psalm 51

Psalm 51

A Contrite Sinner's Prayer for Pardon.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

God has shown Himself sovereign to me this whole past week. the fact that my day would land on this psalm is kind of crazy because i am looking over numbers right now and just read how Moses interceded for the people by asking God to show His power in His lovingkindness by forgiving the people and not killing them with a pestilence. God doesn't do us favors. He does things for Himself. what we might call selfish is glorious with God. the fact the God forgives us for His Name's sake is glorious. He does not forgive me to show partiality but out of want to glorify Himself. my transgressions are blotted out by the greatness of His compassion...His character has nothing to do with me...the person who receives the compassion.
i have been thinking of late about how the reason why you hurt over those you love the most is because the more you love someone...the more personal your actions become to them. and with God...just looking at our testimonies...we know that He is a personal God. He wants an intimate relationship with us. He loved us even after we prostituted ourselves to our sin...like Hosea's wife. that is why David says..."against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." i am learning to not see things personally for my own sake, but to take things personally if it has something to do with Christ. God takes things personally because it is personal to Him. we are the creation of the Creator.
David goes on to say that even though he was born into sin...conceived in sin, the story doesn't end there. God desires truth deep in our souls...truth that helps us understand Him. and only God can clean us. only God can redeem us. only God can give us real joy. He can exchange our dirty hearts and create a clean one in its place. He can renew our loyalty to Him and Him alone.
in studying the OT, we've already come upon the tabernacle. a lot of the punishments ended in the people being cast from the community. hell, in a similar sense, is illustrated in this punishment because the person was not only an outcast but cut off from worshipping God whose presence was in the tabernacle. if God took His Holy Spirit from me...if we are the temples of God and God's presence was taken from me...i would die. if i were not allowed to worship God...the one thing i was created to do...i would die. again, David brings it back to God because he says that by restoring the joy of salvation, he will be able to teach others about God. see a pattern? everything is done for God. my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness...my mouth will declare Your praise.
bloodguiltiness. God used sacrifices to show that our sin cost blood. but it says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. the sacrifices were meant to compel the person who offered the sacrifice to humble themselves before the Lord and repent. the pharisees just stopped at the actions. now we know that it is the heart behind the action that is what matters. if your heart is right before the Lord...your actions will follow. in the end God will establish His kingdom...and then all will be perfect. we will all be able to "sacrifice" offerings to Him perfectly.
girls...there is so much love for self that we must still fight. even when i pray...oftentimes i am praying about myself...not praying about myself for God. just for myself...to myself. our redemption cost us blood...what a good reminder it was to remember that we have been redeemed. that love was the motivation behind the payment of a ransom. that the ransom was a life. and that life was glady laid down so that i might live. what a great God we have!

Psalm 50

Psalm 50

1The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

4He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

5Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

7Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

8I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

9I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

13Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

14Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

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

16But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

17Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.

18When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

19Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.

20Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

21These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

22Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

23Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

Hey Girls!!! God is so good and faithful and merciful and gracious and loving to us..

Psalms 49

1(A)Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all (B)inhabitants of the world,
2Both (C)low and high,
Rich and poor together.
3My mouth will (D)speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be (E)understanding.
4I will incline my ear to (F)a proverb;
(G)I will express my (H)riddle on the harp.
5Why should I (I)fear in days of adversity,
When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,
6Even those who (J)trust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
7No man can by any means (K)redeem his brother
Or give to God a (L)ransom for him--
8For (M)the redemption of his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever--
9That he should (N)live on eternally,
That he should not [a](O)undergo decay.
10For he sees that even (P)wise men die;
The (Q)stupid and the senseless alike perish
And (R)leave their wealth to others.
11Their [b](S)inner thought is that their houses (T)are forever
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have (U)called their lands after their own names.
12But (V)man in his pomp will not endure;
He is like the beasts that perish.
13This is the (W)way of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who (X)approve their words. Selah.
14As sheep they are appointed (Y)for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
And the (Z)upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for Sheol (AA)to consume
So that they have no habitation.
15But God will (AB)redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
For (AC)He will receive me. Selah.
16Do not be afraid (AD)when a man becomes rich,
When the [c]glory of his house is increased;
17For when he dies he will (AE)carry nothing away;
His [d]glory will not descend after him.
18Though while he lives he (AF)congratulates himself--
And though men praise you when you do well for yourself--
19He shall (AG)go to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see (AH)the light.
20(AI)Man in his pomp, yet without understanding,
Is (AJ)like the beasts that perish.
We hold onto our money, our homes, our clothes, everything we have as if we deserve them. Our entire lives are geared towards wealth: study hard in elementary, junior high and high school so you can get into a good college so that you can get a good career and make a lot of money and retire wealthy. But what an empty empty life. I was really struck by what the psalmist said about the uselessness of wealth. "No man can by any means (K)redeem his brother or give to God a (L)ransom for him-- for (M)the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever-- That he should (N)live on eternally, that he should not [a](O)undergo decay." Nothing we do can save another's soul, least of all our wealth. Salvation can never be bought. All around everyone is living as if their materials can save them and put eternity in them. The Israelites named their land after themselves to gain eternity though generations but even the land, overwrought by Romans, and the people, of which only 2 tribes remain, are lost. It's good to remember how evanescent we really are and how fleeting our world, and to question where we truly place our faith.

psalm 48

Psalm 48

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1^(A)Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
In the ^(B)city of our God, His ^(C)holy mountain.
2^(D)Beautiful in elevation, ^(E)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The ^(F)city of the great King.
3God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a ^(G)stronghold.
4For, lo, the ^(H)kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were ^(I)terrified, they fled in alarm.
6Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of ^(J)a woman in childbirth.
7With the ^(K)east wind
You ^(L)break the ^(M)ships of Tarshish.
8As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will ^(N)establish her forever. Selah.
9We have thought on ^(O)Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10As is Your ^(P)name, O God,
So is Your ^(Q)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your ^(R)right hand is full of righteousness.
11Let Mount ^(S)Zion be glad,
Let the ^(T)daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her ^(U)towers;
13Consider her ^(V)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may ^(W)tell it to the next generation.
14For such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will ^(X)guide us ^[a]until death.


my heart loves this psalm. it shows what we're made to do, give glory and praises to God. see how great God is and give him what he rightfully deserves, and praise truth. its the right thing. whenever we don't we're exchanging the truth for a lie. and for what? that lie that we think is better than God. im so grateful to you guys that you guys always point me back to the truth, even though the truth isnt what i always want to hear. thank you for considering my soul and the truth more important than just hearing empty words that deviate from the truth, because thats the way it should be. the more i look at myself and the more i look deeper into me, it just gets more and more depressing, but maybe thats a good thing because if i was deluded into being satisfied with myself, it would be harder to come to Christ. it makes me want to run to him and be like, AH i've tried to save myself and nothings working, please help. its so hard to remember that i am a child of God because of Christ's sacrifice and because of his righteousness. i keep looking at myself and feeling so discouraged. i used to read in the Bible, "be holy for i am holy" and think that was a mistake because who can do that? but i realized the other day, things like that make running to Christ the only option. what else could you do? God's holy wrath toward sin is real, but he was merciful and just to make a way for sinners to come back to him. For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death.

Psalm 45

Psalm 47

1 O clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with the voice of joy. 2 For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. 3 He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. 4 He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

5 God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises. 7 For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm. 8 God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. 9 The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.

This psalm feels really loud, with all the shouting and singing and trumpeting. How could we be anything but loud when it comes to our Lord, the Lord who chose our inheritance for us. The Lord who gives us HEAVEN, His throne, where He resides and reigns over us. How do we be loud for the Lord? Thats something that I struggled with today as some of my non-christian friends from high school visited me at the GOC table. Yea we just had a conversation consisting of small talk, but I wonder what was going through their minds, and what should've been going through mine in order that I mightve shared with them the glorious gift of heaven that they can receive through belief in Jesus Christ.

Today I had what I consider a pretty good day. And as a result of that I find myself not thinking about God and my dependency on Him as much, its not that I sought Him any less, but that because I was not in some sort of despair my heart did not cry out for Him. Oh that I would turn to the One who gives us EVERYTHING at every point of the day, how insiginificant are the matters that were on my mind today and how weak is my heart to go astray so easily from seeking after the one true love that I know I have secured.

Psalm 46

Psalm 46

1God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
3Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
5God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
7The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
8Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has wrought desolations in the earth.
9He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
10"Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

i just got back from studying with patricia. while i was there...nikki burst in the apt and asked if we could help her. the pipes had busted over one of the fire alarms and the sprinklers were going off. it definitely woke me up. i got some good studying done. =)
you know what i need to appreciate more about the bible? how it is supernatural because it is literally not from this world. its funny how easily i can get absorbed in my own world. when i'm going through hard times i can only think about myself. the "world" that i know is only ucla...i stopped watching the news two years ago. and then even when i am not at ucla...i see life from my own experiences. i love how this psalm lets us peer down from a very high spot so that we might see what we are in the eyes of God. God created this earth. God was not created. God looks down on us and we are like grasshoppers in His sight. no matter what happens in this world...no matter what happens to our world...we will not fear because we have a relationship with the CREATOR. how mind boggling is that? that we have THE connection with THE ONE who is in control of all things. how small is my faith...

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

i want to stop to pray, to meditate, to sing, and just take a break from the world so that i might think more about God. not just think about Him but to KNOW that He is God. to taste more of God's glory and to be consumed by it. no other God but our God.