The science of our salvation is weighing the fear of God or forgetfulness
of Him.
“For I acknowledge my
transgressions” (Ps. 51:3).
“My sin is ever before me.” (Ps.
51:3).
The first step of the first
step to justification and reconciliation with God: If we would never forget about sin, we would always fear to sin. In the correct context—that is, in the context of Jesus—sin needs to be ever before us. What sin does to Jesus and His Father must be our guide.
We have pet phrases, “the
Christian life”, “the science of salvation”, and “victory over sin”. Psalm 51:3
is the first step of the first step of the first step in that science: acknowledging our sins
with all the guilt and shame, and remembering our sins in the light of Gethsemane.
In everything remembering Gethsemane and remembering the word of God.
“Thy word have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Ps. 119:11).
“The words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).
When the word of Jesus
enters, “the spirit that quickeneth” and “the flesh profiteth nothing” (John
6:63). When His words enter our heart, His blessed Spirit enters with them. His
presence enters with His words.
“I have set the LORD always
before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt shew me the path of
life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures
for evermore.” (Ps. 16:8-11).
This is the science of
salvation. This is righteousness by faith. This is “the path of life” (Ps.
16:11). This is being “in Thy presence”. (Ps. 16:11).
“For I acknowledge my
transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” (Ps. 51:3).
“…[the scriptures] are they
which testify of Me.” (John 5:39).
Do you want to see Jesus? Do
you want more details about Jesus to meditate on and to love? Do you want to
keep Him ever before you? Remember John 5:39. “[The scriptures] are they which
testify of Me.” (John 5:39). The Law and the sacrifices were “a shadow of good things to come.” (Heb. 10:1). We must trust in the word of God, the Law of God, and gratefully savor
each inspired drip of the water of life. We must let His Spirit bring the
scripture to life, as they were when the Bible characters lived at the time
written of. Then His Spirit will bring scripture to life in His life. And then
as long as His word is in our heart, His Spirit will be in us. His words and
life create faith and the power to obey; they create love for the Law, love for
the scriptures. His words and Spirit in our spirit is the principle behind “the
righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13), “the righteousness which is of faith”
(Rom. 9:30), “righteousness by faith” (Gal. 5:5), “the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith.” (Rom. 1:17).
Faith comes by seeing Jesus.
He is the great Creator of faith, the great Redeemer. His faith becomes our
faith. His stance on obedience to His Father’s Law becomes our stance on
obedience to His Father’s Law. His strong fear of God becomes our strong fear
of God. His love of righteousness and victory over the love of sin become ours,
because we see Jesus in His written word that comes into our mind and heart
through His powerful Spirit.
In Psalm 51 you see David
repenting. But, do you also see Jesus repenting? If all we were to see and hear
is David, the words would mean almost nothing to us. If it were David’s
experience, then yes, we have an example to follow. But it would be a dead example.
What we need is God, not a human—a quickening Spirit more than a living soul. We
need to love God, more than a human. Without seeing Jesus in it, David’s
experience was his; but that’s the end of it. We need the same experience, but
David cannot impart that experience. There is no Spirit of David to enter our
heart. But there is “the Spirit of [God’s] Son [that influences our hearts to cry],
Abba, Father.” (Gal. 4:6).
In himself David has nothing
to offer us. But when we accept Jesus as the Son of God, that little seed of faith
allows us to further see Jesus through the inspired experience and words of David.
By David repenting of sin we see Jesus repenting of sin, David for his own sin,
Jesus for our sins. Then we glean details and content of Jesus’ infinite
sorrow. We learn what was happening in Gethsemane. “Then saith He unto them, My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” (Matt. 26:38). “The chastisement
of our peace was upon Him.” (Isa. 53:5). His mind “was wounded for our
transgressions”, His conscience “was bruised for our iniquities:” and “with His
stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5).
“For we are consumed by Thine
anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities
before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.” (Ps. 90:7,8).
“My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? why art Thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
roaring?” (Ps. 22:1).
“For day and night Thy hand
was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin unto Thee...”
(Ps. 32:4,5).
“Thou hast beset me behind
and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.” (Ps. 139:5).
“He had offered up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him
from [eternal] death, and was heard in that He feared.” (Heb. 5:7).
In the garden “He was
oppressed, and He was afflicted.” (Isa. 53:7). All of our sin was before Him.
“All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:6).
The sin of the world was ever
before Jesus. His Father’s presence no longer shielded Him from the aggravating
desolation that came with the sight and sound of it all. The lust of the flesh,
the pride of sin, the emboldened daring to live ungodly before the all-seeing
eye of the Judge of all the earth was destroying His peace. His Father’s Spirit
without measure became a battle against Satan without measure. All that Satan
has done to the children of Adam, he did to the Son of the Highest. Wickedness
pressed itself in close from all sides. There was no escaping it. The Most High
was laying on the Sacrifice infinite guilt and shame. “The wrath [was] come
upon [Him] to the uttermost.” (1Thess. 2:16). He was “[being filled] up [with the
world’s] sins always.” (1Thess. 2:16). He could not “be saved” (1Thess. 2:16)
from any of it. He had no deliverance from the violence of our wickedness, “small
and great, rich and poor, free and bond” (Rev. 13:16). He was not allowed to
see “holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.” (Luke
1:75). All He could see was sin. “Sin is ever before me.” (Ps. 51:3). And it
destroyed Him.
Jesus could identify with the
plight of penitent sinners. For our sake and His He entered into our
experience, infinitely dead to the flesh and only surviving the agony by His
undying Spirit. While being tempted in every point the deceiver threw at Him,
unto death without sin “He went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” (1Pet.
3:19).
“Have mercy upon Me, O God,
according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender
mercies blot out My transgressions.
Wash Me throughly from Mine
iniquity, and cleanse Me from My sin.” (Ps. 51:1).
“Against Thee, 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.
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 whiter than snow.
Make Me to hear joy and
gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide Thy face from My sins,
and blot out all Mine iniquities.” (Ps. 51:4-9).
“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 Spirit.
Then will I teach
transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Deliver Me from
bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of My salvation: and My tongue shall sing
aloud of Thy righteousness.
O Lord, open Thou My lips;
and My mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.” (Ps. 51:10-15).
He intimately learned our
griefs and infinitely carried our sorrows. As terrifying as that night and day
were, He could not be our High Priest without it all. Without the eternal
memory of Gethsemane to Golgotha, and of the infinite struggle of mind and the
spiritual suffering of heart by His Advocate, Elohim the King could not be
satisfied with infinite and eternal intercession. And without faith in Christ
all we are left with is David another sinner, which is all that Babylon has to
this day.
He took the beating of our consciences that abused that powerful soul to death. He was left fatherless and every nerve electrocuted, every synapse overdosed with judgment. And now He leaves our consciences a shelter from all our storms. In response to His mercy for
our sakes our gratitude meekly says, “I shall go softly all my years in the
bitterness of my soul.” (Isa. 38:15). The surrender of His newborn children to
His breaking and humbling forever unites them to Him. “For which cause He is
not ashamed to call them brethren.” (Heb. 2:11).
Now in the heavenly
sanctuary, where He is still sanctifying and sealing His candidates for
translation, “[our] sins are ever before [Him]”. Let’s allow that thought to
give us perfect hatred for our sins, and open our souls to His correcting and
perfecting. While our ever-present sin remains before our conscience, and we
let Jesus take it all ever upon Himself also, ever before us and Him during
this investigative judgment, we will bare it together going softly all the years
of our life. Together. Us in Him in His Father, “one Spirit” (Eph. 4:4). “According
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted
and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:16,17). “He that is joined unto the Lord is one
Spirit.” (1Cor. 6:17).
Together Jesus and we carry
His burden. Our yoke to come to and our cross to bear means togetherness with
Jesus. “This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is
the refreshing.” (Isa. 28:12). The Son of man rules our Sabbath and the Latter
Rain of His Spirit.
We will dwell with Him and He
with us, in His house, no longer dwelling in ours.
“Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD for ever.” (Ps. 23:6).
