Sunday message · The Heart Matters series
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Message Summary
In the second week of The Heart Matters, a series in the spirit of Lent that takes a solemn look at sin, repentance and the price Jesus paid, Pastor Phillip Santillan turns to Psalm 51. Admitting we are wrong is hard for anyone, and psychologists point to cognitive dissonance, the discomfort we feel when our belief that we are smart or kind meets evidence to the contrary. Phil admits he would rather get to the happy part, but he is learning that God does great things in us when we lean into repentance, a non-negotiable discipline for every follower of Jesus.
Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, and Phil defines being poor in spirit as having the courage to confess our sins and the bravery to believe that without God we are without hope. Last week’s focus was humility; this week’s is leaning into repentance, one of the main things humility before God requires.
The backstory is in 2 Samuel 11–12. At the height of his power, King David stays home instead of leading his army, abuses his power to commit adultery with Bathsheba, and covers up her pregnancy by having her husband killed. God reveals the secret to Nathan, a prophet and trusted advisor, who confronts David, and Psalm 51 is David’s response. As one commentator notes, the questions of earlier laments are gone; what remains is a soul deeply aware of its sin and its need for God’s grace.
David begins by acknowledging God’s faithful love and abundant compassion, the character God revealed to Moses (Exodus 34). He admits his sin plainly, with no excuses, asks God to wash him and create a clean heart in him, and above all asks that God’s presence remain with him. Phil connects this to Jesus’ warning that some who did many things in his name will hear that he never knew them: the most important thing is not behavior change but dependence on God. Once restored, David says he will teach the rebellious God’s ways and sinners will return (verse 13). God uses a transformed people to transform the world, and Phil wonders whether the church is not seeing more people follow Jesus because it has not come to grips with the fact that without God we are nothing. What God wants is a broken and humble heart, not a pageantry of religion.
Rather than only reading about repentance, Phil leads the congregation in practicing it. Repentance means turning, and in Jewish tradition it is teshuva, returning home to how God designed us to live. With quiet music playing, he guides everyone to acknowledge God’s greatness, confess their sin, since we cannot turn from what we are not aware of, ask for forgiveness, a clean heart and a renewed spirit, and end in thankful worship. He closes by urging everyone to keep doing this through the week, or at least to make David’s prayer their own, so that in repentance we would be with Jesus, become like Jesus and live like Jesus.