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[00:00:00] Marcus shares what you've laid on his heart this morning. I pray that you give him clarity of thought, give him the anointing of your Holy Spirit to speak through him to our hearts according to our needs, Lord, and we'll give you the glory and the praise. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We greet you in the name of Jesus. It is indeed a privilege to be here, to be where God's people are. [00:00:35] I haven't known much different. I'm thankful for that. but we who have been brought up in a church do not realize I think the emptiness of a Sunday morning just pursuing your own pleasures and your own desires I've skipped a few times probably some of you have maybe because of sickness maybe at a time in your life maybe it was because of choice it's just a great privilege [00:01:06] that's not my message this morning It's just a great privilege to be where God's people are gathered together. We learn, we grow, we just are able to experience so much that the non-Christian world does not experience. And many blessings we receive through that. So it is indeed a privilege. This morning I'd like to share out of Psalm 51 for you children. [00:01:38] You notice there was no notes for you, but there is some work for you to do. I have six words in the message here, and I will tell you what the words are, and you can jot them down. And when you're done, you will find a hidden word within. You will take the first letter of the first word, the second letter of the second word, and so on. And there are six of them, and when you're done, you will have a six-letter word that I hope will encourage you, will be of help to you. [00:02:11] And I'll point those out as we go through, so have your pencil and paper ready and you can jot those down. I don't know, a month, six weeks ago, we had this passage in our Sunday school lesson. And when we had this, I felt that we barely scratched the surface of Psalm 51 And we'll not complete it today either, I'm sure But there's so much in here, there's so much that we can learn through David's experience [00:02:43] Should we desire to go through such an experience so that we can have that as well? I know people have asked that kind of question throughout time. You know, we have people that have a great conversion experience and we get them to come to church and share their testimony. And I know that there's some people that said, well, you know, if I would have something dramatic like that, then I could share too. No, we should not desire that, not at all. I once heard a person share this about how great it is to see such a person [00:03:18] that was, as we would say, mired in sin, and sin is sin, and said, well, you know, we lift them up, so to speak. But he said, the greatest testimony of all is a person who never was mired in sin and who has lived, not sinless, but a very clean life. And you probably can think of some of those people, I can, Who have just been, in my wording I guess, just an immaculate Christian. [00:03:55] I can't remember them getting mad or saying bad words. They've always been a good example to me. I think that's a great testimony, and yet we don't look at them in that way. Psalm 51, and I've simply titled it that way. Some other titles you could put to this psalm is Secret Sin Revealed, which is what took place. David's cry for mercy, which would be accurate as well. You can't do wrong and get by. [00:04:26] David thought he did, but he didn't. And also God's mercy through conviction. Sometimes we say, ouch, but it is God's mercy that he doesn't let us just continue and go on. I'm not exactly sure what all went through David's mind when Nathan pointed his finger at him and said, You're the man. You're the guilty one. After David had pronounced a judgment on the little story that Nathan revealed to him about the man with the lamb, [00:05:00] and the rich man took his lamb and slaughtered it and killed it for his visitors, And David said, he should die. And Nathan said, you're the man, you're the guilty one. What could he say? He had just pronounced his own judgment. There's nothing he could say except to plead for God's mercy. Let's just briefly, I guess, and none of this is going to be new to you this morning, but I trust that through the Spirit that, I guess, a stake could be driven just a little bit deeper [00:05:34] than it has been in whatever area God might speak to you in. But we know that David fathered a child with his neighbor's wife. As I thought of that, and thought of how David came into this sin, Probably this was not the first time that David looked upon her and lusted after her. Very likely not. Usually we don't just all of a sudden find ourselves in a sinful situation. [00:06:07] Satan's means are to gradually pull us in and to pull us down. And that's the way he worked. Just trying to visualize and to realize how that in our day and in our time, How this took place in actual terms. After that took place, David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah killed. David could say, no, I didn't do it, I didn't kill him. But he did. [00:06:38] He was the main one that was guilty. And through that, I also thought of that. Where David sent a letter back with Uriah. He took his own death warrant back and gave it to Joab, the commander, and Joab fulfilled what David had ordered him to do, didn't ask any questions, Joab knew what would happen, but that's what his king, that's what the chief and commander, David, told him to do, and so he carried that out. [00:07:08] But as I reread that again, very likely there were some others killed also with Uriah. Now the others were instructed to fall back and let Uriah take the heat of the battle, but very likely there were others that were also killed just to get the one man out of the way. That's what David's plan was. But he had him killed. And also, reading history, they said this was not uncommon. What David did with Bathsheba and having her husband killed was not uncommon for a ruler during that age to do. [00:07:46] They had the ultimate control of things. And what they did, what they said, was gospel. And it was carried out. In fact, it's said that when Nathan came to David, they said David could have, as we would say, with the snap of his finger, had Nathan eliminated. He would still have been guilty. But such things were not uncommon during that time to do. [00:08:16] For rulers of that day to do such a thing, no questions asked, because he was a king. Children, here's your first word. Lives, lives, lives with a guilty conscience, or excuse me, lives, spelled the same way. David then lives with a guilty conscience, one commentator said, for up to three years. Now, I don't know how long, it doesn't tell us, so that's not important. But it was, David lived with his guilty conscience long enough to make him feel very, very miserable. [00:08:51] Possibly even, one writer thought that possibly even there were some that noticed the aging process take place more rapidly during that time because of the guilt that he had bottled up within him. We know sometimes that does take place. Someone who goes through a lot of stress gets gray hair faster. That's not uncommon. Not always the case, but not uncommon. And then God is merciful to David, sends a man, Nathan, and goes to David and brings this to light to reveal his sin. [00:09:30] Children, that's your second word, sin. David's misery prior to his confession. I'd like to read just a few verses in Psalm 32. Again, these are not uncommon, not new to us at all. verses three through five. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. And that's what leads me to believe that he aged during this time. For day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the draught of summer. I'm not sure what that might indicate. Possibly he cried till there was no more tears left. I don't know if that's the case or not, but it might lead us to believe that. [00:10:14] I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgression unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah Nathan relates this parable then to David about a man with a pet lamb, and in the end Nathan says, Thou art the man. David knew that his secret was revealed. [00:10:46] I don't know if he asked him how he found out. We are not told. Maybe he just hung his head. Maybe he was glad that it was over, that he didn't have to live with the guilty conscience anymore. I don't know exactly what his feelings were at that very time. But I know that there have been people, in fact, a number of years ago I heard of an instance A man had killed his wife and had buried her and had no trace and he was never found guilty for years and years. [00:11:21] And when he was an old man, he had actually buried her in the foundation of a building. He was a contractor and he buried her in the foundation of the building. Many, many years later that building was torn down and her carcass was found. Little did he know, they said that burying someone in cement preserves the body very well. And so she was found and then they went about finding out what took place. Started asking questions of people that lived in the area during that time and so on and so forth. [00:11:56] And he heard this on the news and one day they knocked on his door and he said, I'm the man. I'm the one you're looking for. He knew that he'd been found out after all these years. So sin does normally find us and that is God's mercy and God's grace in action that we don't have to die that way. God makes it so that we can be forgiven and be cleansed and these things, these old things that have been hidden for years can be taken care of. [00:12:28] Let's read Psalm 51. 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 transgression, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. [00:13:03] Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee. [00:13:42] Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good and thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering. Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. [00:14:22] Before we go too much further here, I want to confess that I do not know everything about this psalm. But there was a number of areas here that just really stood out to me about David's experience. And I'd just like to go, not totally verse by verse, but we're going to touch a lot of verses and just share some things that the Lord has shared with me. David pleads for mercy here in the first verse. Not according to man, but he pleads unto God [00:14:53] He says here, the multitude of thy tender mercies How many, if we could number them, how many mercies has God spent on you and me? I haven't kept track, I would be ashamed to very likely But God has given, God's mercy is endless and boundless There is a vast supply, like the woman with the little oil. It just doesn't run out. It just keeps coming and coming. [00:15:26] We might say that there are times for individuals that God says now is enough. And God does cut people off occasionally. But it's not for you and I to know that. But overall, generally speaking, God's mercies will never run out. They are just new every morning and they are always there for us. We never have to come to God and say, God, is there enough mercy left yet for me? No, we never have to worry. There is still some mercy there. If you need it this morning, it's available to you. [00:16:02] In the second verse, he asks for cleansing. Wash. That's the next word, children. I've lost track of which one it is. Wash. He said, so wash me throughly, not just partially. He wanted everything taken care of. Sometimes we don't go far enough. And we say, well, God, I just want just this spot that's been revealed in my life. I want you to wash that spot clean. And we don't go, we don't go all the way with God. And God wants all of us, every aspect of our life. [00:16:34] I often have to think about the song, I think, from when I remember it was Steve and Annie Chapman, they said, my heart is like a room, or like a house, and God walked through the house, and walked through each room, and cleansed it, so to speak, and one day God says, well, what's behind this door, and they said, well, those are all my secrets, nobody goes in that, not even me, I don't go in that door, and God says, I want to go in there, and how ashamed the man was to open up that door and for God to see all his secrets. [00:17:10] Would God have to find such a room in our house? One that we don't let anyone go in? One that we just kind of push some things back in the corner so to speak and we don't go there, we don't want God to go there, that's just, that's my past, I just want to leave it there and that's well and good to a certain extent but we need God to clean it out first and then we let bygones be bygones but first they need to be taken care of if they're not taken care of they will come back to haunt us [00:17:41] and many times at very inconvenient times as we would think them to be but God wants every room so I really encourage you if you have such a place in your house or in your heart let God have access to that let him clean it out And then that room can be useful. No longer will the door just be shut and locked, but it can be useful for you and for God. We don't allow God to clean every area of our lives. [00:18:15] Verse 3 talks about confession. Confession is good for the soul. It is a saying that we've heard many, many times. And it is. It is good for us to admit our failures, to admit that we are wrong. It sometimes, as we say, takes us down a notch. It's good for us to have to do that from time to time, to admit that we are wrong. We are not the ultimate. We don't have all the answers, and that is good for us. There's something about admitting and openly confessing our sin that brings healing to our soul. [00:18:51] And that is just a fact of life. It is good for us. To be able to do that, when the conscience is cleared, then the sting is gone and we can go on from there. The latter part of verse 3, I'd like to touch on especially. He said, my sin is ever before me. Some people would say, well, is it that way? Are we never going to get rid of that? [00:19:21] Probably many of you have experienced things similar, but I remember my sins. And we remember, how shall we say, the big ones. I don't know how that would classify with you, but we remember the things that I do. I remember the things in my life that I did that, in my estimation, were really bad. Really bad. And I'm not talking about maybe the little bad word that might have slipped. We don't remember every one of those. We don't. But the things that were really bad, we remember. Does that mean that there's no release? And I'm not sure if I can put this exactly into words, but no, that does not mean that there's no release. [00:20:10] God can and will forgive those things that we call really bad. He certainly does do that. There's no sin that God cannot forgive. But the fact of the human brain, the human mind remembering things, I think is part of God's plan to alert us, to keep us humble, to make us humble, however you want to word that, to remind us of our past so that we can learn in the future. [00:20:45] Many times that doesn't work. Saying is the only thing that we learn about history is that we don't learn from history, something like that. You know, you can tell and tell and tell a child, don't do that, don't do that. You know, we're looking out for them, and yet they really don't learn until they do that. I don't know why that is. But it's the same way in the Christian's life many times. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. But my sin is ever before me, is what David said. [00:21:17] I think David meant, you know, I remember that. That's just a black spot in my history that I'm going to have to live with. God has forgiven him. He certainly did. And God has forgiven you and I for the really bad things that we've done. But it's still there in our memory. And that's one thing that we can't forget. but we can learn from those things and I think that's God's desire in doing that in allowing us to remember those things from time to time just so that we don't do the same things again. [00:21:58] A conscience is a wonderful blessing from God but how miserable we are A conscience is a great blessing because through that God convicts us of things that we know that are not right, of sinful things, of bad things, and our conscience reminds us time and time. I'm sure you've had the experience, some of you, I hope not many of you, but I've had the experience, let me say it this way, of meeting people and every time I met that person, my conscience, you know, you ought to tell that person you're sorry. [00:22:45] And I'd say, well, he doesn't know who it was, and we go on our way and we forget it. And the next time you see him again, you need to tell him you're sorry. You need to tell him that you stole something from him. He doesn't know, and we go on our way, and the next time we see him, again, our conscience says, you need to make that right. And so, it's a sin that we're living with. We're not clean. And so a conscience is a blessing from God that reminds us time and time again that that needs to be cleared. [00:23:20] And once it's cleared, the feeling is different. You meet that person, we know that that person knows, we know that we've made it right with that person, whatever it was, and we don't have to bear the guilt anymore. So don't get too upset with a guilty conscience. It is a blessing from God. The next word, children, kept. A conscience has kept us from many sins, I believe. [00:23:54] Is your conscience always a safe guide? We've heard that expression. Is it always a safe guide? No, it's not. Conscience is not made to be our guide. God gave us the Holy Spirit for that. But it can be a safe guide only if it has been trained biblically, if you know what I'm saying. Only if it has been trained biblically. For example, a child that grows up in a home where parents cheat and or steal in an ungodly home, [00:24:28] they will not have a conscience against doing many things. For instance, stealing a pencil. Stealing an answer in school They will think nothing about that Not much, unless they're caught Basically they know it's right But their conscience will not bother them Because they have not been taught that you should not do that They've grown up in an ungodly and non-Christian world around them So that child's conscience is not going to be [00:24:59] What another child's would be Who has grown up in a Christian home Who has been taught that that's wrong You should not do that. You're doing injustice to other people around you. You're hurting other people. That child's conscience is going to bother him or her quite a while if they steal something, be it little or big. So is a conscience always a safe guide? No, it is not always a safe guide. So, although other rulers of David's time may have done similar things [00:25:34] and maybe have dismissed it simply as a privilege of their office David knew that what he did was wrong David knew that, there was no question about that That is why he said that his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long I think he thought about that so often and we know that again during that time it was common to have more than one wife [00:26:06] but I still think it must have bothered him whenever he was with Bathsheba knowing that she was stolen and an innocent man was killed for him to have that woman. One commentator said this about the conscience And this is, I'm not sure I fully understand this yet, but I've tried to work through it. A conscience will not tell you what is right or wrong, but it will tell you if it is right or wrong. [00:26:39] Now I'm drawing a real fine line there, I know that. But think that through. A conscience will not tell you what is right or wrong. I think this book will tell us that. But a conscience will tell you if it is right or wrong. Maybe in certain instances some things may not be wrong and the same instance or act may be wrong in a different setting. Paul talked about that when he talked about eating meat that had been offered to idols. [00:27:13] He said, don't ask, don't ask. And then you won't know if it's been offered to idols or not. Just eat it. Eat it. So that your conscience won't be bothered. If they knew that it had been offered to idols, then yes, their conscience would probably be bothered. So he said, just don't ask. And so sometimes it's a little variable there. But we know how it works. We know how our conscience works. Everybody here with a sound mind has probably experienced that. We know how it works. Is it always a safe guide in all instances? [00:27:45] A seared conscience will cause you many regrets, but a tender conscience toward God, towards His Word, toward the Holy Spirit, will be a great blessing to you and I. Verse 4 David was a very wise man in this, what he stated here, about sinning against God. [00:28:20] All sin is first and foremost against God. And if we could realize that, we would save ourselves from some sins that we may commit. David and also Joseph, they got it right. They had it right. David said when he was tempted by Potiphar's wife, he said, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? They had the perspective right. And against thee and thee only, he said, have I sinned? [00:28:51] Well, we know it wasn't just against God, but it was mainly against God. We do well to keep this thought ever before us that when we sin, we hurt the one who loves us most. And that is God. And next it may be parents or those close to us is often the case as well. Verse 7, we want to talk a little bit about this Hyssop. And I'm not an authority on this, but I thought it was interesting to note that Hyssop is mentioned only about three other times in Scripture. [00:29:25] and the most notable that we remember probably most of the time is when the children of Israel they were to apply the blood to the doorpost and to the top there so that the death angel would pass by. They would know that this house has been taken care of, this house has been cleansed and cleaned but hyssop was supposed to be used, that was specified. And in the other places where it's mentioned, it was also used, hyssop was used to apply blood in some sacrifices. [00:30:00] And I just thought it was interesting to note that that hyssop was used in the scriptures, always in that connotation of cleansing. So I'm not sure what kind of plant it was. I picture it as a sponge-like plant, possibly. Does anyone else have anything further on that? Anyone read anything anywhere of what kind of plant this may have been? Okay, I'm not the ultimate, maybe you do. [00:30:32] But that's what I have pictured, that's what I have pictured in my mind. I didn't glean that from any scripture anywhere. But I pictured it as something that you could dip and apply a liquid. So it has to be something that would hold the liquid in some manner. I just thought that was interesting and worth noting that it was always used when it's mentioned, when hyssop is mentioned in the scriptures, it's always used in that connotation where it was dipped and blood was applied. Verse 10, David asked, he said, create in me a clean heart, O God. [00:31:12] Discovered also that this word create is the same word used as was in Genesis 1.1 where it says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Did God have any material to use when he created the heavens and the earth? No. He spoke it into being. He created it out of nothing. And I'm coming to a point here, when David asked, using this same word, create in me a clean heart, David did not ask him, God take my dirty old heart and wash it up. [00:31:54] One writer said this way, what did God want with a dirty old heart? God doesn't want dirty old hearts. He wants to create something new. He wants to get rid of the old dirty heart and put a new heart within us. A new heart. Sometimes we, I don't know, it just helps us to realize, I think, that God wants to do something totally new with us. Yeah, in many aspects He uses what we've got. He uses our talents. [00:32:26] He uses what we have. But when it comes to the heart, when it comes to our inner being, God wants to replace it. Not reuse the old one, but God wants to replace it with a new heart. A heart that will yearn to go after God. The word create here means out of nothing. Children, that's your next word. Nothing. I think that might be the last one. I'm not sure. But the word means out of nothing. [00:32:58] And so God, you take my heart and put your heart within me. Whatever you have. David wanted a new heart created by God. We've heard it said, and maybe said it ourselves, to give your heart to God. But God doesn't want your old heart. He just wants to replace it and create, out of nothing, a new heart just for you and just for me. One that will fit just for us. Verse 11. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. [00:33:32] We're going to touch just a little bit on a hot subject here, maybe. The thing of eternal security. Do you think David would have written this if it was not possible? Cast me not away, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. I don't think he would have. I don't think David would have worded it this way if this would not have been a possibility. I think it is possible. It was brought up just a little bit in our Sunday school class this morning. [00:34:03] I think it is possible for that to take place. Two examples, one is of King Saul in 1 Samuel 28. In Saul's later life, God would not speak to him. Saul wanted some advice and God would not answer him. God in his spirit had left, had departed. And so Saul, of course, went to see the witch of Endor, as we say. And he died that way. Any record that we have does not indicate anything else that he died that way. [00:34:37] The other one is about Samson in Judges 16 verse 20. It says that the Lord had parted from him and he wist it not. He did not know it. But God had departed from him. He thought, well, the Philistines are coming again, I'll just take care of them as before. He didn't know that God had left him. But we do have word that I believe Samson later repented. As I was studying about this, I read that some would say that God's spirit does not leave us. [00:35:16] He just is not active in our lives. And I couldn't quite work through that. I couldn't figure out how that's a possibility. How can God's Spirit be in us and not work in us? I had trouble with that. But according to these two examples, it plainly says that the Lord had departed from them and I believe that that would include His Spirit as well. Verse 12. [00:35:48] It says, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. David probably kept doing many of the same things that he always did as far as fulfilling his duties as the king. Life went on pretty much normally, but his joy was gone. We talked much this morning in our lesson about the joy that we are to exemplify in our lives. Just as Jesus and the Father experienced joy, so we should as well. [00:36:22] But David's joy was gone. It was gone. It was not evident. And you can tell in someone's life pretty quickly when something like that takes place. Some people, we may use the expression, they lost their desire to live. And there's just not much joy in such a life. But because of that, or as a result of that, his conscience was working. Why do we choose to live in misery so long before we fess up? [00:36:53] I don't know. Don't have an answer for that. Why did I choose to live so long in misery with a guilty conscience before we fessed up? I don't know why I did that. Only to say that the devil was keeping me from that. The devil wanted me in his clutches and he knew if I confessed that I would be a tool for God instead of him. That's just very plain, but I think that's the way it works The sinful nature is very stubborn in us as human beings [00:37:24] Verse 13, he says, then I think he's saying, God, after you've cleansed me Then I will teach transgressors their way And sinners shall be converted unto you The experienced person is the best teacher We know that. I would much rather listen to someone who's been there and done that, listen to what they have to say, than I would for somebody who maybe has just read it in a book. [00:37:57] Nothing against college, nothing at all. But the experienced person has much more to offer than someone who has just read about it. Does God allow some to experience tragedy to better be able to relate to others? I think he does. Sometimes we look at a person who is an exemplary person and we would say, well, why did God allow that person to have to endure that? [00:38:30] And the answer is, we don't know God's ways. We don't know all of God's plans. Very likely, God has allowed that person to experience that So that he can teach others, so that he can be an example to others. I believe that is true. Paul admonished the young preachers. He said that the older would teach the younger. I think that's God's way. That's God's way of doing things. So yes, I believe God does allow some to endure some unexplained tragedy. [00:39:03] Why? Why does a little girl have to lose a finger? I don't know why. Very likely God has a special plan for that little girl. Maybe through that. Very possible. But let's go a step further with that. Is it God's will for someone to be an alcoholic or a drug addict or whatever so that they can in the future help others who are caught in the same vices? No, it is not God's will for someone to live in sin, as we would say sometimes, to live in deep sin. [00:39:37] That's not God's will. Not at all. We know that God hates sin. We also know that Satan is out to destroy mankind. That includes you and I this morning. Because we are created in God's image. When Satan sees us, he sees an image of God. And so he wants to destroy us. So this thing, why is God then able to turn beauty into ashes? He does that. But God can take an unlikely candidate and use him or her mightily in his kingdom, thereby receiving his soul from hell and greatly disrupting Satan's program. [00:40:22] So again, I have no real answer as to why God does take someone like that, but we know that God can turn ashes, take those ashes and make something beautiful out of them. Is it God's will that that person was involved in the deep sin? No, it's not. But I think God, again, through His mercy, then, takes such a person and helps them to teach others. It might take me a little bit more to sift through all of that and to be able to explain that rightly, but I hope you gather what I'm saying. [00:40:58] We don't have to live in deep sin to have a testimony for God. We don't have to live in deep sin to be able to help others and to encourage them along the way. But I think it's wonderful that God does take those that have been involved in that and turns them around and puts them to work. Now you go help others. You tell others what you've experienced and how that you've experienced deliverance and victory and you've got joy. You go tell others and God can use that. Although it is not God's will that that person may have been there to begin with. [00:41:43] What pleases God? Verses 16 and 17 For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offering. And this was stated in a day when this was very right and very common for God's people to do. And then David comes along and says, God, that's not what pleases you. Verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. [00:42:16] God wants something that everyone has and God wants something that we don't have to how should I say we don't have to kill an animal to do what pleases God in the instance where King Saul kept the best of the animals and so forth and when Samuel came to him and said Well, you know, what means then? [00:42:48] You didn't fulfill God's command. You were supposed to utterly destroy everything. What's going on here? And he said, if I can get the words now, God, anyway so much that God delights not in the burnt offerings. God wants an obedient heart. That's what God wants. David could have given God many things because he was a wealthy, wealthy man. [00:43:27] He could have given God many, many things. But what did God want most? A soft and a pliable spirit. One that brings glory to God. In conclusion, we've touched on a lot of different areas this morning. a lot of different areas and walks of life the Christian life in particular if you need to clear the air between you and God, please do so don't wait for a Nathan to point his finger in your face [00:43:59] and say you're the guilty one just go to God and tell him and I would encourage you to tell someone else too share it with someone else and ask them to help you along the way I don't know about you But I was just, really thought there was so much in this psalm, so much to teach us about life, about the Christian life in general and how God wants us to operate as his child. May the Lord bless you. Let's stand for prayer. [00:44:30] Father, I thank you for this example that you have preserved for us in your scripture. Help us to learn from this instance that living with a guilty conscience is a very, very miserable way to live. Help us, Lord, to come to you and to give you everything, to open every room in our house to you, To allow you to walk freely amongst us so that you can use us so that we can be a teacher to others, to our children, that we can be an example to them. [00:45:12] Lord, I do pray for anyone who may have a need this morning, that they might make that known to someone, most of all to you, that they could live with a free conscience and that the joy might be restored. Bless us Lord as a congregation, as we associate with others throughout our week, would you watch over us, keep us safe, it's not against your will, and help us Lord that as they look at us, that they could see an image of you, and may we be, not because of what we've done, but may we live up to what you expect of us. [00:45:50] We ask you would bless us as you see us good. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for watching!