Sunday, June 22, 2008

Relevance, Clarity, Truth, Wisdom: Psalm 51

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it...
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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
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The magic yet straight forward reality of truth. God has designed creation for meaning, for truth and meaning are aligned. God and all creation can see through the false, and all require the truth. Truth and wisdom are synonymous.
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One can picture David plucking away at his harp, lamenting in sopping tears, his sin. In his lowest ebb and darkest moment, the shrill of stark truth is revealed in God's gleaming light. The revelation comes at the very moment of David's true step of penitence. Light returns to his heart, amid the moment of sorrow. God's gift of grace.
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Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
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David can see clearly. He genuinely wants what only God can give him. In his dis-ease he can feel what is missing, and he is in death, spiritual morosity. A pure heart is sought. It's the only solution. David is single-minded now.
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Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
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Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
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We feel like we've lost the presence of God in our deepest mire. We feel, see, and 'know' he is absent. Yet the restoring of the joy of his salvation is cataclysmic to the dark sources of death. We know it not until we genuinely feel, see, and 'know' it -- ah, "He's returned," is the cry of our situationally fledgling heart. Like a sort of reverse pygmalion effect, we're instantly back in the classroom, left feeling fearful like a child.
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Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
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The vital truth is sin is a direct blow to God. Sure, we hurt others, but we offend God most and fundamentally. His wisdom dictates that we do the wrong thing and the wrong thing is done to us... until we turn back, returning to him the penitence deserved him. We forgive others, we forgive ourselves.
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How could anyone not see God in that? Yet these same hearts rage against the LORD for their own folly of ignorance and arrogance (Proverbs 19:3).
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Copyright © 2008, Steven John Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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