"Have mercy on me, O God, because of Your unfailing love. Because of Your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against You, and You alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in Your sight. You will be proved right in what You say, and Your judgment against me is just.
For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me--now let me rejoice. Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence, and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You.
Then I will teach Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You.
Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of Your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth my praise You.
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit--with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will be sacrificed on Your altar." (Psalm 51 NLT)
Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against You, and You alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in Your sight. You will be proved right in what You say, and Your judgment against me is just.
For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me--now let me rejoice. Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence, and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You.
Then I will teach Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You.
Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of Your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth my praise You.
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit--with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will be sacrificed on Your altar." (Psalm 51 NLT)
Hello, Mrs. Kurtz. (from previous blog)
God isn't always silent when we sin. In fact, sometimes sin causes Him to point out our shortcomings in order for us to eliminate our sins through God (Psalm 139:21). God does this to help us avoid falling into habitual sin. Sin itself doesn't always silence God, but ignoring His voice and continually following your own desires will often silence Him. This reminds me of a discussion we had the other day at youth group about the "passive wrath of God" in which you no longer "hear" God's voice because you have rejected it for so long. God uses His voice to expose sin, like in Genesis 3 when He sought after Adam and Eve and confronted them...
However, as you said, Jesus provides the rescue and healing for our sins: "He willingly accepted OUR punishment for OUR sin, for OUR rebellion, for OUR sin-addiction." He died for us and provided forgiveness while we were STILL sinners (Romans 5:6-8). Jesus redeemed us even during our rebellion...
From the verses/passages you gave me, it is clear that God desires a personal relationship with believers. He confronts us with our sin because He doesn't want it to come between us and Him. However, God is also just in punishing unrepentant hearts who actively continue to choose their own way over God's. This punishment is often in the form of silence (Isaiah 58:2) or the feeling of being at a standstill with God...
Dear friend,
As we've seen, God is always at work to draw us to Himself. Whether in silence, discipline, or warning, God calls us to repentance. He does not justify our sins (we like to provide justifications for things that we do--we are great at excuses!). He justifies the sinner! He does not cancel our debt. He pays our debt. Let's review some of the information about the redemptive work of Christ:
Romans 3 (especially verses 21-26)
Romans 4 (especially verses 5-8)
Romans 5 (especially verses 6-11, and 16-21)
God isn't always silent when we sin. In fact, sometimes sin causes Him to point out our shortcomings in order for us to eliminate our sins through God (Psalm 139:21). God does this to help us avoid falling into habitual sin. Sin itself doesn't always silence God, but ignoring His voice and continually following your own desires will often silence Him. This reminds me of a discussion we had the other day at youth group about the "passive wrath of God" in which you no longer "hear" God's voice because you have rejected it for so long. God uses His voice to expose sin, like in Genesis 3 when He sought after Adam and Eve and confronted them...
However, as you said, Jesus provides the rescue and healing for our sins: "He willingly accepted OUR punishment for OUR sin, for OUR rebellion, for OUR sin-addiction." He died for us and provided forgiveness while we were STILL sinners (Romans 5:6-8). Jesus redeemed us even during our rebellion...
From the verses/passages you gave me, it is clear that God desires a personal relationship with believers. He confronts us with our sin because He doesn't want it to come between us and Him. However, God is also just in punishing unrepentant hearts who actively continue to choose their own way over God's. This punishment is often in the form of silence (Isaiah 58:2) or the feeling of being at a standstill with God...
Dear friend,
As we've seen, God is always at work to draw us to Himself. Whether in silence, discipline, or warning, God calls us to repentance. He does not justify our sins (we like to provide justifications for things that we do--we are great at excuses!). He justifies the sinner! He does not cancel our debt. He pays our debt. Let's review some of the information about the redemptive work of Christ:
Romans 3 (especially verses 21-26)
Romans 4 (especially verses 5-8)
Romans 5 (especially verses 6-11, and 16-21)
- What is the difference between justifying sin and justifiying a sinner?
- What debt did we have? Why couldn't we pay it? How was it paid?
- What foundational truths about the redemptive work of Christ stand out to you?
- In light of these truths, what should be our response?
Heavenly Father, We seek to understand the truths of Your work on our behalf. Would You help us to grasp the awful and wonderful reality? Then, would You help us to live, transformed by these truths?
"Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me. For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me."
(Psalm 66:16-20 NLT)
"Speak, O Lord"
Will you prayerfully listen to this song? It is a musical prayer. Let this be our prayer in the days to come.
Will you prayerfully listen to this song? It is a musical prayer. Let this be our prayer in the days to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment