I Repented of My Sin and Won the Victory!

Psalm 32:1-5

English Standard Version (ESV)

A Maskil^[a] of David.

32 ^(A)Blessed is the one whose ^(B)transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man against whom the Lord ^(C)counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit ^(D)there is no deceit.

³ For when I kept silent, my ^(E)bones wasted away
    through my ^(F)groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your ^(G)hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up^[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah

⁵ I ^(H)acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I ^(I)will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2032:%201%20-%205&version=ESV)

The old song, “Victory in Jesus”, my favorite song of all time, I hope it is sung at my funeral someday.  If you sing all the verses of this song (some hymnals don’t have all the verses), the Gospel message is clearly stated.  The verses Psalm that we read today also tell the Gospel story, although it was many years before Christ that David wrote these words.  At the time of this writing the sacrifice was an animal and there were certain rituals you followed to be forgiven, yet it was not the ritual that saved you. It was not the slaying of the lamb that caused you to be blessed, it was the repentance of your sin and so it is today.  The slayed lamb was the pathway to the Father but if you slay the lamb without repentance it is only a slayed lamb.

Without repentance of our sins, Christ sacrifice on the cross means nothing.  He died for those who recognize their sins and cling to Him.  If we truly want to be blessed we must repent.  If we truly want Christ to reign in our lives we must repent.  Have you ever gone to the Father and repented of your sins?  If not, I highly recommend it.  For me there is a cleansing feeling that comes over me when I repent and know that He has forgiven me.  Even as Christians we stumble in this world.  Although we may live our lives in a manner that is worthy of the calling in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:1), there are times that we blatantly sin against our Father.  We tell a justifiable lie, we seek vengeance, we have bad thoughts toward another, we forget to put God first and strive for status in this world, the list goes on.  When we recognize that sin and repent of it, God will bless us.  David, a man after God’s own heart, recognized that and confesses.  Even though he knew God personally, he lied, he committed adultery, he murdered, and that is just what was recorded.  One thing is for sure though, he repented.  He knew who his Father was and where his strength came from and he repented.  He was blessed for it and so can we be blessed when we repent.

Just yesterday several people in my Bible study prayed that God would bless me.  You know what?  He already has.  How?  By forgiving me of my sins, both now and in the future.  Because I have confessed He has blessed me.  But, I must continue to repent when I fall short, in order to have a blessing from the High Priest, Jesus Christ.  As you go about your day today, thank the Lord for the blessing of forgiveness and thank Him for the opportunity to confess.  We might as well confess because He already knows and He is waiting to bless us. 

Seek Him and know His ways that you may walk in His path and repent of your sins and be glad.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila  

When We Think We Are Having a Bad Day

Psalm 31:19-24

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁹ Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
    ^(A)in the sight of the children of mankind!
²⁰ In ^(B)the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
you ^(C)store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.

²¹ Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously ^(D)shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in ^(E)a besieged city.
²² I had said in my ^(F)alarm,^[a]
    “I am ^(G)cut off from ^(H)your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all you his ^(I)saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly ^(J)repays the one who acts in pride.
^24 (K)Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2031:19%20-%2024&version=ESV

1 Samuel 30:4-6

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. ⁵ David's ^(A)two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ⁶ And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke ^(B)of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul,^[a] each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I%20Samuel%2030:4%20-%206&version=ESV

David, a chosen man of God, surely he never had any problems?  Why is it that we think that if we are God’s chosen people then trouble should not ever come our way?  David was certainly chosen by God but he encountered many hardships along the way.  You would have thought that a loyal man like David would have been honored by the king rather than hunted by the king but we find throughout I Samuel that the king was jealous of David and plotted to have him killed.

In I Samuel 30 we find David in distress over the city, in which they dwelt, had been invaded and all the women and children were captured.  Not only David but his entire supporters were in distress and those who David had trusted now plotted to kill him.  Sometimes we think we are having a bad day when we break a fingernail!  At that point in David’s life I am sure he was wondering what he had done to deserve all of this.  The king wanted to kill him so he left his homeland to remain safe and now the place he chose to be safe had somehow been destroyed.  What was God doing?  David didn’t know but he recognized that God was in control and the only One to turn to was God.  God answered him and showed him what to do.

I have found myself in distress.  Those who I thought  appreciated me, those who I tried so hard to please, have turned on me.  Be it jealousy, stupidity, or ignorance, it doesn’t matter, when others turn their backs on you, you feel pain.  When you think God has turned His back on you, you feel agony.  The silver lining is that when you think God is no longer listening, He is.  When you think He has turned His back on you, He is actually seeing all those tears that you are crying.  We need to be like David and draw our strength from Him.  He is the maker of all things.  He has a plan and it is up to us to wait upon Him.

As you seek Him, remember, He is watching over you and He has a plan.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

Grace Grace God's Grace

Psalm 31:9-18

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁹ Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am ^(A)in distress;
    ^(B)my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
¹⁰ For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and ^(C)my bones waste away.

¹¹ Because of all my adversaries I have become ^(D)a reproach,
    especially to my ^(E)neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street ^(F)flee from me.
¹² I have been ^(G)forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like ^(H)a broken vessel.
¹³ For I ^(I)hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
^(J)as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴ But I ^(K)trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My ^(L)times are in your hand;
    ^(M)rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
^16 (N)Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!
¹⁷ O Lord, ^(O)let me not be put to shame,
    for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go ^(P)silently to Sheol.
¹⁸ Let the lying lips be mute,
    which ^(Q)speak ^(R)insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2031:%209%20-%2018&version=ESV

There is a song my girls used to sing, “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I guess I’ll go eat worms.”  It was a silly little song but as I read this I had to think of that song.  David was feeling pretty sorry for himself and I can relate.  There are times in this world that I feel like that song and I do just what David did, I pout.  I can relate to David because he believed that he had been anointed King and yet he had to wait.  Waiting is one of the most difficult things to do.  I have to think of Christmas as a child, waiting to open those presents was so difficult.  But then when the gifts were all opened the excitement was all gone.  Of course we were able to enjoy the gifts but the excitement had somehow left.  I don’t know that I really ever enjoyed the excitement of waiting that was more like the agony of waiting but the excitement of opening was fantastic. 

Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies but I don’t think He wants us to model our prayer after David’s.  Yet so many times I find myself praying much like Him.  I don’t pray for those that hurt me to die but I do pray for the Lord to not reward their bad behavior. 

I trust that if you are going through a difficult time, you will be your faith in Jesus Christ.  That He will give you the strength to endure and that as you wait upon Him you will feel the excitement of opening a gift.  This gift, from Him, will be the gift that will not lose its excitement once it is opened. 

As I continue to find out how much grace He has to offer, I pray that I will give out to others the grace that He has afforded me.  That I will pray for my enemies that they may know Him and know Him to the fullest.  That they will live in Him and not in Sheol.

As you seek Him may you also grow close to Him and the grace that He gives.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

The One Who Knows

Psalm 31:1-8

English Standard Version (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
² Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

³ For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;
⁴ you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

⁶ I hate^[a] those who pay regard to worthless idols,
    but I trust in the Lord.
⁷ I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have known the distress of my soul,
⁸ and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place.

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2031:%201-8&version=ESV)

When we are in distress, like I am now, we have to remember that even the best of the best struggled with life issues.  I am not talking about David, I am speaking of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  While He hung on the cross to take the weight of the world’s sin on His shoulders, He quoted a verse in today’s passage, “Into you hand I commit my spirit”.  

I cannot fully compare my life to Christ because we all know I have not lied a sinless life.  He was sinless but felt the pain of our sins as they were laid upon Him.  The only way Christ would make it through this ordeal was to cry out to God and let Him know that He knows who is in charge.  He lets Him know that He still trust Him. 

David, although not sinless does the same thing.  When things are tough He doesn’t reject God but clings ever so closely.  We too, need to cling to God.  I have to put my dreams  on the back burner or throw them  away and put my full trust in the only One that really knows and understands what I am  going through.

Putting my trust in Him and Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

Hope and a Future

Psalm 30:8-12

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁸ To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and ^(A)to the Lord I plead for mercy:
⁹ “What profit is there in my death,^[a]
    if I go down to the pit?^[b]
Will ^(B)the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
^10 (C)Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹ You have turned for me my mourning into ^(D)dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
¹² that my ^(E)glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2030:%208%20-%2012&version=ESV

As I read this passage and write this blog I am in distress.  Oh it is nothing life threatening but a part of me has been yanked out of my being.  Twenty years of hard work, has gone down the drain.  All my hopes and dreams have vanished from me and I don’t understand why.  People ask what my goals are and the goals I had for myself have been stripped away and I don’t understand why. It is hard to try to figure it all out.  Today as I write this I am still in mourning, not dancing.  I am still in sackcloth not in clothes of gladness.  But if I have learned anything over the past two years it is this, God is in control.  As I struggle I need to keep in mind that ultimately all that really matters is that Christ died and rose again for my sins.  There is more to life than a career.  There is more to life than retirement.  I must cling to the promise that there is a hope and a future for me.  A future that is greater than anything that can be found in this world.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

Joy Unspeakable

Psalm 30

English Standard Version (ESV)

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of ^(A)the temple.

30 I will ^(B)extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
    and have not let my foes ^(C)rejoice over me.
² O Lord my God, I ^(D)cried to you for help,
    and you have ^(E)healed me.
³ O Lord, you have brought up my soul from ^(F)Sheol;
    you restored me to life from among those who ^(G)go down to the pit.^[a]

⁴ Sing praises to the Lord, O you ^(H)his saints,
    and ^(I)give thanks to his holy name.^[b]
5 (J)For his anger is but for a moment,
    and ^(K)his favor is for a lifetime.^[c]
(L)Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but ^(M)joy comes with the morning.

⁶ As for me, I said in my ^(N)prosperity,
    “I shall never be ^(O)moved.”
⁷ By your favor, O Lord,
    you made my ^(P)mountain stand strong;
you ^(Q)hid your face;
    I was ^(R)dismayed.

⁸ To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and ^(S)to the Lord I plead for mercy:
⁹ “What profit is there in my death,^[d]
    if I go down to the pit?^[e]
Will ^(T)the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
^10 (U)Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹ You have turned for me my mourning into ^(V)dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
¹² that my ^(W)glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2030&version=ESV)

As a child I can remember getting upset about things and just going to my room and taking a nap.  When I awoke from my nap I was no longer upset, I was refreshed, and it was a new beginning.  In this passage David is telling us there will be difficult times in our lives but if we stick to our faith during the difficult times then we will have joy when daybreak comes.  When we can see the light at the end of the tunnel we know that our Lord is guiding us to Him.

It is very easy to celebrate the joy of the Lord when we have things to celebrate, when life is good, when we prosper in wealth and in health.  It is easy to say that the Lord has been gracious and that He is good when things are going our way.  But what happens when life gets a little tough.  Do we sleep like I did as a child?  Do we give praise to our Lord and Savior?  Or do we go and hide away so no one can see us?  Do we hold tight to our faith?  David recognizes that the Lord is the Lord in good times and in bad.  He realizes that God has not left but that maybe God is not looking down on David favorably.  David knows there are consequences to sin and he recognizes that God is the One in control and the one who can remove the burden of sin.  He recognizes that he needs to repent to only One, and that is God.

There is only One who can take the trials and tribulations of this world and turn them into joy.  There is only One who can forgive.  His anger is short but His love is everlasting.  There is only One that we need to be ever grateful to.  During our times of suffering, He is there.  In our times of joy He is there.  The question is, do we recognize Him, the light at the end of the tunnel, or do we crawl up into a ball and go to sleep?

As you seek Him, find joy in knowing that He is our source of strength, peace, and victory in times of trouble and in times of prosperity. 

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

His Amazing Voice

Psalm 29

English Standard Version (ESV)

A Psalm of David.

29 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,^{[a]
    (A)}ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    worship the Lord in ^(B)the splendor of holiness.^[b]

³ The voice of the Lord is over ^(C)the waters;
    the God of glory ^(D)thunders,
    the Lord, over many waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is ^(E)powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks ^(F)the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon to ^(G)skip like a calf,
    and ^(H)Sirion like a young ^(I)wild ox.

⁷ The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of ^(J)Kadesh.

⁹ The voice of the Lord makes ^(K)the deer give birth^[c]
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over ^(L)the flood;
    the Lord sits enthroned ^(M)as king forever.
¹¹ May the Lord give ^(N)strength to his people!
    May the Lord bless^[d] his people with ^(O)peace!

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms%2029&version=ESV)

Wow, the voice of the Lord has such a resounding command that even the clouds, the oceans, the forest and the deer listen to Him.  Do we listen to Him?  Do we recognize Him in a thunderstorm?  Do we recognize Him at the birth of our child?    Every part of our being, our existence, is because of His voice.  So many times we get so caught up in the science of things that we forget that our God is the creator of that science.  There would be no thunderstorm, there would be no lightening, and there would be no birth if He would not have spoken them into existence.

The resounding command of His voice speaks and creation responds.   Yet His voice is described in I Kings 19:12 as a low whisper.  When I give a command it is not in a quiet voice.  Can you imagine telling your children “pick up your toys” in a whisper?  It probably wouldn’t have much of an effect.  Yet our Lord is so powerful it doesn’t take a firm, loud, boisterous voice for anything to happen.  Just speaking the command, even in a whisper, will get the job done.  When I think about that, I realize just how powerful of a God that I serve.  To think He calls me “friend” is above comprehension.  If it were not for Him I would not be in existence nor would the people that I love.  It is far beyond my understanding why everyone cannot see His majesty in the wonders of this world. 

As you seek Him today, recognize Him in the thunderstorm, recognize Him in the ocean waves, recognize Him even in the earthquake, and remember that all of it is because of His still small voice.  Stop, look, and listen for Him today.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila