Psalm 51
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B
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Mana: 
  Posted: Sat Nov 10th, 2007 10:26 am
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When I am burdened, knowing that I have sinned, I often times use these words of David as a means to confess my sins before God and ask for forgiveness.

Psalm 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
  1. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy 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 thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
  5. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
  6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
  7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
  8. Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
  9. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
  10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
  11. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
  12. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
  13. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.
  14. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.
  15. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
  16. For thou hast no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased.
  17. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
  18. Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
  19. Then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on thy altar.



____________________
O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Have Mercy upon us.

http://housemdiv.blogspot.com/
http://www.extremetheology.com/
http://chaz-lehmann.livejournal.com/
guitarist63
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Mana: 
  Posted: Sat Nov 10th, 2007 01:04 pm
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Thanks B for contributing this.

I also read Psalm 51 during confessions, with prayer.  Also Psalms 25, 32, 38, 130. Other scripture (1 John 1 verse 9, etc.).

It's very important not to make one's confessions prescribed.  Always our heart must be repentant and totally sincere.  It's no good just churning out bible verses if we don't really mean to change our ways and surrender ourselves to God.

Sin, of course, is multifarious and to focus on sexual sins can leave us with blind spots in areas of our lives that need radical change - now - not tomorrow.

Last edited on Sat Nov 10th, 2007 01:04 pm by guitarist63
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Mana: 
  Posted: Mon Nov 12th, 2007 05:24 am
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Excellent point about focusing on sexual sins.  I must confess that I often times am guilty of this.

I have found that even when I'm not completely sincere and I begin to confess my sins using the words of Psalm 51(and other scriptures), my heart is made sincere. 

The writer of the book of Hebrews says that "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to him to whom we must give an account."(Hebrews 3:12-13).

The reality is that we often times are not sincere.  Our sinful hearts are not attentive to God's great mercy.

The good news is that the Holy Spirit works through scripture to convict us of our sins and to point us to Christ as our high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he has been tempted in every respect as we have yet without sin (Hebrews 3:14-15).

I love reading scripture because it is living and active.  God's word always accomplishes what he intends it to (Isaiah 55:11).  In spite of my hard heart, God produces faith through his Word (Romans 10:17). Left to my own devices, I try to make things up to God, or try to make excuses for my actions.  Staying in his living, active word shows me the reality and seriousness of my sin and points me to Christ as the forgiveness of my sin.

Last edited on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 06:36 am by B



____________________
O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Have Mercy upon us.

http://housemdiv.blogspot.com/
http://www.extremetheology.com/
http://chaz-lehmann.livejournal.com/
guitarist63
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Mana: 
  Posted: Tue Nov 13th, 2007 10:55 pm
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B, thanks again.  Yes, the Word of God (Bible) has power to change us as we read, if our hearts are open to hear what God's Spirit wants to show us.  Scripture also challenges us and it's easy to avoid the more challenging parts of the Bible and focus on those which will always make us feel comfortable.  Yet we need to be made uncomfortable sometimes.  We need to know that there are also consequences for disobedience - as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5, in the New Testament, who had lied to God about the property that had been sold.   Hebrews 12 is very challenging.  I am in much need of discipline but shy away at the words (Hebrews 12 verse 6) "And He scourges every son whom He receives" knowing that Our Lord was scourged before his crucifixion.   As Isaiah tells us, ch.53, verse 4, "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. V.5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed."

Last edited on Tue Nov 13th, 2007 11:01 pm by guitarist63

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