Red Letter, "You Have Opened My Mouth"

by Pastor Joel Brown

David and Bathsheba: How Not to Do Romance

Lustfully coveting another man’s wife, getting her pregnant, and having her husband murdered just in time to find out she’s had a miscarriage isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you picture what it would mean to be a man "after God’s own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14). Yet, David was a sinner like the rest of us, and when his kingship got to his head, he decided to play God and sinned grievously in the process.

A Song of Repentance

Psalm 51 is one of the best known and most used texts in the bible for worship songs, especially songs of repentance. It was written from the depths of a man who saw his sin for the disgusting mess that it was, saw God for who he is, and the disparity between the two. When Cam Huxford IV and I set out to write a corporate confession song, we didn’t want our church bodies to just ask God for cleansing – that alone is not repentance – and God is not pleased by our religious attempts to appease him. Often times, even singing songs of repentance in church can be a merely religious practice, so we wanted to highlight the same thing that David did in Psalm 51 - God looks on the heart. In Matthew 15, Jesus quotes Isaiah saying:

"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me …"

We do ask God for cleansing and repentance, but we do so knowing the only way these gifts can be received is for God to grant us a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

It’s Not Just You and God

Thankfully, in Christ we have full assurance that God is faithful to cleanse us of all our sins (1 John 1:9), but sometimes we get to thinking that God’s work in our lives is about us - that it’s all about having a personal relationship with God. This is only half true. A better and more biblical way of thinking is that the work he does in our individual lives is a testament to his goodness (in spite of my badness) to me and everyone around me, ultimately for God's glory. David knows this, and when he repents of his sin in Psalm 51 he wants God to use something originally meant for evil (namely, David’s sin) for the good of all. Maybe you are like me. I had spent a good many years as a Christian pridefully seeking to protect my "image" by keeping my mouth shut. If I sinned, I didn’t want anyone to think less of me and see my sin. If God cleansed me, I definitely didn’t want to tell someone about it – especially if I stood the chance of bothering or offending an unbeliever.

Our Response

God initiates and we respond. Following in David’s example, we should respond to God’s faithful cleansing in two ways:

1. Telling everyone what he has done (verse 13)
2. Singing loudly (verse 14) because He has opened our mouths (verse 15)

My hope is that as you sing this song, it wouldn’t be done in a religious way. Instead of singing words to move the hand of God, I pray that you and your church body would be moved to be humbled and broken before our holy God who has already accomplished everything for us, and rejoice in the freedom he offers through the cleansing of sin. Then He will delight in our sacrifices of praise as we go about proclaiming His goodness in our lives and in our gatherings - that others would come to worship him with us! Stay tuned later for a post on the making of Red Letter's self-titled album from this year, which is available as a free download here. To purchase the limited edition four-sided, 45 RPM, 150 gram vinyl album, click here. Joel Brown is the worship pastor at the Ballard campus and was band leader for the since-disbanded Red Letter. He now leads Kenosis. [audio:http://blog.marshill.com/files/2010/11/youhaveopenedmymouth.mp3]