Tagged: NLT

Living With an If, Psalm 73

if

 

21 Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
    and I was all torn up inside.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
    but God remains the strength of my heart;
    he is mine forever.

 

Psalm 73:21-26, NLT

 

Our hearts are unstable things. Our spiritual life is often in a turmoil. For many, the yo-yo is not much more than a toy to amuse a child. At any given time, it seems we can be in any given place. Only God truly knows how confused and tumultuous we get. Some intrepid photographer once put a bull in a china shop just to see what would happen. The pics are really funny, as the bull put on a raging show, blasting glass everywhere. The more he broke, the more agitated he became. Sometimes– I think about this.

 

Psalm 73 is like a silver trumpet. It sounds out many things. And when we get toward the end of the psalm we run smack dab into vv. 21-26. The writer has a big dose of self-awareness. Sometimes we can travel a long way with an imperfect faith, without ever realizing what the truth really is. Oh, dear one– these can be very good times. The psalmist realizes his ugly issues. He realizes that he has gotten bitter, and he has become very foolish.

 

For many of us with a strong set of religious principles, we deem this inconsistency as a complete and total failure. We see our stupid behavior and decide that God will never, ever accept that kind of person (whether its you, or someone else.) But, my Bible reads so much different! I’m told that,

 

 ”Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.” (v. 23)

 

Can a jerk follow Jesus? But more, can a bitter believer be held close, and loved so faithfully? When we begin to “really” see ourselves, we may often condemn what we see. Condemnation is one of the most insidious diseases of the spirit. The Holy Spirit saves his strongest medicine for us who are regularly sickened by this evil.

 

If you take a piece of white chalk, and you dip it into a cup of india ink. The chalk obviously absorbs the ink– it is porous. If you snap the chalk, and examine the inside, you will see that the ink has altered everything, this is how condemnation works. Once affected, we are very vulnerable to bitterness and confusion and guilt. We discover that our life is bracketed by the word, “if.”

 

Verse 23-25 speak loudly of a love that will never let you go. Never. Write down your sin, tally it up, “ Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand.” As sinners who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, “though our sins be as scarlet; they shall be as white as snow.”

*

ybic, Bryan

 

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Transparent Pages, Ps. 31:6-8

cropped-gold-dune6.jpg

 6 I hate those who worship worthless idols.
I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,
for you have seen my troubles,
and you care about the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to my enemies
but have set me in a safe place.

Psalm 31:6-8, NLT

God’s promises are like watching a sunrise. It is beautiful, and they somehow work inside of us. Wise and patient eyes realize they are seeing something amazing, and it’s good. These three verses overlay each other. When I was a boy, I was fascinated by books that had transparent plastic pages. These pages would fold over on each other. I remember seeing the human body. You see the bones, but if you flip one of these pages– you could see the circulatory system imposed over the bones, and you can add the nervous system and see that as well. Pretty heady stuff for an eight year old boy. This was old school anatomy.

David wrote these verses, and they belong together.  ”I hate those who worship worthless idols. I trust in the Lord.” This verse deals with the subject of discernment. The ability to distinguish between certain things, is not always seen as a positive. I cannot remove the stigma of this word– “hate.”  In the NT we’re anchored to this idea of love. But in Ps. 139:22,

“Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
    for your enemies are  my enemies.”

Hatred is a dangerous emotion. It’s has a handle, just like a suitcase. It can be controlled by the Holy Spirit, or manipulated by Satan. As believers, we should be aware of this possibility. Hatred has a place. Romans 12:9 is a ready verse, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” We must walk a tightrope here; it will require wisdom and awareness. But I’m also very confident in the Holy Spirit’s ability to assist you in this matter.

The next verse carries with it an intense blessing. It is also a verse that folds into “our picture book.”

“I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,
for you have seen my troubles,
and you care about the anguish of my soul.”

Being truly glad is the waiting room for believers. It is an active state of a humbled heart. David is thrilled. He is quite aware of having God’s focus– he knows that he is incredibly loved. God has taken on the trials and burdens of David. David’s personal anguishes are taken up by the Lord.

“You have not handed me over to my enemies
but have set me in a safe place.”

David truly believes this. He thinks that this is a truly blessed state to be in. The deep realities of “what could have been” are factored into this awareness. God could have easily sent David to his doom. David is aware of what might have been.

These three verses, (vv. 6-8) snuggle together, like those “Russian nestling dolls.” One inside of the other, inside another. Or like our original metaphor–  multiple transparencies coming together to give us a clear view of David’s real truth.

^

ybic, Bryan

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Father, Wedge Me In Somewhere

nesting-sparrow

Psalm 46

New Living Translation (NLT)

For the choir director: A song of the descendants of Korah, to be sung by soprano voices.[a]

1″ God is our refuge and strength,     

always ready to help in times of trouble.

2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come    

 and the mountains crumble into the sea.

3 Let the oceans roar and foam.    

 Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”  Interlude

^

“Ever-present!” That is how another version words verse 1. I will not to have to hammer very long to get to the real point. It is as if these three verses were beautiful gems just waiting  on the ground. “Oh, look here! There is a diamond, and I saw a big ruby lying just over there!” The special promises of the Bible are just like that. I guess its just what holds our gaze.

The sons of Korah have compiled these verses for us to hold dear, close to our breasts. Korah was a family– a clan in the Jewish community. I’d like to believe that the composition of this Psalm knit them together in a profound way. (Their “family reunions” were not drunken brawls, where the police must be called in.) Rather they connected around the Word they had composed. Could it be that you are a son or daughter of Korah? I think that could be arranged. It would be a blessing.

These verses speak about the “secure security” we have in God. You’re the  98 pound weakling, with scoliosis– you wander the beach and very big bullies line up just to kick some sand in your face. And you really are sick of it. God has guaranteed our security. He now stands between us and them! And is always there, and ready to intervene.

The verses that follow all deal with calamities and natural disasters. In Mexico, I lived on the side of a volcano. I now live in Alaska with various earthquakes and tsunamis. I have been through hurricanes, tornados and floods. (I even went without coffee for three days.) But for God’s precious people, there will be triumph, even though there be at times considerable loss. We are not immune to bad things– we are just comforted and sustained in these terrible moments. We get comforted, when others can find none.

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ybic, Bryan

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The Flourish: the Finish

The conclusion of Psalm 92, NLT.

12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.

13 For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.     They flourish in the courts of our God.

14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.

15 They will declare, “The Lord is just! He is my rock!     There is no evil in him!”

What an ending. I do confess, I do like watching good movies– and the final scenes can make, or break a good movie. Is it believable, does it flow into the plot, does it carry us beyond the moment?

The very way this Psalm ends intrigues me. The perfect summary for this is found in verses 1-11, which we have already covered. Verses 12-15 is our ending point. We arrive here if we will just follow the conditions of the first 11 verses.

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Commentary

V. 12, “But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.”

What audacity, what boldness! We must recognize that there is a certain place for these ‘flourishers.’ They just explode with a core central growth. We see them, but we are not intimidated. Instead they push us to a higher love.

The strength of us is that we can grow strong all the way through. That is just the way it works, and we take anything that we can get. Envision for a moment, the tallest cedars. I remember seeing for the first time the California Redwoods. It was astonishing, and I got a crook in my neck looking up all the time.

V. 13, “For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.     They flourish in the courts of our God.”

No matter where we are, the Father will bring us closer to Himself. We may think we are “out-of-the-loop”. But He sees it all. He does “transplant,” but only within our true calling. And a “flourishing” is part of the package.

How do we process this? We are brought out of a senseless and desperate life, directly into a full life of intimacy with the Lord Jesus. In this place, we start to grow branches, and new buds. Life is not just a great idea–but it starts to flow through our very being.

V. 14, “ Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.”

Old age seems close to us. We age, and we determine that it works out to us in obsolescence and defeat. When we hit 60, we determine it is all over, and finished. God promises that as believers we will be green, and fresh–even in this crazy margin of age. But as it works out, we are incredibly “vital.”

I suppose that the truth of this can transform the way we see ourselves, and the way we live out our lives, Old-agedness can never be an excuse to backing out of a true and real spirituality.

V. 15, “ They will declare, “The Lord is just! He is my rock!     There is no evil in him!”

Much of what I have shared with you is solid, but simple. We all end up at this verse though. From here we start to focus directly on all that is plain and level. After all, He is the rock and as we start to focus on this, we are ‘pulled’ into His presence.

We can see no evil in this, and yes it may seem we are in a kind of “pinball machine.” We are bound to voices that try to direct us into its version of deceit. We could be pulled even into “denial” of our faith. But never, or ever is there the slightest sense of evil that comes to us from God.

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ybic, Bryan

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Figuratively Speaking: Psalm 114

figspeak

Image courtesy of http://resepilates.com/

4 The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs!
5 What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?
    What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?
6 Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?
    Why, hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned the rock into a pool of water;
    yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.

Psalm 114:4-8, NLT

The figurative often makes your message palatable and infuses it with hidden understanding. We encounter the Word of the Lord in a deeper way by embracing it’s “color commentary”.

It’s like your favorite book, with good illustrations. In my mind’s eye, when I was a child, I have memories of a big illustrated Bible. It had these great pictures that I still savor. (Like a drawing of the spies returning carrying a huge ‘grape cluster’ on a pole between them).

Commentary

V. 4, “The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs!”

The literalist would have a ‘dickens of a time’ understanding this. The psalmist however, engages us in metaphor and the figurative. A towering mountain was the symbol of established power. There is an innate strength and soundness about a craggy mountain.

The writer of this psalm understood nature’s joy at God’s salvation of Israel. To see a lamb or a sheep leaping about gives the observer insight that would help him grasp the relief creation itself has. Some might say it was only an earthquake, but others recognize God’s hand in it.

V.5, “ What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?
    What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?”

Again–poetry rules the psalmists roost. Figurative language is being used here to be the container of truth. When I read this verse(s), a little picture leaps up in my mind’s eye. I “see” an old lady jumping out from the front of a big bus. I see a powerful river suddenly turn 180 degrees so a path is made. As we visualize both we start to engage the Word.

V. 5 strikes me as sarcastic, with a bit of mockery thrown in for good measure. It also seems to be flavored to be on ‘the gloating side’, infused with an “I-told-you-so” attitude.

V. 6, “Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?
    Why, hills, like lambs?”

“Why” is said once, and repeated again. Why is a good question to ask. It depends on context, but it can be the hardest of the interrogatives to answer.

As a matter of fact, this is an interrogation. (It doesn’t justify ‘waterboarding’ though.) There exists a cross-examination that forces truth out in the open. It is a demand that the real reason not be toyed with or be disregarded.

Much of our Christian walk seems to involve embracing what is real, and renouncing what is false.

Vv. 7-8, “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned the rock into a pool of water;
    yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.”

“Trembling” or shaking, is the furthermost thing a mountain would do. And that is precisely the point. The “presence of God” (mentioned twice), means God is there–right smack in the middle of things.

And He has been transformative.  He makes solid rock ‘morph’ into water for His thirsty ones. This becomes a definite point of praise. He indeed does “great things.”

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ybic, Bryan

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Lord of the Starfields: Psalm 102:23-25

starfields

23 “He broke my strength in midlife,
    cutting short my days.
24 But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
    don’t take my life while I am so young!
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
    and made the heavens with your hands.”

Psalm 102:23-25, NLT

I guess one might say, that the psalmist is having a “midlife crisis.” One part of this crisis, is thick with a feeling of brokenness. He feels the ragged edge of his life, a roughness that offers nothing, but a type of pain.  We understand God’s love– but can we handle His discipline?

“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power  is perfected in weakness.”  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 

“Before God could bring me to this place He has broken me a thousand times.”

Smith Wigglesworth

Commentary

V. 23, “He broke my strength in midlife,
    cutting short my days.”

Our human strength has its limits. And God doesn’t respect them. The psalmist describes the effort of God to demolish any strength we just might muster. His intention is very good. He only wants to bust us of our own strength.

Verse 23 explains why He is hard on us. Anything good we might generate has just been bulldozed under. Our lives have been shattered, and He is the culprit. He does this, in order to save us.

V. 24, “ But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
    don’t take my life while I am so young!”

Crying out to Him is the way we make ourselves heard. The psalmist recognizes that God is indeed God. He only wants us to acknowledge Him.

In terms of the life the psalmist lives, he acknowledges God is fully and completely in control of it. He can prolong it, and He can end it, at His whim.

The psalmist is at the special place where God could simply stop his existence on earth. And we see him making a plea for mercy. It seems he wants God to make him a special case.

V. 25, “Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
    and made the heavens with your hands.”

There is an awareness of God’s creative sovereignty that the psalmist builds upon. He has an understanding that from the very beginning, God has put this planet on something very solid; a solid foundation of a commitment to us.

The psalmist looks up to the beautiful stars– he sees the Milky Way, and some bright planets. All that God has made, is visible and quite profound. He looks up at the stars, and everything he sees is a creative work of God’s hands– creating, and sustaining His masterpiece.

Simply, we can only anchor ourselves into all that He has done. When we embrace reality, we shape ourselves into people God wants, and seeks.

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ybic, Bryan

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God's-way-sign

Finding Our Certain Home: Psalm 102:12-14

God's-way-sign

11 My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
    I am withering away like grass.

12 But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever.
    Your fame will endure to every generation.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem—
    and now is the time to pity her,
    now is the time you promised to help.
14 For your people love every stone in her walls
    and cherish even the dust in her streets.

Psalm 102:12-14, NLT

Immutability, and its handmaiden, stability– are core attributes of the Lord God. He will never change, and I seriously doubt we fully understand His concrete permanence.

“God is not a man, so he does not lie.
    He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
    Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”

Numbers 23:19, NLT

But He is also quite tractable and approachable. Gentleness and kindness are also at the core. In some sense, (imperfect, I know) He is like a “laminate.” Different layers are brought together, and bonded, to form a perfect piece even stronger than the first piece.

Commentary

V. 12, “But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever.
    Your fame will endure to every generation.”

The previous verse (v. 11) directly declares the transient nature of human beings. When we are born, and shortly thereafter the news is broken. I am going to die. This knowledge drives people insane or addicted. I have a temporary residency card, that will be revoked in a few years.

But God is different. He has an eternal throne. Again, we struggle to understand what that means. It has no beginning– and it has no end. It just goes on and on into infinity, a 1,000,000 years– or a 1,000,000,000 years. Time will cease to be a measurement, as it’s now obsolete.

V. 13, “You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem—
    and now is the time to pity her,
    now is the time you promised to help.”

God stands up, full of kindness and mercy for His covenant people. The word pity is used, and defined it is the, “kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another.”

The psalmist speaks of a time for pity, and a time to help. He also refers back when our steady, immovable God made a promise to help. This is an awesome boon and benefit. It’s like a “get out of jail free card.”

God promises to do many things for His people. But He is not a “genie in a lamp.” He is not magic, and He does not give us three wishes; and that is it. We are very foolish if we base our faith on this. Ultimately, we are saved because He stood up, intervening in this world, to bring us to His side.

It is very, very hard to accept this idea that He actually loves us. We seem to vacillate to extremes– either, He loves me and I can never do anything wrong, or He hates me and I’m just treading water until I am officially judged.

V. 14, “For your people love every stone in her walls
    and cherish even the dust in her streets.”

We are “His people,” at least all of us who are in a blood covenant with Him, through Jesus Christ.

There is a deep awareness of our certain place in His capital city. We should be people of “memories.” A certain heavenly nostalgia, and a sense of a future hope surges through us. Somehow, we are connected through “space and time,” to a definite spot. A certain gratitude and an appreciation begins to finally flow through us.

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ybic, Bryan

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We Grow, Somehow: Psalm 111:9-10, the Conclusion

9 “He has paid a full ransom for his people.
    He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
    What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
    All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.”

“Praise him forever!”

Today, when someone says, “I work security,” we have a tendency to think of a “mall cop.” Someone who works for minimum wage, who thinks he/she is the ‘FBI.’ They thrive on greasy donuts and black coffee, with ego/control problems as they ride around on their “Segway.”

He is the One, who brings us security. He is not a “mall cop” by any means. He has no ego to protect, and prefers “loaves and fishes” over donuts. Yet, it is He who has decisively intervened over His own people.

Commentary

V. 9, ““He has paid a full ransom for his people.
    He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
    What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!”

A “full ransom.” This implies that a “cut-rate” bargain could of been negotiated, but it would only leading to doubts whether the transaction was really legitimate in the first place. (One never knows about these “back room” deals in a smoke-filled rooms.) But, we are assured that the full ransom has been paid.

The solid guarantee is the “forever-kind.” It is a definite improvement (by far) than we have ever encountered. For the discerning heart, we realize that all of this is an astonishment. We deserve nothing but have been given everything! And of course the word, “forever” intensifies everything.

The verse finishes with a spiritual flourish! “What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!”  It directs us back to consider, the worthiness of He who has done so much for us. Good worship comes out of that kind of thinking.

V. 10, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.”      “Praise him forever!”

The truth has been definitely established in many other verses of scripture. “To fear God,” is the distinct point where we might start to consider being blessed. If you have no fear, you will remain forever lost and confused. The originating point for us is the fear of God.

The wisdom comes in the sense of growth. It is intrinsically tied with the idea of obedience to His requirements (or commandments.) Obedience gets a lot of “air play” in the Word. Obedience doesn’t save, but to obey means you have really have been saved.

I hope Psalm 111 has been a blessing to you. The entire series of comments are archived on this website.

@

ybic, Bryan

 

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Fantastically Solid: Psalm 111:7-8

Typical Ice-fishing shack

7 “All he does is just and good,
    and all his commandments are trustworthy.
8 They are forever true,
    to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.”

Psalm 111:7-8, NLT

I seem to be in a place of learning “appreciation”– the study of God, through the majesty of the Word– the very promises– through acquired ideas of Him. We are starting to become gracious people and recognize the presence of grace.

Thankfulness is not confined to a holiday. It is the way we grow up in God. It is the main ingredient in this concoction of maturity.

“Thanksgiving is the language of heaven, and we had better start to learn it if we are not to be mere dumb aliens there.” A.J. Gossip

Note: This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; after the introductory note of praise, each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Commentary

V. 7, “All he does is just and good,
    and all his commandments are trustworthy.”

These twin ideas, “justice and goodness,” not only go together, but enhance each other. Being “just” without being “good” would be something awful. And to be good without being just would be very hard to imagine.

Everything God does is stellar. He is completely exceptional. And we can’t imagine all that it means. But, who’s complaining. It seems like I’m always reducing Him to my own level. It’s never too high, or too excessive. My understanding is far from complete.

“He manufactures truth and justice;
All his products are guaranteed to last—
Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that he makes and does is honest and true:”

(V. 11-12, Message)

I grew up in the 1960s in Wisconsin. The winters there are frequently below zero, with a nasty ‘wind-chill’ factor. But in the fall, people would get their ice fishing ‘shacks’ ready to await the go ahead of trekking out on the ice. People wanted to fish, but the ice thickness determined everything.

What God is, is quite solid. He is a “rock.” You can land a 747 on a Wisconsin lake in January, no problem at all, it’s like concrete. God and all He promises are even more substantial, “like a rock.”

V. 8, “They are forever true,
    to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.”

Not just true, but “a forever-kind-of-true.” He is fully consistent, no cracks or ‘thaws.’ We on the other hand are unstable, liquid, weak. Even at our best we are vaporous. When we look about the spiritual landscape, strewn about with collapses and sin– the best of us, will admit to faults and sin.

God is so solid, and so true. Because of this, we have an obligation and a willingness to become people of a true integrity.

ybic, Bryan

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What a God! Psalm 111:4-6

4 “He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
    How gracious and merciful is our Lord!
5 He gives food to those who fear him;
    he always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his great power to his people
    by giving them the lands of other nations.”

Psalm 111:4-6, NLT

If you are God, I suppose you can take things into your hands. (Who will complain?) Yet He does work in our hearts, to provoke in us the things He really wants. I suppose we put far to much weight on our own wills and efforts. The Father purposefully works so that we may remember. Discipleship, if I look at it, is as much of God’s work as it is our doing.

When we gaze into our own salvation, we will see hand prints that are not ours. They are God’s. He is working to bring us into heaven. It’s a long and deep journey, but He intends to bring us home. I’m glad. Very glad!

Commentary

V. 4, “He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
    How gracious and merciful is our Lord!

Romans 8:31 declares that God is with us. “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” He is energized by this final effort. He fully intends to bring us to His side. As I grow older, I see more and more of His security. He seems more sure of His effort than I am of mine.

The psalmist defines Him as “gracious and merciful.” We would do well to weigh out these words, and give them the significance they truly do deserve. These are “two ringers” and the Psalmist rings them loud and clear on his anvil.

V. 5, “He gives food to those who fear him;
    he always remembers his covenant.”

For everyone who fears the Lord there comes a meal; something good to eat. For us who inhabit the “first world” we can’t remember going without lunch. But it seems to me that the “food” that He gives us doesn’t originate from this world system. (Press on this idea, and some good will come of it.)

A god who keeps his covenant is worth His weight in gold.

V. 6, “He has shown his great power to his people
    by giving them the lands of other nations.”

I suppose power must be seem (and considered) before it becomes something valuable. The power can not be avoided, or deflected. God’s people do see it, and all of it is visible and quite truthful. I do believe He is blessed when we acknowledge this “great power.”

There is something very “tangible” about this next thought. God has designed reality to work out this. The “lands” have become something solid and real and tangible about the graciousness of God. He turns over these lands in order to communicate His grace.

*

ybic, Bryan

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Bring Back My Joy: Psalm 51:6-9

5 “For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
    teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.”

Psalm 51:5-9, NLT

These five verses press us with their intensity. We are starting to develop a true idea of the doctrine of repentance. As fallen people, we sub-consciously erode the ‘hard things’ that rub us the wrong way. Most of us still hold on the idea that we’re basically pretty good people. That dear one, is a lie.

King David commits adultery with Bathsheba. She is now pregnant. Her husband is a general in David’s army. David hatches a plan to save his neck. He conspires to have Uriah murdered after trying very hard to get him to have sexual relations with Bathsheba.

This man who wrote so beautifully Psalm 23 is really evil to the core.

Commentary

V.6,  But you desire honesty from the womb,
    teaching me wisdom even there.”

To be very honest, King David reveals a understanding of Gods love and mercy is directed at him. There is no escape, he must take it as he squirms out of trouble. But to be honest, he doesn’t have a clue.

His honesty is remarkable. All that proceeds from a close place, is true and sure. He is thinking that “wisdom” comes from a certain place. He can only accept and turn, directly clean;

 ”wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

All of this comes out of the “deep presence of God.” The “whiteness” does come, at a specific moment in time. We do must come into a certain place, where we meet His active presence.

V. 8, “Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice.”

True brokenness will lead us through so much darkness and foolishness.  It seems we can only pretend, but never recover the amazing awareness of God, coming into His presence. We really understand this, or accept a presence quite beyond us.

V. 9, “Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.”

Somehow David understands how things work. His sin has become “front-line” news. Adultery and murder are definite “tipping points” that David can try only to explain.

David does feel a certain remorse. All that He brings, is something, an awareness of what is real.

ybic, Bryan

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Relearning Repentance: Psalm 51:1-2

“For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”

1 “Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.”

Psalm 51:1-2, NLT

I’m starting to realize that if you’re not right with God, you’re wrong in everything else. I’m pretty sure that David felt the strain of his sin. Committing adultery and murder will leave its indelible mark.

This psalm is addressed to God. Actually, I’m a bit surprised that we can even read this, as it is quite intimate. But perhaps David realized his sin was public, and so must his repentance be. Too many people knew, and there was no way to put a lid on it.

Repentance is the concentrated activity of reviewing one’s actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs.

Commentary

V.1, “Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.”

Think about it.

  1. David doesn’t make any promises.
  2. David knows God’s heart.
  3. David completely understands the condition of his own heart.

And now he asks for mercy. Mercy is a strong grace that is available to those who know they are rascals. We don’t deserve it. But God bestows it anyway.

I believe that this ‘mercy’ is on a case-by-case basis. Each of us must make this transaction with God. We have this Psalm to guide us into a deeper repentance.

“It’s Satan’s delight to tell me that once he’s got me, he will keep me. But at that moment I can go back to God. And I know that if I confess my sins, God is faithful and just to forgive me.”  Alan Redpath

This undertaking demands everything we have. It should never be sloppy or careless. We shouldn’t try to accelerate through this. We will only be re-routed by the Holy Spirit until we finally “get it.”

V. 2, “Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.”

Clean before my Lord, I stand. Not one blemish does He see. There are so many who need to spend time on God’s washboard. Now is your time to be fully cleansed.

Repentance is a daily work because we commit sins everyday. There are sins of commission and of omission. We all do wrong things, and we also miss things we should have done.

“That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

Joel 2:12, NLT

ybic, Bryan