4 Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
~ 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
From the trademarked, public-domain World English Bible®. Image of flowering cherry blossoms © Glenn Franco Simmons/Bible Verses As Art.
From the trademarked, public-domain World English Bible®. Digital AI composition © Glenn Franco Simmons/Bible Verses As Art.
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| AI illustration. © GTFS. |
On the r/TrueChristian group on Reddit®, I read a beautiful post about King David in Psalm 51 that spoke such sincere truth to
my heart that I was moved enough to make this post, so that more people may
read it.
In my separate post on this website are two Psalms and the Reddit post, which
reminded me of my own continuous quest and, at times, struggle to know and love
God.
Do you ever feel as if your sins, mistakes, and the slings
and arrows of life in general, have dulled your spiritual ardor ~ especially
for those of you who have serious, potentially life-threatening health concerns? It can lead to a person withdrawing, even depression.
In such a state, isn’t it easy to put off praying? To delay
talking to God, until you “get back on the righteous path”? Ever been there?
Have you ever thought, “How can God use me, a sinner” to do
good in the world, to encourage others to know and love God?
Well, that is one of the lessons that I believe may be gleaned from Psalm 51. Obviously,
all humans are sinners, and God has promised to use such imperfect humans to spread
His Word.
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| AI illustration. © GTFS. |
Rather than focusing on my mistakes, my sins, choices that
should of, could of, would of, I started to think more positively about my life
and actual contributions to society and others in my journalistic career and
life in general.
Reflection is necessary in life. It is how we learn, come to
terms with our sins and their often-deleterious ramifications on ourselves and
others. Yet to dwell in reflection that negatively alters your spiritual path
and, ultimately, your eternal destiny is not productive.
As King David acknowledges to God that his sinful
transgressions have seemingly cut off his connection with the Almighty, one can
see his painful remorse for his actions and realization that his human (not
divine) nature has ruled his life to this point.
One can understand King David’s desire to right the wrongs
of his past by serving as a messenger of God’s promises to non-Christians who, when presented with the Good Word, believe in and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Psalm 51 definitively represents King David’s heartfelt
sorrow. As a result, it is one of the most-moving series of Holy Bible verses.
Such demonstrable sorrow may leave us forlorn, at times, because seeing such a
powerful, knowledgeable king brought to his knees in beseeching God for
forgiveness shows us that even the most powerful on Earth are eventually
humbled.
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| King David expresses remorse in Psalm 51. AI. © GTFS. |
Obviously, sins are not without consequences. Rather than interpret my own consequences as punishment from an unloving God, I perceive them as results of my own actions in a physical universe and spiritual eternity created by a loving God to bring us back to the straight path.
In other words, my perception is that God created an
equilibrium in the world and in our own lives. Our sins throw that equilibrium
into disarray, which causes a spiritual vertigo.
This spiritual imbalance can lead to lack of prayer, more sinful
actions that compound past sins (similar to compounded interest rates), and
more deleterious consequences.
The only way out is to humble ourselves, repent and turn
back toward God, as we see King David attempting to do in this Psalm.
If King David could humble himself so, then certainly his
self-admitted contrast of hubris versus humility is something seemingly all
humans, of any faith or religion, and any societal status and/or wealth, could
certainly relate to.
While many may relate to King David’s remorse, his human frailty
when it comes to sin, making bad choices and harming others, his story would
actually be incomplete if we do not take into consideration that King David did
indeed enjoy the joy of God’s balm of salvation as noted in 2 Samuel 22 and 2
Samuel 23:1-7.
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| While our path may meander, God's Word can keep us on it. AI. © GTFS. |
Now these are the last words of David. David the son of
Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of
Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: “Yahweh’s Spirit spoke by me. His word was
on my tongue.
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, shall be as
the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when
the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
Isn’t my house so with God? Yet he has made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my
salvation and all my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow. But all the
ungodly will be as thorns to be thrust away, because they can’t be taken with
the hand. The man who touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a
spear. They will be utterly burned with fire in their place.”
~ 2 Samuel 23:1-7
From the public-domain, trademarked World English Bible®.
Used according to WEB’s terms.
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| God's protective Word is like springtime and sunshine. AI. © GTFS. |
David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day
that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the
hand of Saul, and he said: “Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
even mine; God is my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my
salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My savior, you save me from violence.
I call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I
be saved from my enemies. For the waves of death surrounded me. The floods of
ungodliness made me afraid. The cords of Sheol [*] were around me. The snares
of death caught me.
In my distress, I called on Yahweh. Yes, I called to my
God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came into his ears. Then the
earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken,
because he was angry. Smoke went up out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came
out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came
down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he
was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness a shelter around himself:
gathering of waters, and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before
him, coals of fire were kindled.
Yahweh thundered from heaven. The Most High uttered his
voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and confused them. Then
the channels of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare
by Yahweh’s rebuke, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He sent from on
high and he took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my
strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They
came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support. He also
brought me out into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness. He
rewarded me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept Yahweh’s
ways, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his ordinances were
before me. As for his statutes, I didn’t depart from them. I was also perfect
toward him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
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| Throughout this vast universe, God's Word remains true. AI. © GTFS. |
As for God, his way is perfect. Yahweh’s word is tested.
He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, besides
Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God? God is my strong fortress. He makes my
way perfect. He makes his feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me on my high places.
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze. You have also
given me the shield of your salvation. Your gentleness has made me great. You
have enlarged my steps under me. My feet have not slipped.
I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them. I didn’t
turn again until they were consumed. I have consumed them, and struck them
through, so that they can’t arise. Yes, they have fallen under my feet. For you
have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who
rose up against me. You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that
I might cut off those who hate me. They looked, but there was no one to save;
even to Yahweh, but he didn’t answer them. Then I beat them as small as the
dust of the earth. I crushed them as the mire of the streets, and spread them
abroad.
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| Bible verses are to my soul what flowers are to spring. AI. © GTFS. |
Yahweh lives! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be God, the
rock of my salvation, even the God who executes vengeance for me, who brings
down peoples under me, who brings me away from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up
above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the
nations, and will sing praises to your name. He gives great deliverance to his
king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring,
forever more.”
* Footnote: 22:6 Sheol is the place of the dead.
~ 2 Samuel 22
From the public-domain, trademarked World English Bible®.
Used according to WEB’s terms.
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| AI illustration. © GTFS. |
Psalm 51: Restore to me the joy of your salvation {is}
{s}uch a beautiful Psalm for those who are struggling
So often we read on this sub and other Christian
subreddits heartbroken people who feel that they've screwed up and sinned so
much that they think God is not going to want anything to do with them.
David clearly felt that exact same way after his adultery
with Bathsheba and those feelings produced one of the most profound poems of
raw repentance ever written.
It's certainly worth revisiting today to take in. While I
love verse 12, *Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing
spirit to sustain me,* I think there is a particular poignancy in the following
verse that is worth taking to heart.
*Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that
sinners will turn back to you.* (Psalm 51:13)
One of the most jaw-dropping aspects of the Gospel is
that God uses US, terribly flawed but redeemed sinners to be the carriers of
his Good News.
The Almighty God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
can command angels to do his bidding or rearrange the heavens to teach a fallen
world his ways so that they come back to him.
But instead, WE get to be the ones that he chose to
reflect his perfect love and light to the world. We are the ones who get this
Great Commission.
I yearn for these words of David's psalm to echo in the heart of every broken soul who thinks they've gone too far and are beyond hope. Because they're not.
Their broken heart is their sacrifice which God will redeem because everyone one of us is part of his perfect plan.
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