Psalm 52

You boast?  Of what?  You’re evil.  All you can boast of is evil.  You’re a disgrace in God’s eyes – that’s nothing to boast about.

Your tongue doesn’t sing praise of God – it plots evil for others.  It’s as sharp as a tack or a razor.

You love evil instead of good, lies instead of truth. 

Therefore, God will destroy you, uproot you as a tornado.  Others will laugh.  That’s what happens when you don’t trust in God and respect others. 

Those who trust in God are like the olive tree. 

Use your tongue to praise God.

Psalm 51

It take a lot of nerve to lust, commit adultery, lie, plot and murder and then ask God to be merciful.  But then again, not nerve, just a truly guilty and repentant heart.  Any sinner can come to God and ask Him to be merciful and He will be because of His constant love for us.  It takes a heart that recognizes its sin and believes that God can and will be merciful.  Because of God’s mercy, He wipes away all our sins, no matter what they might be.  He also doesn’t keep score, for the child of the parents of lust, adultery, lies and murder went on to become one of the greatest kings of  Israel!          

Forgiveness means:           God is merciful

                                              God wipes away our sins

                                              God washes away all our evil

                                              God makes us clean from our sin

                                              God judges us

                                              God condemns us

                                              God removes our sins

                                              God washes us whiter than snow

                                              God fills our mind with wisdom

                                              God closes His eyes to our sins

                                              God wipes out all our evil

                                              God creates a pure heart in us

                                              God puts a new and loyal spirit in us

                                              God doesn’t banish us from His presence

                                              God doesn’t take His Holy Spirit from us

                                              God give us joy again

                                              God make us willing to obey

                                              God spares our life

Sometimes we recognize our faults and are conscious of our sin too much.  After we have asked God for forgiveness, we must believe that He does indeed forgive us.  Then we ourselves must forget our sin, or at least choose to not recall it.

Even though David sinned against Bathsheba’s husband, he says he has sinned only against God.  When we sin against another person, it is really God we have sinned against.  When other people sin against us, it is really God they have sinned against.   

In verse 7, the Hebrew word for purify (chata), is the same Hebrew word translated “sin”.  I find that absolutely amazing.  That means God wastes no time in forgiving us.  We chata and He chata – forgiveness so quickly, we don’t even have to change words!  If only we could ask forgiveness and repent as soon as we sin, then we could be instantly cleansed!  

God requires sincerity and truth.  Giving our all.  Our best.  No nonsense.  He doesn’t leave us hanging.  What He requires, He provides.  He requires sincerity and truth and provides wisdom.  Can’t get any easier.  The hard part is accepting the gift of what God wants to give.   

We can choose to be happy.  All we have to do is ask for His forgiveness and accept it.  If we’re still not happy, we either don’t fully believe and trust in His forgiveness or we haven’t fully forgiven ourselves.  

Obeying God’s commands is simply being loyal to Him.   

Joy and obedience are requirements for teaching others.

Speaking out about God and praising Him go hand in hand.   

A humble spirit is a sacrifice.  A sacrifice of pride.

Meditation

Renew a right spirit within me.  Psalm 51:10

Breath deep.  In and out.  In with the new spirit.  Out with the old.

Mind:    In with controlled thoughts.  Out with disorganization.

In with disciplined thoughts.  Out with laziness.

In with Godly thoughts.  Out with selfish thoughts.

In with positive thoughts.  Out with negative thoughts.

 

Eyes:     In with beauty.  Out with imperfection.

In with wide-openness.  Out with closed, narrow vision.

 

Nose:    In with sweet smelling.  Out with foul odors.

 

Ears:      In with harmony.  Out with discord.

 

Mouth:    In with the smiles.  Out with the frowns.

In with affirmations.  Out with gossip.

In with sincerity.  Out with sarcasm.

 

Attitude:   In with peace.  Out with turmoil.

In with forgiveness.  Out with anger.

In with acceptance.  Out with judgment.

 

Jezebel’s Advice

Then his wife Jezebel said to him (Ahab), “Now exercise your royal power over Israel. Get up, eat some food, and be happy. For I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” I Kings 21:7

Ahab has asked Naboth for his vineyard in sale or trade and has been refused. Ahab’s response to this rejection was resentment, anger and pouting. “He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and didn’t eat any food” (verse 4).
There are times as believers when God doesn’t do for us what we want Him to, and there are times when other people let us down. When we face rejection or disappointment, I see some sound advice in Jezebel’s words if we modify them a bit.
Now, exercise your royal power over yourself. Get up, keep on living, working, and serving, and be grateful.
We are children of the King, adopted by God because of Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins. When we acknowledged our sins, asked God for forgiveness and believed that Jesus took our punishment, we became brothers and sisters of Jesus, and God, King of the Universe, became our Father. We are royalty. Our royal power is the Holy Spirit residing within us.
Since we have little control over our circumstances, we need to exercise our royal power over ourselves. We need to live and pray in the Spirit. We need to admit that God knows better than we do and buck up and willingly obey His plan for us. We need to keep working and serving with the joy that comes from being grateful. We need to be grateful that God is doing what is best for us.

Psalm 50

God summons all mankind. God summons you and me.

Once we promise to obey God and follow Him, we subject ourselves to His judgment.

God doesn’t want us to follow the law and traditions to the letter. What He wants is our thanks and for us to fulfill our promise to obey and follow Him. He wants us to trust Him to the letter and to the heart. When we trust, He helps us and we in turn offer thanks and praise. A complete cycle.