“The High Cost” Part I of V

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 19 Issue 07 February 15, 2009

The high cost of committing Sin: Psalm 51 is a Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he’d gone in to Bathsheba.

The most precious thing in all the universe is the human soul. Jesus said, Mark 8:36 what will it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

The value of the human soul was demonstrated at calvary, for the Lord Jesus shed His precious blood that we might be saved.

Sin’s High Cost: If the human soul is the most priceless thing in the world, anything that ruins or destroys that soul is expensive. What’s the most expensive thing in the world? I think the most expensive thing in all the world is sin.

This fact is illustrated in the experience of King David as recorded in II Samuel 11, 12, Psalm 32, 51. II Samuel 11 sets the stage - “it was at the time when kings went to battle, that David sent Joab, his servants and all Israel.. But David stay at the palace. One night David got up from his bed and walked on the roof, and from there he saw a woman washing herself; she was very beautiful, and David asked about her. He was told that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. David sent for her and she came to him, and he lay with her and she returned to her house. A little while later he got word that she was with child.

King David took off his armor and relaxed! He really should have been fighting out on the battlefield. One restless night he walks out onto the deck and his eyes wandered, he saw his neighbour’s wife, he lusted after her and he took her. He committed adultery. And later she sent word to him that she was pregnant.

David faced a serious problem, a self created problem.
He tried to get out of it, by calling her husband Uriah, a soldier in from the battlefield. He suggested Uriah go home and spend time with his wife, but he would not go home. David’s first plan didn’t work.

David then got Uriah drunk... that still didn’t work. Uriah was a true soldier. David arranged to have Uriah murdered on the battlefront. Shortly after this took place David married Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. A baby was born, but the baby died.

God recorded David’s actions in the Word to teach us. II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

Psalm 32, 51 David’s prayers of repentance, recording the spiritual change that took place in David’s life when he honestly dealt with his sin.

I ask you to consider the high cost of sin. Some professing Christians have the idea that because they’ve been saved by grace they can live any way they please. The Apostle Paul faced these people when he wrote Romans 6:1 Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Of course in verse 2 he says, God forbid

Two powerful motives can lead us into holy living. One is the fear of God - a holy loving reverent fear of God.

The second is a holy hatred for sin. The more we learn about God the more we want to be with Him and obey him... the more we learn about sin the more we ought to hate it.
Avoid sin at any cost!

Turn to Psalm 51 and lets discover the high cost of committing sin. You may have heard it said - the act of sin - David committed adultry. David made a man drunk. David murdered a man. These are acts. But sin is much more than an act; sin is a process.

Sin can begin with an act, but that act plants seeds and those seeds grow and produce fruit. The Word is clear, “what a man sows, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7

Psalm 51:1, 2 “blot out my transgressions” / “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity” “cleanse me from my sin.”

David used the words transgression, iniquity and sin. These words are not synonyms. The Hebrew language like the Greek language is very full and very rich when it comes to describing things.

The word transgression means rebellion. In defying the law of God which he knew, David was a rebel. When you and I sin we oppose God’s will… that’s rebellion!
· Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.... but he coveted.
· Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. but he committed adultry
· Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. but he murdered.

He used the word iniquity. The word transgression emphasizes the rebellious-ness of sin, but iniquity refers to the crookedness of sin. There is something devious and crooked about sin.
David rebelled against God’s law and committed adultry, then he became devious.

A tragic thing took place to in David’s relationship with God - something wicked happened to his character - he became devious. Walter Scott put it well: “O what a tangled web we weave, When we first practice to deceive”

The third word David used for his action was sin. This word here simply means to miss the mark. This emphasizes the fact that David did not meet God’s standard.

All of us have standards of one kind or another. Some lower their standards to cover up their sin. David missed the mark. God had a goal, a standard... But David missed that mark.

Consider the high cost of committing sin: something happens to your will - you become a rebel; something happens to your character - you become devious; something happens to your goals - you miss the mark.

David used 3 verbs that are rather interesting: blot out, wash and cleanse. Not mere repitition, each of these words tells us something sin does.

The term blot out refers to the blotting out of a debt. When David sinned he became a debtor. He broke the Law and now had a debt before God that he had to pay.

The beautiful thing about living an obedient life is that you are debt free. Free from guilt and shame!
But when we sin we move out of that credit column in God’s account book and become debtors. We don’t lose our salvation - I want to make that very clear, rather we lose that close fellowship with God. We stop enjoying the riches of God’s grace.

Isaiah 59:2 your iniquities have separated you and your God, your sins have hid his face from you...

David also used the phrase wash me. Sin always defiles. We’re not only made debtors but we’re made dirty by sin.

I have yet to meet a person who says, sin makes me a better person NO! sin always defiles the mind and the heart. David felt dirty. His conscience was dirty, so he cried out, God Wash me! This is the high cost of sin. It makes you a rebel, it makes you devious, it makes you miss the mark, it makes you a debtor and it defiles you.

David prayed - cried if you will - Cleanse me. This word is used in reference to the lepers. Sin not only results in debt and defilment but sin is also a disease. In several references disease is used as a picture of sin. Think of it - David who had been spiritually healthy had become spiritually diseased!

I want to ask you all a simple question regarding sin - Is it really worth it? When you realize the high cost of committing sin, the answer must be no!

Before David sinned he was a friend of God; then he became a rebel.

Before David sinned;
He was straight in his living then he became crooked and devious.
He was meeting the goals that God set for him, then he missed the mark. He was enriched in spiritual blessing, then he became a debtor.
He was clean, but he became defiled.
He was spiritually healthy, but then he became diseased.

The next time you are tempted to sin remember the high cost and ask yourself is it really worth it?