The sacrifices offered to God by Israel never removed their sin.

May 12, 2024, 7:04 AM

Psalms 51:

"1 (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 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.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar."

David had taken Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and impregnated her. Uriah was a soldier who was away at war. To conceal the sin David called him to return home, got him (basically) drunk and gave him permission to sleep at home with his wife. Uriah showed virtue by refusing to 'comfort,' himself while his brothers in arms fighting a hot war.

David, in further efforts to hide his sin sent him back to the theater of war even to the front lines to get him killed. The story is in 2 Samuel 11. Psalms 51 describes David's torturous guilt after the prophet Samuel pointed out the sins. Samuel had a fascinating allegory which he brought to expose David's behavior.

David prayed to restore his fellowship with God. The outline of chapter 52 is simple. Verses 1-4 plainly shows David confessing and asking God to cleanse his soul. 'I'm guilty of sinning against you for my sin against you overwhelms me.

In verses 5 David confesses that his nature is sinful, putrid and an offense to God.

Verse 6-God wants a confession of sin. David said that's how we get wisdom which, in this case, refers to the wisdom of fearing/respecting God, imo.

Verse 8 shows David's desire for the return of the joy of salvation.

Verse 9-12 are the things that God must do to return joy to us.

13-15 list the things we can do when we have the joy of The Lord. While they please God they are actually the evidence to us that we are right with Him.

16 is the straw that breaks the camel's back for anyone who thinks that the blood of animals ever washed sin away. In order for the ancient Hebrews to offer an acceptable sacrifice they first had to get right with God by confessing their sin and asking Him to forgive them.

It's the same today, confess your sin. It's painful to admit wrongness in our lives and in our hearts. By nature we all think we are good people. David, God said, 'is a man after my own heart.' For me to think that King David and I could be compared shames and embarrasses me.

I find myself easily having contempt for others. Contempt and hate are siblings and hate is equal to murder according to the teachings of Christ. I'm often impatient which is exactly doubting God, accusing Him of having bad timing...that's enough confession to make the point.

We all need remorse, confession and restoration. The Apostle Paul said, 'I die daily.' That, I believe is what he was referring to.

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Imagine you got called to war during your 1st year of marriage. You're in a trench fighting Germans. You're wearing a gas mask about your neck and the mud is almost up to your knees.

That's where Christians are today. Our war is not with the Germans, our neighbors, atheist or others. Our war is in our hearts. Our natural nature it warring against our new spiritual nature.

Ephesians 6:

"12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:.."

There's one thing that happens when a man and woman fall in love. They want to get to know everything they can about one another.

I enjoy sharing the truth of God's Word here and just about everywhere I go. You see, when God saved me He didn't save a good man. I was a liar, bank robber, I hated (murder in God's eye)...you name a sin, I committed it. God had to do a lot of saving to save me and He works diligently to keep me from doing harm to myself by getting involved in sin.

I desperately need God's Word so I read the scripture daily and spend some time considering exactly what it means. There's a superficial message in every story of the Bible but the depths of knowledge which brings understanding may someday bring wisdom even to a fool like me.

Your last question about death has been settled in me for about two decades. I memorized the 23rd Psalm and gave it some thought.

"1 (A Psalm of David.) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

Maybe I'll return here tomorrow morning and share what I've learned about that.

I have a full day ahead of me beginning with my Bible reading/study then I'm going to cut the lip off the rear window opening of a 40 year old Mercedes Benz and replace that rusty metal with something fresh and new. But, first I'm going to submit to God so He can cut out another rusty place in my heart and life and replace it with His will.

The sacrifices offered to God by Israel never removed their sin.

Amen. The first step in becoming a believer...

Help me out here.

Re: Help me out here.

All you said is right, imo.

Re: Help me out here.

Re: Help me out here.

I'd have to go with a yes on your question.

No, you don't have to.

Re: No, you don't have to.

Re: No, you don't have to.

Re: No, you don't have to.

This is why I hate discussions on message boards.

It seems that when you adhere to Christianity....

I just wrote a long response to you...

I think we are addressing growing in God's Spirit.

Let's think about this for a second.

What amazes me...

I was not looking for this in particular, it's just part of my daily OT read.

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