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Bible
Reading Notes from Christ Church Greenbank Day 5 Read: Psalm 51:1-4 So far this
week we have looked at a number of passages dealing with God’s Word.
We’ve looked at 2 Timothy 3, and seen how God has breathed out his word
for us to hear and understand – and apply!
We saw from Psalm 119 how we should be meditating and seeking to
understand God’s word, to do it, and over the last two days we’ve been
contrasting the picture of the righteous and the wicked from Psalm 1. And as we’ve
reflected on those passages, we surely recognise that we often don’t desire to
do what God’s word says – in fact we sometimes deliberately ignore God and
his word, and go off on our own track. Which brings
us to Psalm 51. As the
superscription says, David wrote this Psalm after committing adultery with
Bathsheba – and making sure her husband was on the front lines to be killed.
David’s sin is great – and yet he gives us here a model for seeking
God’s forgiveness. We’re only
looking at the first few verses here, but notice a number of things.
First see how, when David has sinned and recognised his fault – he
doesn’t run as far away from God as he can – instead he comes to God,
seeking forgiveness. Second, he
seeks forgiveness based on God’s compassionate and merciful character (v1-2).
Third, he trusts that God can deal with his sin – we of course have the
advantage of David here, knowing how God deals with our sin – in Jesus Christ,
on the cross. And fourth, notice
how in verse 4 David sees his sin as being primarily against God. David has
sinned – and sinned against God – and yet the only answer to his problem is
to seek God and ask for his forgiveness. Our
natural reaction when we sin is to seek to hide and flee from God – and yet we
need to learn from David – we need to come before God in genuine repentance
and asking for forgiveness. So today Ask forgiveness for the ways in
which you have opposed or ignored God. Ask for God’s help in avoiding
patterns of sinful behaviour you may have got into Thank God that he is a gracious
and merciful and forgiving God – and that in Jesus Christ, we can know
forgiveness. Activity for Families with
Children A few ideas on how to share what you have learned
about God’s word with your children. Starter: ask
children to think of a time when they did something wrong, and to remember what
happened to them. Discuss how
actions have consequences. Here in Psalm
51, David, who has done a very bad thing, comes to God for forgiveness. Read Psalm 51:1-2 What does
David ask for? Why does David
need to ask for this? Read:
David trusts in God’s mercy.
When we come to God to say sorry for what we have done wrong, we too
trust God’s mercy – we trust that because Jesus Christ died on the cross for
us, when we say sorry to God, he forgives us. Do we need to
say sorry to God for anything in particular? Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you that when we say sorry to you, you forgive
us, because you died on the cross for us. Amen. |
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Last updated: September 28, 2007. We aim to update this site weekly.
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