Author: Cadie (Page 2 of 41)

Psalm 51: 1-4a & 11 (KJV) 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.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight… Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

             I heard a preacher say once that David is known for two things: killing Goliath and sinning with Bathsheba.  One was a great victory; the other a great defeat.  All of his life, David not only believed in God but built a close relationship with God.  His life of faith is recorded by others in 1 & 2 Samuel and by himself in the Psalms.  He trusted God for protection (1 Samuel 17: 37), thanked God for great military victories (2 Samuel 8), and tried to be an example to others (1 Samuel 24).  However, after all of this, David was still subject to sin.  He lusted after Bathsheba, sinned with her, and eventually killed her husband so he could make her his wife.  It seemed as though the man after God’s own heart had turned his back on God.

            Have you ever been in a situation like David, where it feels like you have forsaken your relationship with God and turned to sin instead?  Those awful questions begin to rise: Have I fallen too far?  Can God still hear me?  Does He still love me?  Could He ever forgive me?  I’ve asked myself these questions before, and I found the answers in God’s forgiveness of David.  

            Although David had shut the door of communication between himself and God, God kept knocking and pushing that door open.  He sent Nathan the prophet to confront David with his sin (2 Samuel 12).  I can see him, pointing at David as he said, “Thou art the man.”  And I can see David, as his walls come crashing down.  David could only reply, “I have sinned against the Lord.”  Perhaps by this time, he was weeping, acknowledging his sin, and knowing he needed forgiveness from God.  Nathan’s reply was quick.  “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”  All that was needed for God to forgive was for David to admit that he had sinned.  Repentance and forgiveness happened in the same moment.  

            I believe it was not long after Nathan left his presence that David penned Psalm 51.  I encourage you to read the full Psalm; it’s only 19 verses.  This is the passage that I run to when I need forgiveness in my life.  It is a constant reminder that God can forgive and that He will forgive.  He is a God of mercy.  To answer those questions from before: We can never fall too far.  God will still hear us; He wants us to cry out to Him.  He does still love us.  He wants to forgive us.  He wants to give us a clean heart, like a new slate, so we can start again.  God didn’t throw David away, and He won’t throw us away either.  God was quick to forgive when David repented, and He is just as quick to forgive us.

Revelation 5: 12-13 (KJV) And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

             Earlier this year, I had the honor to hear a live production of several selections from Handel’s Messiah.  My favorite selection is from this portion of Scripture.  The Messiah follows Christ from prophecy to His birth to that glorious day when He is seated on His throne with believers of all ages praising Him.  The audience stood when the choir sang “Worthy is the Lamb”, the words of which are from this passage of Scripture in Revelation.  “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God – to God by his blood.”  As they sang, I began to imagine singing it with them.  Not just here in an earthly choir, but at the throne of Jesus Christ with my loved ones who have gone to heaven before me.  

             Imagine it for just a moment.  There’s a rainbow around the throne – a reminder that Christ has kept every promise throughout the ages.  And He who sits on the throne is more beautiful that any jewel or gemstone known to man.  And around Him, there is throng of grateful believers.  And I am there too.  I am one of those praising Him because He is worthy to receive all my praise.  I am the one singing “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” to my Savior.  He is so worthy!  

             The greatest exhibition of the love of Christ was His death on the cross for the sins of the world.  Isaiah prophesied Christ’s horrible death.  Here are some passages from Isaiah 53.  “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief… he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities… and with his stripes we are healed… and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.”  

             The afflictions Jesus suffered on the cross are unimaginable.  Doctors have tried to tell us what His physical pain must have been, and preachers have tried to explain the pain of God the Son being separated from God the Father.  And yet, I believe it must have been much worse than we could ever express with words. But Christ was willing to go to the cross because He loved us.  He loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8).  He loved us even when He knew who we were.  He even loved those who He knew would reject Him.  There is truly no greater love than this.  That God Almighty, Creator of the universe, perfect in every sense of the word, would shed his blood for me, die in a horrible, painful, shameful manner, so that I could be with Him in heaven.  He truly is worthy of an eternity of praise and glory and honor and blessing.