Psalm 51, Romans 12:1

When someone is about to tell me a story and they start with, “Don’t judge me, but,” I know they already have a conviction on their heart. For believers that conviction is coming from the Holy Spirit. It’s His way of letting us know that we’ve sinned against God. And the only way to lift the weight laid on our souls is through confession and repentance. 

David committed horrendous sins against God. Sins others might find unforgivable. The conviction was heavy on the mighty king of Israel. And the pain he felt knowing the hurt his sin caused God, brought him to his knees. And it was on his knees where David confessed his wrongdoings and begged God for forgiveness crying out, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

And you know what? Because of His never ending forgiveness, love, and mercy, and David’s repentance, God did just that. Not only granting David the forgiveness he sought, but reconciling him with open arms back to Himself. And God promises to do the same for us. No matter how big or small the sin, when we come before Him with a “broken spirit and a contrite heart”, confessing all our transgressions, we too will receive God’s forgiveness. But along with that forgiveness needs to come repentance. Because we can’t just say the word sorry, we need to have actions that prove we’re sorry. And that means walking away from the sin and leaving it behind.

I absolutely love what Pastor Joe Focht has to say. “There is no more confused message that you and I could give to a lost and dying world than to live in sin and at the same time to tell people about the transforming power of Jesus Christ. God will not use a compromised life to reach a compromised world. God will use a life that is given over to Him, that is a demonstration of the message that through the power of Jesus Christ and His love He can transform our lives and set us free.” 

Our God is an awesome God! When we return to Him in true confession and repentance, He is faithful to wash away the filth in our hearts and cleanse us with His loving grace. And will renew in us an unmovable and unshakable spirit dedicated to Him alone! 

Pause and Reflect -

Is there a sin that you need to confess and repent of or an area where you need God to renew your spirit? Have you asked Him to search every inch of your heart and life and show you sins that need confessing, and ways that need to be changed? 

When you do receive God’s forgiveness do you truly believe it? Does your heart sing with joy and praise, or do you hang on to the guilt and the shame that keeps us from enjoying God’s promises? 

Finally let’s pray together, 

Our dearest Father in heaven above, hallowed be Thy name. Thank You Father that in Your wisdom You do not renew and restore our old fallen sin-nature. Instead You lovingly give us a new nature and a new, born-again life received through faith in Christ. Thank You for the lessons we can learn from David, who was cleansed of his sin when he confessed his faults, repented from his evil ways, and cried out to You. Thank You for the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our transgressions. Father we pray He will point out all the areas in our lives that grieve You or quench Your ongoing work within us. O Father, create in us a clean heart and a renewed steadfast spirit. And may Christ be seen in us as we submit to Your Spirit's leading and transforming work into Your Son’s likeness. In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen 

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I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, and I pray your day overflows with love and blessings.  Love, Lisa 💖

 Today's Reading: Psalm 32 &  Romans 4:1-12;  2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Upon my first reading Psalm 32, I couldn't help but to notice the huge contrast between David's groaning in verses 3-4, 

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer."

And rejoining in verse 11, 

"Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; shout for joy, all you upright in heart."

What happened to bring about such a change in David?

"I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my wickedness;
I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin." -Psalm 32:5

Psalm 32 is a psalm of thanksgiving. It is called a “Mashcil,” which means to give instruction or to understand and the reader would be wise to heed the wisdom found in the psalm. 

The Hebrew word translated “blessed” could actually be translated “Oh, how blissfully happy!” I like the sound of that.  Charles Spurgeon noted that this blissful peace came after David’s confession of his adulterous affair with Bathsheba ( 2 Samuel 11 & 12), recorded in Psalm 51.

I feel to truly understand this "Mashcil" we need to break down the true definitions of some of the terms David uses here. 

“Blessed is he whose transgression…” (v.1) Transgression is willful rebellion; willfully crossing the line of something you know is wrong and doing it anyway. 

“Whose sin…” (v.1) Sin is a failure to keep God’s law. The Greek word translated sin in the New Testament means to miss the mark. 

But the “sin is covered,”(v.1) that is, blotted out or in these days, redacted, so we can no longer see them. 

"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute inequity"(v.2). Impute is actually an accounting term which would mean that The Lord is no longer holding the sinner responsible for this debt. The debt is canceled!

"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute inequity" (v.2) Iniquity is a crookedness or deviation from the right path; more like going astray. 

 "And in whose spirit there is no deceit" (v.2) David is speaking here of self deceit. We can often deceive ourselves into believing that our actions are justified when they clearly go against God's word. David explains that there is no self deceit here because he has owned up to his sin (see v 5). 

David seems to cover all the bases here, but it may be something the average reader would miss unless he/she knew the definitions to each of these term and truly only then can we understand why David  felt it necessary to say all that he did here. 

Knowing all of this has brought so much more meaning to this psalm for me and I wanted to pass it along to you. 

But I believe the key that David doesn't want his readers to miss is the contrast between one who covers over their sin and transgressions and one who readily confesses them,

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in and relies on the Lord shall be surrounded with mercy, compassion and lovingkindness." Psalm 32:10

 Our sin cannot be covered by God until man uncovers by confessing it. I immediately thought of 1 John 1:8-9,  "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
11 

And David goes on to share with us how wonderful it will be for us if we choose to walk each day, in the light and freedom of the grace of our God all because of what Jesus has already done for us, "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous [who actively seek right standing with Him];
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart.-Psalm 32:10-11(Emphasis mine)

Let me ask you:

_Are you willfully walking in disobedience and rebellion in any area of your life? 

_Have you knowingly missed the mark in some area? 

_Knowing the freedom that comes from forgiveness, have you freely forgiven others remembering that God will not forgive you, unless you also forgive? (Mt 6:9-13)

_What does God most need you to do right now?

Let's Pray:

O Father, thank You that I can receive forgiveness at any time in my life, no matter how extreme or far I have strayed from You. Whether I acted willfully, or in ignorance, I'm so very grateful for the promises in Your word that reassures me that You will readily forgive and not hold it against me each time I come to You and confess my transgressions and sins.

 I pray that you would forgive me for __________. Help me to receive healing from the inside out through Your love. Thank You in advance for Your work of redemption in my life and the power of Your Spirit. I pray that You would pour Your Spirit into me; filling me and use me to be a blessing to others in my life. Thank You for Your precious Son, Jesus, who has made all this possible, and it is in His name I pray. Amen.

Blessings, 

 

If we are honest, there is not a single day that we can say “I’m good enough”. We may be born again Christians and sin no longer has reign over our souls, but we still fight with the flesh daily and have to surrender our motives, our desires, our whims  and fancies over to the grace of God. Paul who called himself “ chief of sinners” expressed this spiritual battle: “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” Romans‬ ‭7:22-23‬ 

God doesn’t want sin to have any dominion or hold on us. He longs for us to be free of its crippling grasp. The Bible devotes much to the topic of sin and righteousness to make us aware of its toxic effects. He doesn’t want us to cover up and hide our sin but He wants to expose and uproot it. If we ignore sin or try to hide it, it will just fester under the surface and spread like a metastatic cancer until it is destroying us from deep within. The reason it is so destructive is because it hinders our relationship with God and hinders us from being able to glorify Him. 

We may be sinners but the wonderful news of the gospel is that we have forgiveness and atonement for our sin through the shed blood of Christ. Because we know that God will forgive us, we can stop trying to put forward a false image of being “ a good person” and we can ask God to shine the spotlight into the deepest, darkest recesses of our being to expose any unrecognized or unrelinquished sin. Even if we fool other people or fool ourselves, God knows our true motives and agendas. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”  Psalm‬ ‭139:1-5‬ 

How uplifting it is to meet with God in prayer and confess sin so that He can cleanse our hearts, restoring sweet, unhindered fellowship with Him.  What peace and rest we can experience when we let God cleanse us. If we are struggling with a particular area of sin we can ask God to give us victory. As we surrender to the process of being made more and more into the image of Christ we will be renewed, strengthened, and refreshed. 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm‬ ‭51:10‬ ‭

What instantly comes to mind when you think of the word, confession? 
I wonder how many of us would pair power and confession together, for I believe the enemy may have warped our view just a bit. Confession doesn't seem pleasant at the time,and I don't think any of us relishes that time, yet it is freeing and incredibly powerful! 

Take the example found in Ezra 9:1-10:4