Psalm Reading for March 17, 2024

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 51:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 51 is no doubt one of the most famous of the Penitential Psalms.  Attributed to David, the heading provides a context that we can easily understand — that this Psalm was written after the Prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba.

The story behind all this has all the ingredients of a television crime show murder mystery — intrigue, sexual attraction, conspiracy, murder, confrontation.  What it also has that the murder mystery might lack, however, is true repentance.

For the sake of review, the background of the story is found in 2 Samuel, chapters 11-12.  One gets the impression that David is loafing a little.  His troops are out on a distant battlefield besieging the city of Rabbah of the Ammonites.  David is relaxing on his rooftop, and beholds a beautiful woman bathing.  In the words of Mel Brooks’ version of King Louis in History of the World Part One, “It’s good to be the king!”  David indulges his lust.  Bathsheba becomes pregnant.  The complication of the story is that Bathsheba is married to one of David’s best soldiers, Uriah the Hittite!  So David compounds the problem by arranging for Uriah’s death in battle. David is then free to marry Bathsheba.

But God lays it on the Prophet Nathan’s heart to confront David with his sin.  No doubt that was a difficult task!  Nathan uses a clever story to help David see an injustice, and David becomes irate against the perpetrator of the injustice.

Then comes the twist. Nathan says, “You are the man!”

David writes Psalm 51 from a broken and penitent heart.  He is counting not on his own repentance or expiation, but only on the mercy of God.  He is certain of God’s loving kindness and tender mercies.  He has no other choice.

The only remedy for his sin is the hope that God will blot out, cleanse, and wash his sins away.  He does not try to bargain with God, or make any excuses.

In fact, he admits his transgressions and his sin.  We might be a bit puzzled that he also adds:

Against you, and you only, have I sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you speak,
and justified when you judge.

If this is truly written following the famous incident from 2 Samuel, David has committed adultery, deception and murder!  How can he possibly say that he has only sinned against God?

Possible options may include that this Psalm wasn’t actually written by David at all, but by an anonymous author confessing his spiritual sins against God, not against other people.  Or it may be that David is saying that as king of Israel, he is ultimately accountable to God, since no one else other than God has the authority to judge him or punish him.  I prefer the second possibility for the sake of consistency with the account from 2 Samuel.

And we also have here a clear statement of birth sin — suggesting that sin is innate in the human character:

 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.

This may be as clear a statement confirming the doctrine of Original Sin as we may find.

Nevertheless, David also expresses the utmost confidence in the power of God to cleanse him of his sin.  The hyssop branch was dipped in water in certain temple rituals and used as a ceremonial symbol of cleansing.  But his cry is for complete and total cleansing — for his sins to be blotted out.  He is not asking that God ignore the sin, but forgive it.

Even more, he begs God to completely cleanse his heart, renew a right spirit, and not to abandon him.  He prays that the Holy Spirit may not be removed.  In other words, on the other side of repentance he wishes to be a new man, to be utterly changed — for the joy of salvation to be restored. He is not interested only in avoiding the consequences of his sin — he wants to be completely renewed spiritually and morally!

My only wish is that the lectionary editors had included verse 13, to show what life on the other side of his sin might be like:

Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.

This demonstrates that the repentance and renewal he seeks is not merely personal but social — and his confidence that his negative experience might be constructive in turning others back toward God.

APPLY:  

It is often said that before we can truly turn to God, we must recognize our brokenness. Before we can repent, we must be convinced of the reality of our sin.

The saying is attributed to C.S. Lewis that “Christianity has nothing to say to those who do not recognize that they are sinners.”

If we begin with our brokenness, Psalm 51 will speak to us about our condition; and for us to our God.

The good news — no, the great news — in this Psalm is that it expresses the absolute faith that though we are broken, God is merciful, loving, compassionate; and he will not only cleanse us of sin but also restore us and renew us and fill us with his Holy Spirit.

And then he will give us a commission to reach others with the same good news of mercy and forgiveness that we have received!

RESPOND: 

How well I can identify with the cry of David for mercy!  No, I haven’t murdered anyone or committed adultery, but I can remember all too well trying to excuse my sins and selfishness, and that painful moment of realization that I had sinned against God.

The network of relationships that one makes over the years, and the possibilities for wronging, injuring, and exploiting others becomes tangled.  In that sense our sin is not merely against flesh and blood human beings, but against God himself.  And ultimately it is only God who can free us from this net of self.

Our Lord, forgive me for my convoluted sense of self-importance, and my heart that is curved in upon itself.  That is the root of my problem. Have mercy on me, cleanse me of my sin, renew my heart, fill me with your Holy Spirit, and empower me to reach others with this message of reconciliation.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 51-1” by New Life Church Collingword is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for August 1, 2021

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 51:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The superscription that precedes Psalm 51 describes the context in which this Psalm was purportedly written:

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

The theme and tone of the Psalm reveal a heart broken by a deep awareness of sin and shame.  This is a Psalm of confession and lamentation, but also great hope.

Just as a fresh reminder — David committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to have her husband Uriah killed in battle.  Nathan the prophet is instructed by the Lord to confront David with his sin, and does so by relating a carefully crafted story that appeals to David’s sense of justice; and only then does Nathan spring his trap:

you are the man!

David, the powerful king, might have ordered Nathan’s execution.  Instead, he is cut to the heart with conviction, and confesses:

 I have sinned against the Lord.

There is absolutely no shred of excuse or rationalization in this Psalm.

The Psalmist begins by throwing himself on the merciful nature and steadfast love of God for complete cleansing of his sin:

blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.

He will return again to this imagery of washing and cleansing.

He openly confesses that he is very aware of his sin.  But what seems very odd is that he then says:

 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.

Obviously David’s sin has violated the moral laws of God, namely adultery and murder.  But if this is David, he has not only violated God’s laws; he has sinned grievously against Uriah and even Bathsheba!  Is he saying that all sin is initially and ultimately against God?  That whatever the social consequences of his sin, it begins with a transgression against God and separates him from God?

He then confesses that his sin is somehow woven into his nature:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

This seems a likely proof-text of the Christian doctrine of original sin — that human beings are predisposed to sin by their very nature.

Then he begins to offer a series of petitions and requests of the Lord.  He acknowledges that God requires truthfulness in the depths of the human heart; so it would seem that only God can provide what is needed in order for that to be actualized:

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

The Psalmist then returns to the imagery of cleansing.  He begs to be purged with hyssop, which is a an herbal plant prescribed to purify lepers in Leviticus 14:6-7.  In that passage, it is used in a ceremonial sense, dipped in the blood of a bird and mixed with cedarwood and scarlet cloth, and sprinkled on the leper.  It would be interesting to know if the hyssop is to be received internally in this context.  Among other references, the hyssop stalk was used during the crucifixion of Jesus to offer him a drink of vinegar wine soaked into a sponge (John 19:28-29).

Suffice it to say, the Psalmist is pleading for complete spiritual and moral cleansing:  

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Once that cleansing has occurred, he is confident that joy and gladness will be restored.  Metaphorically, the conviction that he has experienced has been like the agony of broken bones.  And he believes that the source of his conviction is from God himself:

let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.

Mercy will come only when God will:

 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

And the cleansing that he begs for is not merely symbolic or superficial purgation.  He pleads that the Lord will:

  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

The old nature, conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, must not only be cleansed but renewed with the right spirit.

He mentions spirit four times in this Psalm, sometimes indicating his own broken spirit, but also alluding to God’s Spirit:

Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

He confesses that the relationship with God that was once whole and harmonious has been broken, and he yearns for that relationship to be restored. And this can only happen if God restores that joyful sense of salvation and wholeness, and if God sustains it within him.

APPLY:  

Heinrich Heine, the German writer, is alleged to have said on his deathbed, “Of course God will forgive me. That’s his business.”

There is none of that presumption and no hint of “cheap grace” in this Psalm. And I would venture to say that those who take seriously the consequences of sin in their own lives and have cried out for God’s forgiveness can identify more closely with Psalm 51 than with Heinrich Heine.

No, we have not all committed adultery or murder.  But Jesus teaches us that sin is not merely the external act but originates in the heart, as with anger and lust (Matthew 5:21-30). The same can be said of covetousness, or pride, or any other sin.

Like David, we all have been conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity.  But the theme of Scripture is that God does love us with a steadfast love, and his mercy endures forever.  He does restore the joy of our salvation and renews his Spirit within us.

God’s grace is abundant and generous; but our ability to receive that grace does depend on our willingness to confess our sin and turn to him in faith.  This is confirmed in the New Testament time and time again:

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

RESPOND: 

Until I fully faced the reality of my own sinful nature, I could not fully appreciate the Cross.  If sin is merely a “mistake,” all we need do is mutter “my bad,” and receive the casual response “no problem.”

But my own breakthrough happened when I confronted the fact that I am “bad to the bone.”  I am selfish, prideful, lustful, conceived in sin and broken.  Only the forgiveness of God in Christ can possibly restore the joy of salvation.

That message is supremely revealed in Jesus, who is “great David’s greater Son.”   As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Thank you, Lord, that you have anticipated my sin with your mercy, purchased with the atoning blood of Christ!  Through your Holy Spirit you have created in me a clean heart, and restored the joy of my salvation.  Amen and Amen!

PHOTOS:
"Psalm 51" by Daniel Go is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License.

Psalm Reading for March 21, 2021

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 51:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 51 is no doubt one of the most famous of the Penitential Psalms.  Attributed to David, the heading provides a context that we can easily understand — that this Psalm was written after the Prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba.

The story behind all this has all the ingredients of a television crime show murder mystery — intrigue, sexual attraction, conspiracy, murder, confrontation.  What it also has that the murder mystery might lack, however, is true repentance.

For the sake of review, the background of the story is found in 2 Samuel, chapters 11-12.  One gets the impression that David is loafing a little.  His troops are out on a distant battlefield besieging the city of Rabbah of the Ammonites.  David is relaxing on his rooftop, and beholds a beautiful woman bathing.  In the words of Mel Brooks’ version of King Louis in History of the World Part One, “It’s good to be the king!”  David indulges his lust.  Bathsheba becomes pregnant.  The complication of the story is that Bathsheba is married to one of David’s best soldiers, Uriah the Hittite!  So David compounds the problem by arranging for Uriah’s death in battle. David is then free to marry Bathsheba.

But God lays it on the Prophet Nathan’s heart to confront David with his sin.  No doubt that was a difficult task!  Nathan uses a clever story to help David see an injustice, and David becomes irate against the perpetrator of the injustice.

Then comes the twist. Nathan says, “You are the man!”

David writes Psalm 51 from a broken and penitent heart.  He is counting not on his own repentance or expiation, but only on the mercy of God.  He is certain of God’s loving kindness and tender mercies.  He has no other choice.

The only remedy for his sin is the hope that God will blot out, cleanse, and wash his sins away.  He does not try to bargain with God, or make any excuses.

In fact, he admits his transgressions and his sin.  We might be a bit puzzled that he also adds:

Against you, and you only, have I sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you speak,
and justified when you judge.

If this is truly written following the famous incident from 2 Samuel, David has committed adultery, deception and murder!  How can he possibly say that he has only sinned against God?

Possible options may include that this Psalm wasn’t actually written by David at all, but by an anonymous author confessing his spiritual sins against God, not against other people.  Or it may be that David is saying that as king of Israel, he is ultimately accountable to God, since no one else other than God has the authority to judge him or punish him.  I prefer the second possibility for the sake of consistency with the account from 2 Samuel.

And we also have here a clear statement of birth sin — suggesting that sin is innate in the human character:

 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.

This may be as clear a statement confirming the doctrine of Original Sin as we may find.

Nevertheless, David also expresses the utmost confidence in the power of God to cleanse him of his sin.  The hyssop branch was dipped in water in certain temple rituals and used as a ceremonial symbol of cleansing.  But his cry is for complete and total cleansing — for his sins to be blotted out.  He is not asking that God ignore the sin, but forgive it.

Even more, he begs God to completely cleanse his heart, renew a right spirit, and not to abandon him.  He prays that the Holy Spirit may not be removed.  In other words, on the other side of repentance he wishes to be a new man, to be utterly changed — for the joy of salvation to be restored. He is not interested only in avoiding the consequences of his sin — he wants to be completely renewed spiritually and morally!

My only wish is that the lectionary editors had included verse 13, to show what life on the other side of his sin might be like:

Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.

This demonstrates that the repentance and renewal he seeks is not merely personal but social — and his confidence that his negative experience might be constructive in turning others back toward God.

APPLY:  

It is often said that before we can truly turn to God, we must recognize our brokenness. Before we can repent, we must be convinced of the reality of our sin.

The saying is attributed to C.S. Lewis that “Christianity has nothing to say to those who do not recognize that they are sinners.”

If we begin with our brokenness, Psalm 51 will speak to us about our condition; and for us to our God.

The good news — no, the great news — in this Psalm is that it expresses the absolute faith that though we are broken, God is merciful, loving, compassionate; and he will not only cleanse us of sin but also restore us and renew us and fill us with his Holy Spirit.

And then he will give us a commission to reach others with the same good news of mercy and forgiveness that we have received!

RESPOND: 

How well I can identify with the cry of David for mercy!  No, I haven’t murdered anyone or committed adultery, but I can remember all too well trying to excuse my sins and selfishness, and that painful moment of realization that I had sinned against God.

The network of relationships that one makes over the years, and the possibilities for wronging, injuring, and exploiting others becomes tangled.  In that sense our sin is not merely against flesh and blood human beings, but against God himself.  And ultimately it is only God who can free us from this net of self.

Our Lord, forgive me for my convoluted sense of self-importance, and my heart that is curved in upon itself.  That is the root of my problem. Have mercy on me, cleanse me of my sin, renew my heart, fill me with your Holy Spirit, and empower me to reach others with this message of reconciliation.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 51-1” by New Life Church Collingword is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for August 5, 2018

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 51:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

NOTE: This Scripture passage also came up in the Lectionary on March 18, 2018.
CLICK HERE to read the SOAR for the Psalm Reading for March 18, 2018.
The title image is the same, but the content is different.
The March 18 uses the World English Bible (WEB) translation.

OBSERVE:

The superscription that precedes Psalm 51 describes the context in which this Psalm was purportedly written:

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

The theme and tone of the Psalm reveal a heart broken by a deep awareness of sin and shame.  This is a Psalm of confession and lamentation, but also great hope.

Just as a fresh reminder — David committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to have her husband Uriah killed in battle.  Nathan the prophet is instructed by the Lord to confront David with his sin, and does so by relating a carefully crafted story that appeals to David’s sense of justice; and only then does Nathan spring his trap:

you are the man!

David, the powerful king, might have ordered Nathan’s execution.  Instead, he is cut to the heart with conviction, and confesses:

 I have sinned against the Lord.

There is absolutely no shred of excuse or rationalization in this Psalm.

The Psalmist begins by throwing himself on the merciful nature and steadfast love of God for complete cleansing of his sin:

blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.

He will return again to this imagery of washing and cleansing.

He openly confesses that he is very aware of his sin.  But what seems very odd is that he then says:

 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.

Obviously David’s sin has violated the moral laws of God, namely adultery and murder.  But if this is David, he has not only violated God’s laws; he has sinned grievously against Uriah and even Bathsheba!  Is he saying that all sin is initially and ultimately against God?  That whatever the social consequences of his sin, it begins with a transgression against God and separates him from God?

He then confesses that his sin is somehow woven into his nature:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

This seems a likely proof-text of the Christian doctrine of original sin — that human beings are predisposed to sin by their very nature.

Then he begins to offer a series of petitions and requests of the Lord.  He acknowledges that God requires truthfulness in the depths of the human heart; so it would seem that only God can provide what is needed in order for that to be actualized:

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

The Psalmist then returns to the imagery of cleansing.  He begs to be purged with hyssop, which is a an herbal plant prescribed to purify lepers in Leviticus 14:6-7.  In that passage, it is used in a ceremonial sense, dipped in the blood of a bird and mixed with cedarwood and scarlet cloth, and sprinkled on the leper.  It would be interesting to know if the hyssop is to be received internally in this context.  Among other references, the hyssop stalk was used during the crucifixion of Jesus to offer him a drink of vinegar wine soaked into a sponge (John 19:28-29).

Suffice it to say, the Psalmist is pleading for complete spiritual and moral cleansing:  

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Once that cleansing has occurred, he is confident that joy and gladness will be restored.  Metaphorically, the conviction that he has experienced has been like the agony of broken bones.  And he believes that the source of his conviction is from God himself:

let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.

Mercy will come only when God will:

 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

And the cleansing that he begs for is not merely symbolic or superficial purgation.  He pleads that the Lord will:

  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

The old nature, conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, must not only be cleansed but renewed with the right spirit.

He mentions spirit four times in this Psalm, sometimes indicating his own broken spirit, but also alluding to God’s spirit:

Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

He confesses that the relationship with God that was once whole and harmonious has been broken, and he yearns for that relationship to be restored. And this can only happen if God restores that joyful sense of salvation and wholeness, and if God sustains it within him.

APPLY:  

Heinrich Heine, the German writer, is alleged to have said on his deathbed, “Of course God will forgive me. That’s his business.”

There is none of that presumption and no hint of “cheap grace” in this Psalm. And I would venture to say that those who take seriously the consequences of sin in their own lives and have cried out for God’s forgiveness can identify more closely with Psalm 51 than with Heinrich Heine.

No, we have not all committed adultery or murder.  But Jesus teaches us that sin is not merely the external act  but originates in the heart, as with anger and lust (Matthew 5:21-30). The same can be said of covetousness, or pride, or any other sin.

Like David, we all have been conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity.  But the theme of scripture is that God does love us with a steadfast love, and his mercy endures forever.  He does restore the joy of our salvation and renews his Spirit within us.

God’s grace is abundant and generous; but our ability to receive that grace does depend on our willingness to confess our sin and turn to him in faith.  This is confirmed in the New Testament time and time again:

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

RESPOND: 

Until I fully faced the reality of my own sinful nature, I could not fully appreciate the Cross.  If sin is merely a “mistake,” all we need do is mutter “my bad,” and receive the casual response “no problem.”

But my own breakthrough happened when I confronted the fact that I am “bad to the bone.”  I am selfish, prideful, lustful, conceived in sin and broken.  Only the forgiveness of God in Christ can possibly restore the joy of salvation.

That message is supremely revealed in Jesus “great David’s greater Son.”   As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Thank you, Lord, that you have anticipated my sin with your mercy, purchased with the atoning blood of Christ!  Through your Holy Spirit you have created in me a clean heart, and restored the joy of my salvation.  Amen and Amen!

PHOTOS:
"Psalm 51-1" by New Life Church Collingwood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for March 18, 2018

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 51:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 51 is no doubt one of the most famous of the Penitential Psalms.  Attributed to David, the heading provides a context that we can easily understand — that this Psalm was written after the Prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba.

The story behind all this has all the ingredients of a television crime show murder mystery — intrigue, sexual attraction, conspiracy, murder, confrontation.  What it also has that the murder mystery might lack, however, is true repentance.

For the sake of review, the background of the story is found in 2 Samuel, chapters 11-12.  One gets the impression that David is loafing a little.  His troops are out on a distant battlefield besieging the city of Rabbah of the Ammonites.  David is relaxing on his rooftop, and beholds a beautiful woman bathing.  In the words of Mel Brooks’ version of King Louis in History of the World Part One, “It’s good to be the king!”  David indulges his lust.  Bathsheba becomes pregnant.  The complication of the story is that Bathsheba is married to one of David’s best soldiers, Uriah the Hittite!  So David compounds the problem by arranging for Uriah’s death in battle. David is then free to marry Bathsheba.  But God lays it on the Prophet Nathan’s heart to confront David with his sin.  No doubt that was a difficult task!  Nathan uses a clever story to help David see an injustice, and David becomes irate against the perpetrator of the injustice. Then comes the twist: Nathan says, “You are the man!”

David writes Psalm 51 from a broken and penitent heart.  He is counting not on his own repentance or expiation, but only on the mercy of God.  He is certain of God’s  loving kindness and tender mercies.  He has no other choice.

The only remedy for his sin is the hope that God will blot out, cleanse, and wash his sins away.  He does not try to bargain with God, or make any excuses.

In fact, he admits his transgressions and his sin.  We might be a bit puzzled that he also adds:

Against you, and you only, have I sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you speak,
and justified when you judge.

If this is truly written following the famous incident from 2 Samuel, David has committed adultery, deception and murder!  How can he possibly say that he has only sinned against God?

Possible options may include that this Psalm wasn’t actually written by David at all, but by an anonymous author confessing his spiritual sins against God, not against other people.  Or it may be that David is saying that as king of Israel, he is ultimately accountable to God, since no one else other than God has the authority to judge him or punish him.  I prefer the second possibility for the sake of consistency with the account from 2 Samuel.

And we also have here a clear statement of birth sin — suggesting that sin is innate in the human character:

 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.

This may be as clear a statement confirming the doctrine of Original Sin as we may find.

Nevertheless, David also expresses the utmost confidence in the power of God to cleanse him of his sin.  The hyssop branch was dipped in water in certain temple rituals and used as a ceremonial symbol of cleansing.  But his cry is for complete and total cleansing — for his sins to be blotted out.  He is not asking that God ignore the sin, but forgive it.

Even more, he begs God to completely cleanse his heart, renew a right spirit, and not to abandon him.  He prays that the Holy Spirit may not be removed.  In other words, on the other side of repentance he wishes to be a new man, to be utterly changed — for the joy of salvation to be restored. He is not interested only in avoiding the consequences of his sin — he wants to be completely renewed spiritually and morally!

My only wish is that the lectionary editors had included verse 13, to show what life on the other side of his sin might be like:

Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.

This demonstrates that the repentance and renewal he seeks is not merely personal but social — and his confidence that his negative experience might be constructive in turning others back toward God.

APPLY:  

It is often said that before we can truly turn to God, we must recognize our brokenness. Before we can repent, we must be convinced of the reality of our sin.

The saying is attributed to C.S. Lewis that “Christianity has nothing to say to those who do not recognize that they are sinners.”

If we begin with our brokenness, Psalm 51 will speak to us about our condition; and for us to our God.

The good news – no, the great news –  in this Psalm is that it expresses the absolute faith that though we are broken, God is merciful, loving, compassionate; and he will not only cleanse us of sin but also restore us and renew us and fill us with his Holy Spirit.

And then he will give us a commission to reach others with the same good news of mercy and forgiveness that we have received!

RESPOND: 

How well I can identify with the cry of David for mercy!  No, I haven’t murdered anyone or committed adultery, but I can remember all too well trying to excuse my sins and selfishness, and that painful moment of realization that I had sinned against God.

The network of relationships that one makes over the years, and the possibilities for wronging, injuring, and exploiting others becomes tangled.  In that sense our sin is not merely against flesh and blood human beings, but against God himself.  And ultimately it is only God who can free us from this net of self.

Our Lord, forgive me for my convoluted sense of self-importance, and my heart that is curved in upon itself.  That is the root of my problem. Have mercy on me, cleanse me of my sin, renew my heart, fill me with your Holy Spirit, and empower me to reach others with this message of reconciliation.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 51-1” by New Life Church Collingword is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for August 2, 2015

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 51:1-12

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

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OBSERVE:

The superscription that precedes Psalm 51 describes the context in which this Psalm was purportedly written: To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.  The theme and tone of the Psalm reveal a heart broken by a deep awareness of sin and shame.  This is a Psalm of confession and lamentation, but also great hope.

Just as a fresh reminder: David committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to have her husband Uriah killed in battle.  Nathan the prophet is instructed by the Lord to confront David with his sin, and does so by relating a carefully crafted story that appeals to David’s sense of justice; and only then does Nathan spring his trap: you are the man!  David, the powerful king, might have ordered Nathan’s execution.  Instead, he is cut to the heart with conviction, and confesses I have sinned against the Lord. 

There is absolutely no shred of excuse or rationalization in this Psalm.

The Psalmist begins by throwing himself on the merciful nature and steadfast love of God for complete cleansing of his sin: blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity .  He will return again to this imagery of washing and cleansing.

He openly confesses that he is very aware of his sin.  But what seems very odd is that he then says 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.

Obviously David’s sin has violated the moral laws of God, namely adultery and murder.  But if this is David, he has not only violated God’s laws; he has sinned grievously against Uriah and even Bathsheba!  Is he saying that all sin is initially and ultimately against God?  That whatever the social consequences of his sin, it begins with a transgression against God and separates him from God?

He then confesses that his sin is somehow woven into his nature: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.  This seems a likely proof-text of the Christian doctrine of original sin — that human beings are predisposed to sin by their very nature.

Then he begins to offer a series of petitions and requests of the Lord.  He acknowledges that God requires truthfulness in the depths of the human heart; so it would seem that only God can provide what is needed in order for that to be actualized: therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

The Psalmist then returns to the imagery of cleansing.  He begs to be purged with hyssop, which is a an herbal plant prescribed to purify lepers in Leviticus 14:6-7.  In that passage, it is used in a ceremonial sense, dipped in the blood of a bird and mixed with cedarwood and scarlet cloth, and sprinkled on the leper.  It would be interesting to know if the hyssop is to be received internally in this context.  Among other references, the hyssop stalk was used during the crucifixion of Jesus to offer him a drink of vinegar wine soaked into a sponge (John 19:28-29).

Suffice it to say, the Psalmist is pleading for complete spiritual and moral cleansing:  wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Once that cleansing has occurred, he is confident that joy and gladness will be restored.  Metaphorically, the conviction that he has experienced has been like the agony of broken bones.  And he believes that the source of his conviction is from God himself: let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.

Mercy will come only when God will Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

And the cleansing that he begs for is not merely symbolic or superficial purgation.  He pleads that the Lord will  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.  The old nature, conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, must not only be cleansed but renewed with the right spirit.

He mentions spirit four times in this Psalm, sometimes indicating his own broken spirit, but also alluding to God’s spirit: Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

He confesses that the relationship with God that was once whole and harmonious has been broken, and he yearns for that relationship to be restored. And this can only happen if God restores that joyful sense of salvation and wholeness, and if God sustains it within him.

APPLY:  

Heinrich Heine, the German writer, is alleged to have said on his deathbed, “Of course God will forgive me. That’s his business.”

There is none of that presumption and no hint of “cheap grace” in this Psalm. And I would venture to say that those who take seriously the consequences of sin in their own lives and have cried out for God’s forgiveness can identify more closely with Psalm 51 than with Heinrich Heine.

No, we have not all committed adultery or murder.  But Jesus teaches us that sin is not merely the external act  but originates in the heart, as with anger and lust (Matthew 5:21-30). The same can be said of covetousness, or pride, or any other sin.

Like David, we all have been conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity.  But the theme of scripture is that God does love us with a steadfast love, and his mercy endures forever.  He does restore the joy of our salvation and renews his Spirit within us.

God’s grace is abundant and generous; but our ability to receive that grace does depend on our willingness to confess our sin and turn to him in faith.  This is confirmed in the New Testament time and time again:  If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

RESPOND: 

Until I fully faced the reality of my own sinful nature, I could not fully appreciate the Cross.  If sin is merely a “mistake,” all we need do is mutter “my bad,” and receive the casual response “no problem.”

But my own breakthrough happened when I confronted the fact that I am “bad to the bone.”  I am selfish, prideful, lustful, conceived in sin and broken.  Only the forgiveness of God in Christ can possibly restore the joy of salvation.

That message is supremely revealed in Jesus “great David’s greater Son.”   As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Thank you, Lord, that you have anticipated my sin with your mercy, purchased with the atoning blood of Christ!  Through your Holy Spirit you have created in me a clean heart, and restored the joy of my salvation.  Amen and Amen!

PHOTOS:
"Psalm 51-1" by New Life Church Collingwood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for March 22, 2015

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 51:1-12

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OBSERVE:

Psalm 51 is no doubt one of the most famous of the “Penitential Psalms.”  Attributed to David, the heading provides a context that we can easily understand: that this Psalm was written after the Prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba.

The story behind all this has all the ingredients of a television crime show murder mystery: intrigue, sexual attraction, conspiracy, murder, confrontation.  What it also has that the murder mystery might lack, however, is true repentance.

For the sake of review, the background of the story is found in 2 Samuel 11-12.  One gets the impression that David is loafing a little.  His troops are out on a distant battlefield besieging the city of Rabbah of the Ammonites.  David is relaxing on his rooftop, and beholds a beautiful woman bathing.  In the words of Mel Brooks’ version of King Louis in History of the World Part One, “It’s good to be the king!”  David indulges his lust.  Bathsheba becomes pregnant.  The complication of the story is that Bathsheba is married to one of David’s best soldiers, Uriah the Hittite!  So David compounds the problem by arranging for Uriah’s death in battle. David is then free to marry Bathsheba.  But God lays it on the Prophet Nathan’s heart to confront David with his sin.  No doubt that was a difficult task!  Nathan uses a clever story to help David see an injustice, and David becomes irate against the perpetrator of the injustice. Then comes the twist: Nathan says, “You are the man!”

David writes Psalm 51 from a broken and penitent heart.  He is counting not on his own repentance or expiation, but only on the mercy of God.  He is certain of God’s  unfailing love and great compassion.  He has no other choice.

The only remedy for his sin is the hope that God will blot out, cleanse, and wash his sins away.  He does not try to bargain with God, or make any excuses.

In fact, he admits his transgressions and his sin.  We might be a bit puzzled that he also adds Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.  If this is truly written following the famous incident from 2 Samuel, David has committed adultery, deception and murder!  How can he possibly say that he has only sinned against God?

Possible options may include that this Psalm wasn’t actually written by David at all, but by an anonymous author confessing his spiritual sins against God, not against other people.  Or it may be that David is saying that as king of Israel, he is ultimately accountable to God, since no one else other than God has the authority to judge him or punish him.  I prefer the second possibility for the sake of consistency with the account from 2 Samuel.

And we also have here a clear statement of birth sin — suggesting that sin is innate in the human character: Surely I was sinful at birth,  sinful from the time my mother conceived me. This may be as clear a statement confirming the doctrine of Original Sin as we may find.

Nevertheless, David also expresses the utmost confidence in the power of God to cleanse him of his sin.  The hyssop branch was dipped in water in certain temple rituals and used as a ceremonial symbol of cleansing.  But his cry is for complete and total cleansing — for his sins to be blotted out.  He is not asking that God ignore the sin, but forgive it.

Even more, he begs God to completely cleanse his heart, renew a right spirit, and not to abandon him.  He prays that the Holy Spirit may not be removed.  In other words, on the other side of repentance he wishes to be a new man, to be utterly changed — for the joy of salvation to be restored. He is not interested only in avoiding the consequences of his sin — he wants to be completely renewed spiritually and morally!

My only wish is that the lectionary editors had included verse 13, to show what life on the other side of his sin might be like:  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.  This illustrates that the repentance and renewal that he seeks is not merely personal but social — his confidence that his experience might be constructive in turning others back toward God.

APPLY:  

It is often said that before we can truly turn to God, we must recognize our brokenness. Before we can repent, we must be convinced of the reality of our sin.

The saying is attributed to C.S. Lewis that “Christianity has nothing to say to those who do not recognize that they are sinners.”

If we begin with our brokenness, Psalm 51 will speak to us about our condition; and for us to our God.

The good news – no, the great news –  in this Psalm is that it expresses the absolute faith that though we are broken, God is merciful, loving, compassionate; and he will not only cleanse us of sin but also restore us and renew us and fill us with his Holy Spirit.

And then he will give us a commission to reach others with the same good news of mercy and forgiveness that we have received!

RESPOND: 

How well I can identify with the cry of David for mercy!  No, I haven’t murdered anyone or committed adultery, but I can remember all too well trying to excuse my sins and selfishness, and that painful moment of realization that I had sinned against God.

The network of relationships that one makes over the years, and the possibilities for wronging, injuring, and exploiting others becomes tangled.  In that sense our sin is not merely against flesh and blood human beings, but against God himself.  And ultimately it is only God who can free us from this net of self.

Our Lord, forgive me for my convoluted sense of self-importance, and my heart that is curved in upon itself.  That is the root of my problem. Have mercy on me, cleanse me of my sin, renew my heart, fill me with your Holy Spirit, and empower me to reach others with this message of reconciliation.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Psalm 51-10” by New Life Church Collingword is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
“Psalm 51-1” by New Life Church Collingword is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
The photo used as a background: "45 rpm record" by Paul Sherman has been released into public domain.