The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 51:1–19 (day five)

This Lenten Season I am reading through Journey to the Cross, by Paul David Tripp. There are several reflections on sin, confession, and repentance. In light of the theme and profound significance of confession and repentance in our Re:Verse text this week, I wanted to share a couple of quotes that have caused me to think, pray, weep, and rejoice.

“You can’t repent of what you haven’t confessed, you can’t confess what you haven’t grieved, and you can’t grieve what you haven’t seen.”

“If you are aware of your sin, you are aware of it only because you have been visited by amazing Grace. Don’t resist that awareness.”

“Humble confession is always stimulated and ignited by the character and commitment of the person you need to confess to. It is his or her love for you that propels the honest transparency that fear crushes. It is not only pride that keeps us from admitting what we need to admit and confessing it without excuse or shifting blame – fear does too.”

“(Confession) forces you to admit that you’re way more spiritually needy than you would like to think you are. Asks you to admit that you’re a person in constant need of forgiveness. Causes you to admit that your biggest problem is not your history, your family, your friends, your culture, your economic situation, your church, your neighbors, your age, or your physical condition. Confession requires you to admit that your biggest problems live inside you in your heart.”

May God give us awareness of our sin, and show us our need for confession and repentance!!

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 51:1–19 (day four)

Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. v. 8

This verse startled me this week. David had committed egregious sins, and the Lord confronted David about his sin through the prophet Nathan. It is after this confrontation and confession that David writes this psalm. He runs to the Lord to repent, but also to receive comfort. He recognizes that while it was God alone who knew his sin, it is also God alone who can comfort him. The Lord “broke his bones” by convicting David of his sins, showing him his waywardness and revealing the ways in which his heart had wandered. The Lord “broke” David in this way not to hurt him, but to lovingly call him back to a life of faithfulness and holiness. As David ran into the Lord’s arms, repenting and seeking forgiveness, he found wholeness and joy. The Lord met him in his brokenness and used it to form David to become the man God intended him to be. Though it is painful, experiencing the Lord’s sanctifying work in our lives is beautiful. We can rejoice because while God breaks us, he doesn’t leave us broken. He reconstructs those broken pieces to make us more like him, which will inevitably bring us into the fullness of joy.

 

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 51:1–19 (day three)

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. (NLT)

David knew that at the heart of his sin, he ignored who God was. His confession after adultery, lying, deceit, murder, and more does not include any mention of those sins. His confession talks heavily, however, about sinning against the Lord and forgetting the joy of knowing and following Him.

I would say it is the same with us for any of our sin. No matter what sin we find ourselves in, it all comes back to us thinking we know better than what God has said and choosing our way instead of His way. That is, essentially, what sin is…choosing our way instead of God’s way. No matter what it is, when we sin, we are essentially telling God to take a back seat so we can do what we want. David recognized that and wrote this honest, heartfelt confession to the Lord, asking God to help him be more willing to obey in the future.

The weight of sin is heavy, but confession and repentance lift us up. Where in your life right now are you telling God that you want to do things your own way? Search your heart today and ask the Lord to reveal to you sins you need to confess so that you may be filled with His joy again. May we all be a people that are more willing to obey Him in all that we do today!

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 51:1–19 (day two)

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. V. 7

Psalm 51 is incredible. You have likely heard it quoted on multiple occasions, and perhaps recited a few lines yourself. It not only reminds us that we are all broken sinners, but it also tells us that God can and will forgive us from that sin; AND he will continue to use us for his grand purpose. What struck me on my re-reading of this text today was the use of hyssop. Hyssop is a medicinal plant by itself, but has played a much more important role throughout scripture beyond physical healing. David’s reference in Psalm 51 is the use of the plant in a cleansing ritual to remove sin. Because it has a natural ability to absorb liquid, it serves some other purposes as well. Moses used it as a paint brush to paint the doorposts with lamb’s blood in order for the homes of the Israelites to be passed over. This creates a direct connection with Jesus as he is offered vinegar that has been dipped in hyssop. The sacrificed lamb whose blood painted the doorposts is now the sacrifice for all. We no longer need a plant to cleanse us from sin. Jesus’ sacrifice has made that ritual unnecessary. As we approach Holy Week, let us be thankful for God’s continual desire to cleanse us from sin. Let us be grateful for our ability to access that forgiveness, and may we live in a desire to share that forgiveness with others.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 19:1-14 (day seven)

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;

Have you ever wondered what made David a “man after God’s own heart?” This man who committed heinous  crimes and found himself in questionable circumstances again and again. Yet, this is the man that was chosen by God over  everyone in Israel. This is the king that would point us to the King of Kings. Why? Why David? I believe it was moments like this.

Moments of confession show that he faithfully returned to the Lord after moments of heinousness. Here we see him asking for forgiveness from sins he may not have known he had committed as well as the ones that were presumptuous, where he simply knew better and continued in sin.

Repentance is essential to a right relationship with God. If we are honest with ourselves, we have moments of heinousness too. We have those presumptuous moments where we choose the world’s way over God’s way.  If we too want to be men and women after God’s own heart, it will begin in confession and repentance. Spend some time today using the Re:Verse as a model to pray for the forgiveness of your sins that have been both hidden and presumptuous.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 19:1-14 (day six)

Step outside on a clear night and look up. For thousands of years, the stars have quieted us. They have humbled us; awakened something deep within us, a sense that there is more.

David saw this clearly: the heavens are not silent.

They declare. They proclaim. They pour forth speech. The sky is not random; it is revelation. But the heavens are not the answer to the meaning of life. They point beyond themselves. The stars tell us that God is glorious, but they cannot tell us how to know Him. They awaken wonder, but not relationship.

So David moves from the stars to the Scriptures.

Because the God who reveals Himself in creation has chosen to speak more clearly. Not just to be seen, but to be known.

And it only makes sense that a God who speaks would speak even more clearly.

And He has, in Jesus, the Word made flesh.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 19:1-14 (day five)

“What do you believe about the Bible?” I sometimes get asked that question. I’ll give you my answer shortly.  But first, let me ask you that question. How would you answer?  My answer, is that I believe what the Bible says about itself. And the place I go to is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬
If you wanted to unpack those verses, especially how it is “profitable,” I would point you to the Psalms. One of which, is Psalm 19:7-11. Has it dawned on you how great a gift the scriptures are? How would you describe the bible’s place in your life?  Treasure. Guide. Lamp. Light. Sweet. Invaluable. Maybe a great exercise today or this weekend would be to write out your own convictions about the Scriptures. What words would you use to describe God’s Word?  Then, maybe evaluate if your time, energy, and effort would accurately reflect your words.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 19:1-14 (day four)

During this season of Lent, I’m fasting from a couple things that had become unhealthy in my life. This is not a boast, but a confession. These things slowly, insidiously creeped in and took up residence in my heart without me realizing it. While not bad in and of themselves, they were adding noise in my life that was distracting me from God. The goal in fasting is to replace the time you engaged with that thing that was not adding to your life, and spend it with the Lord instead. I have by no means excelled at this, but even in my feeble attempt to spend more time with the Lord and less time on distractions, I have noticed a world of difference.

I’ve been able to spend more time in God’s word, and I can attest that this Psalm speaks the truth. God’s Word really is perfect and restores my soul. It is sure, and has given me wisdom. It’s right, and it has added joy to my life. It’s pure, and spending more time in it has cleared my vision. My prayer is that this time spent in the Word would allow my words and thoughts to be acceptable to the Lord. What distractions are pulling you away from spending time in God’s presence and his Word? What might happen if you got rid of those distractions and spent that time meditating on the Word? I assure you, it will be worth it.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 19:1-14 (day three)

¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.

The Gunn kiddos are currently on spring break this week, and our week began with a favorite activity … a trip to the library. It is now Wednesday, and many books have already been read from cover to cover (even the long ones!). As I talked to one of my kids about the third 300+ page book they have read this week, the subject of how they could read that many long books so quickly came up. Put simply, these books were being read at every available moment of the day from waking to sleeping. The desire to read from a new book was so great a thing that it was the driving activity for the beginning of our break.

When was the last time you read the Bible like that? When was the last time you read the Word of God as if reading it for the first time, pouring over the words as if you could not get enough? Can you point to the last time you have desired His words more than the finest things, or thought them sweeter than anything you can imagine? I hope that your answer is that it was recently. For me, I was a little convicted today in reading these words again, understanding them anew. May we all desire the laws and words of the Lord as if tasting them for the first time!