unscientific

There are no universal truths in science, only things that have yet to be proved false.

Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw, Why does E=mc2?

Brian Cox would no doubt hate me using this quote like this but, if science is your big reason for doubting Christianity, then please pay attention to the quote above. Please don't take "christianity can't be true" as your universal truth that you are not willing to question. You have yet to prove it false. Look into the evidence about Jesus' life death and resurrection, don't leave it untested, that's unscientific!

hyssop (psalm 51:7)

In Psalm 51, as David is repenting and crying out to God for mercy, he says:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

(Psalm 51:7 ESV)

When he mentions hyssop, he is likely to be thinking of the uses of hyssop (a shrub) found throughout the Old Testament

If a house was unclean, blood from a sacrifice was to be sprinkled on the house using hyssop to make the house clean (Leviticus 14:49-53). When Moses gave the law to the Israelites, the book and the people were sprinkled with blood, using hyssop, to signify the beginning of the covenant (Hebrews 9:18-19). When God was going to kill every first born son in Egypt , the Israelites had to dip some hyssop in blood from a sacrifice and put the blood on their doorposts so that God would passover them (Exodus 12:22-23).

Hyssop was used when there had been a sacrifice. A sacrifice necessary because of breaking God's law, blood necessary to be spared from deserved  judgement and to be made clean.

David, like us, has broken God's law. He, like us deserves God's wrath and is crying out for God's forgiveness. He recognises that requires sacrifice when he brings up the idea of hyssop. Why aren't we dipping hyssop in blood right now to sprinkle ourselves with blood from a sacrifice?

    After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill 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 ESV)

    Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

(Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV)

   

it's natural (psalm 51:5)

Psalm 51:5

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me.

David is not trying to say that the act of his conception was sinful but, instead, that his sinfulness had existed as long as he had. Sin is natural to us, no child needs to be taught how to sin. As long as we hold onto an idea of ourselves as being essentially good people who have made a few bad choices we will only ever be looking to Jesus as a moral guide, not a Saviour. We wont rejoice about his rescue mission until we realise that we need rescuing.

against you alone (psalm 51:4)

Psalm 51:4

Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgement.

You only? David's sin involved others and had consequences for others. This is not a denial of that but a recognition that all sin (including his adultery and murder) starts with sin against God, it starts with rebellion and idolatry.

"so that" does not mean here that David sinned in order to make God just. It is that David sinned therefore God's judgement is just. Everything that God says to David through Nathan about this incident is completely justified.

ignoring sin? (psalm 51:3)

Psalm 51:3

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me

Are we aware of our sin? Do we know our transgressions? There will be areas where we are blind to sin in our lives and we need someone like Nathan to come and point it out. With that information, or with sin that we are already aware of, what are we going to do with it. We are most likely to ignore it, try to push it to the back of our mnds, explain it away and justify it. We don't want our sin "ever before us" as David describes, because that makes us feel guilty or depressed. But without it "ever before us" we will forget the good news of the gospel which is the only thing that can really deal with that guilt and the sin that caused us. Conviction may not seem nice, but it's for our good.

it's good, it's all good

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights

The fact that God is the Creator is not just about the beginning of time or evolution. It also means everything good that we experience is good because He is good and He created it. Do you enjoy good food or good music? He created food and music. He came up with the idea. If the created things are good, the Creator is even better. 

This is important to remember when God's way of doing something is at odds with the way we want to do it. For example, God does not confine sexual relationships to heterosexual, monogamous marriage because he is trying to limit our experience of sexuality. He invented sex, He created it to be good, He wants you to have the best sex life possible, and He knows how it works best - within marriage. 

God is powerful and mighty and holy, but He is also good. He is more committed to your good than you are!

a powerful message for everyone

    For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
(Romans 1:16 ESV)

When I feel ashamed of the gospel, or embarrassed by it, it is likely to be because I have forgotten it's power. God saved me through the power of the gospel and he can do that with anyone - Jews, Greeks, barbarians, wise, foolish (v13-14). It is for everyone, not just certain types of people or people who are just like me. And it doesn't depend on my intelligence or eloquence when talking to non-christians. It's the power of God, it's His gospel, it's the good news about Him. I have no need to be ashamed.

laboring the point?

    So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
(Romans 1:15 ESV)

Paul is writing to the church in Rome, to Christians (see v7). So why is he eager to preach the gospel to them? Christians must need to hear the gospel too! We never move on from the gospel, we move deeper into it.

a few things about the gospel

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

  
(Romans 1:1-6 ESV)

 In this short section, Paul manages to cram in a lot about the gospel:

• It is "of God" - the gospel is more about God than it is about us. Do we tend to start with us and work back to God?
• It was promised throughout the Old Testament - God had a plan from the beginning of time to rescue us. The Old Testament is not irrelevant but sets up the promises of God that Jesus came to fulfill. 
• It is about Jesus
• ...who was human - he was descended from David according to the flesh
• ...and also God  - declared to be the Son of God
• it is proved by his resurrection
• it is a gift of grace
• to which we respon in obedience and faith
• it is for all the nations

washed clean (Psalm 51:2)

Psalm 51:1b-2

according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

David is aware of his sin. Just like David, I have transgressed, I have rebelled against God and deliberately gone my own way. I also find myself in iniquity, twisted in on myself, my selfish heart affecting everything in my life. I have sinned, I have failed to live up to Gods' perfect standard. The good news of the gospel starts with recognising our sin.

David knows the solution is not within himself. Aware of our sin, we could just accept it, either revelling in it or wallowing in it but not expecting or even wanting change. David knows that something needs to be done about it. but he recognises that it is not something he can do himself. We can't sort ourselves out. We can't turn around the rebellion, untwist ourselves and start being holy. We need intervention. the good news of the gospel is that God has intervened.

David asks God to blot out his sins, to wash him thoroughly, to cleanse him. Nothing else can cleanse us, can wash us. We can't blot out our own transgressions, no matter how much we try. The good news of the gospel is that God can, and will, do that. On the cross, our transgressions were blotted out, our iniquity was washed away and we were cleansed. In verse 1, David cries out to God for mercy. How does God show mercy? By dealing with our sin.

mercy (psalm 51:1)

Psalm 51:1

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions

David asks God for mercy. He asks God to show compassion to him instead of treating him as he deserves to be treated. The good news is that God has and shows mercy in abundance. He is not just merciful once or twice, he is abundantly merciful, I have not used up his supply. He has more mercy than I have sin. He is merciful towards us because of his love for us which is steadfast, it is unchanging, he is consistent in his position towards us. Cry out for God's mercy, He is merciful.

Exodus 43:6-7
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,