Summary The opening stanza of Psalm 19 is both beautiful and familiar. true peace and refreshment that such knowledge brings, focus your attention on the second stanza of Psalm 19 (v7-9).

Summary When we looked at the first half of Psalm 19 earlier this week, we saw how the beauty, order

Psalm 19 is a great reminder that there is absolutely no dichotomy between faith and science, as long

The force of forgiveness is designed to break and reform you. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means, Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors Summary Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A ball that's dropped to the floor will likely bounce right back into your hand. David shows us here in this final passage of his confession of sin that this law of physics applies to theology as well. The force of God's forgiveness rebounds in David's life as he "opens his mouth to declare God's praise" so that "his tongue will sing of God's righteousness." As is often the case when heavy physical force is applied, damage occurs. This is the case spirtually as well. When a person confess his sins, and God echoes back with overwhelming grace, it results in a "broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart." But the spiritual 'damage' forgiveness results in does slightly differ from what might be expected in the physical world. A ball will continue to bounce in the same direction until it finally runs out of energy. But God wants more than just a formulaic, mechanical response to the force His forgiveness brings. David realizes this as he writes that God "does not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it." In other words, God's not interested in a perpetual pattern of sin which leads to sacrifice/confession leading to forgiveness leading to diminishing thanksgiving which brings you right back to sin again... Instead, God wants Zion - His people/Church - to be built up and strong. So He applies the force of His forgiveness to change the direction of the lives of His people. Dig Deeper After experiencing the force of God's forgiveness in his own life, it drives David in a new direction. He writes, "Then I will teach transgessors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you (v13)." Teaching sinners God's ways certainly includes teaching them His law so they no longer transgress it, but primarily it means helping them understand God's ways of grace and forgiveness. This can be demonstrated on a much smaller scale when you show them forgiveness for the ways they've hurt you. This is exactly why Jesus teaches you to couch your requests for forgiveness with evidence of your ability to forgive others. It's not at all that God's grace is conditioned upon your actions, rather your actions in forgiving others evidence that you're being shaped by God's forgiveness rather than just mechanically expecting it. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: "O God, you who are God my Savior; my tongue will sing of your righteousness." ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Confess your sins, and pray that the force of God's resulting forgiveness will break your sinful spirit and then build you back up; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 17

Psalm 32 (NIV) Of David. Over and over, the Psalms point us to a blessed life - quite literally, a happy life. that Christ became incarnate, and came to take our sins away, as far as the east is from the west (Psalm Dig Deeper These first two verses of Psalm 32 make the claim that happiness (blessedness) comes as the David goes on in Psalm 32 to provide four practical steps to live in the blessedness Christ's salvation

Psalm 23 (NIV) A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in Summary Psalm 23 is certainly on any top 5 list of recognizable scriptures, maybe even in the top two This Psalm has brought peace and comfort to scores of people throughout the generations, to both those Psalm 23 is encouraging you to have the attitude of a sheep, not its intellect. So know Psalm 23 well, not just because it's a beautiful and famous poem, but because of the awesome

Psalm 121 (NIV) A song of ascents. 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from Summary Psalm 121 comes in a section of the Psalter which is known as the Songs of Ascents. Israel would have to ascend the hill as they came to visit the temple, and they would sing these short Psalms This short Psalm reminds you of God's providential care in three specific ways. As you walk the difficult route Christ has called you to follow, be sure to sing Psalm 121 to yourself

That's why David bookends this psalm with the phrase, "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all But the primary message of Psalm 8 is what God is mindful of. Keep in mind the created order revealed in passages like Genesis 1 and Psalm 8, as you care for the King's

Such is the case here in Psalm 62, where v7 is sandwiched between two 8 line stanzas. Dig Deeper My former Hebrew professor, Mark Futato, explains well the lesson Psalm 62 teaches: From this psalm we learn the importance of taking the time to be quiet before God when there is turmoil in our

Just open the Psalms. Like the other Psalms we've looked at this week, Psalm 32 is divided up into strophes (stanzas / verses how these strophes progress: Dig Deeper David demonstrates the two primary uses of God's law here in Psalm