Psalm 51 (GodSpeak Readings Aug 3-8)

Psinging through Psummer
Psalm 51

We live in a broken, disconnected world, and our own lusts and desires often get the best of us.
This psalm of David speaks from the heart of a man who messed up royally.
His words can be your words.  Let them help you.

Daily Prayer: Lord, create clean hearts in us so that we may resist the temptations that come our way.   By the blood of Jesus, forgive us when we fall and pick us up again to serve you.  Amen.

Monday, August 3
Read Psalm 51We all do things that we know are wrong.  Afterwards, we feel terrible.  What we do next is crucial.  How does this psalm help us to know what to do with our guilt?

Tuesday, August 4
After reviewing Psalm 51, read 2 Samuel 11David must have made some sort of justifications in his head for what he did.  What do you think those might have been?  What justifications do you make for your own sinful actions?  Are they all that different from David’s?

Wednesday, August 5
After reviewing Psalm 51, read 2 Samuel 12How is Nathan’s story a parallel to what David did?  David needed compassion for Uriah.  What realities do we need to be confronted with to overwhelm the stories we tell ourselves that justify our sin?  Where should our compassions lie?

Thursday, August 6
Read Psalm 51 again.  How does this psalm speak to you differently after reading the story of David, Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet?  Which phrases speak to your heart?

Friday, August 7
After reviewing Psalm 51, read Colossians 1:1-14David sought forgiveness and pleaded for that forgiveness with passion.  How do we receive forgiveness?  Is it possible to be so used to forgiveness that we lose our passionate desire for it?

Saturday, August 8
After reviewing Psalm 51, read Luke 22:31-34Peter is just about to deny Jesus three times.  Jesus gives him instructions for what to do after he’s forgiven!  “Strengthen your brothers.”  This is also David’s desire in the psalm, to “teach transgressors.”  How can God turn your sin into an opportunity to lift people up?

Bethel Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN    –   bethelstpaul.com

 

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