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PSALM
51 (New King James Version)
A Psalm of repentance. To the chief musician.
A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had
gone to Bathsheba.
- Have mercy upon me O God, According
to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your
tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions.
- Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
- For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
- Against
You, you only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight – that
You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You
judge.
- Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
- Behold, You desire truth in the inward
parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
- Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Make
me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may
rejoice.
- Hide Your face from my sins, and
blot out all of my iniquities.
- Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
- Do not cast me away from Your presence,
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
- Restore
to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous
spirit
- Then I will teach transgressors Your
ways, and sinners will be converted to You.
- Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed,
o God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud
of Your righteousness.
- O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth
shall show forth Your praise.
- For You
do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it, You do not
delight in burnt offering.
- The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, A broken and a contrite heart – These O God, You will
not despise.
- Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
build the walls of Jerusalem.
- Then You shall be pleased with the
sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole
burnt offerings; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
Psalm 51 is the fourth
of seven penitential psalms (psalms of regret or sorrow)… Psalm 6,
32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143… written by David after the prophet
Nathan confronted him regarding his adulterous behaviour with Bathsheba
and for ordering the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah.
This is a very passionate Psalm… one where David acknowledges his
sin, AND takes full responsibility for his actions. His heart cries
out to the tender mercy and loving-kindness of God, as David offers
a broken spirit as a sacrifice for his sin.
Every single one of us has sinned, and fallen short of the glory
of God… and I pray that every one of us knows what it is like to
humble yourself before God, confess your sin and ask Him to wash
you clean AGAIN.Critical to the life of a disciple of Christ, is
this act of obedience… in fact all other acts of obedience seem to
pale in comparison to confessing our need of the power of the cross
in our lives. A God honouring life is one of dependence, not one
of independence… DEPENDENCE on God is how we were designed to function.
Confess any known sin to God daily (1 John 1: 7-9). The sacrifice
you can read here that is desired by God, is that of a clean heart – one
that is broken by sin, humbled by His presence, and willing to obey
his will.
Whether or not you decide to repent, you simply CANNOT hide sin from
God… or simply dismiss it in your life as insignificant. Sin left
in the dark will eventually bring rot to your life one way of another… to
your bones, to your heart, or to those you love. Deal with it my
friends… the Lord WILL WASH YOU CLEAN….. beautiful… the sweet fragrance
of forgiveness.
Just because we are Christians… does not mean we will never, ever
offend God.David committed two just terrible sins… yet God still
called him ‘ a man after my own heart’… (Acts 13:22).
Learn from David, how to deal with your own failure, how to go to
God… how to deal with those things that the Holy Spirit brings to
your attention… (and He will!!!), how to confess, how not to blame
others… and how then to walk in the power of forgiveness…free from
guilt and shame.1 Peter 1:15 says…’as He who called you is Holy,
you also be Holy in all your conduct’…
We have been given a charge from heaven to conduct our lives in a
way that is pleasing to God… if you are dealing with different areas
of weakness, ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen you… and if need be,
talk to one of your leaders or pastors. We are here to give you strength
and courage to win every battle!!
Verse 6 just reinforces all that the Lord has been showing us as
a team this year… that our seen and unseen lives of worship must
be one and the same… ’for YOU desire TRUTH in the inward parts, and
in the HIDDEN part, YOU will make me to know wisdom…’When David realises
this, he begs God to cleanse him from the inside out…. Sound Familiar??
In verse 10, David cries to God to work a miracle by CREATING a clean
heart within him. This word create is the same used in Genesis when
God created the heavens and the earth. David was asking God to create
something PURE out of the evil he was experiencing in his heart.
This IS what we experience through salvation… a CLEAN heart…
Then he said ‘renew a right spirit within me…’This means an upright
heart… one that is firmly established in the word of God.
And then he asks God to uphold him with His free spirit… this refers
to the generous and magnanimous nature of God, revealing His character
yet again, and His deep and incomprehensible love for us.
So I pray this Psalm reminds you again to walk, live, breathe and
move in the power of forgiveness… upright and free, for you should
always remember that there is a weightiness that accompanies sin
and will weigh you down from the inside out. Our freedom, though
it cost God His best, brings a liberty that can only be experiencedthrough
the grace and wonder of salvation. Selah.
Love you so wonderful people… SOO looking forward to the retreat,
it will be incredible…..
Darls….
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