Good morning! Wow! I feel a little bit overwhelmed. Did you feel like that when you read today's chapters? Wow. It is so full. It just filled my heart with a heaviness... but filled it with goodness also. A goodness for direction. A goodness for safe-guards. This morning, let's dive in and look a bit into the life of King David.
Today's Daily Reading: Proverbs 21, Psalms 21, 51, 81, 111, 141, Proverbs 31:10-31
We are familiar with King David being called, "a man after God's own heart." Psalm 51 shows us the heart of David after being called out by the man of God, prophet Nathan. Nathan has just busted David for his sin with Bathsheba. David looked upon her, naked as she bathed on a roof-top, took her as his own, and since she was married, King David had her husband positioned strategically in battle so that he would be killed. The prophet of God, Nathan, approaches David and in rebuke confronts his sin. In Psalm 51, if you read the whole Psalm again, you may read it completely different when you know the heart that is going into the words. David immediately is filled with remorse. He cries, "HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD!" David does not try to justify his sin, but he embraces it, he takes it as his own, which it is. David holds it out before God, repentant and cries out for forgiveness. David recognizes that sacrifice is not what God is looking for here. That offering up a burnt offering, or slaying a ram to place on an alter is not what the Lord wants here. The Lords GREATEST desire is for David's HEART! Is for a heart that cries out, "LORD! FORGIVE ME! LORD I HAVE SINNED! FORGIVE ME LORD!" The Lord's desire was for a heart that would cry out for forgiveness, full of repentance and awareness of the sin that was committed. Like it says in Psalm 51, David offers "...a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent]..." Not that we need to remain with a broken and contrite heart, because we can RECEIVE forgiveness because of what Christ did on the cross. But here, David here is penitent. Penitent - feeling or expressing sorrow for sin. David expresses his brokeness here. He is truly repentant.
When we sin, I believe that is where God wants us to be. He wants the sin to cause our hearts to be broken. That the sin so greatly weighs on our hearts, the sin, so heavy, the feeling of remorse so great, that we FALL ON OUR FACES before the LORD. We CRY out to the LORD, "O LORD! HAVE MERCY ON ME LORD! FORGIVE ME LORD! FORGIVE MY SIN!" That our guilt, our remorse would cause us to RUN FROM SIN the next time it approaches us. RUN FROM SIN the next time we are up against temptation. That the remembrance of the remorse would be so real to us in a time of sin, that it would keep us from sinning again. That our desire to PLEASE THE LORD would be greater than our desire to please ourselves and our flesh.
Then when we look at what the prophet Nathan really did, we can see where Psalm 141:5 REALLY does play a HUGE part here!! "Let the righteous man smite and correct me--it is a kindness." King David KNEW that Nathan was a RIGHTEOUS MAN! He did not throw Nathan out! He did not REBUKE Nathan. He counted it as KINDNESS! He accepted it as TRUTH. HE accepted the rebuke, and I believe deep down, David was GREATLY THANKFUL to have been rebuked. For his error, his sin to be brought into the light. With his sin being brought into the light, it allows him the opportunity to FULLY RESTORE his relationship with the Lord. It allows him to come back into the FULL blessing of the Lord. And, to this day, we still know David, a man who sinned greatly as "A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART."
Look at the RISK in Psalm 141 if WE as Christians, as believers don't take SIN seriously... But My people would not hearken to My voice... So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will. The prompting of the Lord will not be forever. If WE, Christians continue to sin, and run from righteousness, as it says in Romans 6, sin will lead to death. So much for the whole promise of "a long life" if we continue, relentlessly on a path of sin, not hearkening to the voice of the Lord.
Further in Psalm 141, it says what the Lord WOULD HAVE done if the people would have turned from their sin. The Lord WOULD HAVE SPEEDILY defeated their enemies, and permanently. He WOULD HAVE filled their mouths with the BEST wheat (aka, the best food!), and He WOULD HAVE filled their mouths with honey from a rock. The Lord DID HAVE GREAT things in store, but the people would not HEARKEN unto His Voice. They remained stubborn, they continued to chase their lust.
In our Proverbs verses, it talks about how the righteous man, or in the case of our Proverbs 31 friend, the righteous woman, CONSIDERS their ways. The RIGHTEOUS do their very best to keep their hearts sensitive to prompting of the Holy Spirit. The hearkening of the Holy Spirit. Even the rebuke of the righteous man or woman of God. The righteous count REBUKE from a RIGHTEOUS man or woman of God, they count that as KINDNESS! WHY is it KINDNESS? Why is REBUKE kindness? Because it is keeping them from DEATH! It is keeping them on the road to life!
May you walk forth, as it says in Psalms 141 - Lifting up of YOUR hands as the evening sacrifice. May YOU Set a guard, before YOUR mouth; may the Lord help to keep watch at the door of YOUR lips. May YOU incline YOUR heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing.
A CONSISTENT, DAILY, ROUTINE time with the Lord is so important. The Enemy is out there to STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY... like a ROARING LION seeking whom he can destroy. As a brother or sister reading this, my prayer is that you would STAY ON GUARD. I pray a hedge of protection around you today in Jesus Name, that you would STAY ON GUARD.
Bless you. Bless you today.
Today's Daily Reading: Proverbs 21, Psalms 21, 51, 81, 111, 141, Proverbs 31:10-31
Proverbs 21:29 - A wicked man puts on the bold, unfeeling face [of guilt], but as for the upright, he considers, directs, and establishes his way [with the confidence of integrity].
Psalm 51:1a,2-3, 7b, 16-17 - HAVE MERCY upon me, O God ... Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me....wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow. For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering. My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 81:11a, 12a, 14a, 15-16 - But My people would not hearken to My voice... So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will... Speedily then I would subdue their enemies...[Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever. [God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.
Psalm 141:2, 4, 5 - Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. Incline my heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing or to be occupied in deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous man smite and correct me--it is a kindness.
Proverbs 31:16a - She considers ...Man! Let me just say... today is loaded! I don't feel I will have a chance to cover everything that I received from the Word today... but it is full. I pray you will have time to meditate on today's Word and see what the Lord is speaking to you about. Revel, marvel, soak in what it says.
We are familiar with King David being called, "a man after God's own heart." Psalm 51 shows us the heart of David after being called out by the man of God, prophet Nathan. Nathan has just busted David for his sin with Bathsheba. David looked upon her, naked as she bathed on a roof-top, took her as his own, and since she was married, King David had her husband positioned strategically in battle so that he would be killed. The prophet of God, Nathan, approaches David and in rebuke confronts his sin. In Psalm 51, if you read the whole Psalm again, you may read it completely different when you know the heart that is going into the words. David immediately is filled with remorse. He cries, "HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD!" David does not try to justify his sin, but he embraces it, he takes it as his own, which it is. David holds it out before God, repentant and cries out for forgiveness. David recognizes that sacrifice is not what God is looking for here. That offering up a burnt offering, or slaying a ram to place on an alter is not what the Lord wants here. The Lords GREATEST desire is for David's HEART! Is for a heart that cries out, "LORD! FORGIVE ME! LORD I HAVE SINNED! FORGIVE ME LORD!" The Lord's desire was for a heart that would cry out for forgiveness, full of repentance and awareness of the sin that was committed. Like it says in Psalm 51, David offers "...a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent]..." Not that we need to remain with a broken and contrite heart, because we can RECEIVE forgiveness because of what Christ did on the cross. But here, David here is penitent. Penitent - feeling or expressing sorrow for sin. David expresses his brokeness here. He is truly repentant.
When we sin, I believe that is where God wants us to be. He wants the sin to cause our hearts to be broken. That the sin so greatly weighs on our hearts, the sin, so heavy, the feeling of remorse so great, that we FALL ON OUR FACES before the LORD. We CRY out to the LORD, "O LORD! HAVE MERCY ON ME LORD! FORGIVE ME LORD! FORGIVE MY SIN!" That our guilt, our remorse would cause us to RUN FROM SIN the next time it approaches us. RUN FROM SIN the next time we are up against temptation. That the remembrance of the remorse would be so real to us in a time of sin, that it would keep us from sinning again. That our desire to PLEASE THE LORD would be greater than our desire to please ourselves and our flesh.
Then when we look at what the prophet Nathan really did, we can see where Psalm 141:5 REALLY does play a HUGE part here!! "Let the righteous man smite and correct me--it is a kindness." King David KNEW that Nathan was a RIGHTEOUS MAN! He did not throw Nathan out! He did not REBUKE Nathan. He counted it as KINDNESS! He accepted it as TRUTH. HE accepted the rebuke, and I believe deep down, David was GREATLY THANKFUL to have been rebuked. For his error, his sin to be brought into the light. With his sin being brought into the light, it allows him the opportunity to FULLY RESTORE his relationship with the Lord. It allows him to come back into the FULL blessing of the Lord. And, to this day, we still know David, a man who sinned greatly as "A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART."
Look at the RISK in Psalm 141 if WE as Christians, as believers don't take SIN seriously... But My people would not hearken to My voice... So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will. The prompting of the Lord will not be forever. If WE, Christians continue to sin, and run from righteousness, as it says in Romans 6, sin will lead to death. So much for the whole promise of "a long life" if we continue, relentlessly on a path of sin, not hearkening to the voice of the Lord.
Further in Psalm 141, it says what the Lord WOULD HAVE done if the people would have turned from their sin. The Lord WOULD HAVE SPEEDILY defeated their enemies, and permanently. He WOULD HAVE filled their mouths with the BEST wheat (aka, the best food!), and He WOULD HAVE filled their mouths with honey from a rock. The Lord DID HAVE GREAT things in store, but the people would not HEARKEN unto His Voice. They remained stubborn, they continued to chase their lust.
In our Proverbs verses, it talks about how the righteous man, or in the case of our Proverbs 31 friend, the righteous woman, CONSIDERS their ways. The RIGHTEOUS do their very best to keep their hearts sensitive to prompting of the Holy Spirit. The hearkening of the Holy Spirit. Even the rebuke of the righteous man or woman of God. The righteous count REBUKE from a RIGHTEOUS man or woman of God, they count that as KINDNESS! WHY is it KINDNESS? Why is REBUKE kindness? Because it is keeping them from DEATH! It is keeping them on the road to life!
May you walk forth, as it says in Psalms 141 - Lifting up of YOUR hands as the evening sacrifice. May YOU Set a guard, before YOUR mouth; may the Lord help to keep watch at the door of YOUR lips. May YOU incline YOUR heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing.
A CONSISTENT, DAILY, ROUTINE time with the Lord is so important. The Enemy is out there to STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY... like a ROARING LION seeking whom he can destroy. As a brother or sister reading this, my prayer is that you would STAY ON GUARD. I pray a hedge of protection around you today in Jesus Name, that you would STAY ON GUARD.
Bless you. Bless you today.
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