Written by: Christine Gore – Church Army
Psalm 50 v 15-21
Call to me in times of trouble.
I will save you, and you will honour me.”
But God says to the wicked,
“Why do you talk about my laws?
Why do you mention my agreement?
You hate my teachings and turn your back on what I say.
When you see a thief, you join him.
You take part in adultery.
You don’t stop your mouth from speaking evil, and your tongue makes up
lies.
You speak against your brother and lie about your mother’s son.
I have kept quiet while you did these things, so you thought I was just like
you.
But I will scold you and accuse you to your face.
Notes
The word “wicked” is one of those words that’s rather slippery
to define. The usual meaning is someone or something that is evil or immoral.
But it can also mean quite the contrary, and rather than a term of condemnation,
it’s a term of praise! “This Groove Armada CD is really wicked!”
So who are the wicked in this psalm and why are they condemned? Surprisingly, they are not those whom we would readily identify as wicked, for outwardly they are “respectable” religious people. They talk about the things of God and go through the required religious motions. Yet God is very clear that they are frauds. First of all, they do not keep his commandments to love their neighbour and so commit adultery, theft, and slander; and secondly, they do not keep his commandments to love their God (see Exodus 20:3-17). Instead of honouring and worshipping the Almighty God, the wicked reduce him to a pathetic copy of themselves – a god made in their own image. “You think I’m just like you!” accuses God – “You fools! How wrong can you be?!”
This psalm echoes a challenge down the ages to all “respectable” religious people. Do our words and our lives match up, or are we living a lie? Do we live as we please, or do we live to please God? And who is this God we seek to please and profess to worship? Is it a god made in our own image? A god who is a dumb idol, giving silent assent to all we do? Or is he the God seen in the earlier verses of this psalm - dangerous and holy, mighty and righteous, worthy of all our praise and honour? The One to call on in times of trouble and who will rescue us?
Prayerful reflection
Maybe it’s time for a spiritual health check! Do your words and your
life match up? Do you live as you please, or do you live to please God? And
who is this God you seek to please and profess to worship? Is it a god made
in your own image – or of your own imagining? Why not meet up with a
believing friend over the coming week and talk this through together. Prayerfully
commit this exercise to God and remember God’s promise: “Call to
me… I will… and you will honour me”.
Psalm 50 v 22-23
“Think about this, you who forget God.
Otherwise, I will tear you apart, and no one will save you.
Those people honour me who bring me offerings to show thanks.
And I, God, will save those who do that.”
Notes
If you’ve read any of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” you
will have come across Aslan the lion – the heroic Christ figure. As you
can imagine, the children who star in the wonderful book are a little anxious
at the thought of first meeting Aslan. ”Is he safe?“ they ask. “Safe?” said
Mr Beaver… “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t
safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” In these
verses God is portrayed as a wild animal who will tear apart those who forget
him – the wicked, those who turn their backs on God. There will be no
rescue for them, no last minute reprieve. They worship a god of their imaginings
and it is impotent to save them.
The Lord, the God of the Universe, is a roaring, hungry lion. He’s not tame and he’s certainly not safe! But… he is good to those who honour him. How do we honour God? By being grateful and thankful people. People who acknowledge that all that we are and all that we have come from God. Without him we are nothing and we have nothing of value and worth. Our gratitude proclaims our total dependence on God as our Creator and Saviour, our Lord and our Lover. Loving another is a risky business. Safe love is not true love – just ask Jesus! Loving God is also a risky business – because God is not safe and his love is demanding. But it is secure – for God is good - so we have nothing to fear! Going God’s way may feel at times like a white knuckle ride but it’s worth it! If we’re bored with our walk with God we need to look again at the god we worship – have we domesticated the wild lion?
Prayer activity
Continue a spiritual health check by thinking specifically about how you see
God. Write a list of the things you know in your head about God. Then write
another list – this time of the things you believe in your heart about
God. For example: in your head you might believe that God is good, but in
your heart you don’t really trust him. You’re afraid that he’ll
ask you to do the things you don’t want to, just because you don’t
want to do them! Perhaps you’ve created a safe God – a tame version
of the awesome God of the Universe, who makes very few demands on your life?
Bring your findings in prayer to God.
Psalm 51 v 1-5
God, be merciful to me because you are loving.
Because you are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs.
Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again.
I know about my wrongs, and I can’t forget my sin.
You are the only one I have sinned against;
I have done what you say is wrong.
You are right when you speak and fair when you judge.
I was brought into this world in sin.
In sin my mother gave birth to me.
Notes
It’s not often that we know the real-life setting of a psalm, but tradition
has it that this psalm was written by King David at a specific time in his
life. The story goes like this. David is in Jerusalem while his army are off
campaigning. Without his buddies David is feeling at a bit of a loss and he
goes up to the roof of his palace for some air. While there he spies a beautiful
woman bathing and determines to find out who she is. Bathsheba is the wife
of Uriah, but David doesn’t care, and he takes her to his bed where she
conceives.
To cover over his tracks David tries to bring Uriah back from the front, hoping he would sleep with his wife and so the baby could be passed off as his. When this plan fails, he plots to have Uriah killed by sending him back as close to the front as possible. Uriah is killed and David continues the deception by feigning ignorance when he hears the news. Eventually David marries Bathsheba and she gives birth to his son. However, Nathan the prophet confronts David with his sin and pronounces God’s judgement upon him. This psalm is said to be David’s remorseful response as he faced up to his sin.
So, the great King David, the man after God’s own heart, was not squeaky clean! Scripture never portrays the great heroes of faith as plaster saints. They are real people like us – who mess up, big time (!). Nevertheless, God does not give up on them. They live with the consequences of their actions, yet God continues to use them in his purposes. God sees past their human weakness right into the heart of their potential, the person he created them to be.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you that your word reassures me that I don’t have to
be a perfect person for you to love me and use me in your good plans and purposes.
Thank you that you see past my human weakness right into the heart of my potential,
the person you created me to be. And thank you, Lord, that you love me too
much to leave me trapped in my sin. Help me to be a repentant sinner – knowing
the forgiveness and freedom that comes from having been honest with you. Amen
Psalm 51 v 6-9
You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom.
Take away my sin, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you crushed be happy
again.
Turn your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilt.
Notes
Children often go through a phase when they believe if they cover their eyes
and can’t see you, you can’t see them - the proverbial ostrich
with its head in the sand. Does the child in you ever treat God in this way?
Try to cover over your sins or ignore them, hoping he won’t notice?
Then it’s time to grow up and admit that God knows all things and your
sins can’t be hidden from him! We need to be completely truthful with
God and ourselves.
That’s the thing with unrepented sin – it creates a barrier between God and us, between us and our neighbours. For sin violates relationships of trust and intimacy. The picture language David uses suggests that his sin made him feel dirty and ill, and he pleads with God to “Cleanse me, wash me, wipe out my guilt and heal me”. You can almost see him on his knees beating his breast in his anguish.
David also asks God to teach him wisdom. We need wisdom to see ourselves as God sees us, to see God as he really is. Proverbs tells us that: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (9 v 10, NIV) and “The fear of the Lord leads to life” (19 v 23, NIV ). We don’t fear God because we are afraid, for he is scary. We fear God because we are amazed, for he is awesome! Amazed that he should love us and want to be in relationship with us; amazed that he sent his Son to die for us, so that we might have our sins forgiven and our broken relationship with Him restored; amazed that he gives us the gift of his Holy Spirit to impart to us wisdom, cleansing, healing, forgiveness and restoration.
Prayer reflection
Is there anything in your life that you have been trying to hide from God?
Spend some time meditating on these words: “wisdom, cleansing, healing,
forgiveness and restoration”. Let these words shed light on that thing
you’ve been hiding. Which do you long for the most in your life: wisdom,
cleansing, healing, forgiveness, restoration? Ask God to begin that process
in your heart and mind.
Psalm 51 v 10-12
Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again.
Do not send me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation.
Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit.
Notes
Before David was king he lived at the court of his predecessor Saul, arriving
at the time when Saul had fallen out of favour with God because of his disobedience.
Consequently Saul had been rejected by God as King. David, therefore, had
seen at close quarters what it was like when God removed his Holy Spirit
from his anointed – and it was a devastating and haunting sight. Now
here he was – owning up to his own disobedience and unworthiness to
be king – would he too lose God’s Spirit and calling?
Overcoming sin is not just about a change in behaviour – more importantly it is about a change in attitude. Changes in behaviour don’t last if they’re not accompanied by a change of attitude – it’s merely papering over the cracks. So David asks God to perform radical heart surgery on him: “create in me a pure heart”. It’s not just an overhaul he needs but a completely newly created heart. He also asks for God to make his spirit “right again” – to renew his spirit. In Old Testament times the heart and spirit were the centres of the will, decision-making and reasoning. “Help me get my thinking and attitudes right, Lord” was David’s plea. But it’s not all about the head – the heart is there too. “Give me back the joy of your salvation”. The joyful freedom that comes when the consequences and anxiety of guilt are dealt with – permanently!
Today all God’s children have his Holy Spirit living within
them. So we shouldn’t try to overcome sin in our own strength - it’s
only by the power of the Spirit that we’re able to change our attitudes
and actions! Now we can live lives that are holy and worthy of our calling
as Christ’s ambassadors and God’s beloved!
Prayer
Almighty God,
To whom all hearts are open, all desires known,
And from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of my heart
By the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
That I may perfectly love you,
And worthily magnify your holy name;
Through Christ my Lord. Amen
(Adapted from The Prayer of Preparation in “Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England”, Church House Publishing: 2000)
Psalm 51 v 13-17
Then I will teach your ways to those who do wrong, and sinners will turn back
to you.
God, save me from the guilt of murder,
God of my salvation, and I will sing about your goodness.
Lord, let me speak so I may praise you.
You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them.
You don’t want burnt offerings.
The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit.
God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.
Notes
Having made his confessions and looked to God for forgiveness and restoration,
David realises that his new-found freedom needs to lead onto something more.
Firstly, David turns his mind to ministry and mission. “Then I will
teach your ways to those who do wrong, and sinners will turn back to you.” Having
been through the experiences he has, David can speak from the heart of what
it means to be forgiven. He can speak personally of God’s unfathomable
grace and mercy. Knowing himself a sinner, he can speak to others of salvation
without seeming self-righteous or judgemental.
Secondly, David responds by wanting to praise – not empty (“because I have to praise you”) praise - but a sacrifice of true praise. Paul in Romans 12 v 1 (NIV) says: “I urge you, brothers (and sisters), in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God….this is your true worship.” God doesn’t want animal sacrifices – they only pointed to something bigger and better (i.e. the death of Jesus). What he wants is worship in spirit and truth – honest, humble, joyful, thankful, loving praise.
Have you noticed how David’s responses take the focus off him? Having agonised over his shortcomings, he now turns his attention to others: namely his neighbour (ministry and mission) and God (praise). The fruit of David’s salvation does not stop with him – it moves beyond his inner life and impacts the lives of others; it brings honour and glory to God. And so the ripples go on, and on, and on – as others experience what he has experienced.
When God does things for us, gives us good things – he does so that others will benefit too as we tell our story and share our riches (spiritual and physical). So pass it on!
Prayerful activity
Spend a few moments in honest, humble, joyful, thankful, loving praise. Then
ask God to give you opportunities today and the rest of the week to speak
of what he has done for you and the things you are grateful for, with those
who already have faith and/or those who have yet to have faith. Look for
his openings and opportunities – let his Spirit guide and equip you.
Psalm 51 v 18-19
Do whatever good you wish for Jerusalem.
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with right sacrifices and whole burnt offerings, and
bulls will be offered on your altar.
Notes
There are those who think that this last section may have been added by an
unknown author at a later date as its subject matter seems out of place with
the rest of the psalm. Let’s explore this and see if we can find a
reason for this unexpected ending – whoever wrote it.
Throughout the psalm there has been a shifting focus. The first twelve verses are full of “me, my, I” – and then, as we saw previously, David lifts his eyes from himself and looks up and out. Up to God and out to those who are far from God. Today it’s as if he draws his gaze back a bit closer to home, to Jerusalem – the city of God. Jerusalem was also David’s city – his power base - as well as Israel’s centre of worship (note, the temple was yet to be built). If Jerusalem prospered it was a sign of God’s favour on Israel and her king; and to the surrounding nations, a sign that the LORD and his people were a power to be reckoned with.
David knew that his personal sin had dishonoured God in the eyes
of his own people and the watching nations. They now needed to see that God
had forgiven him, a clear message that Israel could have confidence in her
king and that the nations shouldn’t come in for the kill! A prospering
Jerusalem was an unmistakable sign that all was now well in the house of David
and that he was once more in God’s favour. Yes, he would personally live
with the consequences of his sins for years to come – but his calling
as king was no longer in doubt. As the impact of David’s sin went way
beyond this one life – so did his repentance and restoration.
Prayer activity
The repercussions of personal sin can multiply exponentially the more “high
profile” we are. Whether you are the one believer in a class/office/family
of unbelievers; or a Bible study leader; or a local church leader; or even
a national church leader; the impact of your personal sin will be felt by others.
As will the impact of your repentance and restoration to God. Pray today for
yourself, and others, that you and they might not dishonour God by reluctance
to confront sin. How can we live out the gospel of grace and forgiveness through
faith in Christ if we don’t?!
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text
taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright
1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes