Having looked at our worship in terms of our preparation for worship, the language of worship and being called to worship, today in our ongoing series on worship we look at the role of honest confession and joyful forgiveness in our worship. You’ve already heard the words of 1 John inviting us to confession. Our second Scripture reading comes from Psalm 51. If you’re following along in your own Bible, and certainly in the pew Bibles, you’ll note the heading for Psalm 51 says, For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. To its credit, the Bible doesn’t mince any words—"after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba." We could include the charge of conspiracy to commit murder also as David arranged the events for Bathsheba’s husband, Urriah, to be killed in battle. It’s a sordid story about a great hero of Israel that an edited Bible would want to leave out. But, there it is in all its squalor. So listen now to the word of God as it comes to us in the confession of David found in Psalm 51:1-17. (Read)

As many of you know, I wasn’t here last Sunday in anticipation of needing some recovery time from minor surgery. Thank you, by the way, for your prayers and expressions of concern. I’m doing fine. I had sinus surgery, a type which is less invasive than it used to be. Consequently, my recovery wasn’t as difficult as it might’ve been and I found myself on Sunday morning able and wanting to worship somewhere. Since I had the "day off" here, I thought I’d go to another church—first, to worship, but, second, to "check out" what another church was doing. On my way to the church, I drove by the athletic complex at Kipling and Hampden and noted that at least two youth baseball games were being played…at 8:45 on Sunday morning! And audibly I muttered, "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing!" Now, I enjoy baseball. But what it has become in our youth programs, what all athletics have become for our youth, what academics and "recreational" activities have become for our youth—and for adults for that matter—is outrageous. It’s sinful! So, I found myself seeking forgiveness for myself and for others for what we have become. Then, I arrived at the church and settled in for worship. It was a nice worship service, but there was a glaring omission. At least it was a glaring omission to me. There was no time in the service for confession and a word of God’s pardon. Maybe their members are instructed to spend that time prior to arriving for worship, but for me, a visitor, there was no time for confession. I was certainly in the frame of mind for some confession time, so I spent it personally within the worship service. But, no time set aside in worship for confession.

Now, I’m aware of some of the rationale for that. It’s a downer. No one likes to think about or talk about sin. Visitors with little or no church background find such a time uncomfortable. But, I think—properly understood and received—it is a necessary element to our worship. To not spend that time in worship hinders our worship because it overlooks the reality of our sin and passes by the astounding joy of God’s forgiveness.

Marvin Tate, in his commentary on Psalms 51-100, says this in the section of his commentary on this Psalm 51: "In the [Old Testament] generally, uncleanness is essentially that which disqualifies from participation in ritual and excludes the worshiper from the presence of God." (Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 20, p. 17) Somewhere in our journey from Sunday morning to Sunday morning, we have sinned. Whether by our deeds, or our words, or even our thoughts, we have strayed away from God’s desired pathway for each one of us. Not addressing that in a time of confession, at the very least hinders our worship, if not "disqualifying" us from participation in ritual—the language of our worship—and excludes us from the presence of God. That is why we spend a moment in worship for confession and for receiving the good news of God’s pardon. In that time of confession we spend an open and honest moment remembering and admitting to our thoughts, words and deeds that were outside God’s will for us; we receive the cleansing forgiveness of God’s mercy and grace; we are "cleansed for worship;" and we experience something worth sharing with others—the lifting of the burden and the guilt of our sin.

That’s the journey David models for us in his painful admission of his sin. Note the journey.

He begins with an understanding of the nature of God. He appeals to God’s mercy, to God’s "unfailing love" and "great compassion." In the midst of deep anguish over an egregious sin, David remembers the merciful, loving and compassionate nature of God.

Then, David is honest about his sin. Three different words are used to describe his actions. One word, transgressions in our NIV translation, carries the meaning of "rebellion." In our sin, we rebel against God’s lordship over our lives and exert our own authority. The second word, iniquity in the NIV, has at its root the meaning of twisting or distorting something. In our rebellion, we twist or distort what is God’s truth and God’s will for us. We twist or distort what our real motivations are. We twist or distort what the imagined outcomes are in following our way, versus following God’s way. Then, the third word, translated as sin in the NIV, is the most common word used in the Old Testament for sin. It carries the meaning of missing the mark, like archers shooting for a target and missing the mark they’re aiming for. When we sin, we miss the mark God puts before us to aim for. David doesn’t try to rationalize his actions, he doesn’t present extenuating circumstances. Oh, there’s probably been a lot of that along the way in his sin with Bathsheba. But at the moment of honest confession, such things are gone. Now what matters is recognizing God’s compassionate nature and acknowledging our rebellion, our distortions, and our sin.

Painful though confession might be, it pales in comparison to the joy received in forgiveness and restoration. Mindful of the compassionate nature of God and the authority of God, David anticipates with absolute certainty the joy of forgiveness and restoration—"cleanse me…and I will be clean," "wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" "create in me a pure heart" "restore to me the joy of your salvation." Furthermore, David asks for and anticipates receiving the strength of God’s Spirit—"renew a steadfast spirit within me…grant me a willing spirit to sustain me"—so that he might resist future temptations to sin and walk more in accordance with God’s will for him.

Having been cleansed by God’s merciful and compassionate nature and strengthened through God’s sustaining Spirit, we are then led to purer worship and greater witness. "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you…my tongue will sing of your righteousness…my mouth will declare your praise."

That is why we include a time for confession and for receiving and celebrating God’s forgiveness—because we need it. The reality is every Sunday we gather for worship as sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. And the reality is that the God we worship is a compassionate, loving, merciful God whose very nature is to forgive and restore us. Furthermore, the reality is, in acknowledging these truths about our sinful natures and God’s forgiving nature, we are better able to worship and stand in God’s presence.

One final word of caution, however. Our time of confession must never become mere ritual where we mindlessly offer a prayer of confession and apathetically receive God’s forgiveness. For David reminds us, it is not in offering the ritual of sacrifice—the rite of confession and forgiveness in David’s time—that brings delight to God. Rather, it is the sincerity of our hearts—honest introspection and confession of our sins, deep sorrow over the brokenness caused by our sin, heartfelt acknowledgment of God’s forgiving nature and joyful celebration in God’s pardon for our sins that brings delight and pleasure to God.

So let us come, each and every Sunday morning, to our time of confession not deceiving ourselves in thinking we haven’t sinned, but rather, with sincere hearts, admitting our rebellion, identifying our distortions and confessing our sins before our compassionate God. Let us truly receive with joy and celebration God’s forgiveness. Then, cleansed for worship, let us praise our merciful God and share this good news with others.

Consider these truths for your life in a moment of silent reflection.