LHC Midday Word

Friday, 10 December 2021

PSALM Fifty One

For the director of music.

A psalm of David.

When the prophet Nathan came to him

after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

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.

Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

you who are God my Saviour,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart

you, God, will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 51: “blot” (vv.1 & 9)

Today’s Psalm is one of the most staggering passages in the Bible. David is consumed by guilt-ridden conscience-racking agony, writing “my sin is ever before me” (v.3). Straightaway he pours out a plea for “mercy” (v.1), crying out to God to “blot out” (vv.1 & 9), “wash” (v.2) and “cleanse” (v.7) his awful stains. Due to his waywardness he knows he has thrown away the erstwhile sense of ‘wellness’ in his soul. He aches for that former close friendship with the Almighty, asking him to “restore … the joy of your salvation” (v.12).

Note: he had lost “the joy” (the result), not “salvation” itself (the source).

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READING

Psalm Fifty One

Read by David Suchet

STUDY - LINKS

- Psalm 51 -

John Piper

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How Should You Read the Psalms?

- John Piper -

https://youtu.be/enxKd2YKgjI

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Prayer in the Psalms:

Discovering How to Pray

Timothy Keller

https://youtu.be/QgwzuFG5LCk

Psalms - Overviews

(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/j9phNEaPrv8

The Book of Psalms

(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/dpny22k_7uk

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Psalms part 1

-Study by David Pawson-

https://youtu.be/qB3QV713xm0

Psalms Part 2

-Study by David Pawson-

https://youtu.be/hQJNMgIHVKwSONGS

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SONGS

Psalm 51

Ian White

Psalm 51

(Wisdom in the Secret Heart)

Shane and Shane

Psalm 51

(Have Mercy On Me, O God)

- Graham Kendrick -

Create In Me A Clean Heart

Keith Green

Create in me a clean heart O God

by Maranatha Singers

Choneni Elohim, from Psalm 51

(Be Gracious to me O G-d)

- Create In Me A Clean Heart -

Keith Green lyrics

- Psalm 51-

Sons of Korah

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Thursday, 9 December 2021

PSALM Fifty

A psalm of Asaph.

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

From Zion, perfect in beauty,

God shines forth.

Our God comes

and will not be silent;

a fire devours before him,

and around him a tempest rages.

He summons the heavens above,

and the earth, that he may judge his people:

‘Gather to me this consecrated people,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’

And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,

for he is a God of justice.

‘Listen, my people, and I will speak;

I will testify against you, Israel:

I am God, your God.

I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices

or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

I have no need of a bull from your stall

or of goats from your pens,

for every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains,

and the insects in the fields are mine.

If I were hungry I would not tell you,

for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

‘Sacrifice thank-offerings to God,

fulfil your vows to the Most High,

and call on me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honour me.’

16 But to the wicked person, God says:

‘What right have you to recite my laws

or take my covenant on your lips?

You hate my instruction

and cast my words behind you.

When you see a thief, you join with him;

you throw in your lot with adulterers.

You use your mouth for evil

and harness your tongue to deceit.

You sit and testify against your brother

and slander your own mother’s son.

When you did these things and I kept silent,

you thought I was exactly like you.

But I now arraign you

and set my accusations before you.

‘Consider this, you who forget God,

or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

those who sacrifice thank-offerings honour me,

and to the blameless I will show my salvation.’

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 50 : “consecrated” (v.5)

The first half of the verse is in inverted commas, as a statement God himself makes: “gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (v.5).

Note :

[A] God says He has got His eye on the “consecrated” individual, committed to Him;

[B] He’s aware there are “consecrated” ones – plural;

[C] He’s concerned that they “gather” rather than operate separately;

[D] what links them both to God himself and to one another is “sacrifice” – Christ’s shed blood;

[E] the “sacrifice” brought them into “a covenant” bond of agreement with Him.

Time for new consecration to the Lord through Jesus?

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READING

Psalm Fifty

Read by David Suchet

STUDY - LINKS

How Should You Read the Psalms?

- John Piper -

https://youtu.be/enxKd2YKgjI

-=-=-=-

Prayer in the Psalms:

Discovering How to Pray

Timothy Keller

https://youtu.be/QgwzuFG5LCk

Psalms - Overviews

(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/j9phNEaPrv8

The Book of Psalms

(The Bible Project)

https://youtu.be/dpny22k_7uk

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Psalms part 1

-Study by David Pawson-

https://youtu.be/qB3QV713xm0

Psalms Part 2

-Study by David Pawson-

https://youtu.be/hQJNMgIHVKwSONGS

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SONG

Psalm 50 Song - Devouring Fire

Jason Silver

Wednesday, 8 December 2021

PSALM Forty Nine

For the director of music.

Of the Sons of Korah.

A psalm.

Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all who live in this world,

both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

My mouth will speak words of wisdom;

the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

I will turn my ear to a proverb;

with the harp I will expound my riddle:

Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me –

those who trust in their wealth

and boast of their great riches?

No one can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for them –

the ransom for a life is costly,

no payment is ever enough –

so that they should live on for ever

and not see decay.

For all can see that the wise die,

that the foolish and the senseless also perish,

leaving their wealth to others.

Their tombs will remain their houses for ever,

their dwellings for endless generations,

though they had named lands after themselves.

People, despite their wealth, do not endure;

they are like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,

and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

They are like sheep and are destined to die;

death will be their shepherd

(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).

Their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;

he will surely take me to himself.

Do not be overawed when others grow rich,

when the splendour of their houses increases;

for they will take nothing with them when they die,

their splendour will not descend with them.

Though while they live they count themselves blessed –

and people praise you when you prosper –

they will join those who have gone before them,

who will never again see the light of life.

People who have wealth but lack understanding

are like the beasts that perish.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 49 : “death” (v.14)

This is a serious word of “wisdom” for everyone (vv.1-3). It’s about “life” (vv.7 & 15), “decay” (vv.9 & 14) and “death” (v.14), of how a man will tend to focus on trying to “prosper” (v.18) and grow “rich” (v.16), when it’s clear he can “take nothing with him” (v.17). Is that it?

Is our tenuous grip on life the sum total of our existence? Shining through the pervading gloom comes this ray of light: “but God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself” (v.15). Centuries before Christ came, confidence blossomed about life after ‘death’. Even much earlier Job felt it (19 vv.25-27). U2!

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READING

Psalm Forty Nine

Read by David Suchet