Friday, February 8, 2019

David’s Plea for God’s Mercy



Have mercy on me, O God
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin!”
Psalm 51:1-2 (ESV)

David wrote these words after the prophet after Nathan confronted David with his sin with Bathsheba. He broke at least three of God’s Commandments. Let’s look at this passage and try to understand it better.

Have mercy on me, O God,

David asks for God’s love, although he realizes he doesn’t deserve it. He asked for mercy. Please notice that David did not ask for anything else.

according to your steadfast love;

David asks for God’s mercy as God defines it. He realizes God is in control. He realizes that God’s love is the greatest we can experience.

according to your abundant mercy

He recognizes that God has a vast amount of mercy. He knows God’s mercy has no limits. Sometimes, we give conditional mercy when we forgive another person of hurting us.

blot out my transgressions.

 He asks God to erase his wrongdoing from His memory. As humans, we tend to keep certain information in the back of our minds and bring them to the forefront when we deem it advantageous to us.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity

David asked that God do a complete job of removing his sin from the ledger.

and cleanse me from my sin!

David presents his request a third way. He truly wants to be free of this sin. I read somewhere that the cleansing process of the hyssop was a scrubbing process. This could be why David dwells on the removal of his sin.



Tuesday, February 5, 2019

His Love and His Compassion


 
Sallman


I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,
the praises of the LORD
according to all that the LORD has
granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.  Isaiah 63:7 (ESV)

The prophet Isaiah leaves us a great message in this verse.

I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD 

He tells us he will tell of the love of God toward him and others. Do we share with others what God has done for us?

according to all that the LORD has granted us,

Isaiah tells of the blessings that he
has received from God that line up with what God does for His children.

that he has granted them according to his compassion, 

Isaiah reminds the people of the reason God blessed him. God granted these blessings to him and to us because of His love. Do we communicate love to those we meet? To those we meet while doing business?

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

God gave those blessings to Isaiah out of the overflow of His great love. Do we, as God’s children rely on His undying love to carry us through times of turmoil and doubt?

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...