Forgiveness: Can I Begin Again?

Study Notes

Heart Cries:  Forgiveness -- Can I Begin Again?

Psalm 51

     We’ll be talking today about a heart cry that I’m sure all of us have had over and over throughout our lives, i.e., the need to experience forgiveness.  When you acknowledge that you have failed and, especially, when that failure has become known to others, you often feel like your life is ruined – that you are forever tainted.

     The most dramatic biblical narrative involving person who loves God having a heart cry for forgiveness is almost surely the very familiar story of King David after his affair with Bathsheba.   It was the Spring of the year when David should have been at war but had decided to stay at home.  "He needs this vacation," some would surely have said.  But Spring, according to legend, is the time when a man's emotions turn and turn and...  And he was middle‑aged; supposedly also a very vulnerable time for a man.  In other words, this was a dangerous and vulnerable period of David's life.  And, of course, he gave in to that moral danger.

     He saw the beautiful Bathsheba from his palace. In this time of weakness, he sinned.  But the worst thing was how David pathetically tried to cover up the scandal after Bathsheba’s pregnancy became known.  But, his cover-up plan didn’t work. Then, feeling enormous personal pressure because of the certain loss of reputation, David plotted to have Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, put to death under the guise of normal warfare.

     The bottom line is that lust turned to adultery turned to deceit turned to murder.  It's a frightening example of something we all know to be true, i.e., how one evil begets other evils in our lives.  So, the time eventually came when David was married to Bathsheba. He thought the whole affair was behind him.  For at least nine months he covered it up. I’ve been wondering out how many of us go to church with junk inside our lives that we’re trying to cover up.  Affairs.  Pornography.  Uncontrolled anger.  Lies and deception.  But, we’ve found ways to go on with our lives and act as if it isn’t there at all.  David is surely not the only one who has hidden things in his heart.  And he thought he’d gotten by with it.

     But that changed one day -- because God knew! David's good friend, the prophet Nathan, came and pointed out to him the seriousness of David's sins in a discussion that ended, “David, you are the man!  You are guilty one.”  At that time, David was flooded with the same emotions that every man or woman of conscience feels when convicted by the truth. Let’s face it: You and I can't be too hard on David about being a sinner.  We sin ourselves.  Where people part company in the sight of God is not on the issue of whether we’ve sinned, but on the issue of whether we’ve experienced forgiveness.

      For me, one of the wonderful things about being a Christian is that we become people who have owned up to the fact that we have sinned only to discover that we can be declared forgiven (even of sins as great as David's) by God Himself ‑‑ on the basis of Jesus' death on the cross.  In David's case, he composed Psalm 51 -- which is a poem telling of his pursuit of that forgiveness.  Make note of this:  David may be the man, other than Jesus, closer to God than any other in the Bible.  Yet, here we find him on his knees begging for mercy.

     Psalm 51 was not put into Scripture so that we could gloat over David's sin; still less that we might be able to excuse our own sins saying, "Well, he was worse than I."  It's there because we, like David, sin – and we, like David, need forgiveness.  And the Bible proclaims to all people that forgiveness is available.  The pervasive message of the Bible is that God's love and grace are greater than your sins. Everyone needs forgiveness.  And the Bible says that it is available to you through Jesus.

      Today, we will look at the poem David composed about his heart cry for God's forgiveness (Psalm 51). In it, the steps to forgiveness are spelled out.   They are so simple.  You look inside and then confess your sin (51:1‑6). You look up to God and ask him to forgive you (51:7‑12). Then, you look out to the world with a heart of praise and tell them God can forgive them too. (51:13‑19). 

Phase 1:  An Inward Look  (51:1‑6) I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me (v.3).

     According to the whole of the Bible, an experience of forgiveness begins with confession that leads to repentance.  What confession demands, of course, is ruthless self‑examination and honesty.  Oliver Cromwell once rejected a painting of himself that left out his warts and flaws.  He wanted the thing to be done just as he was, "Warts and all."  Most of us though, in the spirit of our age, want the cosmetic flaws to be brushed out, to be hidden from view as if they were not there.

      And the same is often true of our inner lives.  You know how it is:  When your conscience starts to bother you, you try all sorts of moral cosmetics to cover up what you’ve done ‑‑ you make excuses, you deny things, you rationalize your sins.  It doesn't work, of course.  You’ll find you may deceive yourself for a while.  But I'll tell you — you rarely deceive others for long.  And you never deceive God.

       The reason for this is that guilt often is real.  That's an important thing to understand.  There is such a thing as “false guilt” -- guilt we feel for something long since forgiven or for something not at all “guilt-worthy.”  But, there is real guilt too, i.e., the guilt we feel for engaging in what is truly wrong.  Real guilt happens when you have genuinely acted in ways that your Maker has said are not right.  I don’t have to say much about this. We all know the things we’ve done that are wrong in the eyes of God.  For a believer, it affects our conscience.

     The conscience that you all feel when you sin comes about because you are made in God's image.  You have been created to live in ways consistent with God’s own morality.  And, when we don’t live as God has made us to live, God has placed within each of us a conscience, an ability to know the right from the wrong.  Real guilt occurs when you have not lived as God has commended.  That's why any of us who do counseling must know that it's never enough just to help people cope with guilt feelings.  No, if the guilt is real, the guilt must be confessed to – and then forgiven.  And God is the only One who can cleanse the sin away.

     When you understand that, then v.4 will make sense to you.  When David says, “Against you only have I sinned,” what he meant was that he had sinned “ultimately” against God.  Yes, he had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah – but underneath that sin was his rejection of God’s ways.  I want you to come to grips with this point. You sometimes are told in our society that guilt is simply "letting yourself down." And, of course, we do let ourselves down.  At other times we say we feel guilt when we have let others down.  And, of course, we do let others down and sometimes hurt other people.  But, letting yourself down and letting others down is often more about feeling shame than it is about actually being guilty in the eyes of God.  David knew he had sinned – genuinely sinned – by disobeying God.  He was guilty before God and needed that guilt to be removed.

When you realize, as David did, that sin is ultimately a sin against God, then you know where to start with you need forgiveness.  You must turn to God.

     Don’t’ misunderstand me:  When you do fail to live as God wants you to live, it will hurt you personally.  Believe me – someday you will see that it will.  And, be sure of this: Your sin will have a negative impact on others as David’s did. But, if you have come this evening with a heart’s cry for forgiveness, then the starting point to finding real forgiveness for real guilt is to realize that you have sinned against God.  Until you own that and then turn back to Him and re‑commit to His way, there will be no victory over the sin.  When you become right with him, then and only then will you find he sends you out to make things right with others.

      But – hallelujah -- God offers that forgiveness to all who turn to him in repentance and faith.  That word "repentance" means that you turn away from the sin that you’ve been hiding and turn to God. Repentance means a turning from a self-directed way of life to embracing God’s way.  That's what King David was saying in this poem.  He knew his sin had wrecked his life and his family's and Uriah's and Bathsheba's.  But it had all happened because, fundamentally, he had turned from the God who loved Him.  To find forgiveness, David knew that first He had to look inside and acknowledge what his sin to God.

     Think of it this way:  Bathsheba might have said, "Oh, what you did doesn't matter all that much, David.  I’m glad he’s gone."  Uriah's relatives might have come and said, "Oh, you're usually a good person David.  So forget it.  We didn't like him that much anyway."  A counselor might try to convince David that it was really a problem with his upbringing and he shouldn't dwell on it.  But those things would not give him what he needed ‑‑ real forgiveness for real guilt.  Why?  Because in the end it was against God that he had sinned.

      And David knew it.  V.4b: "You are right when you speak about me.  You are justified when you judge." This is where you begin when your heart cries for forgiveness: with an inward look at how you've departed from God's way.  Have you come to that point?  Can you acknowledge before God that indeed you have sinned against Him?  If so, then you're ready for the next step.  From the inward look, you must turn your eyes upward.

Phase 2: An Upward Look  (51:7‑12) Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow (v. 7).

     You must confess your sin but you dare not wallow in it. That’s what some do.  It’s possible to find some kind of satisfaction in telling people all the time how bad you are.  According to the Bible, you look inside yourself to discover and then uncover what’s hidden there -- but it's not inside that you will find the cure.  If you just keep looking inside, you'll simply become more and more absorbed with self‑pity.  The way out of guilt is to look upwards straight into the eyes of the very one you have sinned against and confess your sins to him.  You must ask God to forgive you.

      Notice that in v.7, there is a change from words of admission to words of petition.  “Cleanse me” –“wash me” –“let me” – “create in me a pure heart”.  Look at two essential things David does:

1.  The big thing David asks for.  Two words express it: cleansing and renewal.  That's in v.7.  Hyssop was used in rituals of declaring a person free from leprosy.  David felt eaten away inside by his sin.  He saw the problem getting worse and worse ‑‑ affecting more and more of him.  He knew he needed spiritual healing and knew he couldn't do it himself.  He said he waned to "dance with joy" again (v.12).  Can you relate to this desire?  I'm sure most of you can.

      But this is no small request.  In v.10, he had come to the point of knowing he could not clean up his life on his own.  He said he needed a pure enough heart and a steadfast enough spirit not to go back into his sinful pattern again.  David is asking for a miracle here. He felt completely inadequate ‑‑ everything was wrong and it had been so since birth (v.5).  This sin with Bathsheba wasn't just one little slip but a part of a pattern that had lasted for years. 

     But God is both able and willing to take the guilt away.  Yes, both are critical.  Willing and able.  God can forgive even lust and adultery and deception and murder.  You must turn from them but God can forgive them and begin to re‑make you and restore your joy.  You too must ask for that big thing.

2.  The faith and confidence with which he asks.  Notice the first word in v.13:  "Then."  That means that he is certain that God will not cast him away.  How could he say this?  It’s because David knows the character of God and, therefore, he knows what God will do.  He is sure that God, even though He is holy and hates sin, is also merciful and will forgive the one who comes to him with a humble and repentant spirit. 

      How could David be so sure that God would welcome him back?  The key is in v.12.  "Restore..."  Restore‑‑it's obvious that something is being sought that he's already experienced.  You see, God is no stranger to David.  David remembered how beautiful his relationship with God had been when he was not hiding sin in his heart.  More than anything else, he longed for that intimate relationship again.  But that relationship had also shown him what God was like.

      So David knew his sin was serious. But triumphing over this was the certainty that God is merciful.  God loves to restore his children. Because of that, Psalm 51 is a song of faith‑‑not a suicide note.

      Did you notice that David starts his Psalm in vv.1‑2, saying that God's unfailing love and his great compassion? You and I cannot earn God’s forgiveness.  We simply receive it.  That truth about God makes this Psalm a possibility.  God will forgive the one who turns to Him in this way.  If you will find forgiveness, you must turn away from your sins and turn to God. Your sin is serious.  But, you must believe that God is loving enough to forgive you.  God loves to show mercy to his children. 

      So you must first look into your life and confess the serious sins that are there.  You’ve got to quit hiding them.  Then look up into the face of God and to ask him for forgiveness.  His love is greater than your sin.

Phase 3:  An Outward Look  (51:13‑19) Open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.

     Read v.17.  When you look into your heart and see your sin and then look up and see God's love, if you are not hard‑hearted, your heart breaks.  Christianity is not about just showing up on Sunday and doing religious things like putting in offerings.  It's about us sinners being able to meet a holy God and hear him say, "You're forgiven.  You're my child in spite of your sin." 

      And when you find that welcome, you will be so grateful that two things will be true of you.  First, your tongue will be full of praise to God (v.15). When you experience God's forgiveness, you've got to sing and speak about it with hearts of praise.

      But secondly, you simply have to give testimony to others (v.13).  Of course, a big part of this is being willing to forgive others.  Anyone who has truly experienced forgiveness that they don't deserve will forgive others when they seek it.  If you say, “I cannot forgive,” I doubt whether you have ever truly grasped God's forgiveness toward you and its magnitude.  I’ve learned over the years that the one who has been forgiven is able to forgive.  But, I’ll come back to that on another day and in another sermon.

      For today: David was so thrilled that he had been forgiven that he had to go out and tell others.  That’s the way it always is.  When, at last, you are willing to own up to your sin and confess it -- and then you bring that sin in all its awfulness to God and hear him say, I will cleanse you and restore you – then you are so thrilled that you cannot keep it fully to yourself. You experience the joy of being forgiven; then you look at people all around you who need the same experience – and you find you have but one option, i.e., to tell them that if God can forgive you, then there’s hope for them too. 

     Look around you and see your colleague drinking or deceiving his way to ruin.  He needs God's forgiveness.  Look at that classmate ruining her life through immoral living.  She needs God's forgiveness.  Look at that couple whose marriage is about to snap because of anger or that friend who has foolishly gotten himself trapped in an addiction.  They all need to hear God say, “Through faith in Christ, your sins I will remember no more!”  We all need to hear that.  Our hearts cry out for forgiveness.  And you and I claim to have found forgiveness through faith in Christ.  So, let’s tell people about it!  Let those forgiven tell the world that God forgives.

     The one who has cried out for forgiveness and then experienced the joy of forgiveness is the one who cares enough about others to look outward at them and tell them, “Through Jesus, you too can start again.”

      Let’s take time to respond to the message this evening…

Chinese Study Notes

     

心靈的呼聲：赦免—我能重新來過？

詩篇51

     今天我們要談的心靈的呼聲，是有關赦免。我確信這是我們生命中常常經歷的。當我們意識到自己的失敗，特別是過失已廣為人知，會覺得人生已毀-再也抹不去沾染的汙點。

     聖經中最具戲劇性的故事是關於大衛，我們都熟悉他與拔士巴犯罪的故事，之後他以向神痛悔的心呼求神的赦免。那年春天大衛本來要去打仗，但決定留在家裏。“他需要度個假”自然有人這麽說。春天是一個人情緒不穩定的季節，大衛人到中年，也是生命中最軟弱的階段。很顯然在這件事上，他在道德上屈服了。

     他從宮中看見了美麗的拔士巴，在他軟弱的時候，他犯罪了。不過最惡劣的是他在拔士巴懷孕被揭露之前，有意要去掩蓋。但大衛的計謀不能得逞。然後，巨大的壓力襲來，恐怕失去他的聲望，於是大衛設計將烏力亞置於死地。

歸根結底他一步步從欲望到奸淫到詭計到謀殺，這是我們都知道的真實可怕的例子，邪惡是如何在我們生命中生出更多的邪惡。後來大衛如願以償與拔士巴結婚，以為此事不了了之，至少九個月的時間，他掩蓋起來了。我想我們中有多少人來到教會是帶著自己裏面那些要遮蓋的陰暗面，就如我們的私欲、色情、不能控制的怒氣、謊言和欺騙。但是我們想方設法得以繼續下去，裝作沒有一樣。大衛自然不是唯一把罪藏在心中的人，他以為可以脫離罪惡。

但有一天改變了，因為神知道！大衛的好友先知拿單來見他，指出他的罪行嚴重，最後說：“大衛你就是這個人，你犯罪了。”就如許多男男女女他們的良知被真理所刺透的時候，內心情感受到極大的沖擊。讓我們正視這一事實：我們對大衛的罪嚴厲，但是我們自己就是那個罪人。 人離開神的同在，問題不是我們會不會犯罪，而是我們有否經歷赦免。

     對我來說，作基督徒最奇妙的一件事是：我們曉得，我們在哪裏犯罪（即使有大衛那樣的罪），就在哪裏被神親自宣告赦免---這是因為耶穌在十字架上的受死。大衛寫了詩篇51，講述他在尋求赦免。在詩裏，他在罪疚感中掙紮。讓我們看見聖經為我們記錄了像大衛這樣的偉人不僅有成就的高峰和屬靈的勝利，也有軟弱中的低谷。這裏可以做一下筆記：大衛可能是聖經中僅次於耶穌，與神關系最親近的人；然而，我們還是看見他跪著祈求赦免。

     為什麽聖經將這位偉人以如此羞恥的方式展現給我們？實際上，詩篇51使我們不能對大衛的罪幸災樂禍，也不能為自己的過犯找借口說：“看吧，他比我更壞”。聖經記錄下來是為了我們的緣故，因為我們像大衛一樣犯罪，需要赦免；而聖經向所有人宣告了赦免就在那裏。聖經中充滿了這樣的信息：神的愛與恩典大過我們的罪；每個人都需要赦免，聖經說，這赦免就在耶穌基督裏。

     今天，我們看看詩人大衛在51篇裏如何從心裏發聲，呼求神的赦免。詩裏面清楚地寫出了得赦免的步驟，非常簡單：你首先要自省承認自己的罪（51：1-6）；要仰望神求他赦免你（51：7-12）；然後你要以感恩的心去看這世界，告訴人們神也能赦免他們。

第一階段:  向內看 (51:1 6)  我知道我的過犯；我的罪常在我面前 (v.3)。

     從整本聖經的觀點看，饒恕須先有認罪悔改才會發生。當然認罪要求不留情面的自省和誠實。有一次奧利弗克蘭韋爾（Oliver Cromwell）扔掉了自己的一幅畫，原因是那幅畫沒有瑕疵。他要的是像他一樣“有瑕疵”的作品。然而當今我們大多數人都想要通過化妝去掉瑕疵，造成一種好像不存在瑕疵的假象。

     許多時候我們的內在生命也是如此。你懂得：當你的良心開始讓你不安時，你會嘗試各種道德化妝術掩飾你的行為—你會找借口，極力否認，合理化解釋你的罪。然而這樣做肯定是徒勞無益的。你會發現你也許會自欺一下下，接著便又犯罪。但是我想告訴你：你很難欺騙別人很長時間！你更不能欺騙上帝。

      個中原因是，罪疚是真實的。明白這一點很重要。有一種東西叫“假罪疚”，即為一些已被饒恕或某些根本“不值得”負罪的事長期感到罪疚。然而，還有一種東西是真罪疚，如為那些不可推諉、不容否認的真實錯誤感到罪疚。當你真做了創造主明言是不對或不道德的事時就會產生“真罪疚”。這方面我不必多說。我們都曉得自己所做的那些在神看是錯誤的事。對信徒而言，這事關乎我們的良心。

     你們的良心在犯罪之後有感覺是因為你們是按著上帝的形象造的—你們被造是要跟從上帝的道德。上帝在我們每人心裏安置了一顆良心以分辨對錯。這也就是為什麽我們中間做輔導的只是幫助人們應付罪疚感是不夠的，絕對不夠！如果罪疚是真實的，認罪就是不可避免的---之後才會被饒恕。上帝是唯一可以真正赦罪的那一位。

     當你明白了這一點，你才清楚第四節的意思。當大衛說：“我唯獨得罪了你”，他的言下之意是，他“終極性地”得罪了上帝。是的，他向拔士巴和烏力亞犯罪，但這都因他拒絕神的道，我們一定要清楚了解這一點。在我們的社會中，有人會告訴我們罪疚感只會“讓你失望”。我們當然讓自己失望。有時候我們使別人失望導致罪疚感。但是常常我們叫自己失望或叫別人失望不過是羞恥感，而非實際上是在神眼中的罪疚感。大衛知道自己是真實地犯罪違背了神。他在神面前負疚並需要把罪除掉。當你能像大衛那樣認識到罪是終極性地得罪了神，你就知道從哪裏尋找你所需要的赦免。你必須轉向神。

     我想要你們明白的是：當你沒能活出神要你活出的生命時，將會直接傷害到你自己。相信我，有一天你將看到這一點；你的罪也會像大衛一樣危及你周邊的人。但如果今天你以一顆呼求赦免的心來的話，須知為真實的罪找到真實赦免的開端就是認識到你犯罪是得罪上帝。除非你認識到這一點並回轉歸向他，重新順服他，沒有他法可以勝過罪。當你與神的關係正確時---唯有這樣，他才會派你去---讓你與他人的每件事也都上正軌。

     然而—哈利路亞—上帝願意赦免一切憑信心悔改歸向他的人。“悔改”一詞指你的全人都承認你犯罪得罪了上帝，並且盡管如此，上帝還是向你伸出愛的膀臂。悔改意味著離開順從私欲的生活方式而歸向上帝的道路。這正是大衛王在這首詩歌中所說的。他知道他的罪破壞了他自己的生活，他家庭的生活，還有烏力亞和拔示巴的生活。但這一切的發生，根本上說，是為了他回轉歸向那位愛他的上帝。為了得到饒恕，大衛知道他首先要向內看查驗他的內心並承認他向上帝犯了罪。

     試設想：拔示巴也許會說，“哦，大衛，你所做的事沒關系的，我很高興他終於不在了。”烏力亞的親戚們也許會說，“哦，大衛，你一直都是個好人。所以過去的就讓他過去吧。我們本來也不那麽喜歡他的。”一位心理咨詢師也許會試圖說服大衛，讓他明白這一切其實是他的原生家庭的問題造成的，他本無需如此糾結。但這一切都無濟於事。他的需要是，真實的罪疚需要得到真正的饒恕。為什麽呢？因為畢竟他犯罪是終極性地得罪了上帝。

     大衛對此心知肚明。他在第四節下半節說，“以致你責備我的時候顯為公義，判斷我的時候顯為清正。”讓我再說一次：當你承認犯罪是得罪了神，你將發現他會帶領你認罪並尋求你所得罪的人的原諒—神也會賜你力量如此行。當你內心切望得到赦免時，你會開始查驗內心是如何偏離了上帝道路的。你有這樣做嗎？你是否會在上帝面前承認你犯罪其實是得罪了他？如果果真如此，說明你已經準備好進入下一階段。你會從向內看轉到向上看。

          

第二階段: 向上看  (51:7 12) 求你洗滌我，我就比雪更白(v. 7)。

     你必須認罪卻不可止於此，有些人的確有這樣的問題。不斷告訴別人自己有多壞，有可能會帶來滿足感。但聖經告訴我們，向內看只能發現問題不能解決問題。向內看只會使你越來越自憐。要想逃離罪疚只有向上看，直視你犯罪所得罪的那一位的眼睛並承認你得罪了他。你必須請求他的饒恕。

     註意第7節從承認到懇求的改變。“潔凈我”—“洗滌我”—“使我”—“為我造清潔的心”。

請看大衛所做的兩件重要的事：

1.   大衛祈求的大事。兩個詞可以表達：潔凈和更新。在第七節。牛膝草用於宣告大麻風病人痊愈的儀式中。大衛感到內心被罪啃噬。他看到問題愈演愈烈—-越來越深地危害他。他知道他需要屬靈醫治也深知靠自己不能。他說他想重新“在喜樂中踴躍”（12節）。你有過這樣的渴望嗎？我相信你們大多數人都會有。

但這可不是個小願望。10節中，他認識到他不能靠自己潔凈自己的生命。他說他需要一個足夠清潔的心和足夠強壯的靈保守他不會重返以前的犯罪模式。大衛是在這裏求神跡。他對此感到完全無能為力—-一切從出生起就錯了（5節）。這次犯的罪不只是淺嘗而是多年來犯罪模式的部分體現。

然而上帝既有能力又願意將他的罪疚拿走。是的，這兩點至關重要。願意並且能夠。上帝能夠赦免邪情私欲，奸淫和欺騙以及謀殺。你只可能離開這些罪，但上帝能赦免罪並再造你，恢復你的喜樂。你自己也要尋求這件大事。

2.   他祈求的信心和確信。註意13節的用詞:  "就" ， 这這意味著神不丟棄他。他怎麼可以這麼說呢？因為大衛知道神的性情，因此他知道神要做什麽。他確信，盡管上帝是聖潔的並恨惡罪，他也憐憫人並且願意赦免那些像大衛一樣帶著謙卑悔改的靈來到他面前的人。

大衛如何確定上帝歡迎他回轉歸向他？關鍵在12節：“使我仍得”。“使我仍得”-—很明顯他已經找到或經驗到某樣東西。你知道，大衛對上帝已不再感到陌生。大衛喜愛他和上帝的關係。他渴想再次得到那親密的關係勝過得到其他一切。這關係也向他顯明上帝本來的樣子。

大衛知道他的罪很嚴重。得勝在於確信神的恩慈。神喜悅仍得祂的兒女們。因此，詩篇51篇，是一篇信心的詩篇而不是葬詞。

     你有否註意到大衛從12節開始對上帝有了認識，如上帝不變的愛以及他偉大的憐憫不是我們掙來的而是接受來的。關於上帝的這一真理造就了這詩篇。上帝會赦免這樣來到他面前的人。如果你要得到赦免，就必須離開你的罪並回轉歸向祂的愛和憐憫。我們的罪是嚴重的。然而，你必須相信上帝的愛足夠赦免你。神喜悅向祂的兒女們施恩。

     因此你首先要向內看省察你的生活，並承認心裏面罪的嚴重，並且不再隱藏。之後你要向上看上帝的面，尋求他的赦免。祂的愛大過你的罪。

     

第三階段: 向外看 （51:13 19) 求你使我嘴唇張開，我的口便傳揚贊美你的話（15）。

     讀17節。當你向內看到罪並向上看到上帝的愛，如果你不是硬心的人，你的心會破碎。基督教不是周日去教會，履行一套宗教義務比如奉獻；而是我們這些罪人與聖潔的上帝見面並聽他說“你的罪赦了。你雖有罪仍是我的孩子。”

     受到這樣的歡迎會激發你的感恩，你會發現兩件事。第一，你的舌頭必充滿贊美。當你經歷到上帝的赦免，你會懷著感恩的心歌唱、宣揚。

     第二，你一定會向他人作見證（13節）。當然，你會表現出甘心樂意饒恕他人。每一位得到不配得的赦免的人都會饒恕在尋求饒恕的人。如果你說，“我無法饒恕，”我懷疑你是否真的了解上帝對你的赦免是何等大。多年來我學到的是，受到赦免的人會饒恕他人。

     大衛得到赦免後欣喜若狂，他禁不住要大聲向他人宣告。事情本應如此。最後，當你認識到你的罪並且向神認罪；當你將這罪原原本本帶到上帝面前並聽他說，我會潔凈你並使你復原，你也會歡喜若狂，會情不自禁地告訴他人。你會經歷到罪被赦免的喜樂；你會看見你周圍的人也有同樣的需要—你發現自己別無選擇，只願告訴他人，如果上帝能赦免你，其他人也都有希望。

     看看你周圍的同事們借酒澆愁，自欺欺人，走向滅亡---他們需要得到上帝的赦免。看看你那位自甘墮落的同學過著不道德的生活正在毀掉自己的一生----她需要上帝的赦免。再看看那對因怒氣而失和的夫妻或那位因愚蠢而無法自拔的癮君子朋友---他們都需要通過和上帝建立關系接受醫治和更新。我們都需要！我們的心靈大聲呼求赦免。你我都是因在基督裏的信心而得到赦免的人；因此，讓我們大聲宣告吧！大聲宣告上帝的赦免之恩。

     渴望赦免並經驗到赦免的人會關心其他尋求赦免的人，並告訴他們，“在耶穌裏，你們也可以重新開始。”

     讓我們今天花些時間來回應這段經文。。。    

榮耀歸給神，

Greg Waybrght 博士

主任牧師