The Walls Of Jerusalem

Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 16th February service and hymns are below.

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Our principal verses are:

Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Psa 51:19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

 The Walls Of Jerusalem

David’s shame for adultery with Bathsheba and remorse for the slaying of Uriah has been evident from the beginning of this psalm. He acknowledged his transgression, iniquity and sin and asked the Lord for mercy and cleansing. He pleaded for a clean heart and a renewed spirit so that the joy of his salvation might return and his witness and service might again be acceptable to the Lord.

Silenced in shame

Reference to blood-guiltiness suggests Uriah’s death, along with those soldiers who died by his side, lay heavy on David’s conscience. It was a barrier to worship, a prison that shut his mouth. He had lost his credibility and legitimacy to approach God. If David were ever again to praise God he needed a Deliverer to open his mouth. David called upon the Lord, the God of his salvation, to provide justifying righteousness. Only Christ could pardon his sin, remove his guilt, and free him from the shame that now silenced him.

Real worship

David is aware of the damage his sin has inflicted on the testimony of God. His participation in public devotion was compromised. Animal sacrifice and burnt offerings were central at this time to divine worship, being types of the coming Messiah. David understood these in themselves gave God no pleasure. Only sacrifice offered with an eye to Christ and rising from a cleansed heart in sincere faith was acceptable worship.

Broken and contrite

David needed a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. A broken spirit is a spirit humbled under conviction of sin. A broken and contrite heart perceives sin as having been committed primarily against God. This deep awareness of guilt has been called ‘evangelical repentance’, a Spirit-inspired repentance to be distinguished from mere head knowledge of God’s broken law. It is the wounded conscience of a quickened soul. It discovers the real offensiveness of sin and the true nature of Christ’s suffering as the sacrifice for sin.

Walls of Jerusalem

Brokenness and contrition are infused in the heart of God’s elect by the Holy Ghost. God will not despise the repentance He has implanted nor turn aside any who come to Him for grace. He will give faith in Jesus’ cleansing blood and solid hope of forgiveness. This is how Christ builds His church and God gathers His people. The walls of Jerusalem are not stone defences of an earthly city but God’s saving grace by which the church is gathered and guarded in this world.

Zion city of God

David is leaning on the promises of God, not only those previously given to himself but for the whole church and ultimately for the glory of Jesus Christ. Zion is a name and picture of the true church. Despite David’s personal brokenness he still loves God’s flock like a protective shepherd and the holy nation as a caring king. He asks that Christ’s glory and Christ’s people will not be hurt by what he has done. He wishes the faithfulness of God to prevail and the church of God to prosper.

Acceptable worship

God builds Zion when He adds to the church such as should be saved. He builds up the walls of Jerusalem when His ministers go into all the world preaching the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and the sovereign grace of God. The in-gathered serve God with true, acceptable worship, with service and sacrifices founded upon faith and offered through the merits of the crucified Christ.

A better sacrifice

We do not offer the blood of bulls and goats. The perfect sacrifice has come and died, bringing all the types to an end. It was to this blessed One David looked for his own cleansing and to build the walls of Jerusalem. The great distinction between the sacrifices God does not desire in verse 16 and those that are acceptable to Him in verse 19 is the sufficiency of the work of the Lord Jesus to effectually save His people from their sins.

In conclusion

This psalm is a beautiful testimony to God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. David had sinned grievously. He had displeased God, spoiled his testimony and hurt the Lord’s people. At the Spirit’s prompting David sought forgiveness, cleansing and restoration by resting in the covenant promises of God. David confessed his sin and trusted in Christ’s blood as the means of His people’s deliverance. He found all the grace he needed and more in the finished work of Jesus Christ crucified. His testimony is a lesson to us all.

Amen

Our hymns are below.

Hymn 1

Gadsby selection 1098

Repentance, and Faith in the Blood of Christ. Ps. 51. 14

I. Watts   C.M.

1
O God of mercy, hear my call;
My load of guilt remove;
Break down this separating wall,
That bars me from thy love.

2
Give me the presence of thy grace,
Then my rejoicing tongue
Shall speak aloud thy righteousness,
And make thy praise my song.

3
No blood of goats, nor heifers slain
For sin could e’er atone;
The death of Christ shall still remain
Sufficient and alone.

4
A soul oppressed with sin’s desert
The Lord will ne’er despise;
A humble groan, a broken heart,
Is our best sacrifice.

Hymn 2

Gadsby selection 281 

“Contrite heart.”  Isa. 57. 15;  Ps. 51. 17

W. Cowper                     C.M.

1
The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow;
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart, or no?

2
I hear, but seem to hear in vain;
Insensible as steel;
If aught is felt, ’tis only pain,
To find I cannot feel.

3
I sometimes think myself inclined
To love thee, if I could;
But often find another mind,
Averse to all that’s good.

4
My best desires are faint and few;
I fain would strive for more;
But when I cry, “My strength renew,”
Seem weaker than before.

5
Thy saints are comforted, I know,
And love thy house of prayer;
I sometimes go where others go,
But find no comfort there.

6
O make this heart rejoice or ache,
Decide this doubt for me;
And if it be not broken, break,
And heal it if it be.

Guilt will silence a believer’s worship and witness. It did for David. He pleads therefore that the Lord would grant him evangelical repentance, which is a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart. When the Lord grants repentance for sin He will not despise or deny the appeal for forgiveness and the peace of conscience that a child of God seeks.