A Study on Luke 16:1-13

16 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ² So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ ⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

¹⁰ “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³ No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

This reading is connected with Luke 15.

In Luke 15, Jesus is talking to the outsiders about the love of God.

In Luke 16, Jesus is talking to the insiders, the disciples, about people’s love of money.

16 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.

Some translations refer to this man as a steward.  A steward is a manager, especially a manager of money or property.  This is a person who manages what does not belong to him.

My great grandfather was such a person.  He managed the estate, property and home of a wealthy man in Massachusetts.  His diaries detail the period from 1880 until 1923, and one of the interesting stories is that one day, while the owner was in Europe, the dog was missing.  My great grandfather was furious to learn that my grandfather had kidnapped the dog in order to mate her with another dog.  This was his plan for how to get a dog of his own.  My great grandfather wrote in his diary about how terrified he was that he would lose his job because he had not taken proper care of the owners animal and had allowed her to be mated and to have a litter of pups.  Fortunately it turned out all right – and in my home I have a professional portrait of that offspring dated 1899. 

In the Bible, this particular steward's boss (the rich man) hears that his steward is cheating him (wasting his goods), and he calls him to account.

² So he (the rich man) summoned him (the manager) and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’

Do you ever watch the NBC reality show, THE APPRENTICE?  In it a group of competitors battle for high-level management jobs in one of Trump’s commercial enterprises.   In each episode, all of the contestants will sit at the board table with Trump and each week he will evaluate everyone and he will look at one and say, “You’re fired.”  In fact, in 2004, he even filed a trademark application for the catch phrase, “You’re fired.” 

That’s the situation of the manager.  That must be a frightening thing, to be fired.  I have known parishioners who were fired and would not even tell their wives.  Sometimes months would go by before the family would find out.

Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.

Now you would think that a wise person would start sending out his applications and resumes, but not this person.  He prudently thinks about his options.  He’s not employable.  So he decides he’ll just go live in other people’s homes and live off of them.  But who would take him in?  He has no friends, so he has to make friends.

’ ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.

So, the steward makes friends with his master's debtors by settling their accounts for less than they actually owe. The steward, knowing he will be called to account, used his present position to prepare him for the next stage of his life.

How should the manager respond? 

Not in the way we would expect.

⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly

What other translations do we have for the word “Shrewdly?”

KJV  And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely:

Others:  astutely, clever, discretely, or prudently.

This sounds like a negative word, but the Greek word here is the same used elsewhere in Luke and in the New Testament and is elsewhere translated “wisely” or “prudently.”

He is being commended, not because he was dishonest or unethical, but because he was using his brain.

As we look at the next several verses, think about what lessons Jesus teaches YOU in this parable.

⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

¹⁰ “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³ No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

So go to it – what lessons could you offer?

LESSON 1 – ACT SMART!

 We need to act shrewdly – or wisely.   The people of the world are smart – we need to be just as smart.

In LUKE 16:8 the lesson is that the sons of this world are wiser in their generation than the sons of light. That means that, if only the Christian was as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the person of the world is in an attempt to attain money and comfort, then the Christian would be a better disciple in an attempt to show love and mercy to others and to serve God.
We should give as much attention to the things which concern our souls as we do to the things which concern our material business,
Over and over again a person will expend twenty times the amount of time and money and effort on pleasure, hobbies, a garden, or sport as on the church or charitable efforts.
LESSON 2 – USE MONEY WISELY
In Luke 16:9 the lesson is that material possessions should be used to cement the friendships wherein the real and permanent value of life lies. In William Barclay’s commentary on Luke, he suggests that this could be done in two ways.
(a) It could be done as it affects eternity. The Rabbis had a saying, "The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come." It was a Jewish belief that charity given to poor people would stand to a man's credit in the world to come. A man's true wealth would consist not in what he kept, but in what he gave away.
(b) It could be done as it affects this world. A person can use wealth selfishly or generously.  One can use wealth to make one’s own life easier, or to make it easier for one’s self AND for others.  Many people are forever grateful to a rich person who gave or left money to establish scholarships which made a university education possible! Many people are grateful to the friend who was there in some time of need in the most practical way! Possessions are not in themselves a sin, but they are a great responsibility, and the person who uses them to help his friends has gone far to discharge that responsibility.

LESSON 3 – BE HONEST AND FAITHFUL IN EVEN THE SMALLEST THING
In Luke 16:10-11 the lesson is that a person’s way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of being fit – or unfit – for the bigger task. That is clearly true of earthly things.

LESSON 4 – TIME TO MAKE A COMMITMENT

Luke 16:13 lays down the rule that no slave can serve two masters. It was this same passage in Matthew’s Gospel that changed my life.

I remember reading the New Testament for the first time, and as I was working through this text as found in Matthew I realized I had to make a commitment – either be a disciple – or not. 
Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Money – job – sports – fill in the blank, you have to make a decision to follow God or follow something else.

The Joy of God's Forgiveness

 Psalm 51:1-15

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 judgment.
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

⁶ You desire truth in the inward being;^[a]
    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^[b] 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^[c] 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.

 I Timothy 1:12-17

¹² I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, ¹³ even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

        My son came home from school one day to catch me on the telephone. 

When my son realized that I was talking with his teacher, he became very anxious.

I hung up the telephone and my son immediately said, “Who was that?”

“That was Mr. Brown,” I said very somberly.  “Your teacher.”

“Why were you talking with my teacher?”

“He was telling me some things that were going on at school.”

“What things?”

“Well son, I don’t have time to talk about them now.  I have to go visit someone in the hospital.  But I promise you we’re going to have a loooong talk when I get home.”  And then I headed for the door and just as I was about to walk out, I turned to my son, his face pale, and I said, “When I get home, if you confess to all you’ve been up to, then I promise things will go a lot easier.”

Then I closed the door and headed off to the hospital, and I was gone a long time.

When I got home my son was sitting in the living room waiting for me.

He could not confess fast enough.

He told me about everything!

And as I promised, the punishment was not too severe, but he made a commitment to me that he would never, ever do those things again.

And as far as I know, he didn’t.

I did not have the heart to tell him that what prompted my son’s teacher to call me was that he was inviting all of the parents to an open house.

But, on the other hand I always knew my son was up to mischief at school and needed to confess SOMETHING.

Most of us have something to confess.

And for many of us, what we need to confess is something serious.

Billy Graham once said that a psychologist in London had made the observation that more than half of the people in mental hospitals could be released if they could find a way to experience forgiveness.    Whatever problems they were having with mental health, this psychologist claimed that their problems were so heavily compounded by a bad conscience that they simply could not find a road to health and recovery.  What they needed was a healing that could bring them relief from the guilt and pressures under which they lived.

        Our Old Testament reading for this morning was written by a man who had an intimate knowledge of guilt and the need for forgiveness.  The author of this reading -- Psalm 51-- was King David, and it was written after a prophet named Nathan had uncovered a double sin that David had tried to keep secret -- adultery and murder.

        The way all of this had come about was that David had been on his roof one evening.

        In ancient times, roofs were flat and they were often used like we would use a porch or patio.  Perhaps David was up there to be alone -- to think about the war that his army was fighting in some distant city. Or perhaps he was thinking of some of the other problems of state. Or perhaps he was simply doing what many of us do when we sit on our porches or patios -- relaxing after a difficult day at work.

            At any rate, David soon became aware that he could see--not too far off in the distance -- a woman bathing.  She was beautiful.  So much so that David could not forget about her.   The next day, he asked about her and learned that her name was Bathsheba, and that her husband Uriah, was in David's own army, and away in battle.

        David sent for Bathsheba and the two had an adulterous affair. As a result, Bathsheba became pregnant.

        King David realized he had done something terrible.  He was guilty of a terrible and dishonorable thing, so what did he do to handle his guilt?

Cover up!

        Isn't that just like a politician?  Isn't that just like all of us?

        David sent word for Uriah to come home from battle, pretending that he wanted him to give an official report from the battle front.  In reality, he hoped that Uriah would spend the night at home with his wife while in Jerusalem.  When the child was born, Uriah would accept it as his own.  But Uriah was a soldier and his commitment was such that during wartime, he would only sleep with the other soldiers.

        The cover up didn’t work, so David took another step. 

        This is often the case. We make a mistake.  We need relief from our guilt.  But we find ourselves getting deeper and deeper, much more so than we ever intended to go.

        To cover up his sin, David ordered Uriah back into battle.  And then David ordered one of his military leaders to arrange for Uriah to be killed in the battle.  And the order was carried out.  And Uriah died.

        Finally, the king was safe. He could relax.  Eventually Bathsheba and David were married and the child was born.  But that didn’t last long.

A prophet named Nathan learned about David's actions.  He approached the king and in a very skillful way, confronted the king about his terrible deeds.

        Suddenly David knew his secret sin was no longer hidden.   He had been caught. I dare say that all of us here have lived through that moment, and shared with David the feeling he felt then.

       

        A student cheating on a test, caught by the watchful eye of a teacher.

       

        A wife, cheating in her marriage, caught by the husband.

       

        A respected businessman caught by the IRS for lies he told on his tax forms.

    

        A friend caught by another betraying a trust.

    

        In small ways and large, we have ALL have felt the agony of being found out.  Of being caught.   David was caught.  He felt the agony.  He felt the pain of realizing his cover up had failed to hide the ugly truth.  And then he felt the need to confess his sin to God.

        Which is what he should have done in the beginning.  It is the one thing that brings healing.  We make mistakes.  But we should not waste time trying to cover them up, or trying to un-do the mistake.  The mistake is there.  The sin is there.  Confession is what we need to do.  Admit the mistake.  Own up to what we have done.

        Psalm 51, the Scripture reading for this morning, is a poem written by David that expressed his prayer of Confession after being confronted by Nathan.  Through this prayer David experienced the relief of forgiveness.

How can we experience and know that we are forgiven?

By examining this psalm and the historical background of King David we see that there are certain steps in receiving forgiveness.

       Confession of our sin is the first step. 

Confession is vital, but it is probably absolutely contrary to our nature.

     

        When I was a teenager, I briefly took up the habit of smoking cigarettes.  One day when my mother and father were supposed to be gone for the entire day, I sat down to light up a cigarette, and when I was about half way through it, my Dad walked in.  “What are you doing?  Are you smoking?”

Now I have always thought fast on my feet, so with smoke coming out of my mouth I looked at Dad and asked, “Who?  Me?”

The last thing I wanted to do was to admit that I was smoking, even though I was sitting alone in a smoke filled room holding a cigarette.

Now you can laugh at that, but we see grown men and women doing the same thing on the television news every day.  Caught red handed, they still deny, deny and deny.

No one, by nature, likes to confess.

But if healing is to come to your soul, that is where we begin.

That is where David finally started to find healing.

As long as David covered up his sin, he could not experience forgiveness  --  He had to come to the point where he could confess his sin to God.

   

        You want to experience the joy of forgiveness?  Step one is confession.  Step two is asking God for mercy.

  

        David admitted his mistake to God.  In the Psalm, he said, "Against You and you only have I sinned." Of course, others had been hurt.  Bathsheba had lost her reputation and her husband. Uriah had been killed. David had abused the power of his public office and so the trust of the people had been violated. And the infant who had been born as a result of this affair eventually died as an infant.

    

        Nevertheless, David said to God,   "Against you and you only have I sinned." For David saw that a sin against another of God's children is a sin against God, and that ultimately any wrong doing is an insult to the love of God.

      

        More than anything else, it is God's love that has been wounded the most.  It is God's grace that has been injured.

     

        Therefore if you want to experience the joy of forgiveness, you must first confess your sin TO God, and you must then ask GOD for mercy.

    

        Many people do not experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom from guilt because they believe that God OWES his Children his forgiveness.   They believe that they DESERVE God's mercy.

    

        David knew better than this.    What sin deserve is justice -- punishment.

    

        Historian Shelby Foote likes to tell a story about an incident that occurred during the Civil War.  A very young Soldier has been caught trying to dessert.    He enters the tent of General Robert E. Lee himself.  The soldier is obviously frightened and Lee tries to put him at ease.    "Don't worry son," the General Says,    You'll find Justice here."

       

        To which the young solder replies, "That's what I'm afraid of sir."

    

        Our sin deserves justice.  Punishment. But what we NEED is mercy.  And we need to understand that this mercy that we need is a gift of God, not an obligation of God.  It is a gift of God offered to us because he loves us.

    

        And so to experience relief from guilt and to know the joy of forgiveness, first we must confess our sins to God, and secondly, ask for mercy.

    

        Step three is to change. 

In the Psalm, David said, "Restore to me the joy of salvation, and then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted."

        He was thinking in terms of how he would be changed by forgiveness, how he would then go out and convert others toward God.

    

        In our New Testament lesson,   Jesus forgives a woman,   who like David, has been caught in the act of adultery. She is about to stoned.  Rescued by Jesus and forgiven by him, he tells her,   "Go and sin no more."

     

        For forgiveness to take root, it has to be accompanied by a change in ones lifestyle. One of the dangerous patterns that sometimes exist in a family structure is the tendency in some to forgive too freely without any real expectation of change.

      

        Does it do any good for a wife to forgive a husband for an adulterous affair, but then NOT to expect the husband to change?

Is it right to forgive someone who has been abusive to another person without expecting an end to the abuse?

        To forgive, without an expectation that there will be a change, does not do anything positive. On the contrary,   it simply enables the person to continue the destructive pattern.

        Forgiveness makes no demand upon the past.  You can't change the past.

    

        But it places a heavy demand on the future. There has to be a change.

     

     

        We need relief.

      

        We need God's forgiveness.

        We find it by confessing our sin to God, asking God for mercy, and then, in the words of Jesus, going and sinning no more.

Copyright 2014.  All rights reserved by the author.

Study on Psalm 51

Psalm 51

 

          Every Psalm has history – but in the case of Psalm 51, we know what the history is. 

          We find this history in the Old Testament book of II Samuel, chapters 11 and 12.

          In verse 11 of chapter 12, we read this:

11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

² It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. ³ David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

You probably know what happens next – David has a sexual affair with Bathsheba.  She becomes pregnant.  But Uriah, being at war, would know that it is not his child, so he orders Uriah back to Jerusalem for a report from the battle field.  It is the perfect plan.  Uriah would have sex with Bathsheba and would think this is his child.
Verse nine picks up with this:

But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.”

Uriah is such a faithful person – he doesn’t have a clue that his wife AND his king are being unfaithful to him.

So David makes arrangements for Uriah to go back to battle and to be killed by friendly fire.  

Bathsheba mourns the death of Uriah, and then after a suitable time has passed, David brings her into his house and the baby boy is born.

And then in verse 27, chapter 11 of II Samuel, we pick up the story:

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, 
 12 ¹ and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds; ³ but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” ⁵ Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; ⁶ he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

And continuing in verse 13, after a lengthy sermon by Nathan, we pick up with this:

 ¹³ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

It is within this context that Psalm 51 was composed.

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.

          This is a great prayer of confession.  It opens with three points.

1^st, there is the approach for mercy

2^nd there is a request to blot out the past

3^rd, there is the request for a change in personality.

          First – there is the approach for mercy.  The word for MERCY here in Hebrew is the same as the Hebrew word for womb.  The implication here is that David is appealing to the motherly type of love.  He may be influenced here by the deep grief of Bathsheba in the death of the child.  He is appealing to that feminine side of God that we occasionally, but not frequently see in the Bible.

          Second, there is the request to blot out the past.  He does not want it to be remembered.  

          Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions, for my own sake,
    and remembers your sins no more.

          Similar verses are in Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17 and elsewhere.

          It is not that God has amnesia, but God so removes it from the ledger that it is as if it never happened.  

          There is the story of a woman who claimed to have dreams at night in which she conversed with Jesus, and she believed that these were real communications with the Lord.  Her priest did not believe her, so he put her to the test, and asked the woman – next time you have that dream, ask Jesus what great sin I committed before becoming a priest.

          The next day she came back to him and said, “I talked to Jesus in my dream and asked him about your sin. And the Lord said, ‘I don’t remember.’”

          Notice that phrase, “according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.”  God is not stingy when it comes to mercy.

          Psalm 103:12, “As far as East is from West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

          Third, there is the request for a change in personality.  “Wash me thoroughly from my sin and create a clean heart within me.”  David is not asking only for forgiveness.  He is seeking to repent – to turn away from sin and to live a new life.

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 judgment.

There is a hymn that I remember singing that is probably the worst hymn ever –

If I have wounded any soul today,
If I have caused one foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way,
Dear Lord, Forgive.

IF?  No if about it.  We have sinned.

Forgiveness begins by saying, “I have sinned, no ifs ands or buts.”  

David does that, “I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.”

There is that great verse from John’s epistle, “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

Sin is not a crime, it is not a single act or a series of acts – it is out nature.  It is in our DNA.

⁶ You desire truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

What David is talking about here is a sense of integrity.

          This psalm moves toward those things that help a person truly repent and live a new life.

Verse six has the first step – “Teach me wisdom in my secret heart.”  We need to be able to see reality as it is and to be wise in our actions.  Had David possessed wisdom, he would have looked beyond his sexual passion and foreseen that no good is going to come out of this.  Had he been wise, he would have known that when he commanded a member of his own army killed in battle, that would have eventually have gotten out.

Verse 7 has an interesting element of repentance:

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

What do you know about hyssop?  It is a plant and it recalls the need for a blood sacrifice.

From the Christian point of view, this business of being purged with hyssop is a recollection of the blood of Christ shed for the redemption of our souls.

It comes from Exodus 12

²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. ²³ For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. ²⁴ You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. ²⁵ When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ ²⁷ you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed down and worshiped.
²⁸ The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

The next element of repentance is joy

⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

Another element of repentance is to be able to move on and to let go of the past.

⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

We can’t forget the past, we can’t literally blot it out, but knowing that God does not recall our sins helps us to let go and live.

Verse 10 emphasizes that repentance is not only receiving forgiveness, it is a true act of changing one’s lifestyle.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right spirit within me.

In verse 11 we see that repentance is something that is not done apart from God, but in the presence of God.

¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.

The more we are aware of God’s presence with us, the less likely we are to fall back into the sins we have committed.  It is when David is not aware of the presence of God that he is able to yield to his passions for Bathsheba and commit adultery.

Another element of repentance is that it should move one away from grief and sadness toward joy. 

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit.

How did David respond when the baby he conceived with Bathsheba died?  He got up from his prayers and his grief and got on with life.  His joy returned.

Another element of repentance is that it should result in our calling others to experience what we have experienced.  

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.

          Lastly, repentance should involve praise.

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.