Psalm 53 - The Ways of God

Morning Let's have a prayer Lord Jesus grateful that we could be here together Lord we just pray that you would be glorified as we sang be exalted in our life Please speak to us that we would grow and we would hear from your heart And that we could be a blessing to you through our life in Jesus name. Amen I'm gonna share for the word and then now we're gonna hear the testimonies of Norby and Gerson then we'll go outside and We'll testify to their baptism what's already taking place in their life We've been meeting for maybe four or five weeks from before the wedding Regularly mostly I think Friday nights and sometimes we have Bible studies on the phone The good report is that they're hungry for Jesus. They're asking questions and they're searching the scriptures for themselves And this is what a healthy relationship with Jesus should look like for all of us Not just when you're young, but I don't know any of us who miss too many meals unless we just take a decision to fast We should have this kind of a hunger for the Lord It's a normal thing to have this hunger If we hunger for other things we have to check our stocks three times a day we have to You know check our Facebook or Instagram or we have to you know, check Twitter or some other thing You know, then we're hungering for the wrong things You want to hunger and thirst for Jesus Want to read from Psalm 51 So Psalm of David Psalm 51 The background to this song Is David when he was young he was a small boy young boy Taking care of his father's sheep He was faithful with what his father asked him to do.

David was the youngest in this family And he loved the sheep and he risked his life to protect the sheep And he would sing to the Lord there I Can relate to that when I was young I had to play piano and I didn't like all the conservatory stuff so my mom and dad put me into Learning to play Christian songs And I would go downstairs and that was not so much practicing But once I knew how to play a little bit I would go there and I would sing me and Jesus The small boy, maybe John's age 10 years old and the tears would run down my face as I would sing On the top of my lungs to Jesus. I think of David like that David in the field singing to his God Worshiping his God Loving his God with all his heart And David Learned the ways of God while he was taking care of sheep and God was preparing him to shepherd his people Israel He put it in David's heart the boldness of a liar and so when a lion would come out of the bush and snatch one of the lambs he would go after it with his sling and He would chase after it It says he grabbed the lion by the beard and pulled that sheep out of his out of his jaws And he killed the lion with his bare hands And another time I know some of us we we bear hunt None of us. I don't think would have the boldness of David he tore after a bear that had grabbed one of the sheep and He grabbed that that bear by the throat and he choked that thing out and he killed that thing He risked his life for the sheep and God saw and said this is the kind of man that I want to lead my people one who loves Sheep will also love my people Will have a care for my people and it says of David that he was a man after God's own heart He had a heart after God And So when it came time that he had rejected Saul because Saul had disobeyed what God asked him to do he rejected Saul and he went and sent Samuel to anoint another king and he went to the house of Jesse where God had sent Samuel and He had all his sons passed before him from the oldest and and Samuel looked and he said oh a liar Well, he's tall head and shoulders above the rest like Saul was Surely the Lord's anointed is before me, you know, sometimes we lack discernment We judged by outward appearance rather than the way God looks at the heart.

He doesn't look at the outward stature He doesn't look at how much beauty or how much splendor we have because it says of Jesus He had no beauty or splendor or stately stature. He didn't wasn't all buff full of muscles He did wasn't head and shoulders above the rest that we should desire him It Says that he Jesus himself was despised and rejected and I'll tell you David was despised and rejected by his family Because he wasn't at the meeting when Samuel showed up All the other sons were there and and David was in the field with the sheep. They didn't even call him to the meeting Wasn't worth it too young too insignificant Not important enough Not even not considerable But all the sons came and the Lord said to Samuel listen, don't look at the outward appearance Don't look at what it looks like on the outside.

Many of us are concerned about how we look to other people We dress all nice. We put expensive stuff on, you know to be seen by people, but inside our heart is full of uncleanness We're cowards we we call ourselves Christians we not don't tell anybody about Jesus we don't confess Jesus to anybody We're concerned about our reputation and what people think about us And if our reputation gets damaged, well, then we don't want to live anymore some of us Brother sister, this is wrong We need to be concerned what God thinks of us What is written in his book about us not what people think of Jesus it says he was rejected by his own his own didn't receive him But he said as many as received him to them. He give the right to become children of God All of them passed by and all those sons were rejected and Sandals said what's going on here? Don't you have any more sons of the numerous Sunday? So the others one more he's out there taking care He said you better get him here.

And while he was still coming the presence of God come over Samuel and he knew this was the one and He came and he poured the oil on him and he prayed over him and he anointed him king over Israel just a young lad But in the process of time David once he was king over Israel. He had a Time where he took time off to do his own thing When he should have been fighting the good fight He stayed back let his men go to the fight and he woke up one morning and he saw a lady taking a bath and it set him on a course that led to Her getting pregnant and then he tried to cover his sin and had her husband killed Put him in the front line and they withdrew the protection When the lady was pregnant he was trying to cover over his sin He's trying to become a man of reputation to keep his reputation in front of the people God is not too concerned about a reputation. God is concerned about our heart If your heart is good, you'll have a good reputation before God Which of the prophets did they speak good about Not one of them.

They despised them all Many of them that killed and persecuted and if you desire to live godly for Christ, you'll be suffering persecution as well Persecution not because you did something that you shouldn't have done but because you are a Christian and you love the Lord So one day this man comes to David he's a prophet in Israel's name is Nathan and he says, you know David he said I I want to talk to you about something. He said speak and he said, you know, there was this man and he had many many sheep Oh Yeah, and he said, you know what happened was there was this other man and he had one little sheep One young sheep and he loved that sheep like his friend And he said this other man who had so many sheep. He couldn't hardly even count them he said that he came a stranger came to his house to visit and He wanted to make a barbecue for him.

He wanted to make a banquet for him And he says instead of taking one of his own What he did is he went and he he took that man's friend his only sheep that he had and he killed it and he made a barbecue and he had a banquet with that man's sheep and David got so angry. I can see him just standing up and Saying the one who did this should be should die He said he should pay back four times what he took to that man and he should die for what he has done David had such love for sheep. He had such a heart for sheep He pronounced his own judgment on himself and then the Prophet said you're the man You took You raya the Hittite or whatever his name was in Beth Sheba his wife you took her for yourself and you killed her husband And I had her he had a revelation He had a revelation that he'd been caught he thought he was getting away with something You know that song that you hear on praise 106 5 grace God to you seems like you're getting away with something Grace God you that's a lie That's not grace You're not getting away with nothing.

God sees everything His eyes are are open and everything is laid naked and bare before him whom must give an account Brothers sisters, we have a sin issue with God and We have to make sure that we walk in a way that is pleasing to him You can even have a heart after God, but yet David David became an enemy of God at that point when he did this thing and he said, you know what David? You you yourself will not die even though David said he should die the man who did this thing, but he said the son That will be born to Beth Sheba the one that you got pregnant that son will die he was already born and From that time the boy got sick and David took a fast and he prayed that the boy wouldn't die And you know what in the process of time they were scared to tell David the boy had passed And when they came and told him that the boy had passed He went and shaved he went and washed himself. He went and clothed himself in clean clothes he had put sackcloth on and he went into the house of God and he worshipped God and They didn't understand because they thought you know, once he hears the boys dead who knows what he'll do But this is what he did He went into the house of God to worship and they asked him what why did you do this? And he said, you know, well the boy was alive. I know my god that he's very merciful and compassionate and Who knows the Lord may have? Relented in in in this thing that he said he would do and perhaps there was an opportunity a chance while the boy was alive that the Lord would have mercy and Have a change of heart towards this thing, but now that the boy has passed He said there's nothing that can be done except to go into the house of the Lord and worship Can you worship God when you go through a very hard time? Are you a worshiper of God? Or do you blame God for the things that have happened in your life? And David writes this psalm 51 from that experience Because from that time there was a separation between David and God In fact some of us may have experienced it at different times in our life where we've rebelled against the leading and the conviction of the Holy Spirit against the Word of God and there has been a separation between us and God And I want to read a little bit from Psalm 51 David is it's a prayer and it's a song That is said to God.

He said have mercy upon me O God according to your loving kindness according to the multitude of your tender mercies David has come to experience the multitude of God's tender mercies in his life You're walking with the Lord Can you say that you have experienced the multitude of God's tender mercies in your life rather than his heavy hand in judgment? This Is a song and it's a prayer he says blot out my sins and Wash me thoroughly from my sins and Cleanse me from my sins what we see is three things Blot out my sins wash me thoroughly from my sins and cleanse me from my sins We sang two songs are you washed in the blood? That's the very first and foremost thing that we need to experience in coming to the Lord Jesus is a good conscience toward God and that comes when the blood is applied in your life It cleanses your conscience from all the guilt and the shame of sin So when he says blot out my sins Has specifically first and foremost to do with the blood of Jesus In our life. The second point is wash me thoroughly from my sins This is what the Word of God does in our life we spend time with the Lord in reading the scriptures and listening to sermons and listening to their songs and in prayers and we come for fellowship and People speak into our lives and we speak into other lives. There's a washing husbands.

It says that they should wash their wives With the water of the word When the Word of God is is poured over your your wife and your family There's a cleaning that happens And it is something that David was saying here wash me completely from my sins So when the blood is applied we become declared righteous, but then there's also Sanctification that has to happen a being set apart and when we learn the Word of God we start to say I didn't even know that those were sins and we start getting an understanding and we start repenting and confessing Lords, you got to help me Now David knew what he was doing and he tried to cover it up. But now he's confessing his sins Blot out my sins that's through the blood wash me from my sins. That's with the water of the word Cleanse me from my sins That's where God sends fiery trials into our life and the Holy Spirit comes everything is purified by fire We go through hard things and trials to come through purified and refined as gold is refined in the fire seven times a Baptism of fire Blood water fire the spirit Now look at verse 3 psalm 51 3 4 I admit my sins You can't get any help you will never change Nothing will happen in your life unless you are honest with God and you admit your sins Some of us don't even know what our sins are and we're going through trials and things God is trying to give us light on our sins You know, sometimes we can think a certain way about ourselves like Job Job held to his integrity.

He didn't know anything against himself. He did everything, right? You want to know what the problem was God had to take him through very hard things to show him his self-righteous pride Until he came to a point where he loathed himself He abhorred himself He repented It doesn't matter you don't know anything against yourself God takes you through things to show you that you are proud that you are holding to your integrity that you're all about reputation He'll allow things in your life to get to the bottom of it so that you don't become destroyed by this pride Because a third of heaven was destroyed because of pride So when we think of sin, we're not just thinking of gross sins we're thinking of the grossest self-righteousness and pride Self-preservation I Acknowledged my sin He had conviction because he said my sin is always in front of me It was always on in the back of my mind the things that I've been I've done Now this is our sin. You can say well, you know, he sinned against Bathsheba, you know when he did what he did He sinned against Uriah when he killed him.

He sinned against the people because he should have known better But ultimately he had a revelation in verse 4. He said against you and you only have I sinned and Done this evil in your sight Repentance has everything to do with acknowledging that you sinned against God The sin issue is against God it's not against people Now you might make things right with people this way and sometimes you can't even make those things, right? But if you make things right with God Then you have peace with God When someone gets born again and they repent and they start turning from their old life and they start following a new a new way You have peace with God Now he says that you may be found just when you speak or in your words and blameless when you judge God is a just judge And he deals with us rightly Verse 5 let's talk about the sin issue. Where did it ultimately come from? We talked last week about in Adam Behold I was brought forth. I was born in sin and In sin did my mother conceive me? The sin issue comes from our mothers It comes from being born into a corrupt nature That came from the fall way back in the beginning It wasn't that his mother was a prostitute.

It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with the fact that We are born in sin we are born with a sin nature and We have a propensity to be proud we have a propensity to to be rebellious to do our own thing and that manifests in many different ways Us as believers we categorize sin we say oh this sin is worse than this sin that sin leads to death and this one doesn't Well, this is not too bad we can justify these sins But you know what the Satan didn't commit fornication or adultery or murder or anything else. He just became proud and He just wanted to have a place that wasn't his and so a war broke out That was the fruit of it Because of his pride he thought that he should have a higher rank and a war broke out That's the greatest sin Pride and you know what and you start sewing that pride into the other angels likes Lucifer did He convinced a third of the angels that had free will at that time to say.

Yeah, you know what we deserve better God is not doing it for us. We want to follow Lucifer. He has a good plan we have to be careful that our heart doesn't come into this kind of satanic condition Where we begin to justify doing things that are not right before God The sin nature is what comes forth from our parents and from our grandparents and from Adam Behold you desire truth in the inner parts Now sometimes we don't know what right and wrong is and we don't know what truth is because we brought up with so many lies When we were young we were brought up that Santa Claus was Was good and then we were brought up the tooth fairy was was real and then we were brought up all these different lies We're in school went to school.

They told us we came from monkeys and we believe that and all these lies and everything Then all of a sudden God starts speaking to us and we have to unlearn all these lies And so, you know what? There's still lies that we hold to there's still untruths that we believe But you know what if you love the Lord with all your heart Jesus will reveal it by the Spirit to you Because he wants us to desire truth in the inward part David says make me to know truth in the inner part in The hidden parts you make me to know wisdom now brother Aline had shared with us a couple weeks back about wisdom that is from above and wisdom. That is earthly central and demonic We've learned a lot of earthly and demonic wisdom from since we were small depending on who taught us But you know what now the Holy Spirit wants to teach us wisdom, which is from above Wisdom that is from above Now he says in verse 7 and this is how David is dealing with the sin issue in his life He's asking the Lord for help He says purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow now when they were in the old olden days in the tabernacle, there was a sprinkling of the blood of animal sacrifice and It was sprinkled with a lowly bush called the hyssop It would grow on the wall here and there it was like an insignificant bush It was kind of like this humble kind of like a like a tumbleweed was pretty much good for nothing but the Lord said to take of the hyssop bush a branch and dip it in blood and sprinkle it on the altar and on the sacrifice and everything was sprinkled with blood and He used the lowly hyssop hyssop bush to do it It was the utensil that God chose the most humble thing that there was that was so insignificant he said I want you to take that lowly thing and I want you to sprinkle the blood for the people with that and This is what David is referring to here when he says Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. In other words take that lowly hyssop bush.

I want to become as low as that lowly hyssop bush and make me humble Lord because I can see that somehow I've become proud and Sprinkle that blood on my conscience because my conscience is just bothering me something terrible because of what I've done purge me with the blood from the hyssop bush and Wash me and make me whiter than snow with your word and by your spirit David had lost all the joy in his life after sin came into his life and after he was exposed He said make me hear joy and gladness that the bones that you have broken may rejoice and please hide your face from my sins and Blot them all out from from away from your presence You know when sin comes into our lives We no longer get joy from being in the presence of God. We get joy out of activities We get joy out of buying things We get joy out of pleasure We get joy when other people maybe lose money and maybe suffer or or we get joy when someone praises us and We we say boy, you're sure a wonderful sister You know, I love your new dress and we get joy from that or someone says man. You're really smart or educated We get joy from that Brother sister.

This is not the joy that we should seek after David says make me to know joy and gladness that comes from God No outward reason to have joy except you are partakers of the divine nature and Christ is in you That the joy the Lord would be your strength verse 10 Create in me a clean heart. Oh God and renew a right spirit within me. He didn't say Wash my heart He didn't say You know clean my heart He said create in me a clean heart, you know, we need to have a new heart and a new spirit When we've been living according to self and pride and we live in according to our own ways The Lord allows rebellion to manifest to show us what? That we're getting worse.

No You've always been bad He allows it to show you what's really going on inside so that you can know That you need a new heart and a new spirit Not so that he can know It has to manifest so you can know that you're a rebel And that you hate authority in your life So you say create in me a clean heart Ezekiel 36 it says in verse 26. I Believe in you This is what it means to be born again. He does a heart transplant.

He gives us a clean heart You know our hearts have become so hard and we don't even get conviction even in a message like this no conviction You say you know what? We don't we don't want conviction. We want other things. Tell us how much the Lord loves us You know when it says this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased you want to know when that voice came from heaven After Jesus had lived 30 years of his life doing the father's will and when he was baptized and he came out of the water The father said this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased He'd lived 30 years of his life doing the will of his father That's whom the Lord is pleased with We need to get light on ourselves that in order to get to that place We need to start to be obedient to the convictions from the word and from the Spirit and our hearts have become so hardened that We can't feel anything.

They become dead. You know, I had a friend of mine calls that his dad needs bypass surgery they may have to do a heart transplant and It got me thinking about this when the heart is been so corrupted and it's so plugged up and it's so weak That a heart transplant is necessary in some extreme cases and David says created me a clean heart And Ezekiel the Lord says I'll put a new heart in you and I'll put a new spirit in you speaking of the people of God ask the Lord Not to do a little revamp and a remodel but to give you a new heart and a new spirit To fill you with the Spirit of God verse 11 When you feel separated from God, this is a prayer of repentance It goes with this do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me David had known the Lord David had experienced the presence of God in his life for many years When he was hunted by Saul his father-in-law He leaned on the Lord He loved the Lord, but now he doesn't have the same need for God Do you still have the same need for God now and things are good Than before when things were terrible That's why the Lord brings us into trials So that we would have a need for him David says it is good that I was afflicted. Why does he say that? Because before he was afflicted he was looking at some lady taking a bath before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word It's in our hearts to take our ease and when we take our ease sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for us So the Lord keeps us needy and dependent on him And it's part of his love and it's part of his ways.

I Like verse 12 restore to me the joy of thy salvation Joy comes from his salvation being a part of his salvation Feeling that God is working in my life, and he's saving me from my sins Uphold me by your generous spirit. It's God who holds us by his power by his spirit So after all this repentance after all this cleansing after all this regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit David says, you know what now I'm good for something Before all this we were good for nothing Except to repent to God, but now in verse 13, he becomes good for something Hi, Joe, he said now I'm gonna teach sinners your ways you want to know why because I've been taught your ways Now David says now I can be useful to you and for you because I can tell people Hey, this is what I've done and don't do it Turn from your ways God's Word says if you'll walk according to the ways of God, it'll be well with your soul Sinners shall be converted to you Other people will say you know what I want God in my life. I want Jesus in my life Tired of living like a dog Tired of doing unclean things I'm tired of the sin in the shade tired of running and hiding in the darkness Coming to the light now.

This is what God desires preachers who've been through hard things that can testify of the cleansing work of the blood and of the water of the Word and of the cross and Say you know what there's hope for me. I remember the day when I heard it in 1998 Good Friday And Easter Sunday, and I thought there's hope for him. There's hope for me.

I Had faith enough as a mustard seed to take a step out of my seat. I come forward. I said I'm coming now And the devil said you can't change you're gonna be at the club next week.

I said matter not devil What matters is I obey God now. I don't know how he has to help me because I can't do it And That's when your change will come when you say doesn't matter how it matters that Jesus helped me you just say God Send your son to my life Send your spirit of my life and power. I can live in a way pleasing to you because I can't do it anymore That's when you're gonna start teaching transgressors his ways and sinners will be converted to the Lord He says deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, you know David murdered the man you say oh, I'm not that bad.

You know what? We're all that bad When we Have grudges against people When we have unforgiveness we have resentment we have bitterness We have a hatred toward people it says when you have hatred. It's like murder to God And You know what God can't forgive us if we don't forgive others We have to be willing to say Lord. I've done terrible things and I need your forgiveness in my life Help me to forgive others.

We have to let everything go If we want to experience his forgiveness Oh God of my salvation my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness Gerson told me that he really enjoys to sing And He said sometimes when the family's asleep He'll put the headphones on and he'll go to the keyboard or he'll go and he'll sing to the Lord David said my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness It's good to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness Oh Lord open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise In the Old Testament they had to bring all kinds of sacrifices because of sin I was not interested in a bunch of burnt animals He's interested in obedience Burnt offering and sacrifice he's not desired, but a body you've prepared for the sacrifice You know, I used to think okay, well, you know, I feel guilty I did some dumb stuff I'm gonna go to church and I'll write a check and I'll put some money in the bag because I feel guilty God doesn't want that sacrifice He wants you to do is keep your money And start doing what's right and humble yourself And once you get a new heart and a new spirit and you got the joy of the Lord, then you can give your money But not from guilt from love Burnt offering and sacrifice have not desired the sacrifices of God are this a broken spirit a Broken and a contrite a humble heart these things God will not despise Do you have a broken and a humble heart before God because you've hurt God? You've been running from God Adam was hiding from God when he was after he ate from that tree He wasn't supposed to eat His very one the very one who created him who breathed his life into him Who would walk with him every single day as his friend the only true friend that he ever had He was hiding from him In New Testament ways he would text God would text him say hey, how are you doing Adam would ghost him He would try calling him Adam would screen his calls He would say Adam come for a fellowship Adam would make excuses why he couldn't come Because he was ashamed But he could humble himself what did you do did you eat from the tree? Okay, okay from the tree, but the woman that you gave me God. It's your fault She gave to me and I ate not all what did David say against thee and the only have I sinned We have to acknowledge you know what it's not because someone else's fault. It's not this it's not that it's not because of the woman It's not this or that it's against you only have I sinned My sin is it begins to You know when we when we come to him finally we come to the light It says God is light and in him is no darkness at all and all you have to do is be willing to come to the light Having no part dark and let him shine his light on you To be gracious to you Do good verse 18 Do good in your good pleasure to Zion.

That's the people of God build the walls of Jerusalem You know when the devil's been coming at you You know the thieves are coming in we had a time when thieves would come in and they would try to break into the house And so we built a wall Since that time by the praise of God they haven't come to break, but they could still jump the wall They could still jump the wall, but God has protected us when he says build the walls of Jerusalem a wall is for protection We need God to be our protection When we're outside of the will of God he can't protect us the devil's coming after us and robbing from us and destroying and stealing Everything else the devil has a plan for our life But God has a plan to prosper you and not to harm you to give you a hope in the future So God build the wall around my life, I repent and I need you to help me and that's what fellowship is all about Join yourselves not with the people from the pub, but join yourselves with the people of God and desire to walk with Jesus Be knit together Watch each other's back and Ultimately God is the one who gives the increase unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain who build it Unless the Lord guard the city the watchman stays awake in vain The Lord wants to give us rest And there is a rest for the people of God for sure I finish here with burnt offering and whole burnt offerings That's when we will you will be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness When we get the walls up and we start walking According to the Word of God and you start being obedient to the convictions from the Holy Spirit When we repent and come to the light having no part dark Then God will be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness Then you can put some money in the box and say you know what this is this is to help poor This is to help with so-and-so and so-and-so's expenses This is to help to send money to another place for a family That's in need then and God will be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness But not to try to piece him off to try to ease our conscience. It doesn't work Everything has to be in the right order. He says then they'll offer bulls and so on on your altar Friends We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God even David who had a wonderful beginning and he had a midlife crisis Where he lived according to his own fleshly desires and God had pulled back from him Because of his sin and he felt the full weight of it and some of us began well But the enemy has hindered us from obeying the truth But now Jesus in his kindness Is calling You know we once lost a dog and we go out to the deck and we call we call for that dog to come And I see the Lord Calling us as the lost sheep of the house of Israel calling us If perhaps he might find us wandering on the mountains doing our own thing lost disillusioned If perhaps he might find us and bring us back Brother sister takes a step of faith You got to put your shoulder into it and seek the Lord while he may be found and call on him while he is near The word says let the wicked man forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts Let him turn to the Lord and the Lord will leave a blessing behind Perhaps he'll leave a blessing behind And you know I'll finish with this it's not too hard to look up Sometimes we look to oh brother so-and-so Maybe he can lend me a thousand bucks to get me out of my pickle or sister so-and-so Maybe she can borrow me some whatever.

I don't have enough For the guests that are coming, but you know what? We need to look to the Lord from whom comes our help Our maker our deliverer Our God Our father and our friend Don't run any longer there's bread enough to eat in his house There's plenty of bread for the servants There's enough for you Gerson norvie you guys want to come up and share I want norvie to share first and gerson Okay