Sermon for June 7th, 2026

Psalm 51:1-19

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement. 5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 19 then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psummer of Psalms IX: Psalm 51

It was graduation day at a certain notorious high school in El Paso, Texas (take your pick--whichever one you didn't go to!). Everyone was excited as the students began to walk across the stage. But when Bubba's turn came, the principal stopped him and said, "Bubba--I'm afraid you didn't get enough credits to graduate. I can't give you your diploma." Seeing the disappointment on Bubba's face, the crowd yelled out, "Let him graduate! Let him graduate!" and the Principal, caught between a rock and hard place, finally relented and said, "Ok--if Bubba can answer this one question, I'll let him graduate. Bubba--can you tell me what two plus two equals?" Bubba began to sweat. He counted on his fingers, then he sat down, took off his shoes and socks and counted on his toes. Eventually he stood up again and with a puzzled look on his face, he said, "Ummm...is it...four?" At that moment, the entire graduating class jumped to their feet and in a loud voice they all began to shout, "Give him another chance! Give him another chance!"

Today we recognize and celebrate our graduates--all of whom I'm sure are much more equipped than Bubba for that special day. But I really do like that sentiment from the graduating class: “Give him another chance!” Because that is exactly the prayer at the heart of Psalm 51, our scripture reading today: Create in me a clean heart, O God--do not cast me away from your presence. Give me another chance. It's a prayer that I have often prayed throughout my life, and it has an even deeper meaning for me when I remember my own graduation from Coronado high school exactly 33 years ago. It was one of the worst days of my life. It was also, in retrospect, one of the most humbling and grace-filled days of my life. I will tell you that story in just a little while.

But first, Psalm 51--which begins with an inscription: To the leader (that means the psalm was addressed to the leader of worship in the temple at Jerusalem). A Psalm of David (that is, King David, who in addition to being the king, was a musician, a song-writer, the author of 73 psalms in the book of psalms), when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

For those who aren't familiar with the story, here's the short version: King David was married, and so was Bathsheba--they just weren't married to each other. David had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and then tried to cover it up. But the prophet Nathan came to him, and confronted him about his sin. To his credit, David acknowledged the harm he had done and begged God for forgiveness, for a second chance, and for a pathway to make things right again. This psalm is David's painful, beautiful, heartfelt prayer in the aftermath of one of the worst days of his life.

I can identify with David. Thirty-three years and one week ago, I was on top of the world. I was a senior at Coronado High School about to graduate. I was a section leader in the drum line. I was a leader in my church youth group. I had just recorded a studio album full of original songs with my band. I had been accepted into the only college I had applied to. Most important of all--to me, at least--I had this amazing, beautiful, wonderful girlfriend--my high school sweetheart and the girl of my dreams, Amy Sawyer (you probably know her).

But then I messed up. One week before graduation, in a moment of selfishness and immaturity that I have regretted ever since, I betrayed Amy’s trust. I kissed one of her closest friends. It was a kiss, and nothing more than that--but it was enough. I knew, almost immediately, that I had done something very wrong.

As often happens, the truth has a way of coming out, and unfortunately, it did not come from me. Amy found out on graduation day, just a few hours before the ceremony. I will never forget walking across the stage at the Don Haskins Center to receive my diploma, looking out into the audience where I knew she was seated, and catching a fading glimpse of her disappointment, her devastation. I knew that she knew, and she knew that I knew that she knew. What should have been one of my happiest memories remains one of my worst moments--I messed up. I graduated, but I deeply hurt the person I cared most about.

Thankfully (and obviously) that wasn't the end of our story, although it certainly could have been. It takes a lot of time and a lot of grace to rebuild lost trust, and thirty-three years later, it's still something I don't take for granted.

So, at least on some small level, I can identify with David's prayer in Psalm 51. I know what it feels like to mess up, wishing you had done better, wanting to make things right, and not quite knowing how, or even if that's possible.

Your circumstances and your story may be a bit different, but I suspect we've all been there at some point or another. That's why this psalm--and so many of David's psalms--have resonated so deeply with so many people throughout the centuries.

The Bible says in a couple of different places that David was "a man after God's own heart." That comes after this unfortunate episode, after this psalm. I don't think David was a man after God's own heart *because* of what he did wrong, or even in spite of it. I think David was a man after God's own heart because of how he navigated what came next. And there's something we can learn from that.

That's actually what I want to focus on in the remainder of this sermon, especially for the benefit of our graduates. Tomorrow (or yesterday, or whenever your graduation ceremony is, was, or will be) you will likely hear speeches about how awesome and amazing you are. And that's true--you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of your creator. But you're also human, so no matter how many achievements and diplomas you rack up in this life, you'll also rack up some painful "learning experiences" along the way. When that inevitably happens, I hope that instead of getting stuck, instead of just digging in, you'll stop and ask the question, "what do I do next?" And I hope you'll remember Psalm 51. Fifty-one. Five. One. So in that spirit, here are five steps and one overarching principle for what to do right... after you've done wrong.

Be honest

In the language of the church, we call this "confession," and it really is an important part of every lifelong journey. David says in verse 3, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” The first person (and the hardest person) to be honest with is yourself. But you can't be honest with anyone else if you don't start there. Be honest with the people you have wronged, and most of all, be honest with God--who already knows you better than you know yourself. David says to God in verse 6, "You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart." True wisdom comes from experience--even bad experiences--and it comes from seeing those experiences (and yourself) with clear eyes. So be honest. Which leads to the second step:

Let God do his thing

Let God in--into your mind, into your heart, into your whole life. There are some things you can't fix, but there's nothing--and no one--that God cannot change. David says, in the most beautiful verse of the Psalm, verse 10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” And God did. Over and over again. Letting God do his thing doesn't mean skipping the consequences of our actions, and it doesn't mean we don't participate in the hard work. But when God is working through you, you aren't working alone, and even when you fail, you grow. You learn. You have the resources to try again. So be honest. Let God do his thing. And the third step:

Do your thing joyfully

David says in verse 8, "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice" and in verse 12, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” Being honest and being accountable does not mean being forever ashamed of what you've done. When God forgives you, when God renews your heart, it's cause for gratitude and joy. Not because of anything you did, but because of what God is doing within you. Not because what happened didn't matter, but because grace and mercy matter more. In fact, when you are forgiven, if you focus on that gratitude, if you focus on the joy of your salvation, if you hold on to *that* thought, that gift from God, it's a lot harder to walk down the same path that got you in trouble in the first place. So be honest. Let God do his thing. Do your thing joyfully. And...step four:

Do your thing humbly

Joy and humility are two sides of the same coin, and they create a balance. If your joy is misplaced--as in, "I'm so happy that's over with," or "I'm so happy I got away with that" this is what the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace." Grace that comes without a cost, without sacrifice, isn't real or lasting. And the sacrifice most acceptable to God, according to David in verse 17, is "a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." A broken heart here does not mean a worthless heart or a hopeless heart. It means a humble heart--one that has stopped pretending, stopped posturing, and is finally open to God.

So be honest. Let God do his thing. Do your thing joyfully, but do your thing humbly. And what flows out of that honesty, that grace, that joy, that humility...is step five:

Let your life be a blessing to others

Near the end of the psalm David makes a pact with God. He says, when you do all these things, God, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways . . . my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance . . . my mouth will declare your praise." Now, this is not the same as saying, "God, if you get me out of this mess, I promise I'll go to church every Sunday and give a tenth of everything I own to you." Don't get me wrong--those are definitely good things to do! But if you're only doing them selfishly to get out of trouble, that's transactional. That's treating God like a vending machine. And God doesn't *need* those things in any case. No, David's prayer is a joyful, grateful, humble response to what he knows God will do--what God is already doing within him. And he wants to share that blessing with everyone. He says in verse 18, "Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem." When God's grace and mercy fill you with joy, that joy overflows and it's contagious. So when you're forgiven, forgive others. When you have learned something, teach others. When you have been given new life and new hope and new purpose, then you are now called to share life and hope and purpose with everyone you meet.

So to review: Be honest. Let God do his thing. Do your thing joyfully. Do your thing humbly. And let your life be a blessing to others.

That's five steps, and I also promised one overarching principle. Psalm 51. Five One. Even if you forget the five steps, remember this one principle, because everything I just said is all wrapped up in this. Here it is:

God’s love is greater than any mistake you could ever make. Let me say that again: God's love is greater than any mistake you could ever make. It is more honest, more joyful, more compelling, more real, more generous than even our capacity to make a mess of things. If you can remember that, the rest will fall into place. And when you fall, you will fall into his arms.

Or to quote an old hymn: Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace..