“For you (God) do not desire sacrifice; or I would give it: you do not delight in a burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart you will not despise.”
The two verses above come at the close of David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. David was, indeed, a broken man. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba, had Uriah, her husband, killed at the front lines and tried to lie his way out of it. The whole prayer is a prayer of repentance, but I want to focus on these two verses. David pointed out that God would not “delight in burnt offering.” This was an offering that the Jews made at the holy place, the tabernacle and later the temple. What this meant was that what God was looking for from David was not to do a religious exercise and all would be alright. This does not mean that burnt offerings were not important in David’s day. What it does mean is that David had probably offered burnt offerings the day before his adultery with Bathsheba and all that ensued, and it didn’t keep him from the sins that he committed. There a lot of people today who think they are pleasing God because they are involved in religious rituals, like going to church or singing in the choir, both good things, but these and a lot of religious rituals do not have the power to save us, keep us and sustain us. There are a lot of things that are good things to do, but they are not the main thing. I’m certainly not suggesting that God is not happy with us when we go to church, but, for example, I am pointing out that this alone cannot please God. In fact, God has given us His church in order to worship, praise and serve Jesus together. But warming a pew is not what ultimately pleases God. What God wanted from David (and wants from us) was for him to be broken and repentant because of the sins that he had committed. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of God.” He does not mean that He wants us to be unhappy, long-faced and moping all of the time. What He wants us for us to be sorry for our sins, and come broken to Him for forgiveness. He wants this instead of our doing wrong, and then justifying it instead of repenting of it. Jesus gave us Joy as gift of the Holy Spirit, but sin cannot result in joy. David pointed out that what God is looking for is not religious ritual. The sacrifice or ritual that God wants from us is a “broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart.” This is so plainly seen that it should not have to be pointed out, i.e., what God wants is our hearts, our souls, our innermost beings. He wants to work from within us to change us and grow us in His grace. Though David would not have had the Holy Spirit living in him, but we have Him, and He should make a difference in our lives. The Holy Spirit wants to break us and bring us to repentance so that we can go beyond our sins and grow in Him. God does not want us to be proud of our sins, nor does He want us to excuse our sins. He wants our sins to drive us to repentance and change. When David prayed the prayer of repentance that is recorded in Psalm 51 he was a broken man, not proud of his sexual conquest and his rash decision to have Uriah murdered. David did not come before God bragging on himself, or justifying what he had done. He seriously wanted God’s forgiveness and he hung on in prayer until he received it. God wants your heart too, and He will not be satisfied with your religious activity. (He will be satisfied with that, when He has our hearts and when we are doing what we do to serve Him, not ourselves.) This reminds us of Peter’s reaction after he denied the Lord. He went out and cried tears of repentance. He did not justify himself for his denial. He did not make excuses as to why he had to deny Jesus. Peter had a broken spirit and contrite heart, and he went on to become one of Christ’s choice servants. What does God want of you? He wants you to have a spirit of genuine repentance and brokenness. You might be having spiritual problems right now because you are trying to get yourself right with God by justifying your sins. It just will not work. The Lord wants the same thing of us that He wanted of David – “a broken spirit and a contrite heart." He does not want us to remain broken in spirit, for one of His great desires for us is to be happy people, but not at the expense of our relationship with Him. He wants us to be joyful people because we are right with Him, not because we think we deserve His forgiveness without confession and repentance. Bro. Joe
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“But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Most people in the world are concerned about meeting their needs. In our affluent society, a good many people are preoccupied with meeting their wants. In fact, we have become so affluent that many of our wants have turned into needs. Let me use the cell phone as an example. When they were introduced, I thought that I really didn’t want one, but I finally bought one. One day my car broke down on I75 while I was en route to Atlanta, and I was grateful for my cell phone and 911. Be that as it may, a cell phone is not really a need. I lived for a lot of years without one, and could survive without it. There are some basic needs that all people in the world have, and that is what I want to share with you in this post. If we had all that we wanted, these things would still be our greatest needs. It will not surprise you that I believe that everyone needs God. One theologian wrote that there is a “God-shaped vacuum” in every person, and that we are not really satisfied until it is filled with Him. I think that this is what the Bible means in part when it tells us that God created us in His image. I’ve got to admit that there were times in my life when I lived without a great consciousness of God in my life, but He was always in the background beckoning to me even in those times. The world stays in a mess because people ignore the creator of the universe. To many people in this world, maybe even to most, God is not real. These were the conditions in Sodom and Gomorrah and in Noah’s time. People do not do well when they ignore God. Many might argue that point, but time will ultimately prove them wrong. This is why God sent His Son into the world, so that He could become part of our lives, live within us and give believers the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I think that people need people. I know that there are people who are loners and prefer to be away from people, but they are rare. Besides, whether they know it or not, they still need other people. God just made us that way. The first thing that God was not really pleased with was that Adam was alone. I once saw an episode of "Twilight Zone" in which a man wished that he was the only person in the world. He got his wish, and at first he was thrilled because he had everything at his disposal. After awhile, however, he began to realize that without other people around those things didn’t mean a whole lot. He discovered what we already know – people need people. This need for people in our lives explains the need for families and churches. This is why being involved in church is important. We need each other. We don’t really realize this need deeply until we get seriously ill or have a death in the family. People need to be loved. That’s right, God made us that way too. The need for love is more intense in some people than in others, but deep in every person’s heart is a need to be loved. That is one reason why we need to love people, because love begets love. God fills that need, because He loved us enough to send His Son to die as a sacrifice for our sins. But He also puts His love in us in order for us to share His great love with others. There are many other needs, but these were uppermost in my mind today. Just remember the promise of the text: “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Bro. Joe “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh (people) can do to me.
Notice that the psalmist wrote:“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee…” It can also be translated: “When I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” This was an admission by David that he would be afraid, and that when fear came upon him, he would not be ruled by it, but would trust God. If you remember, David had a lot to be afraid of. King Saul chased him all over “kingdom come" trying to capture and kill him. Saul was very serious in his pursuit. David would have been more than a human being if he could face a daily death sentence with no fear at all. Then there was the problem with his son Absalom. When David was older, his son Absalom took over the kingdom. He did not ultimately succeed, but in the process David was again under a death sentence. It is no wonder that he said, “When I am afraid I will trust in thee.” Get this down good: fear is not a sin. Some great general, whose name I can’t remember said that “courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Another great general, whose name I also can’t recall, said while waiting to go into battle: “Afraid? Me Afraid? If you could see my knees shaking right now, you would know that I am afraid.” When does fear become a sin? It becomes a sin when it takes over our lives and we live in fear every day. There are people who are literally afraid of life. They can’t enjoy life because they are afraid of what life might bring. Life can bring all sorts of things, but we need not fear them. In our text, David gave the key to facing life without being ruled by fear. First, he wrote that when he was afraid, he would trust God. I am glad that I believe in a God who loves me, has my best interests at heart and will lead me through anything that I might face. If you don’t believe in the God who you can trust, I would not join you in your misery. If I thought that the only tools that I had to face life with were the tools at my command in this world, I would be very afraid. When you are afraid, you can trust God. He will lead you through, over, or around whatever life brings. I have certainly had dreadful moments in my life, and at times I was afraid that they might defeat me. But God has delivered me through them all. (Notice that I wrote“through them all,” not “around them all.”) The same can be true for you. Trust God! Second, David wrote: “In God I will praise His word.” When we are afraid, we can turn to the Bible for comfort. I have favorite scriptures that I turn to when all else seems to fail. In fact, the text used in this blog is one of my favorite texts to turn to in times of fear. Another is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I can turn this text into, “I can go through all things that life brings through Christ who strengthens me.” Jesus told Paul: “When you are weak then I am strong.” (Not a direct quote) Jesus invites us to lean on His strength as we face the difficult times of life. His grace is always sufficient for us. Third, he wrote: “I will not be afraid what flesh (people) can do to me.” My Granddaddy Cooper once told me: “Don’t ever be afraid of any man.” He lived up to that credo. There are some people who are fearsome, but they are not greater than God. What are you afraid of today? Reread the text at the top of the page and rejoice. Bro. Joe “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Are we supposed to be afraid of God? The answer to that question is yes and no. Yes, we should be afraid of Him if we do not acknowledge His existence and His great love for us, that is, if we just shut Him out of our lives.That is why Hebrews 10:31 tells us: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." No, we should not be afraid of Him in the sense of dread if we believe in Him, trust Him for salvation and sustenance in this life. God is serious about loving us. He loves us so much that He disciplines us. (Read Hebrews 12:5-11.) He is serious about having a relationship with us. He went to great lengths in sending His Son to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, He is serious about our reaction to Him and our relationship to Him. What does it mean, however, to “fear God” when we are believers? To fear God in the sense that a Christian should fear Him, means that we hold Him in great awe. When we think of God, we do not think of Him as a powerless being that is helpless before the forces of evil. To fear God in that sense is to realize His true greatness. Think for a moment about the greatness of God from the standpoint of size. He is the creator of the universe. He is the master of the universe, that is, He is in charge of the universe and holds it all together. From what we know about the size of the universe today, this makes Him a great being indeed. To some people this is beyond belief, for they do not understand how a great being like that can exist. To those of us who believe, His greatness makes His reality even more meaningful. God’s greatness is beyond all that we can imagine. That is why we must accept Him by faith. To fear God, then, is to hold Him in great awe as One who is larger than life. Ironically, I think that to say we fear God is to say that we love Him. What do I mean? When we think of God’s vastness, His omniscience, omni-presence and omnipotence, we stand amazed that such a great being as this could love us enough to take an interest in our mully-grubbing little lives. We love God because He created us in His image. We love God because he wants to be involved in our lives. David expressed what I am trying to convey in Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained; 4. What is man, that you are mindful of Him? And the Son of man, that you visit Him?” David looked at the greatness of God and stood amazed that this God would be interested in Him. Though David did not use the word “love” here, I think that this is an expression of love as well as amazement. In 1 John 4:19, John gave good reason for us to love God: “We love (God), because He first loved us.” To fear God is to take that awesome love seriously. To fear God in the sense of holding Him in great awe, and realizing His greatness, is to acknowledge that He is involved in our lives. This is amazing. God loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son for us, and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to live in our lives. This great God wants to be part of our lives. What is there about us that makes God want to relate to us? The Bible explicitly says that “there is none good, no not one.” The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The Bible makes it plain that we are not innately worthy of all that God has done for us, and all that He wants to do for us through Jesus. But in spite of that, in His grace and mercy, God loves us and yearns for us to draw close to Him. How can we not hold such a great, loving God in awe and wonder? Remember the hymn: “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me a sinner, condemned, unclean.” Do your fear God in the sense of holding Him great awe, loving Him and having a relationship with Him? Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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