“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”
“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13. Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto you.” This psalm was written after David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had been confronted by the great prophet Nathan. Nathan told David a story about a wealthy man who owned a lot of sheep and took away the one sheep that belonged to a poor man. When David heard that story, he was irate. Nathan answered back to him, “You are the man.” Of course, David was conscience stricken and this psalm was a result. We don’t have room on this page for the whole psalm, but I have quoted four verses that give us the gist of the meaning of the psalm. Verse 3 gives us the clue as to how we should react when we know that we are not right with God: “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” Acknowledging our sins is absolutely necessary in getting right with God. After Nathan’s story, David came face-to-face with the murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and his adultery with her. David had to stop denying that he had sinned and that he needed to acknowledge what he had done. We will get right with God when we acknowledge our own sins. Like David, it is so easy for us to see the sins of other people, but we whitewash our own sins. Until we acknowledge our sins, we cannot be right with God. God is willing to forgive us for any sin, but He wants us to admit that we have sinned. Verse 2 shows us what it was that David wanted from God in relation to his sins. When we realize that we have sinned, we feel unclean. There is no uncleanness like the uncleanness of our souls, for this is what sin does to us. The realization of the greatness of his sins left David feeling guilty and dirty. Being “a man after God’s own heart,” David was not accustomed to feeling that way. The sad thing is that many people come to feel at home with feeling dirty and they are satisfied with it. If you want to be cleansed of guilt, you need to repent, confess and ask God to cleanse you from sin. There is no need for sin to rob you of the joy that you can have in your life. God is ready and willing to forgive you and cleanse you. Come to Him like David and ask God to cleanse you. Verse 12 shows us what David really lost when he sinned and did not seek God’s forgiveness. He said: “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit.” Overt sin caused David to lose the joy of the salvation that God had given him. Jesus died on the cross to cleanse us from sin, and He wants us to enjoy the salvation that He has given us. Sin has a way of coming between us and our joy. If you are not joyful now, perhaps you need to look deeply within your heart and discover the source, if you don’t already realize it, and rush to God for forgiveness as David did. Verse 13 gives us the result of being forgiven and cleansed. Until he confessed, David could not “teach transgressors their ways.” David was accustomed to being the one right with God, and felt comfortable helping others see the right way. But until he confessed, and was cleansed, he knew that he was in no position to witness and minister to other people. If you want to be an effective witness for Jesus, follow David’s example and repent, confess and ask for forgiveness. Bro, Joe
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John 15:11: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of Spirit is…joy.”
Jesus promised us His joy in John 15:11 and Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit makes Jesus’ joy active in our lives. How does this joy take shape in our lives? First, it is the gift salvation. We cannot know the joy of Jesus until He is alive in our hearts. We can experience earthly joy and happiness in the right circumstances, but the deeply rooted joy of Jesus, in all circumstances, comes into our lives through salvation. Salvation is the result of repenting of sin, confessing them to Jesus and inviting Him into our lives. If you have Jesus in your life, you have His joy because you have His promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit. You can claim that joy now by just turning from sin through confession and repentance and inviting Jesus into your life. Second is the gift of worship. It is through worship that we express the joy that we have in Jesus. Some people express their joy in quietness and stillness. This is how I express my joy. Some people express their joy in..well..loud praise. There is no right or wrong way to share your joy through worship and thankfulness for His salvation and for the gift of His Holy Spirit. Don’t let anyone tell you that the way you express your joy in Jesus is the wrong way, just do it the way you feel it. You can worship Him alone as well in public worship. Third is the gift of service. Our joy in Jesus is complete when we take the joy of our salvation, and joy of our worship into service for Jesus in whatever way He leads. We all have our gifts for service, and we need to use them in service. The word that is translated as “worship” can also be translated as “service.” There is a sign that you have probably read in many church bulletins: “Enter to Worship-Depart to Serve.” There is great joy in Christian service, whether it is visiting and ministering to someone who is ill, or witnessing to someone about their need for salvation. There is so much more that could be written about this gift of joy. I think that the three gifts here can apply to any life. Do you have this kind of joy in your life? Bro. Joe “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night.”
This verse is part of the psalmists description of godly and ungodly people. This is a description of what the godly person delights in. (By “godly” I do not mean self-righteous and condescending.) What we delight in will tell a lot about our lives and what is really important to us. We occasionally need to pause and ask ourselves where our real delights are. We can delight in a lot of things, but we need to be reminded that some things are more worthy of our delight than others. There are some things that we should delight in if we want to live godly lives and be effective witnesses for Jesus. In the context of this verse, the godly person delights in “the law of the Lord.” This means that his delight is in the word of God – the Bible. We should delight in God’s word because it steers us in the right direction. I will admit that not all of it is delightful to human eyes, but it is delightful in what it teaches us. There are parts of the Bible that I delight in more than others, and this is, no doubt, true of you, but when taken in its totality all of God’s word is delightful because it is from God and because it was written, not just for our information but for our good. The Bible is a treasure trove of God’s wisdom and God’s actions through the ages. We can never understand the working of God if we do not read, study, and delight in the Bible. We can never fathom the ups and downs of life if we do not acquaint ourselves with the word of God. The Bible helps us understand suffering, it helps us understand righteousness, and it helps us understand all of the difficulties of life. We should delight in God Himself. After all, the Bible was given to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in order for us to have a better understanding of God. The Bible depicts God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The triune God is not revealed in the Bible to puzzle us, but to inform us of the true nature of God. It is only as we see Him as the Father sending the Son to die for our sins, and the Son sending the Spirit to dwell in our hearts and lives, that we understand that He takes us personally. All of the world’s religions that recognize a god, see him as one who is distant and so far above humanity that he could not possibly be interested in their lives. How can one delight in a god who has no interest in his or her life? How can one delight in a god who creates but does not relate to His creation? We can delight in God because He not only wants to relate to us but has gone to great lengths to relate to us. All the way through the Bible we see God working out His relationship with us, warning us, seeking us and ultimately saving us through faith in His Son. We can delight in our God, for He is the true God of the universe. We should delight in the worship of God. I think that church seems boring to us sometimes because we see church attendance as a duty that we have to perform. Church worship is not a duty, it is a privilege. We gather together as God’s people in order to delight in our corporate worship of Him. But we also need to remember that we can delight in our worship of Him on a daily basis. We can have a time of personal worship, but we can also delight in worshiping Him as we go through each day. Don’t you sometimes look up to the beautiful blue sky and just praise and worship God just because He is God? Don’t you sometimes just want to burst out in praise and adoration for Him, because you know that He is present with you, loving you and wanting the best for you? Some people do not delight in worshiping God, because they do not understand His love and concern for their lives. Don’t be one of them! This would be a good time for you to pause and ask yourself what you really delight in and at least turn your attention to the three things that we have looked at today in which we should delight. Bro. Joe “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh shall also rest in hope.”
We need to ask what it really is that makes our hearts glad? Are our hearts made glad because of what we have in the world, or are our hearts made glad because of the Lord and what He is doing in our lives? I am not saying that there is nothing in the world that should make our hearts glad. I am saying that those things in the world that make us glad would be better if the Lord was the basic cause for all of them. He wants to be a part of all of our lives, and wants to add to our joy. Let’s take a look at what David wrote in the two verses above that made his heart glad. He wrote that “I have set the Lord always before me.” This says to me that David wanted to be sure that He was being guided by right principles, so he always set the Lord before him instead of after him. God was not a last resort for David. Too many people put the Lord behind their backs and do what they want to do until they run into hard times, then they try to put the Lord before them and follow His leadership. It will be much better if we seek God before the bad things happen in our lives. He should be “before us” in the good times and bad times. I love the old gospel song, “The God on the Mountain Is Still God in the Valley.” The song reminds us that we always have God whether the times are good or bad. We just need to remember that it is as important to seek Him in the good times as it is to seek Him in the bad times. He wrote: “Because He is at my right hand…” I know that this does not complete the thought that David was making. We will deal with that next, but for now we need to see the importance of having God at our right hand. This means that David wanted to stay close to God. Along this same line, James wrote in James 4:7-8: “Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you….” If God is not at your right hand, and you feel that He is not near you, let me remind you that God didn’t move – you did. In our own minds and hearts, we need to keep ourselves close to God. God does not move. He is always right where He has always been. After all, Jesus promised: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the ages.” We need to remember that promise and know that God is at our right hand. He wrote: “Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” The NIV translates this as “I will not be shaken.” What David meant here was that because He realized that God was near Him all of the time, the things that happened in his life did not shake him and move him away from his commitment to God. Often, when we face hard times, we think that God has forsaken us and we are shaken, so we move farther away from Him. These are the times when we need to draw ever closer to our Lord. He is with us in the valley and on the mountain. Clasp this truth from the song “My God Is Near Me all the Time” close to your heart and you will not be shaken and will stay close to Him in your mind and heart. Is your heart glad because you have set the Lord before you? Is your heart glad because you realize that He is near you every minute of every day? Is your heart glad because you have not been shaken and have stayed close to Him no matter what has happened in your life? Good questions, what are the answers? Bro. Joe “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications. 7. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him; and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”
In Psalm 28, David was in distress because of His enemies, and he reached out to God. Verses 6-7 give a summary of what David concluded, and he told us some things that we need to know about God in the midst of our own struggles. In verse 6, he reminds us that God hears our prayers. Indeed, He hears the cries of our hearts as we cry out to Him each day. We can absolutely be assured that God will hear “the voice of (our) supplications.” What is your need right now? He will hear your prayer. I can’t imagine not reaching out to Jesus in prayer. In verse 7a, David reminds us that the Lord is our strength and shield. Sometimes we forget that the greatest strength that we can have is spiritual strength, which will come to our rescue much more effectively than physical strength. We need to practice leaning on God’s strength. The shield that we have from God is the shield of faith. In describing the armor of God in Ephesians 6, Paul wrote: “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Why would we not take our fears, needs and struggles to the Lord in prayer? Why would we not lean on His strength and take the shield of faith? All that the Lord has to offer is at our disposal. Why not take advantage of all that He offers for our lives? In the latter part of verse 7, David tells us what the result of God’s hearing our prayers and giving us His being our strength and shield should be. First, it should result in our hearts trusting in Him. We should trust Jesus from within the deepest part of ourselves. What strength this will bring into your life if you will just put your trust in Him. No one needs to teach you how to do this – just do it. Like David, you will find that you will be helped. Second, we will have cause to “greatly rejoice.” I do not know why we aren’t as joyful as we should be. I am amazed at myself sometimes, because I find not myself not rejoicing in all that the Lord has done, is doing and will do in my life. Let this be a reminder for both of us!!! Third, it should result in praise to His wonderful name. Because David was a musician, one of hiss greatest means of rejoicing was in song. The Lord should put a song in our hearts as well. Just cut loose today and praise Him in whatever way you can. Don’t you agree that these we are things that we need to know about God? Bro. Joe "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ; and sinners shall be converted unto thee."
Have you ever lost the joy of the salvation that God has freely given you in His Son? If you are like me you probably have, but, hopefully you did not stay satisfied in that position. One of the tragedies of church life is that there are people who have lost the joy of their salvation and are not really aware of it. These are usually the unhappy, negative people who cause trouble in the fellowship. David knew that he still belonged to God, but he was also aware that he was not as joyful in that relationship as he should be. What caused David to lose the joy of his salvation? He lost that joy when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered. How could he have joy with that on his conscience? Consequently, he did all that he could: He confessed and repented. This is what we need to do when we are not as joyful in salvation as we should be. In John 15:11, Jesus said that He has given us "(His) joy that our joy might be full." A joyless life is out of sorts with God. What I want to come to now, however, is why David wanted the joy of salvation restored. Look at verse 13 again: "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." David knew that his influence (we would call it witness) was hurt because of his sins and his loss of joy. He also knew that he could not help transgressors (sinners) find God in their lives as long as he was in his joyless condition. That is why he wrote, "then will I teach transgressors thy ways." It just could be that our witness to sinners is not as effective as it should be because we have lost the joy of our salvation - and people sense it. Look deeply into your own life and see if you have lost the joy of your salvation. If you have lost the joy of your salvation, confess and repent and let your life reveal the joy of Jesus. Then your witness will be more effective, and you will be a happier person. Think about it! Bro. Joe "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
One of the main things that Christ brings into our lives is joy. Joy and happiness are not always the same. Happiness is something that might come and go with circumstances. The joy that Jesus gives will certainly bring moments of happiness, but happiness is often fleeting, which the the joy that Christ gives is held fast in our hearts. I want to call your attention that Jesus referred to the joy that He gives us is his joy, for he said that "my joy might remain in you." This is not the kind of joy that comes and goes with the seasons, it is joy that Christ has put into our lives as a possession, or a gift. It is important that we call attention to the words "my joy." Christ puts His joy in us when we are saved. Consequently, we have Christs joy at all times, even when the circumstances are not happy, or joyful. I want to illustrate this point in the deaths of my wife and parents. I had joy because they are in a better place because of their faith in Jesus. We have the promise that if one puts his or faith in Jesus, they are with Him heaven. Both of my parents, and my late wife died trusting Jesus. I expect to see them in heaven one day. We will be together with Jesus in eternity because they died trusting Jesus. I am trusting Jesus for my eternity, not because I deserve it, but because Jesus gave His life on the cross, arose the third day and ascended to heaven. My trust is in Jesus, not in myself. The joy of the expectation of heaven, through Jesus, is real! If you do not have that joy, you can have it by trusting Jesus as your Savior. (Don't argue about it, just do it.) Bro. Joe “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
It is difficult to decide what to write about in Romans 12:10-12. It is certainly important that we love one another with “brotherly affection.” (We could add “sisterly affection.”) We should certainly go out of our way to honor one another. Verse 11 gives advice that we all should follow, and is sorely missing in churches today: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." Think of the revival that we would have in our churches if we adopted each of these things. I decided to write about verse 12, because I saw virtues there that we need if we are to live at peace with God, ourselves and others, and if we want to live in victory. This verse contains what I am calling “Three Indispensable Virtues.” We are encouraged to “rejoice in hope.” The Greek word translated “hope” here is not what we call hope. We use the word as a hunch that maybe something good will happen, or maybe we will make it through. The word as used here means that we have a solid hope in Christ, no matter what is going on around us. Our situation today certainly doesn’t look very hopeful for us. We see all kinds of moral values being devalued and paganism seems to be creeping into our country – if it is not already pagan. I remind you that this is the kind of society that Paul lived in. Rome was perhaps the most pagan of all cities. But Paul had the audacity to rejoice in hope and to tell us to do the same. Our hope is not in the world situation, nor is it in political victories; rather, our hope is in Jesus Christ – period. We who truly believe that Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross to save us from sin, rose the third day, ascended to the Father, and has promised to return, have a hope that transcends the world. This knowledge should cause us to rejoice. I will not pretend to be happy with the direction of our country, but in this I rejoice: “I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded (convinced) that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12b) Hold to that hope and rejoice in it. We are encouraged to be “patient in tribulation.” In today’s vernacular, it would be “endure in all of your troubles.” It is easy to give up when things are not going well for us. (The Greek word translated “patience” here means more than just to wait in patience. It means to thrive in it, to live above what troubles we have.) We can get discouraged and just want to throw up our hands and quit. We might say, “What’s the use, nothing seems to be going right.” This can happen to us at home, at work, at church, or wherever we might be. When we are going through trouble, we need to remember two things: (1) No one’s life is trouble-free, and (2) It’s not all about me. No matter what your problems are today, if you will look around, you will see others with worse troubles. This is where "rejoicing in hope" comes in. You are not alone in your troubles, for the Holy Spirit is with you, and you have fellow Christians to encourage you. This brings us to a third thing that will help us "rejoice in hope" and be "patient in tribulation," and that is, “Be constant in prayer.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul admonished us to “pray without ceasing.” In Luke 18:1b, we are encouraged to “always pray and not to faint.” “Faint” here means to lose heart. “Take it to the Lord in prayer” is always good advice. No matter what the “it” is that we take to the Lord in prayer, He has an answer for us, and will encourage us to go forward. We should pray constantly, even when we do not feel like praying, for the Lord is always ready to listen to us and give us encouragement and guidance. Think on these three virtues! Pray over them! Memorize them! Hold them close to your heart and live in victory. Bro. Joe “I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
"Glad" is a good word. It means "to express pleasure, to cause pleasure or to be pleased." (American Century Dictionary) This should describe the life of a Christian. I will relate something from my life to share my own gladness. I am glad that my mama made me go to church - literally. I was not always glad about that. I didn’t realize that while I was wishing that I could be at home instead of at church, it was making an impact on my life and impressing me in ways that I could never explain. At a young age, I was not aware of the value of Christian fellowship. I just called it “going to church.” As I reflect on those days, I see how being in church on Sunday influenced me and served as a reminder that real life is found in Jesus. (I guess I should tell you that one of my nick names at church in my early years was "worry wart." Hey, nobody's perfect.) In fact those early years in church helped me to know when I got older that God was calling me into the ministry, and I’m glad for that too. My life has been enriched because of Christian ministry in so many different ways, I don’t think that I could fully explain it? Enough about me, let’s turn to you. What makes you glad? Are you glad that you are a Christian? If you are not a Christian, you are missing out on the abundant life. Sometimes we see people who live only for the world seeming to really enjoy themselves and we feel a little envious. This business of being a Christian does not allow us to have “fun” the way the rest of the world does. This kind of “fun” does not last forever. There are people who go from party to party and just live it up. But all of this will end. There will be a last party, a last shot at fun, and life will become empty and void. This does not mean that we spend every moment of our lives doing “church work.” It means that we have a lasting relationship with Christ, and serving him adds depth and strength to our lives. If I’m not careful here, I will leave the impression that I do not believe that life should contain humor and fun. I do not mean that at all. I believe that we should laugh a lot, and that we should not be “holy kill joys.” Having Christ in our lives makes our days glad. Do you remember this old song: “He has made me glad, He has made glad, I’m so glad that He has made me glad.” I hope that you can sing this song and really mean it. I haven’t even scratched the surface of Christian gladness, but I think that I have written enough to make you examine your own life. If you are not a glad person, you need to ask yourself why, particularly if you are a Christian. I don’t mean that a glad person is happy all of the time. I do mean that a glad Christian has every reason to have a glad heart and to live a glad life. This glad heart will make life better in spite of the unhappy and trying moments. A glad heart will sustain you through all of life – the good and the bad. If you don’t have this gladness in your heart and life, I challenge you to find it in Jesus. Bro. Joe “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
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