3/2/2012 9:49:35 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Use Me
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 51:13-19
Message of the verses: We have been looking at Psalm 51 for the last three days, and I usually don’t take this long with the psalms, but because of the importance of this psalm I thought it necessary to do so. This will be the fifth post from Psalm 51 and if one goes back to the posts that I put on from 2Samuel 11-12 there are many more to look at to help understand the importance of Psalm 51. The first post was on the introduction of the psalm and then the second post was on the importance of real confession. Remember that David was not like Adam and Eve who blamed others when they sinned, but David realized that it was he and he only who was to blame and because of his sin he deserved punishment, but David knew that God is compassionate and pleaded for God’s mercy and grace. Yesterday we looked at the middle part of the psalm that spoke of restoration as now that David knew that he was forgiven he then wanted to be restored by God to continue to work for Him. In today’s SD we will look at the next part in the process and that is to again be used by God. After being forgiven and restored David now wants to be used by God to tell others and if you stop and think about how many people have read Psalm 51 and how many have been affected by it you have to believe that David’s prayer to be used of God has been answered in a most wonderful and fruitful way. There are some, who would say that we have to work our way into heaven, but we are saved by grace through faith and then we begin to work. Let’s look at Ephesians 2:8-10 to see the truth of this statement: “8 For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith. This does not depend on anything you have achieved, it is the free gift of God; 9 and because it is not earned no man can boast about it. 10 For God has made us what we are, created in Christ Jesus to do those good deeds which he planned for us to do.” (Philips)
“Use Me” (vv. 13-19): “13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. 16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. 18 By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.”
I find it interesting that the two great sins of David that are recorded in 2Samuel, the adultery that David committed with Uriah’s wife and the killing of Uriah, which is the first great sin along with the numbering of the children of Israel, which was the second great sin, both will end up with the building of the temple of God which is something that King David truly had a passion to do. David and Bathsheba would produce Solomon who would succeed David on the throne and would be the one God chose to build the temple, and the threshing floor that David purchased from of Araunah the Jebusite where the plague stopped became the place where the temple of God would be built. It is also interesting that this very place is where Abraham went to offer Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord, and it was near this place that the Lamb of God would be slain to take away the sins of the world. (Romans 5:20 “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more).
The word “bloodguiltiness” speaks of the blood that was shed when Uriah was murdered by David for it was David who ordered his death (See 2Sam. 11:6ff).
We learn in the books of Exodus and Leviticus about the sacrifices that were to be given by the children of Israel to the Lord, but David knew that there was no animal sacrifice that could have taken away his sin and so he speaks to God about this in verses 17-18. The study of the sacrifices is a wonderful thing to do as the picture the sacrifice that Jesus would give when He died on the cross. The sacrifices were a shadow of the real thing. When Saul was king of Israel God gave him a task to do which he failed at and one of the things that he did wrong was to offer the sacrifices to God, something he was not to do because he was not of the priestly tribe of Levi. Samuel spoke these words to him: “Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.’” Dr. Wiersbe writes, “David wasn’t denying the importance of the validity of the Jewish sacrificial system; he was affirming the importance of the repentant heart and a spirit yielded to the Lord (Isa. 57:15). God could not receive broken animals as sacrifices (Mal. 1:6-8), but He could receive a broken heart!”
Verses 19-19 speak of David building the walls of Jerusalem and also the preparation for the building of the temple of God. Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary with these important words, “David destroyed much good when he sinned, but he also did much good during his lifetime and served the Lord faithfully.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Those last highlighted words are very meaningful to me along with the last part of Romans 5:20 which say where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.
This psalm give me a pattern of what to do when I sin for I am to not make any excuses but confess my sin to the Lord, and then be restored, and then pray that God will use me for His glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Trust that the Lord will give us a good Bible Study this afternoon and that all that is done will be done to the glory of God, and that we will also learn the things that God has for us there.
2. Remember Romans 5:20.
3. Remember Philippians 4:11b.
4. Proverbs 3:5-6.
5. 1Cor. 10:13.
6. Romans 12:1-2.
7. Ephesians 6:10-18.
3/2/2012 10:39:00 AM
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