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. - Psalm 51:13-17

When it comes to preaching the need for repentance, there is perhaps no greater example apart from Jesus than John the Baptist. Listen to this summary of his preaching from Luke 3. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance…Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He then goes on to give specific examples to the crowd, to the tax collectors, and to soldiers of what such repentant fruit would look like.

John made it clear that simply being baptized in the Jordan River and saying some words of confession were not evidence of true repentance. True repentance would be seen in changed lives. And this is true for David in Psalm 51. He has confessed his sin and need for God’s mercy. He has pleaded with God for restoration and renewal. But anticipating that God will graciously answer those prayers, he indicates what his responses will be.

First, he will call others to repentance (v.13). This is not a sanctimonious response. The language he uses here for others (transgressors/sinners) is language he used of himself earlier in the psalm. Instead, this is the reaction of someone who has experienced the cleansing and freedom from the guilt and shame of sin and now wants others to experience the same. But part of that teaching is extending the same call to repentance that the psalmist heard. The good news of the mercy of God in forgiveness of sins is only understood and appreciated against the backdrop of the bad news of our sin and iniquity.

The other response or fruit is worship. The psalmist will sing aloud of God’s righteousness (v. 14). His mouth will declare God’s praise (v.15). How could he not do so? Think of how he understands his plight from the opening verses. Then, imagine that God answers his requests in vv. 7-12. If his sense of despair has been replaced by joy and gladness, how can he hold himself back from rejoicing and praising God?

And so should it be for us, saints. If our “repentance” is only lip service, then it is what Paul calls a “worldly sorrow” rather than a godly one (2 Corinthians 7:9-10). Worldly sorrow only leads to death whereas godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to life. This is a repentance that will bear fruit in a changed life. And it will overflow into praise of our Savior. Jesus Christ, because we know that it is only in him that our sins can truly be forgiven and we can be restored to a right relationship with God, with ourselves, and with each other. Hallelujah! What a Savior!