Let the Bones Which You Have Broken Rejoice

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.” That phrase seems like a hard pill to swallow. How can broken bones rejoice? Why would we rejoice in pain and suffering? Brokenness should induce sorrow and weeping, not praise and rejoicing. But in Psalm 51, David leads us in the pattern of true repentance.

Psalm 51 is set amidst a situation of deep grief for sin. King David had seen Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, and lusted over her. So he called for her and seduced her, and impregnated her. When David found out she was pregnant, he tried to cover up his sin by bringing Uriah, her husband, home from battle. However, Uriah was a righteous man, and he refused to lie with his wife while his troops were in battle. So, David had Uriah sent to his death on the front line. Then he took Bathsheba as his wife. However, the prophet Nathan was sent by God to call David to account for his sins, and David was stricken with grief and contrition. His contrition pleased the Lord, but because of his sin, the son conceived in David's adultery died soon after birth.

In the midst of this grief and sorrow, David writes the words of Psalm 51, expressing the deep grief brought about by sin, and the acknowledgment that he had sinned against God. However, David knows that the story does not end there. He casts himself on the mercy of God and prays that his sin be washed away by the grace of God. Then, because David trusts in God to deliver him, he rejoices that he will receive joy and gladness, not the consequences of his sin.

We must take note that David begins by pleading for the mercy and grace of God. He cries out, “Have mercy on my, O God, according to Your steadfast love.” The mercy of God is predicated not on the merit or worthiness of David, of you or me, but upon the steadfast love of God for His children. This steadfast love, ḥesed in Hebrew, is the perfect, holy, self-sacrificing love and mercy which only God has, but which has been poured out for us in Jesus death and resurrection. Upon this love David throws himself, knowing that in him there is no worthiness to receive the mercy of God. After all, he has earned the wrath of God on account of his sins. It is right that death come upon David because of the blood on his hands. Likewise, it is only fair that death come upon you for your sins. After all, Moses says, “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” There is no reason why you should warrant the remission of your guilt, except that God loves you and has deigned to show mercy to you for Christ's sake.

In this psalm, David acknowledges that only God can take away our sins, as he repeatedly calls upon God to cleanse him. “According to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” Like David, the Holy Spirit calls us to account for our sins and iniquities. Although your sins may not be as externally grievous as those of David, nevertheless internally you are as guilty as he. You have failed to keep the Law of God, and so earned only His wrath. You have not crucified the lusts of the flesh, but instead crucified the flesh through its lusts. Rather than love the Lord your God, you have loved what was right and comely in your own eyes. However, the Lord has not chosen to execute His judgment upon you, but instead has poured out His love upon you, and indeed has blotted out your transgressions, washed you from your iniquities, and cleansed you from your sins. When David cries out for God to cleanse him of his sins, he is asking simply for God to do what He has promised to do for His children – to take away our sins and restore us.

All the mercy and grace of God, however, are not free and easy for the taking. David shows us what is required of us – namely that we must despair of our sins and confess our abject moral and spiritual bankruptcy before God. Therefore, David writes,

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

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 judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

You know your sins. You do not need me to tell you all the ways your heart and mind malfunction against the Law of God. Your sin is ever before you, staring back at you in the mirror of the Word of God. The very condition of your body betrays the sin and death lurking within your fallen human condition. Furthermore, you know the choices you have made, the choices to give the devil his due, the choices not to help the saints of God, the choices to live for yourself and not for others. Therefore, your sin is always before you. What remains is only for you to confess your sin. Not just your foibles and failings, but your bottomless sinful condition, rooted in the sin of Adam and Eve. For you and I were conceived in sin, and our mothers bore us from sin into a world of sin. And thenceforth, we have proceeded to sin against God and His Law until this very day. This we must confess, we can do no other. Therefore, the judgment of God is righteous against us and the holiness of God is maintained inviolate. It is our sinful hearts which have failed, and not the Law of God. The Word of God remains forever.

But repentance has a second part. Lest we despair of our sins and fall into disbelief, David enjoins us to again throw ourselves on the grace of God. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” When God cleanses us, we are truly clean indeed. Your sins are taken away by the only one strong enough to remove them – the sinless Son of God. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the Law of God is fulfilled, and grace flows freely, yet without sacrificing the Law. The condemnation that stood against us on account of our sins is gone, washed away in the crimson flood flowing from the pierced side of the Lamb who was slain. The water and the blood and the Spirit cry out, announcing that your sins are forgiven. The sin that ever stands before you is blotted out by the cross of Christ. The iniquity with which you were conceived and born is removed by your rebirth in the waters of Baptism, and those blessed waters continue to wash away each day's sin, as the new man arises each morning to live in righteousness and purity forever.

Therefore, we cry out with David for the joy of the Lord to be revealed to us. “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice.” We hear the voice of God speaking to us a word of joy and gladness in the midst of our sorrow. The Lord comes to us and says, I forgive you all your sins, for the sake of Jesus. Your iniquities are washed away. Your transgressions are removed. All that is no more. The things which you have suffered will come to an end, and you will see the salvation which I have prepared for you in the sight of all the nations. You will rejoice in the midst of your sorrow, because My grace is sufficient for you, and with the blood of My Son you are washed clean and made holy and perfect. Rejoice and be glad.

So, then our song is joined with David's, as we ask for a clean heart and a right spirit.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Since we have been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, this is the song of each Christian every day. We pray to be re-created in the perfect image of God each day, that the previous day's sins be wiped away and the new day bring new life. We cling to the Holy Spirit, because through Him comes our life and our light and our salvation, and we beg that He not depart from us. We continuously ask that we may dwell in the joy of the salvation of our God. We plead that the Spirit would uphold us in the joy and peace of fellowship with God and with all His saints in glory.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Having been forgiven of all your sins, you therefore will sing the praises of Him who died and rose for your salvation. Like David, your lips have been opened, so that you will declare the praises of God your Father. Because your transgressions have been removed, you will teach transgressors the way of righteousness, and sinners will return to God because of the proclamation of His Word. In humility you will offer to God your broken and contrite heart, and He will continue to give you a new heart, full of His Spirit and His love. And because your new heart is filled with His love and sure of His salvation, you will offer sacrifices pleasing to Him and worthwhile to your neighbor. Because of the love shown to you, you will do good to Zion, the city of God. You will offer yourself and your resources to those in need. You will share the cup of salvation, and you will pay your vows in the house of God. You will offer the sacrifices demanded by the Law, because you can through Christ, not because He needs your money your effort, but because your neighbor does. And you will ever declare the praises of the Lamb who was slain and now is raised in life eternal.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.