Tag Archives: psalm 51

Greg Laurie – Finish with Joy

October 17, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” —Psalm 51:12

Some Christians have lost their joy. They started off the Christian life with joy, but then something happened. They just lost interest in the things of God. They still do the things they should as a Christian, but they are just going through the motions. And they are not very happy about it.

Instead of saying like David did in Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD,’ ” they would say, “I was mad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.’ ” Church again? Okay. All right. Another Bible study? Okay. Fine.

Paul told the elders of the Ephesian church that he wanted to finish his race with joy (see Acts 20:24). When you start a race, you don’t always think about the finish, but you should. The finish is the most important part—not the start. You can have a bad start and still finish well. I don’t care how great of a start you had. I don’t care if you were leading the pack for nine laps out of ten. If you collapse and fall, then it doesn’t matter. You are just tired, and it all was for nothing. Finishing is everything. And Paul was talking about finishing his race well, about finishing it with joy.

You don’t know how long your life will last. That is why you want to run this race well and run it with joy. The objective is to finish.

Have you lost your joy in the Christian life? Then pray, like David, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 55:12). Don’t just start your race well. Finish it well. Finish it with joy.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Truth in the Inner Being

October 3, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart. —Psalm 51:1–6

The heading under this psalm reads: “A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.” David cried out for mercy because he had sinned with Bathsheba, and when he learned she was pregnant, he had had her husband murdered in battle.

After David confessed his sin, Nathan said to him, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die” (2 Samuel 12:13–14).

That’s the first lesson I want you to grasp from this incident. When you fail God, you harm yourself, but you also bring dishonor to His name. Whenever you take a false step, there are those who watch and gleefully point their fingers. The two always go together. Not only do you bring disgrace on the name of the Lord, but you fail yourself. You knew the right but chose the wrong.

As if that were not enough, the evil one also whispers, “See how bad you are. God won’t forgive you. It’s too awful.” Of course, he’s lying, because that’s what he does best. Don’t listen to those words, because there is no sin you’ve committed that God won’t forgive. You may have to carry scars or pay the penalty, but God wipes away the sin.

There’s something else to learn from this: You need to face reality. You sinned. You disobeyed God. What will you do about your sin? You can plead excuses (and most of us are good at that), or you can follow David’s example. When the prophet said, “You are the man…” (2 Samuel 12:7), the king did not deny his wrongdoing or try to justify his actions. David admitted he had sinned and confessed.

He wrote in the psalm quoted earlier: “For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment” (vs. 3–4).

If you follow Jesus Christ, not only are you declaring to yourself, to your family, and to the world your trust in the Savior, but you are also declaring your stand for truth. It’s easy for us to deceive ourselves, but God has called us to be totally, completely, and scrupulously honest in our inner being. Don’t look at what others may get away with or how they justify their behavior. We can’t blame others, the devil, or circumstances.

When you fail, remind yourself that the greatest king of ¬Israel cried out to God and said, “My sin is ever before me” (v. 3). Those sins, failures, or shortcomings (or whatever you may choose to call them) will always be there until you admit them and confess them to the Lord; only then can you know the joy of living with integrity and in truth.

This is the message for you from this final meditation; this is the message of the entire book: Strive to live with truth in your inner being. You—you and God—are the only ones who know what’s in your heart. Live in honesty and truth.

“Holy God, “ David prayed, “You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.” Through Jesus Christ, I plead with You to help me desire truth in my inner being, to live in such a way that I’m as honest and as open with You as I can become. I know that the life You honor is the life You bless. Amen.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — “I’m . . . Uh . . . Sorry”

August 11, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Psalm 51:1-17

Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. —Psalm 51:1-2

The news is quick to report all the details of famous people’s wrongdoings and their subsequent confessions. Perhaps it’s an athlete who was arrested for driving while drunk. Or it could be a politician caught in an indiscretion. Only God knows the heart, but when we hear a stuttered “I’m . . . uh . . . sorry,” we may wonder if they are truly repentant or just sorry they got caught.

When we read the confession of the famous King David we see what looks like genuine contriteness. In his public discussion of his sins in Psalm 51, this disgraced monarch—who had an embarrassing record of flagrant sins which he had kept hidden (2 Sam. 12:1-13; Ps. 32:3-5)—pleads for mercy.

He recognized that his sin was an affront to God—not just to people—and that God alone can judge him (Ps. 51:1-6). He realized that he must be cleansed by God (vv.7-10), and he celebrated his restoration through service and worship (vv.11-17).

All of us sin and fall short of God’s glory. When we feel the heavy burden of sin weighing us down, we have the blessing of confession and forgiveness (1 John 1:9) to lift us up. Isn’t it just like our great God to turn even our sins into an opportunity to grow in His grace and power and love! —Dave Branon

Dear Lord, please give me a humble heart

and the courage to confess my sins before You

and others. Thank You for Your promise to be

faithful to forgive my sins and to cleanse me.

Confession is agreeing with God about our sin.

Bible in a year: Psalms 81-83; Romans 11:19-36

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Jesus’ Sacrifice: Payment in Full

July 16, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

Psalm 51

A church deacon once confessed a horrible sin in a social media site. After giving a description of what he’d done, the man commented, “I know there’s a price to pay for this sin now. And that price is death.”

Not only was his heart broken over what he had done; he also knew that the effect on his friends and family would be devastating. And yet, overshadowing his remorse was fear. He had become afraid of God, believing that the sovereign Lord of the universe was now “out to get him.”

What would you say to this believer? Does his statement reflect an appropriate view of God’s response to sin?

It’s true that Romans 6:23 clearly teaches that “the wages of sin is death”; however, this sorrowful young man had overlooked the all-important second half of the verse: “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If our Father gives us a gift, we can trust that He will never take it away; it becomes ours to keep—that’s what a gift is. We did nothing to deserve it, so we can do nothing to lose it. It all rests on God’s initiative.

Moreover, a greater theological principle is at work here. If the believer’s sin after salvation could require death—or any form of punishment—then Jesus’ sacrifice was insufficient. However, the Bible tells us that Jesus’ death was wholly sufficient and a once-for-all payment of mankind’s sin debt (Heb. 10:10).

Either Jesus’ blood does cover our sins, or it doesn’t. There’s no middle ground. The Holy Spirit, Christ’s words, and biblical testimony clearly assert that it does.

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Charles Spurgeon – A sense of pardoned sin

May 21, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” Isaiah 38:17

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Your Joy Restored

April 4, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence: and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation: and uphold me with Thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee” (Psalm 51:10-13, KJV).

“The Christian owes it to the world to be supernaturally joyful,” said A. W. Tozer.

How do we attain that joy?

When we refuse to exhale spiritually by confessing our sins, we are miserable. On the other hand, when we do confess our sins, we experience God’s complete forgiveness. He removes our guilt and fills our lives with joy, the kind of joy we will very much want to share with others.

The psalmist also knew this when he wrote: “Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires…Restore to me again the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You. Then I will teach Your ways to other sinners, and they – guilty like me – will repent and return to You” (Psalm 51:10,12,13).

There was a time when I allowed moods and circumstances to prevent the joyful launching of a new day with the Lord. As a result, I did not feel that close relationship with Him, that beautiful awareness of His presence that comes from fellowship with Him in His Word and in prayer, and through faithful witnessing of His reality to others.

Without that time with Him, there is no joy and the day often begins and continues in the energy of the flesh. There is no personal awareness of God’s presence, and things just seem to go wrong. We can begin every day with that joyful communion with Christ that gives us the assurance of His presence throughout the day. We are the ones who make that choice. God is available; we are the variable.

Bible Reading: Psalm 51:1-9

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will begin this day on my knees, praising and rejoicing in the Lord as an expression of my desire to be with Him. I will read His Word and offer prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. I will ask Him to lead me to others whose hearts He has prepared for this same joyful relationship with God.

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Presidential Prayer Team, A.W. – Passing God’s Polygraph

March 15, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

For centuries, people have sought ways to determine if someone is lying. Ancient Chinese and Hindu civilizations asked “suspects” to put a grain of rice in their mouth. If the rice was dry when he spit it out, or if it stuck to his mouth, he was considered guilty. Today, the polygraph – or “lie detector” – doesn’t detect lies at all, but shows physiological changes in a person’s heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and perspiration that may suggest they’re trying to hide something. Neither method is accurate. How things appear on the outside doesn’t necessarily match what’s real on the inside.

You, Lord, who know the hearts of all. Acts 1:24

God, though, always knows the inside. In today’s verse, the disciples were replacing Judas and prayed for the Lord to reveal the best choice by looking at the hearts of those selected. They couldn’t choose by looking at outward behavior. They had to know what was really going on inside.

Does your outside and inside match? God knows, even if no one else does. Pray today for the Lord to create a clean heart in you (Psalm 51:10) so you’ll be genuine and free of deception. Intercede also for the nation’s leaders’ hearts to be aligned with God’s Word and for their actions to have total integrity.

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