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"Keep your heart pure. A pure heart is necessary to see God in each other. If you see God in each other, there is love for each man, then there is peace."
1. The Movie:
In the movie “The Forgiven” starring Forest Whitaker, Eric Bana and Jeff Gum. Archbishop Desmond Tutu‘s search for answers during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and his meetings with the fictional character Piet Blomfeld. This movie evoked many emotions, good and bad. It depicts what we as human beings are capable of at both ends of the spectrum. A difficult one to watch if you’re a sensitive, caring person but, trust me, there IS a pay off in the end! Faith and love always.
2. Quotes from the Movie:
"Don’t go to that prison, he is only out to harm you. He knows who killed this girl."
“He is a sociopath and a convicted killer.”
“He will try and destroy you .”
"Amnesty for your crimes is highly unlikely unless you tell me about this operation hacksaw."
"How does it feel, colluding to your former white masters?"
"Do you have nothing to say to this amnesty, they were your own people. Tears have no color."
"Killing someone is never political, killing someone is personal boy. Don’t call me boy."
"Let me tell you a thing or two what is buried in this country, there are hit squads and hacksaw."
"You can’t forgive the likes of me. We are all connected by a common humanity, no one is beyond redemption."
"Bloemveld is going to talk. If he crosses he sink us all."
"There has been a bomb thread against the commission."
"Take out Bloemveld. I am calm, I am calm."
"We have one mission now, we either learn to live together in this country or we will die together in this country."
In this movie we see a guilty soul looking for forgiveness and consolement. Due to peer pressure Blomveld was asked to do things ordered by his commander. Our parents can lead us on the wrong path due to their past but I must make decisions about life on my own and take responsibility.
3. The Bible Scriptures:
All the great men and women in the scriptures had to deal with their hearts, but no one shares his heart with us and his struggle for purity of heart more than David. Psalm 32 and 51 were written by David and will be important in this study. Read them both scriptures carefully at this time. Make notes on those verses that seem most significant.
Let’s see what the Bible has to say:
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart! – Psalm 32
Listen to an acapella group sing the song – Create in me a pure heart God.
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar – Psalm 51
– Hans what valuable lessons can we learn from these Psalms about how to come to purity of heart and how to keep the heart pure?
– a) “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” – Ps 51:3
- Francois I think I must be willing to face my sin honestly and admit to myself what it is.
- If I am not honest to myself, I am lying and who am I fooling?
- Sometimes I will not be happy when people bring my sin to the light.
- If I am not open to correction and willing to change I do not love God.
– b) “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” – Ps 51:17
- I think I must be broken over my specific sins and take serious the effect thereof Francois.
- I don’t think I always fully understand the effect of my sins or the consequinces.
- Like in David’s case the following events occured:
- He first was proud; thinking he has special priviledges,
- Then he felt entitled to do what he wants and not be responsible towards his men,
- Then he became idle and stayed at home while the men went to war,
- That led to walking around at night being bored and he saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof,
- That led to lust,
- Lust then that led to adultery,
- Adultery led to lying to cover up his sin,
- Eventually lying led to murder.
– c) “3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” – Ps 32: 3-5
- Francois when you visit a psychiatrist they treat mental disorders. This is very much related to sin in our lives, whether it is fear, anxiety, guilt, etc.
- Even David explains here the effect of not confessing your sin.
- David felt as if God’s heavy hand was upon him.
- He did not have any strength; that is most probably when you just want to lie in bed.
- Even if we look at some of the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, etc. is all positive traits totally opposite of mental disorders.
- Sin makes us feel guilty which affects you physically, impedes success, makes you punish yourself, changes your personality and ruins your life.
- So in order to deal with sin we need to confess it; here David confesses his sin to God.
- In Jms 5:16 it says that we must confess our sins to each other so that we can pray for each other to be healed. So here is says that healing comes to us by other people praying for us.
- So when we confess our sin, God can forgive the guilt of our sin.
– d) “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!” – Ps 32:11
“12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.” – Ps 51:12-16
- Francois the question I ask myself; am I joyful? It says that God will restore my joy of being saved.
- I think I must be willing to face my sin honestly and admit to myself what it is.
- If I am not honest to myself, I am lying and who am I fooling?
- Sometimes I will not be happy when people bring my sin to the light.
- If I am not open to correction and willing to change I do not love God.
- You can see the proof in the pudding, after he has confessed his sin he teaches people the Bible.
- Now in v. 14 he says he is singing, how is my special time with the Lord? Do I love singing songs to Go?
- I love going for a walk with my daughter Francois, we pray and sing together. It is always special. My daughter convicts me sometimes in that she is the one innitiating the walk and then says dad lets go pray and sing.
– Hans why can no one have and keep a pure heart without dealing with sin in a biblical way?
- Francois sin is like a person getting wounded.
- The infection grows over time and just become bigger and bigger.
- If you leave it long enough you either get sepsis or gangrene.
- As soon as you confess your sin it is like a doctor who lances that abses and take out all the puss, disinfecting the wound so that your body can cure.
4. Close
- I have personal experience about feeling guilty about my sin Francois. The only way back to God is to confess, those feelings and thoughts never go away, they will haunt someone to the end of their days. No wonder God said in the 10 commandmends; though shall not murder.
– The question is would I trust God’s word about confessing my sin to be forgiven and be healed? Would you close us out with a prayer?
- Monring Father.
- Forgiving someone is never easy because of the hurt we feel and missing the person we loved.
- Father I know that sin affects me physically, emotionally and spiritually whether I believe it or not.
- Guilt of my sin will destroy me if I keep on being ashed of my sin and if I do not get open about my life.
- Dad I know we are all in the same boat and that we all sin, but it is still hard to get open.
- Lord unless I see that I hurt you with my sin and you had to go to the cross to die for my sin; I will never be broken about my sin.
- In the end David confessed that he has sinned against You only.
- Lord if I believe in the Bible and I got baptized for the forgiveness or my sin and if I confess my sin I believe that I am cleared of my guilt, because you have forgiven me.
- Lord having a clear conscience after I have confessed my sin is the ultimate freedom.
- The other side of the coin is a guilty soul imprisoned by my sin just going down the sin spiral that eventually lead to my damnation.
- Lord thank you for the forgiveness of my sin and that I can lead a godly life, pleasing You by doing your will.
- Amen.
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