Month: December 2024

Psalm 52:8-9 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before the saints.

David responds to the evil deeds of unbelievers around him, like Doeg, who killed God’s priests, and like those who trust in the abundance of riches. His response was to become weak and tender like a green tree and be dependent on God’s mercy. His trust would be in God forever, unfailingly. He would then praise God for what He has done. He would wait in faith for God to act. He believed God and made himself dependent on the Lord.

In some sense it is easier for us NT believers to respond with such trust and praise and waiting, for the Lord has already acted decisively for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We believe God and trust in the Gospel of deliverance and salvation. Therefore, we can always praise the Lord and wait upon Him. This is true for us today and it is true forever.

Psalm 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

God is good, and we look to God for every good. We believe Him. Therefore, we are bold in Jesus’ name to pray and ask for good things from Him who is all good. It is the Lord alone who abundantly grants goodness, mercy, and blessing to those who ask, seek, and knock. “How much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him?”

We are in the position of beggars when it comes to our Lord. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for life and health and every good thing. Thank God, He is good, kind, merciful, and loving. He hears our prayers and acts to answer them according to His good pleasure. He even gives the faith to believe Him. “Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ [Romans 10:17].

God does good to all the world (God so loved the world…), but specifically He does good to Zion (the people of God, the church) and builds the walls of safety from harm, protection from evil, and freely grants abundant life and every good thing to those who are His. So we believe and pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once for all, we do not sacrifice animals any longer. But we do bring the sacrifice of ourselves before God through faith in Christ. We are dead in sin and we give it to God. The Spirit applies the hammer of the Law through the Word and the experiences of life. He kills what we think is living and breaks the heart with the conviction of sin, guilt, and despair.

God does not despise a broken heart; instead, He repairs it, restores it, and gives new life. He fills in the cracks of a broken spirit with life-invigorating forgiveness. He exposes what is already broken in us so that He can pour out His Spirit, Life, and Love into is through the Gospel. The response of a broken and repaired spirit is that now we sacrifice ourselves for the good of others and the glory of God.

Psalm 51:7, 8, 12 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice….Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a free spirit.

David confesses his sins of adultery and murder after being convicted by Nathan the prophet, and he pleas for mercy. He responds by asking to be purged and washed. His response to the cleansing is joy and gladness. The bones broken by God’s Word are repaired with rejoicing. The Lord has forgiven the sin and restored the joy of salvation.

Joy is our response to confession and forgiveness. At the beginning of each worship service we confess sin and receive forgiveness. We respond with joy for the rest of the week. And daily we confess and ask to be washed in the blood of Jesus. When we believe and receive forgiveness we are filled with joy, the joy of salvation that restores the soul in a loving relationship with God.

Every day throughout life we are filled with sin, repentance, forgiveness, restoration, and the resultant joy. Both saint and sinner abides in the human heart at the same time. We are always being broken by sin and restored by forgiveness. Therefore, joy is the continuous and constant attitude of the believer’s life, always renewed by the never-ending flow of mercy through the blood of Jesus.

Psalm 51:1-3 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

After Nathan the prophet convicted David of his sins of adultery and murder, David was penitent and pled for mercy from God. He was genuinely sorry, and trusted the Lord to wash and cleanse him from the filth, guilt, and shame of his terrible sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

David was a great man who sinned greatly, was greatly penitent, and greatly trusted in the mercy of the Lord to grant pardon and peace because of His great mercy. Such great mercy is given to us great sinners because of Christ. We are convicted of sin and guilt by the Law of God, and we are convinced of mercy by the Gospel of Christ.

Therefore, we are heartily sorry for our sins and sincerely repent of them, and we are confidently assured of forgiveness trusting in His mercy. We live our lives under the Law and the Gospel by which the Spirit reminds us of our sin and God’s grace. We plea for mercy, acknowledging our sin and receiving grace. The mercy of God led Him to send His only Son for me.

Psalm 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

We have such a relationship with the Lord that we may talk to Him at any time, and He listens and answers. In particular, He commands us to call upon Him in the day of trouble. He promises to answer our need and deliver us from the present trouble, whether it be health, finances, accidents, family and relationships. In some sense every day is a day of trouble.

Jesus cares, hears, answers, delivers, and He is always with us. We sense a need for Him especially in the day of trouble. Therefore, we call upon Him to meet our need, and He delivers us from the trouble. He has already delivered us from the biggest trouble of sin and death. That deliverance extends throughout our lifetime and into eternity.

When He delivers, and we are aware of it because we prayed, then we will glorify Him. As we pray without ceasing so we praise and thank Him without ceasing, for God is always good.

Psalm 49:3, 5 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding….Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

My response to the days of evil, the sin that surrounds me, and the empty temptations of the world is that I will not fear, doubt, or worry. Instead, I will fear, love, and trust in God. I will speak aloud and think in my heart of the wisdom and understanding that comes from God in His Word. I will listen to the Gospel and meditate upon it daily. Paying attention to God by being in the Word overcomes the fears and troubles of life in the world. Why should I fear?

The futility of worldliness, pride, riches, fame, resounds from this Psalm. Instead of looking at the world that disappoints, I will look to the Word of God that fills and satisfies. The wisdom and understanding that we need comes from God and not from the world or the self. Therefore, I will speak of and meditate on that precious gospel of the love of God.

Psalm 48:11 Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

The people of God, the true believers in Yahweh, respond to the judgments of God with joy and gladness when gathered at the Temple Mount to worship. The believers in Jesus may always, every day, rejoice in the Presence of God, but daily joy springs from and is energized by the weekly celebration of God’s people gathered to hear the Gospel.

The word judgments is used here to refer generally to the whole of God’s Word, Law and Gospel. It also refers narrowly to the judgment upon sin, death and the devil at the cross and to the conviction of sin leading to repentance and faith. A further meaning refers to the Final Judgment when our enemies, the Enemies of God, are separated unto eternal hell.

There are three judgments: the judgment of sin on Jesus at the cross; the personal judgment on our sin when we come to repentance and faith; the final judgment of all sin forever. Each of the judgments (past, present, future) brings rejoicing and gladness to our hearts and lives when we remember and believe.