King David had sinned grievously against the Lord. He had committed adultery with another man’s wife and had her husband killed to cover his tracks (2 Sam 11:1-27). He hid his sin from God for a season until the prophet Nathan confronted him and exposed the king’s sin through the simple telling of a fictional story about a selfish king and a poor man (2 Sam 12:1-7). Nathan’s story convicted David and burst the dam of hidden sin (2 Sam 12:13). From this broken heart flowed a river of genuine repentance (Ps 32).
Psalm 51 is a detailed and deeply personal account of his confession. The Psalm is a prayer of contrition, as David pours out his heart before God, acknowledges his sin, pleads for God’s mercy, and requests a deep, inward cleansing of his sinful heart. Psalm 51 provides us with a model of genuine repentance.
Repentance and Evangelism
Spirit-wrought repentance first looks to God’s mercy and love, not to oneself or one’s own righteousness (Ps 51:1). A truly repentant sinner desires both God’s forgiveness (Ps 51:1, 9) and God’s active work of cleansing sin from the very depths of one’s heart (Ps 51:2, 6-7). True repentance recognizes the pervasiveness of one’s own evil (Ps 51:3), the congenital origin of it (Ps 51:5), and the need for God to supernaturally change the heart (Ps 51:10). Someone who has really turned from their sin will long to be back in full communion with God and to experience the joy of a clean conscience (Ps 51:12), while humbly asking God not to remove them from his service (Ps 51:11) and to sustain their obedience (Ps 51:12).
An important feature of this psalm we may miss, however, is found in the first word of verse 13: “Then.” From verses 1-12, Paul has pleaded for God’s forgiveness of his sin and a deep cleansing of his heart. He ends this section with a request for God to restore to him the joy of his salvation and uphold him with a willing spirit (v. 12).
It is only then that David will “teach transgressors your ways” so that “sinners will return to you” (v. 13). David needed to turn from his sin and experience God’s cleansing and restoration before he could instruct other sinners on how to repent. Without the former, he could not accomplish the latter.
In other words, David is teaching us in Psalm 51 that repentance is a prerequisite for evangelism.
The word “prerequisite” is usually used in high school or college settings to refer to classes a student must complete before registering for upper-level classes. In most cases, students are simply not allowed to enroll in certain classes until they complete the required classes because these prerequisite classes provide knowledge that is essential for understanding the concepts taught in upper-level courses.
In the school of Christ, you must take and pass his class on repentance and faith before you are ready to enroll in his course on evangelism.
Similarly, only someone who has repented of their own sin can explain to others how they must do the same. Without personal knowledge of what it means to turn from sin and receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing, a person is in no position to instruct others on how to repent. In the school of Christ, you must take and pass his class on repentance and faith before you are ready to enroll in his course on evangelism. If you launch out before you’ve been truly converted, you will be like the blind leading the blind. And it doesn’t take much imagination to know how badly this arrangement will likely go.
One Big Reason Why We May Lack in Zeal for Evangelism
In light of these observations, we might ask the following question: Can we link our own lack of evangelistic desire to a lack of repentance in our own lives? While there may be other reasons for why we don’t desire to evangelize at any given moment, we cannot leave David’s statements without at least noting the connection between our repentance and our desire for evangelism.
In other words, we should at least consider if our present lack of desire for evangelism can be attributed to our failure to repent of known sin.
Not only does David’s statement in Psalm 51:13 make this connection between personal repentance and passion for evangelism for us, we can see the connection for ourselves in our own lives. When we walk in unconfessed, unrepentant sin, we know we are not likely to experience the joy of our salvation (v. 12), enjoy nearness to God (v. 11a), or sense the Spirit’s power for ministry (v. 11b). The weight of guilt will dampen our zeal, and our evangelism will feel like hypocrisy.
Positively, if we turn from our sin, confessing it fully to God and crying out for deep cleansing and full restoration of communion with our heavenly Father, we will again experience the joy of our salvation—a joy that will overflow into sharing the good news with other sinners.
Sadly, it’s not uncommon for Christians to sense a lack of passion for evangelism. How can this passion be re-ignited? Will our zeal be sparked primarily through our involvement in more outreach programs and higher levels of training, or listening to more sermons on the urgency of evangelism? All of these pursuits have their place, but they still can’t replace personal repentance as the means by which God will re-stoke the flame of evangelism in our hearts. We may sign up for the next door-to-door outing, attend a multitude of seminars, and stock our phone with sermons on the realities of hell, but without a heart of repentance, marked by the characteristics David provides in Psalm 51, all of our efforts will produce little to change our hearts for the lost.
Conclusion
Finally, we should notice that David is confident that his evangelistic efforts will be successful now that he has repented from his sin. His plan to instruct transgressors in God’s ways will result in their repentance: “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you” (v. 13). David believes his evangelism will not be in vain—some sinners will turn to God through his ministry. While this verse does not guarantee that people will be converted to Christ every time we share the gospel, it does teach us that evangelistic effectiveness will follow in the wake of genuine repentance.
Are you lacking in your desire to reach the lost for Christ’s sake? While there may be other reasons, it would be wise for us to start assessing our own walk with the Lord. Are we carrying the burden of unconfessed sin? Is our failure to repent sapping our spiritual zeal and physical energy (Ps 32:3-5). If so, it is time to cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness. Then we will be able to instruct transgressors in the ways of Christ and sinners will return to God.
