Midweek Lent 2 – Pr. Anderson sermon
Psalm 51:6-8 “Revealing Our Sinful Nature”
March 19, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
+ + +
Heavenly Father, we come before you today reflecting on the wisdom you bring to us in the truth of your Holy Word. We see all around us how our sinful nature is revealed to us and that on our own, we can do nothing that pleases you. In witnessing our sinful nature at work, we see that we can only repent and ask for your gracious mercy. Mercy, You reveal to us in Your Word and mercy You physically reveal to us in Your Sacraments. Help us to see that through the work of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we have been washed clean, and we are whiter than snow. Remind us of this great goodness you have bestowed on us only because of Jesus’ good and saving work. In His name we humbly pray. Amen.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
What does it take for us to be full of wisdom? Some will say you will be full of wisdom by reading many, many books. Some might say that you will gain much wisdom needed for the world by simply listening to the adults from or in your life. It is through seeing their examples that you are able to have wisdom. You might have wisdom depending on a certain topic you like to enjoy. And of course, people are going to debate you about whether or not you actually have wisdom on a subject or in general. While we can debate what it means to be wise, Scripture reveals to us where true wisdom lies. Wisdom is revealed in God, and it is something we have to receive from Him in order to have it. It is hard to stomach anything that is taken outside of our control. Yet, God in His mercy reveals our sinful nature and with our sinful nature revealed, wisdom is found in the truth of confession and the hyssop of blood that washes us clean.
Now the hyssop branch is used throughout Scripture. It was used in the Old Testament as a cleaning agent. Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave (Numbers 19:18). For Old Testament Israel to keep following these cleaning rituals meant only one thing. They knew their sin and sinful nature had been revealed to them by God and His holy laws. When you search through Israel’s history, when do they want to be clean? It is always at the point where they have failed miserably at following God’s wisdom and they had served false gods. While Israel repeated this cycle, David is also seeing wisdom by identifying His sins that were committed by his very own sinful nature. David confesses the truth and God’s delight is in truth. Like David, this is hard to hear. There are many times it is just easier to keep the truth at bay. Instead of the truth, God sees the worlds terror and despair.
David’s son would point out why we struggle with terror and shame. He writes, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10). The great topic of wisdom and understanding that we all search for in life is put to an end when we see our wisdom is supposed to come from our fear of the Lord. The fear of showing Him respect and honor because we are to follow everything He has told us to do. This is a hard sell for us because we see what everyone is doing and it looks like we are missing out on all of the fun. Our thoughts can reveal what kind of wisdom we want. Sometimes we would rather have the “wisdom” of the world. This wisdom however is not really wisdom at all. Instead, it is folly.
David writes in one of his earlier Psalms, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1). Without wisdom from the fear of the Lord, we are very foolish. It is the lack of wisdom which truly reveals our sinful nature. Everything around us reveals there is a God. We see it in nature, and as God has written His law on our hearts, we realize that we can’t live to His standards. Our sinful nature weighs us down as we see that we can’t do anything good on our own. Either we can try to block all of this out and look extremely foolish or we have terror and despair. This terror and despair creeps in as God teaches us that we can’t do anything to renew ourselves or make the changes. We must take heart like David, who in his confession reveals the great truth and wisdom that we have comes from God.
In our section of Psalm 51 for today, we see David praying for renewal. God answers him and sets him free from terror and despair. This happens as the Prophet Nathan does the unthinkable and reveals David’s sinful nature. He points out all that David has done wrong and God witnessed it all unfold. David is the man and because of his sin deserves the just wrath and punishment from God. David knowing he is caught out, confesses his sin and reveals he has failed. God then immediately does the unthinkable by setting him free and forgiving him of all his sins. God does answer prayers of renewal. He sends joy, gladness, wisdom, and the truth He delights in down from heaven in His One and only Son. David’s own descendant would give him the ultimate purge of hyssop with His blood shed on the cross.
It is with Jesus sacrifice we can also pray for renewal saying, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.” As our sinful nature is revealed, wisdom is taught in our heart through hearing the work of Jesus which is Him living out perfectly all of God’s commands in our place. Where there have been times for us to throw away wisdom and look like a fool, Jesus embraces the wisdom and knowledge of His heavenly Father. This wisdom and knowledge take Him to bitter pain and suffering. As He hangs on the cross, He purges not only all of our sins, but the sins of the world. The robes of righteousness we now put on our white because of the blood of the lamb. In our sinful nature, we see we are broken. In wisdom, we look to the cross and see we are forever healed.
To see your wounds healed forever means you come down this road of reflecting on repentance. You see your sinful nature revealed in God’s holy law. In reverence and awe, you then turn and see Jesus’ use hyssop not for His sin because He had no sin, but He used it in His suffering, revealing He is your healing. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill all the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up His spirit (John 19:28-30). Here is the wisdom, found in the fear of the Lord. Fear you have because of faith in Christ Jesus which the Holy Spirit now brings to you.
The Holy Spirit has you here today, storing this wisdom in the secret heart, so you may carry on in this life. As many see the terror and despair the sinful world brings, there is no doubt that the sinful nature of man is revealed in the life around him. It would seem that it should be easy to turn from sin. Your sinful nature reveals just how hard it is; it is impossible. When the truth is revealed in the Word and Sacraments, it reveals to the world just how outside of ourselves it is to be saved. In struggle and hardship, the truth is there in the One who embodied wisdom. He embodied it because He is not only true man, but He is also true God. And in His Father’s plan of salvation, His great wisdom was to purge all of mankind. Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). You have no need to feel shame revealed by your sinful nature. Jesus has taken your shame and you are now growing wisdom, white as snow, and your broken wounds will be healed forever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
+ + +