetry.

7:40 So it conveys a tremendous thought. And what does David mean, then, when he uses the poetic form, hide thy face from my sins? Well, he's using a figure that is obvious to all of us. Have you ever come upon a scene, perhaps there's been some kind of a tragic accident, and when you started to look at it, you turned away in awe.

8:02 You see, you saw something to which everything in you recoiled, and so you turned away, and you hid your face from that which was there. You could gaze upon it if you chose to. It was there to be gazed upon, but because it was repugnant to you, you hid your face from it. Now, that's the picture that David uses here.

8:24 He cries out and said, O God, the sin that I have committed so repugnant to your holiness, such an affront to your majesty, to your glory, and to your love. O God, hide your face from it. Turn away from looking upon my face. We read in Jeremiah 16 and verse 17, a verse that I think is a good commentary upon David's thought.

8:51 For mine eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hid from my face. Neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. Again, poetry.

9:02 God has no face, no literal eyes, but he says that their sins are before me just as much as I might take any object of my life. I'm not going to take any object of my life. I'm not going to take any object of my life. The watch that is upon my wrist and set it dead center before my gaze about yea distance away so that it's in perfect focus.

9:17 God says their sins are in perfect focus before my eyes. I look upon them in all of their ugliness and because of this, I will bring judgment upon them. So when David prays, hide thy face from my sins, he's crying out that God will not look upon one of his sins any longer. And then he follows with this phrase, and blot out all mine iniquities.

9:46 Now when you blot something out, you erase it. You utterly obliterate it. You wipe it off. And that's the figure used here.

9:55 The same word is used when the psalmist is praying in Psalm 109 and verse 13 that God would blot out the remembrance of the wicked from the earth. He's praying that God would utterly destroy every last remembrance of them. That's the strength of this word. Now why does David use it here?

10:14 Blot out, erase, strike from the record as it were my sin. Well, for the simple reason that sin is likened in the scripture under many figures, but there are two in particular that apply here. Every sin that we commit against the holy law of God, and God takes cognizance of it, He's aware of it, all things are naked and open before His eyes, causes, as it were, God in the court of heaven to write out an indictment against us. When you sin against the laws of the land and the powers that be become aware of it, an indictment is written out against you and there is entered into the official statute books of that particular court of law

10:58 this indictment, this charge against you and then the person is booked on such and such a charge. This is what David recognized. He says, Oh God, the sins that I've committed, they've caused you to write out an indictment against me. They've caused in the court of heaven that there should be entered into the record of heaven next to the name of David adultery, murder, intrigue, deception, hypocrisy, and all the other sins that flow out of those particular sins.

11:31 And as he contemplates this, he says, Oh God, the indictment is against me, but not only do I pray that you'll turn your faith, but, Oh God, my faith would rise even higher. When your face is turned, do something that when you turn your face again, there'll be nothing to look upon. You see, to pray that God will hide his face is one thing, but to pray that God would actually blot out is even a greater act of faith in David's petition. And that's his prayer.

12:02 In the second place, sin is likened to unpaid debt. You remember in the Lord's Prayer, what we commonly call the Lord's Prayer. He said, After this manner, therefore pray ye, our Father, who art in heaven, et cetera. Then when we come to the matter of sin, it's mentioned in Matthew, forgive us our debts.

12:22 Our sins are called debts. The holy law of God demands that we love him with the whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor is ourself. As David contemplates his sin, and he sees those particular commandments that he's broken, he says, Oh Lord, I have a debt that I have not paid. Your law demanded that I love you enough to obey you.

12:45 But Lord, I have not loved you. I love my own lust and my own passion.

12:51 I have a debt to your holy law. Oh God, blot out the debt. As only you can hold the credit books of heaven, Lord, right in the ledger, paid in full, and just as surely as the creditor, when he receives the due amount, writes paid in full, and strikes out the debt, so David is praying that God would blot out the record of his debt incurred by sin. So this is the substance of David's prayer as he vows before God.

13:25 Hide thy face from my sin. Don't look upon it in anger and in wrath. Oh God, something higher and more noble than this. Blot out the very sin from which you would have to hide your face.

Principle 1: Unblotted Sin Cries Out for God's Judgment

13:38 So much then for the meaning of his words. Now let's come to when I, I trust, will be the core of the message to us. What are the principles bound up in David's prayer? Well, the first and perhaps the most important principle is this.

13:55 David realized that unblotted sin cried out for the judgment of God. Let me repeat the statement. David realized that unblotted sin, pictured here as an indictment in the court of heaven, or as a debt in the bank of heaven, whichever figure you want to use. David realized that unblotted sin cried out for the judgment of God.

14:27 The only reason David prayed like this was he realized if God did not hide his face from his sin and did not blot out his iniquity, then judgment would have to fall upon him. For unblotted sin and the judgment of God are always joined joined in the scripture. Let me give two classic illustrations. The first one is in the book of Nehemiah, chapter 4 and verse 5. Nehemiah 4 and verse 5. Some of the enemies of Nehemiah

15:02 and the other Jews have been harassing them as they've been attempting to build the wall of Jerusalem. And now Nehemiah goes before God in prayer that God would do something about this situation. And notice what he prays in Nehemiah 4, 5, 4, I'm sorry, verses 4 and 5. Hear, O our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head and give them up for a prey in the land of captivity, and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have provoked thee to the

15:46 anger before the builders. Notice the two things joined. Let not their sin be blotted out, they have provoked thee to anger. God, their sins rise up, crying out for judgment.

16:00 If you blot them out, no judgment will fall. Lord, don't blot their sin out, give them their just desserts. This is what's called an imprecatory prayer. It's not prayed selfishly.

16:13 Nehemiah is not having a pout and saying, God, I've been picked on. Now I want you to get even with them. No, this was the cause of God that was in jeopardy. This was the cause of God's people, and the purpose of God at that particular time was to reestablish them in the land. And Nehemiah is praying not to be vindicated personally,

16:34 but he's praying that God will vindicate his own cause against the cause of his enemies. And as he prays, he says, Lord, don't let their sin be blotted out, because if it isn't blotted out, then judgment must fall upon them. That same principle is seen in the book of Jeremiah, where this weeping prophet, this man who wept over the very people who treated him as though he were some kind of a cur dog, threw him down in a slimy pit, left him to die, this man who said, oh, that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep night and day for the slain of the daughter of my people. There comes a time when God's mercy and longsuffering gives way to a man who weeps over the very people who treated him as though he were some kind of a cur dog. There comes a time when God's mercy and longsuffering gives way to

17:17 his judgment. And when you find a man like Jeremiah, who's no longer pleading that God will have mercy, but pleading that God will bring judgment, a people are in a terrible state when that comes. And we find that very state. Notice in Jeremiah 18 and in verse 23, this is what Jeremiah prays.

17:38 Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot my sin, nor my sin against them. And when you find a man like Jeremiah, who's not iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee. Thus deal with them in the time of thine anger. You see, a perfect parallel between

18:00 Jeremiah and Nehemiah, where the concepts of sin not being blotted out and the anger of God are joined together. What does this tell us? It tells us precisely what our text reveals. When David came to pray before God and said, O God, blot out my iniquity, I will not blot out thy iniquities. Hide thy face from my sins. He was in earnest because he

18:22 realized and was convinced in the depths of his being that if he should stand before God with any unblotted sin, it would cry out for the judgment of God. Now this is true whether you're a Christian or whether you're not a Christian. For those of you who are not savingly joined to Christ, you've not repented and believed on the Savior, your sins cry out. But for the stern gaze of the righteous judge, who, seeing the indictment in the record books of heaven, must set the wheels of justice in motion, and we read that that's exactly what God will do in the day of judgment. For this very picture is used in Revelation 20,

19:06 where we read in verses 11 to 15 of that day when the sea will give up the dead that are in it, and death and Hades deliver up the dead that are in them, and it says they shall stand before God. And what will happen? And the books will be opened, and they shall be judged every man according to his works. Now I don't believe God has literal books. He's omniscient. He doesn't need books and

19:32 notes like I do. I always have a stack of them to remind me to do something, and another note to remind me to look at the note to remind me to do something. God doesn't need this. He doesn't need literal books. But it's the same figure carried on. God speaks to us in

19:46 word pictures. He speaks to us in word pictures. He speaks to us in similes, in metaphors, and here's the same picture, that when the great judge ascends to his throne and before him all the nations are gathered, the judge will bring out the book in which are listed all of the sins and the indictments against the sinner, and it says of those who face that awful judgment, whosoever was not found written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire. What terrible words.

20:18 Found in the same place. The same Bible that paints in such beautiful, beautiful words and beautiful pictures the love of God in Christ. The same scripture that says that God so loved the world that he gave his son. The same Bible says the dead shall be judged out of the books and those who stand in that judgment shall be cast into the lake of fire.

20:43 The old person here tonight who is not savingly joined to Christ, a stranger to repentance, a stranger to the grace of God, would that you'd recognize the truth that David recognized. You know why you've never honestly prayed, hide thy face from my sins, O God, blot out my iniquities. You know why you've never really prayed that earnestly, fervently? You don't realize what David realized, that to have unblotted sin is to be exposed to the judgment of God. For every unblotted sin is a voice crying out to God the judge, O God, the judge,

21:21 the righteous judge of the world. Has not this sinner broken by law? Is not the indictment here? God must answer, yes it is, but in my forbearance and longsuffering I will withhold my judgment. I will suspend the bringing down of the scope of judgment. There's coming

21:39 a time when justice will prevail over longsuffering and God will deal with sinners in pure and in holy justice. Oh, but you say, I'm a Christian. I'm in Christ. And doesn't the Bible say there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ? This has nothing

21:57 to say to me. I remind you, it has a lot to say to you. For remember, this is a child of God praying. This is a child of God praying, hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Why? Because David realized that even in a child of God, unblotted sin

22:15 cries out for the judgment of God. But now listen carefully. It's a different kind of judgment. Would the unconverted sinner...

22:23 It's the judgment of the stern gaze of a righteous judge. But with the child of God, it's the gentle frown of a loving father who will not countenance disobedience in his children. In your life as a Christian, sin that is committed and unconfessed, it cries out for the judgment of God, not the retributive judgment of the court, but the disciplinary judgment of the house. See the difference?

22:55 But the Bible teaches both. Thank God if we're in Christ, the retributive justice and judgment of the court will never fall upon us. But just as surely as that judgment will never fall upon us, the scripture tells us, as we saw in some detail last week, if we're in the household of God, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

23:25 You remember the words in 1 Corinthians, don't you? The connection with the communion with the Lord, the communion table. Some had been coming unworthily, some had been coming carelessly, and you remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, he said, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be what? Judged of the Lord. Indicating that when a child of God does not judge himself,

23:55 does not pass sentence as it were upon his own children, we should not be judged of the Lord. sentence as it were upon his own sin and cry with David hide thy face blot out he does expose himself to judgment and we've been living in a fool's paradise if we think that because we're justified and therefore out from under the retributive justice of God and judgment of God that we're therefore not exposed to any kind of judgment of God no, we're exposed to the judgment of the household the disciplinary wrath of God wielded in love yet wielded in faithfulness upon his children David recognized this and if we recognize it you see how practical this will be its effect upon us

Principle 2: No Sin is Too Deep-Dyed for God's Grace to Blot Out

24:40 if you pillow your head tonight knowing that you have sinned against the Lord and yet you've not confessed that sin if you really believe that that sin unblotted out in your life as a Christian cries out for the rod of God I think you'd do something about it that's why the scripture joins confession and forgiveness together even in the life of the believer if we believers verse John 1-9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive doesn't say he'll forgive if we don't confess and then to cleanse from all unrighteousness but I hurry on to the second principle that's in our text David not only realized that unblotted sin

25:24 cried out for the judgment of God but David realized that no sin was sinned so deep dived that God's grace could not blot it out do you see the faith involved in David's petition when he cries out hide thy face from my sins blot out all my iniquities I say it reverently but I say it in the vernacular that I hope will convey he's not praying about kid stuff he's praying about big league sins murder adultery intrigue sin sin sin sin

26:04 deception, hypocrisy, spiritual barrenness. David was guilty of all of this. And yet his faith rises to the place where he dares in the presence of God, as it were, to pick himself up to one height and say, Lord, hide your face, but God, if you could do that, I even dare to go the next step and pray, blot out the sin altogether. Do you get something of the rising of David's faith?

26:31 For if God will but hide his face, then he's the God who's able to blot it out. And so our text reveals that David believed and realized that no sin was so deep-dyed, but that it could not be blotted out. For notice his prayer has something here that it didn't have before. In Psalm 51, in verse 1, he prayed in the last phrase of that verse, blot out my transgressions.

26:57 There's a general prayer. But now he prays in verse 9, blot out, a little word is added, blot out all my iniquities, the whole compass of the Lord, for if there's one sin not blotted out, that one sin is criminal offense against the God of heaven and one sin unblotted will expose me to your wrath and to your judgment. Oh God, blot them all out. Blot them all out.

27:30 Someone has said and beautifully said, and I quote it to you now, if we hold our sins before ourselves, our eyes to confess them, God will take them from before his eyes and forgive them. Isn't that beautiful in its simplicity? If we hold our sins before our eyes to confess them,

27:54 God will take them away from before his eyes and forgive them. If we remember our sins to repent, he will forget our sins and forgive. What if we will not set them before our eyes to confess them? Then the scripture says, God will not forgive them, for he that covereth his sins, refuses to set them before his eyes, shall not prosper, the scripture says, Proverbs 28, 13, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

The Basis for God Blotting Out Sin: The Cross of Christ

28:34 Now I want to ask a question, the answer to which is not found in our text, but I could not preach on the text without asking the question and saying, seeking to answer it. Here's the question.

28:45 On what basis could David or can you expect that a holy God, a righteous God,

28:56 will ever blot out our sins simply because we ask? I mean, would you dare to go to some judge, suppose you had broken some laws of the land, would you dare to go to the judge and say, now judge, please just strike all that out?

29:12 No, if he was an upright judge, committed to uphold the laws of the land, you wouldn't even think of going. Now if he was a crooked judge, you might go and say, now look, I've got a few, tens here, twenties or fifties, can we strike up a bargain?

29:24 But now here David appears, not before some judge that can be bribed, but before the judge of the universe,

29:33 righteous, holy, immutable God. And he says, O God, I'm asking you to strike the indictment out of the record. I'm asking you to change the books in court.

29:47 Now was that just high presumption? Was that just sign that comes on, some kind of a reckless, religious flight into fantasy? On what basis would David dare to pray that? On what basis can you pray that?

29:58 There's only one basis. Only one.

30:02 The only basis upon which God can hide his face from my sins is that he hid his face from his son.

30:15 It's the only basis.

30:17 The only basis upon which God can hide his face from my sin is that he hid his face from his son. The only basis upon which God can blot out my sin is that in a very real sense he blotted out his son from his sight when he became sin for us. Do you remember as foretold in Psalm 22 and then repeated in the Gospels, the scripture tells us that when our Lord hung upon the cross there was darkness over the whole land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. It's as though,

31:02 God was saying something teaching us in symbols as again and again he's communicated spiritual truth in symbols. He's communicated spiritual truth in circumstances that in the realm of the physical world they say something.

31:21 What does that shrouded heaven say? It did nothing to God. Whatever God was going to do he could have done without the shrouded heavens.

31:30 What did he put them there for? Could it be that God was saying as sin is being put to the account of my son I will hide my face from him. I will cover him as it were with a thick veil of darkness. That's how the son interpreted it.

31:51 For as he looked up and he cried out to the end of that ninth hour what was his cry? My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? Why hast thou hid thy face from me? This is the example of a sin.

32:07 The exact wording of Psalm 22. Why art thou so far from the words of my groaning? And I believe he uses those similar words concerning the hiding of the very face of God.

32:28 The thought is there but the exact wording is not. And that's the only basis upon which God can hide his face from your sin and mine and blot out our sin. That's why 1 John 1.9 says and I want you to listen carefully now because there's one word that I overlooked.

32:45 I've been there for years. If we confess our sins speaking of a believer he, God, is faithful and what's the next word? Just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I can understand the first word.

33:06 If we confess we shall find God to be a faithful God. He can be counted upon to forgive. Faithfulness is that quality of dependability. You can be counted on to do what you say you would do and to be what you said you would be.

33:23 God will always be found as a forgiving God. Thou, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon thee. Psalm 85.5 But now the next word.

33:37 He is faithful and just to forgive. How does justice enter into forgiveness? I thought all justice could do was look down at the book where the indictment is written and say seize upon that sinner and judge him. Now, John says he is faithful and just to forgive.

34:00 How does justice become the friend of the Christian when he's confessing sin? Well, precisely here. Because the Father hid his face from the Son I can plead that he will hide his face from my sin. Lord, if that sin was judged at the cross then we'll call but I need not be judged again for it.

34:26 Lord, if that sin caused you to turn your face from your Son then, O Lord, do not turn your face from me in anger. If that sin caused you to shroud the heavens when your Son died O Lord, the heavens need not be shrouded and I walk beneath a cloud of oppressive guilt but, Lord, I can look up into the noonday of your countenance because you're just and if you punished my substance you will not punish me. If he's paid the debt I can have written in my ledger paid in full. That's the only basis upon which David could pray and hope that God would answer his prayer.

35:09 Though David could not see perhaps as clearly as we looking down to the cross there is no excuse for any one of us looking back through the cross to Psalm 51 when we come in our own times of confession to God and we pray with David hide thy face from my sins it's as though the court of heaven would answer and say on what basis do you expect that I shall do such a thing blot out all my iniquities than we can say with a full heart and with understanding O Lord, on one basis alone for the sake of your dear Son for the sake of your dear Son who died and bled that I might be forgiven.

Principle 3: The Christian's Concern for God's Face, Not Man's

35:53 What motives are these to repent? To realize that he was blotted out as it were that my sin might be blotted out. God hid his face from him that he might hide his face from my sin. What motives to repentance to the sinner?

36:13 What motives to repentance to the saint? But then there's a third principle and I want to touch on it briefly in closing tonight. David displayed in this prayer a basic characteristic of a child of God that completely sets him apart from those who are not the children of God. David displayed in this petition a characteristic of a true Christian that no one but a true Christian has.

36:40 What is that characteristic? It's found in emphasizing these words Hide thy face from my sin.

36:51 In other words David did not think that though his sins were committed in secret and they were there's no indication that other people knew of David's sin. Oh there may have been a few whispers but there's no indication that the guilt of David's sin was known to anyone else other than Nathan the prophet to whom God revealed. But you see David is not thinking about the face of man he's thinking about the face of God and the scripture shows that this is a tremendous contrast between the true Christian and the non-Christian. Let me show you in several passages where this is spelled out in detail.

37:29 In the tenth psalm Psalm 10 we have a description of the wicked that is the exact opposite of what we find in Psalm 51 in verse 9. Notice what the wicked says.

37:46 It speaks in verse 4 of the subject of this psalm the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. And may I say by way of a little aside that's the reason men don't seek God it's not because they find these things intellectually unacceptable it's through the pride of their own hearts. They won't seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts his ways are grievous thy judgments are far above out of his sight.

38:13 Day of judgment he says don't talk to me about the day of judgment talk to me about things that are now. That's out yonder I can't think about the judgment day. Talk to me about money in my pocket pleasure in my flesh this is what I want talk to me about now who cares about tomorrow pie in the sky by and by I'm not interested. That's the thought of the wicked.

38:33 Now as he pushes out of his mind all things of the future judgment and gives himself you see this is talking about the now generation just as contemporary the Psalms here as the 20th century this is the now generation well that's who they always were sinners are always part of the now generation they say to Christians you can have your heaven by and by I'm going to have my heaven now or I'm going to try to have it that's the attitude alright now read on with me he has said in his heart I shall not be moved I shall never be in adversity his mind his mouth is full of cursing deceit and fraud under his tongue is mischief and vanity he sits in the lurking places of the village in murder in secret doth he murder the innocent his eyes are set against

39:17 the poor he lieth in wait secretly it describes in detail the doings of the wicked now notice verse 11 he hath said in his heart God hath forgotten he hides his face he'll never see it you see his thought as he carries out the evil devices of his heart is this is not coming under the knowledge of God oh there may be a God up there somewhere way off in the distance when I flirt around with my secretary at the office he doesn't know about that when I cut corners on my income tax he doesn't know about that when I pass on the latest risque story to the boys

40:02 for a chuckle he doesn't hear that oh there may be a God but he's way up way out there he's not down here thinking knowing seeing what I'm doing no that's the thought of the wicked notice it as it's described again in the 50th psalm psalm 50 speaking of the wicked verse 16 but unto the wicked God said what hast thou to do to declare my statutes and thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth this is a wicked man who professes to be a Christian he takes the name of the covenant God upon his mouth he says

40:47 thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee when you saw a thief you consented with him thou hast been partaker with a thief and adulterers thou givest thy mouth to evil thy tongue frameth mischief thou sittest and speakest against thy brother and so forth now notice verse 24 these things hast thou done and I kept silence thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes you see we forget the things that were most vivid in our memory today are gone long tomorrow telephone numbers addresses and God says because you're forgetful

41:32 you think that I'm like you are but God says the days coming wicked man when I'll set in order before your eyes not just in a general jumbled mass but God says I'll set down every one of your sins and in the very order that you committed them to let you know that I took notice of every single one see the contrast then I could multiply other passages of the scripture here I have two or three more written down but I won't weary you with them here's the attitude of the wicked he sins with the thought oh yes there's a God but he's far off he won't see them he won't take cognizance of them he may even be a professing Christian he may take the name of God's covenant in his lips but his thought is God's like me I forgive and forget

42:16 and I just or I just forget God's like me but what was David's attitude David's attitude is expressed in Psalm 51 verse 9 O God the Holy Spirit a whole year has passed and remember a whole year had passed from his sin of adultery and murder and everything that followed a whole year had passed and yet when David comes to seek forgiveness he says O God that sin is as fresh before your gaze as though I had committed it ten seconds ago hide thy face from my sin Lord it's just as vividly written in your book as though it were inscribed a moment ago and the ink was still wet and the ink Lord blotted out he acknowledges

43:01 that time is no factor with God he dwells in eternity and the sins of a thousand years ago of men who've long been turned back into the dust of the earth are as vivid before the eye of God as though they were committed an instant ago and the day of judgment will reveal that when sinners will be shocked they stand before God and he says I will set your sins in order before your eyes hold your eyes oh God you mean you knew that yes I knew I saw my recording what a day of unveiling what a day of unveiling the shock of the day of judgment when the businessman

43:45 who through the years has gained his present status and may be looked upon as a model of business honesty but pull the string here and cut a corner here and gypped here and cheated there and lied here and he stands before God and behold a sordid list is spread before him the husband who under the guise of faithfulness and fidelity to his wife cheated here and cheated there and cut corners here and there he stands in that day and it's all a sin the young person who said no mom doesn't see and the preacher I got him hoodlum

44:28 and so behind the back of mother and spiritual guardians and father and friends and loved ones lies the man lying here deception there double mindedness here and in that day God says I'll set it all in order before their eyes you see the wicked don't live as though that were true but the mark of a Christian is like David he acknowledges it or as you're going to hear in some detail or more detail probably next week in the 90th psalm he says Moses the man of God who wrote the 90th psalm says thou has set our sins before thee in the light our secret sins in the light of thy countenance you see the mark

45:12 of a true Christian is he lives in the light of the fact that his whole life is naked and open before God and he wants it that way and though much of the time that's a delightful comforting truth all that I am is known to God my weaknesses my fears my frustrations and I can just tell him all about it oh what a convicting thing when I sin that my sin is set before him in the light of his countenance and he knows it he sees it David revealed in this prayer a basic attitude that only a Christian has namely that he knows and walks in the light of the all seeing eye of the living God that's a good note

Conclusion and Call to Live in God's Light

45:57 to end on tonight do you walk and live in that light can you say like David it's your desire to walk and live in the light of the burning countenance of God let me make it more personal would your life have been any different today if you really believed that God did see and know and was as the old spiritual says my God's writing all the time would it have made any difference if you're a Christian it wouldn't have made any basic difference because you've been living in the light of that truth you're not a Christian you've been living trying to squelch that truth

46:41 and to convince yourself that he's a God far off who doesn't see who doesn't know and so as David prayed hide thy face from my sins blot out all my iniquities he acknowledged first of all that unblotted sin demanded the judgment of God eternal judgment upon the unconverted sinner temporal judgment upon the unrepentant saint he acknowledged in the second place the glorious truth that no sin was too deeply stained and ingrained into the record of God that it could not be blotted out and in the third place David said David displayed the attitude of a true Christian in contrast with that of a non-Christian in that his concern was not the face of men

47:25 but the face of God hide thy face my reputation oh Lord doesn't amount to a hill of bees but my relationship to you that's all that matters are you in that place a blessed place to be where your reputation before men doesn't matter a hill of bees but what you are before God matters everything may God grant that this text of scripture and the principles of God's truth embodied shall be of help to us now and of encouragement and guidance to us in the days that lie ahead it's been a warm evening I think I'm warmer than any of you I've worked a little bit harder than you have sitting there

48:09 but I'm so glad you've come and I trust that the message of the word of God will burn its way into each of our hearts and it may be said of us as we considered this morning they received the word now you've been exposed to the word what are you going to do with it I trust that word will be received and all that that means as we studied it this morning in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 6 to that end let us unite in prayer that God may help us to receive his word