Even When We Mess Up Bad – Psalms 51-57

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #174 and today we’ll read Psalms 51-57 together.   His mercies are new every morning, even when we mess up bad.    

Welcome

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2!  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me – from the beginning – simply reading God’s word together.  We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament.  But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New.  So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work.  I’m really glad you’re here!

Psalm 51

A Prayer for Restoration

For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.

Be gracious to me, God,

according to your faithful love;

according to your abundant compassion,

blot out my rebellion.

Completely wash away my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I am conscious of my rebellion,

and my sin is always before me.

Against you — you alone — I have sinned

and done this evil in your sight.

So you are right when you pass sentence;

you are blameless when you judge.

Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;

I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Surely you desire integrity in the inner self,

and you teach me wisdom deep within.

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Turn your face away from my sins

and blot out all my guilt.

God, create a clean heart for me

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not banish me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore the joy of your salvation to me,

and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.

Then I will teach the rebellious your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God —

God of my salvation —

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;

you are not pleased with a burnt offering.

A Broken Spirit

The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.

You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;

build the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,

whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psalm 52

God Judges the Proud

For the choir director. A Maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite went and reported to Saul, telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.”

Why boast about evil, you hero!

God’s faithful love is constant.

Like a sharpened razor,

your tongue devises destruction,

working treachery.

You love evil instead of good,

lying instead of speaking truthfully.

Selah

You love any words that destroy,

you treacherous tongue!

This is why God will bring you down forever.

He will take you, ripping you out of your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living.

Selah

The righteous will see and fear,

and they will derisively say about that hero,

“Here is the man

who would not make God his refuge,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches,

taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”

But I am like a flourishing olive tree

in the house of God;

I trust in God’s faithful love forever and ever.

I will praise you forever for what you have done.

In the presence of your faithful people,

I will put my hope in your name, for it is good.

Psalm 53

A Portrait of Sinners

For the choir director: on Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”

They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds.

There is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven on the human race

to see if there is one who is wise,

one who seeks God.

All have turned away;

all alike have become corrupt.

There is no one who does good,

not even one.

Will evildoers never understand?

They consume my people as they consume bread;

they do not call on God.

Then they will be filled with dread —

dread like no other —

because God will scatter

the bones of those who besiege you.

You will put them to shame,

for God has rejected them.

Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalm 54

Prayer for Deliverance

For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. When the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding among us?”

God, save me by your name,

and vindicate me by your might!

God, hear my prayer;

listen to the words from my mouth.

For strangers rise up against me,

and violent men intend to kill me.

They do not let God guide them.

Selah

God is my helper;

the Lord is the sustainer of my life.

He will repay my adversaries for their evil.

Because of your faithfulness, annihilate them.

I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you.

I will praise your name, Lord,

because it is good.

For he has rescued me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked down on my enemies.

Psalm 55

Betrayal by a Friend

For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

God, listen to my prayer

and do not hide from my plea for help.

Pay attention to me and answer me.

I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint,

because of the enemy’s words,

because of the pressure of the wicked.

For they bring down disaster on me

and harass me in anger.

My heart shudders within me;

terrors of death sweep over me.

Fear and trembling grip me;

horror has overwhelmed me.

I said, “If only I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and find rest.

How far away I would flee;

I would stay in the wilderness.

Selah

I would hurry to my shelter

from the raging wind and the storm.”

Lord, confuse and confound their speech,

for I see violence and strife in the city;

day and night they make the rounds on its walls.

Crime and trouble are within it;

destruction is inside it;

oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.

Now it is not an enemy who insults me —

otherwise I could bear it;

it is not a foe who rises up against me —

otherwise I could hide from him.

But it is you, a man who is my peer,

my companion and good friend!

We used to have close fellowship;

we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

Let death take them by surprise;

let them go down to Sheol alive,

because evil is in their homes and within them.

But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

I complain and groan morning, noon, and night,

and he hears my voice.

Though many are against me,

he will redeem me from my battle unharmed.

God, the one enthroned from long ago,

will hear and will humiliate them

Selah

because they do not change

and do not fear God.

My friend acts violently

against those at peace with him;

he violates his covenant.

His buttery words are smooth,

but war is in his heart.

His words are softer than oil,

but they are drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

God, you will bring them down

to the Pit of destruction;

men of bloodshed and treachery

will not live out half their days.

But I will trust in you.

Psalm 56

A Call for God’s Protection

For the choir director: according to “A Silent Dove Far Away.” A Miktam of David. When the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Be gracious to me, God, for a man is trampling me;

he fights and oppresses me all day long.

My adversaries trample me all day,

for many arrogantly fight against me.

When I am afraid,

I will trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

They twist my words all day long;

all their thoughts against me are evil.

They stir up strife, they lurk,

they watch my steps

while they wait to take my life.

Will they escape in spite of such sin?

God, bring down the nations in wrath.

You yourself have recorded my wanderings.

Put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your book?

Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call.

This I know: God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I will not be afraid.

What can mere humans do to me?

I am obligated by vows to you, God;

I will make my thanksgiving sacrifices to you.

For you rescued me from death,

even my feet from stumbling,

to walk before God in the light of life.

Psalm 57

Praise for God’s Protection

For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. When he fled before Saul into the cave.

Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,

for I take refuge in you.

I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings

until danger passes.

I call to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He reaches down from heaven and saves me,

challenging the one who tramples me.

Selah

God sends his faithful love and truth.

I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down among devouring lions —

people whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

God, be exalted above the heavens;

let your glory be over the whole earth.

They prepared a net for my steps;

I was despondent.

They dug a pit ahead of me,

but they fell into it!

Selah

My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident.

I will sing; I will sing praises.

Wake up, my soul!

Wake up, harp and lyre!

I will wake up the dawn.

I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

For your faithful love is as high as the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

God, be exalted above the heavens;

let your glory be over the whole earth.

Close

Psalm 51 is so powerful.  What David did was off-the-charts wrong…and he knew it!  He committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be murdered.  Remember that Uriah the Hittite – Bathsheba’s husband – was not just part of David’s army of 400.  He was one of the thirty…the inner circle.  David’s friend.  And he had him killed to cover up his own sin.  This is awful stuff.  And yet…God calls David a man after His own heart.  How is that even possible?  Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!  What a wonderful truth; a wonderful promise.  

Such a fine line separates us from the depths of our own evil.  Thank God for His compassion and forgiveness.  We can still come before Him like David did even when we mess up royally…like David did.  His love and forgiveness is always waiting.  All we need to do is to confess.  Share your thoughts with me at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed.  Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions.  And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there.  If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.