email : Webview : Duane Brooks - Every Day with Jesus

February 21, 2019

Psalm 51:1-4

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.

New International Version (NIV)

                When you talk to God, do you ever ask for forgiveness? One man answered in this way, “I like to be good. I don’t like to ask for forgiveness. And I am good. I don’t do a lot of things that are bad.   I don’t think I have ever asked God for forgiveness. If I think I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”

                After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he had her husband murdered and then married her. As far as we know, he did not mention his sin to God. He covered it up and pretended nothing had happened. It was almost like he got away with it. Almost. The prophet Nathan gave David the gift of accountability, telling him that his sin was known. That is when David wrote this Psalm asking God for forgiveness.

                If we never ask God to forgive us, we will never be forgiven and we are not followers of Christ. So Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Father forgive us our debts...” If we don’t know how to ask for forgiveness, this Psalm offers us a perfect pattern. We do not deny, deflect or pretend we have done nothing wrong. Instead, we acknowledge our sin against God and ask him to forgive us.

                Here is his promise: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness.” God is more willing to forgive than we are to ask. Will we ask? We will!

Pray with me:

Father, we can deceive ourselves and others about our sins but we can never deceive you. Show us ourselves in your word. Show us our sin in your word. Show us our Savior in your word. Help us to live as those who have been forgiven. Free us from the penalty of our sin. Free us from the power of sin. We wait for the day when you will free us from the presence of sin. In the name of the one who died for our sins. Amen.

This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan. Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download
the app at readscripture.org. Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully,
Duane

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