SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
2/29/2012 9:18:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Cleanse
Me
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
51:1-7
Message
of the verses: We are looking at Psalm 51, and in
yesterday’s SD we looked only at the introduction because of the importance of
this psalm. 1John 1:9 says that “if we
confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” I think that
an honest look at Psalm 51 will help us to understand what it means to confess
our sins and not only that but we will learn what it means to be restored after
confessing our sins and then we will have a desire to want to serve the Lord after
we are restored by Him.
I believe that one of the truly
great things that I have learned about David is when he sinned he realized it
and he would be ready to confess it. We
know that David is a man after God’s own heart and it was the Lord who chose
David to lead His people. We also
remember that when the people cried out for a king that God first gave them
what they wanted in a king, a tall, handsome man who could lead them into
battle with their enemies. Saul was that
man but one thing that we know about Saul is that he was a man who did not
truly confess his sins to the Lord and he was a man that had a hard time
realizing that he sinned. When we go all
the way back to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and
Eve sinned and so sin was brought into the human race we saw excuses from both
Adam and Eve as they did not want to say like David says in Psalm 51:4 “Against
You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You
are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.” David realized that his sin was wrong, that
it was against God, and that he deserved judgment from the Lord for his sin,
David did not make excuses. However as
we look at Psalm 51:1 we read “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your
lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my
transgressions.” David knew that he was
guilty and deserved judgment but at the same time David appealed to God’s grace. Why?
David could not appeal to the Law, and he could not appeal to God’s
justice. David knew the truth of Psalm
103:10, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities.” He also
knew that truth of Psalm 130:3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who
could stand?” David had a deep sincere
knowledge that whenever he sinned that that sin could cause him to burn in
hell, yet he also knew that God was gracious.
I think that perhaps this could be something that believer’s today lack
and when they sin they run to 1John 1:9 and quote that believing rightly that
God will forgive them, but perhaps at the same time thinking lightly about
their sin. When we think about how
horrible it was for Christ on the cross, the beatings, the humiliation, the
spitting at Him, and all of these things were awful, but the worst part was the
six hours that he spent on the cross when darkness was all around Him and at
that time He became sin for us, for me and at that time He was separated from
His Father because of our sin, because of my sin and at the end of that time He
cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me.” The answer to that question is God is a God
of love for He is love, and God is a just God, and God is a forgiving God, and
God did the forsaking because of you and because of me.
“Cleanse
Me” (vv. 1-7): “1 For the choir
director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had
gone in to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your
lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my
transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my
sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against
You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You
are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost
being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.7 Purify me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
When David sinned against
Bathsheba, and her husband Uriah by murdering him deliberately there was no
atonement in the Law for these sins.
Nathan the prophet when he confronted him told him that God had forgiven
his sins. This was truly the grace of
God seen in all of this.
David had crossed over the line that
God had drawn in the Law and we call this “transgression.” David missed the mark that God has set for
him and we call that “sin.” David had
yielded to his twisted sinful nature and we call this “iniquity.” David asked God to “blot out” his
transgressions and this refers to a debt that had to be paid, and would be paid
for by the Lord Jesus Christ. When David
writes “cleanse” me he is referring to the defilement caused by touching
something unclean as seen in Lev. 11:32 or cleansing from a disease as revered
to in Lev. 13:1-3.
2/29/2012
10:17:30 AM
2/29/2012
1:16:17 PM
Now let us look at the word “wash”
for this word refers to the cleansing of dirty clothing as seen in Isaiah 1:18,
“"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though
your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red
like crimson, They will be like wool.” I
have mentioned in earlier SD’s that in the Jewish society of the day when David
was living that when someone washed their clothes and put new fresh clothes on
it was a sign of a new beginning. We can
see this in Genesis 35:2 and 41:14 and also in 45:22. Let us look at 2Samuel 12:20, “So David arose
from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came
into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and
when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.” This section from 2Samuel was after the baby
died that was conceived when David committed adultery with Bathsheba.
We know that David’s sin was against
Bathsheba and also her husband Uriah, but all sin that is committed is sin against
God and David points this out in verse four.
In verse five we see David admitting that not only was he a sinner by
choice but also by nature and this is very important to realize for as Paul
writes in Romans 3:23 we have all sinned and come short of the glory of
God. When Adam and Eve sinned God told
them that they would die and they did die spiritually because of their sin, but
they also died physically later on at the end of their life. This would not have occurred if they had not
sinned. The sin nature that happened to them right after they sinned is passed
on to all people. Think about this, did
you ever have to teach your children to do something wrong? I don’t think so and this is evidence of the
sin nature we are all born with.
Now let’s talk about the
significance of the word “Hyssop” which is found in verse 7. “22
"You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is
in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel
and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house
until morning.” (Exodus 12:22) Hyssop was a shrub with hairy stems and that
is why it was used by the children of Israel to apply the blood to their
doorposts, and it was also used for cleansing by the priests for those who
needed ceremonial cleansing. We as
believers in Jesus Christ find our cleansing in the work that Jesus
accomplished for us on the cross.
Hebrews 10:19-25 speaks of this:
“19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy
place by the blood of
Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through
the veil, that is, His
flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a sincere heart
in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one
another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day
drawing near.” I think that chapter ten
of Hebrews has been called the “let us” chapter.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: The
reason that I have this SD in two parts is because my daughter called and she
was not feeling well and so I had to go pick up my grandson at pre-school. I find that some of the best times of prayer
are when I am in the car alone and I can talk to the Lord out loud without fear
of someone else listening. This morning
my prayer was about the fact that rarely when I sin and confess my sin to the
Lord that I think of what it cost my Lord to atone for those sins. I need to remember what it cost to give me a
salvation that is free.
1. Remember the cost of God the Son
and God the Father to pay for my sins.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
2/29/2012
1:43:57 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment