Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Shalom,

When King Saul sinned against God by doing his own will rather than be obedient to the Word of God, Samuel said this to him in 1 Sam 13:14:

14 But now your kingdom shall not continue; the Lord has sought out [David] a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince and ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. AMP

Many people have thought that David must have been a perfect man because he was "a man after His own heart", but that is not the case! What made David different than Saul is that David sought the Lord and, when he missed it, and he did, then he repented and turned again to go hard after God and His Word! Psalm 51 in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan for today shows the heart of David toward God in repentance for his sin. Here are verses 1-17:


Psalm 51

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
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. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice). 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. 16 For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering. 17 My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

Do you get a sense of the heart of David towards the Lord? Although he tried to hide his sin at first, when confronted by it, he repented, which simply means that he changed his thinking to agree with God. He cried out to God according to the covenant that he had with Him at that time. We know that we, who are born again believers in Jesus Christ, have a New Covenant, based on better promises than David had (Hebrews 8:6)! Where David had the Holy Spirit UPON him as a King, we  have the same Holy Spirit IN us as born again believers! While we should ALL have the same heart of repentance that David had, we should come to God according to OUR Covenant! 1 John 1:9 tells us how:

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. KJV

I especially like this in the Amplified Bible:

9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. AMP

So, WHEN you sin by making a selfish decision to do something your own way instead of God's way, in thought, word or action, by either omission or commission, then confess that sin and receive your forgiveness from HIM! Get right back into fellowship with Him so that satan cannot steal another moment from you! AMEN! Here is Hillsong Live with "To Be Like You":



Shalom in Him!