Monday, February 20, 2012

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 51

I have heard many sermons, lessons, Bible studies, devotions, etc. over the years taken from or based on Psalm 51. You probably know the story behind this Psalm. David had gotten lazy in his old age and instead of leading his army in battle he stayed behind. He was bored walking around the palace roofline when he spotted Bathsheba taking a bath. Rather than diverting his eyes and going to another part of the palace he decided to send for her and...

well, the story gets worse. As you probably already know, Bathsheba ended up expecting David's child. Long story short, Bathsheba's husband was an honorable man who wouldn't spend the night with his wife while his comrades were still at war, so David had to have him killed to cover up his sin. One big sin leading to a series of sins and ending up with murder! The prophet Nathan confronted David with his sin.

Psalm 51 is David's confession to God.

I'll just make this one point. (There are too many thirty minute sermons that could be a part of this post.)

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

We think of our sins as being against another person or from breaking a law or just doing something bad. But David knew that ultimately sin is against God. God is the one who has said what is sin and He is the One that said the wages of sin is death.

The cool part is He is the One that paid that price. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 There are many other beautiful truths in this Psalm. I'm sure you saw many of them.

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