Psalm 51 is one of the Penitential Psalms combining confession of sin with a desire to repent – turning away from the sin and toward God.  In the first six verses there are four words or phrases for being bad:

-Transgressions (2 times)

-Iniquity (2)

-Sin (4)

-Done Evil (1)

Those several instances of man’s corrupt nature in the psalm are overwhelmed by the bounty of restoration words describing God’s activity in the confession and repentance process:

Mercy                                   Steadfast love

Wash                                     Cleanse

Justified                               Blameless

Truth                                     Wisdom

Clean                                     Joy

Gladness                             Renew

Right spirit                           Restore

Uphold                                 Deliver

Salvation                              Righteousness

Praise                                    Delight

Pleasure

We may think of Psalm 51 as man’s confession of his sin, but it is clearly much more about giving man an incentive to confess through God’s great work of redemption from those transgressions.

We don’t know exactly what awaits in heaven, but 1 Corinthians 15.35-58 Paul gives some clues and descriptions of the changes coming:

Where our earthly bodies are perishable, our heavenly bodies will be imperishable

Our earthly bodies are dishonored by sin; our heavenly bodies will be glorious

Our earthly bodies are weak; our heavenly bodies will be powerful

Our earthly bodies are temporal; our heavenly bodies will be eternal

Our earthly bodies are like Adam’s; our heavenly bodies will be like Jesus’

Our earthly bodies bear the image of Adam; our heavenly bodies will bear the image of Jesus

Our earthly bodies are mortal; our heavenly bodies will be immortal.

The most comforting part of this is in verse 38 – “But God gives (it) a body as he has chosen.”  It is a pleasure to rely on the God who is good and trustworthy to provide a glorious and marvelous new-body experience to his children.

In Jeremiah 31.31-37, God announces through his prophet that he will be making a new covenant with his people. He is replacing the covenant he made when he brought the people out of Egypt; they were unable to keep that one. In the following list of New Covenant promises, one can see that not all things are changed, but the ministry of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will have an impact, following the plan of God the Father:

• I will put my law within them (vs 33)
• I will write my law on their hearts (33)
• I will be their God and they shall be my people (34)
• They will not teach each other to know the LORD, because they shall all know me (34)
• I will forgive their iniquity (34)
• I will remember their sin no more (34).

The last several verses show the seriousness of God’s intentions.  The likelihood that this covenant will cease is the same as the likelihood that the sun, the moon and the stars will cease giving light (vs35), and as likely as man understanding all of creation (heavens above and foundations of earth, vs 37).

The Old Testament has commandments and laws galore, many of which were “fulfilled” and made better by Jesus.  The narrative also provides many examples of behaviors that are pleasing or offensive in the eyes of the LORD.  In 1 Corinthians 6. 6-11, Paul alludes to a number of incidents, from the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness in Exodus, that serve as examples of conduct to avoid:

• Do not be idolaters; the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, describing the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32.1-6).
• Do not indulge in sexual immorality; some of them did and 23,000 fell in a single day (Numbers 25.1-9).
• Do not put Christ to the test; the people were impatient for lack of food and water so some of them were destroyed by serpents (Numbers 21.4-9).
• Do not grumble; the Israelites complained about hardships (Numbers 11.1), the scary parts of the Promised Land (Numbers 14), and about the leadership of Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16). In each case, an angel of the LORD demolished many grumblers.

Hopefully we can learn from the events – “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1Corinthians 6.6).

Psalm 1 draws a clear contrast between the actions and attitudes of righteous believers and wicked men.  Psalm 36 has a similar contrast between humans’ wickedness and the steadfast love of God.

In verses 1-4, the wicked man is described as:

• Letting transgression speak deep into his heart
• Having no fear of God before his eyes
• Flattering himself in his own eyes
• Self-deceiving himself about his iniquities
• Speaking words of trouble and deceit
• Ceasing to do acts of wisdom and good
• Plotting trouble early in the day
• Setting himself in a way that is not good
• Failing to reject evil

God, on the other hand:

• Has steadfast love that extends to the heavens
• Has faithfulness that extends to the clouds
• Has righteousness as large as mountains
• Has judgments deeper than the ocean
• Saves men and beasts
• Offers refuge and a feast to all of mankind
• Allows men to drink from his delights
• Has the fountain of life
• Allows men to see the light

The gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims that all men are wicked. Those who accept the free gift of God’s salvation by repenting and believing in Jesus will be continually transformed to be more like the God of Psalm 36.

Psalm 29 describes several ways that God controls nature.

• The God of glory thunders (vs 3, sounds like thunderstorms)
• The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars (5, tornado)
• The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire (7, lightning)
• The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness (8, earthquakes)
• And He makes Lebanon skip like a calf (6, not sure what that is other than the storm is coming their way…)

Jesus also showed his mastery of nature when he calmed the sea storm in Mark 4.

Last time we looked at the list in Psalm 27 of fearsome problems arising against God’s people.  Today we Read between the troubles to see the ways we need to rely on the LORD and how he is working.

Our attitude needs to be:

• My heart shall not fear (verse 3)
• I will be confident (3)
• Gaze upon the beauty of the LORD (4)
• Inquire in His temple (4)
• Offer sacrifices with shouts of joy (6)
• Sing and make melody to the LORD (6)
• Seek God’s face (8)
• Believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD (13)
• Wait for the LORD (14)
• Be strong and courageous (14)

God will work for us using these means:

• He is my light and my salvation (1)
• He is the stronghold of my life (1)
• He makes my adversaries stumble and fall (2)
• He will hide me in his shelter (5)
• He will conceal me under the cover of his tent (5)
• He will lift me high upon a rock (5)
• He will take me in (10)
• He will teach me his ways (11)

These lists let us know we need not fear when God is on our side.

Psalm 27 raises multiple potentially troublesome situations that may befall God’s people. Today we list the problems.  Next time we check the responses, all of which are a version of “The Lord is my light and my salvation” (verse 1).  It is a bad day when:

• Evildoers assail me (verse 2)
• Evildoers eat up my flesh (2)
• An army encamps against me (3)
• War arises against me (3)
• My father and my mother forsake me (10)
• False witnesses arise against me (12)
• False witnesses breathe out violence (12)

When such conditions occur, Wait for the LORD; be strong and take courage (verse 14)

The book of Isaiah vacillates between wearying lists of Israel’s problems and wonderful promises of upcoming glory.  Chapter 11, verses 11-16 presents one of the problem lists.

• The people can’t understand Isaiah’s vision at all (11-12)
• They draw near to God and honor him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him (13)
• Their fear of God is based on commandments taught by men (13)
• The wisdom of their wise men is perishing (14)
• The discernment of their discerning men is hidden (14)
• They try to hide their counsel from the LORD; their deeds are done in the dark (15)
• They doubt that God knows what they are doing (15)
• They turn things upside down; they think they understand better than their creator (16)

Unfortunately for the Israelites, God keeps ALL his promises (see Deuteronomy 28.  The exile is coming.

Job and his three so-called friends “discuss” back and forth the reasons for his steep decline from wealthy benefactor to miserable scab-scratcher.  One thing they do agree on is their mighty God is able to destroy and to save.  Job’s monologue in chapter 12 describes these attributes of Yahweh:

• He knows and is able (verses 13, 16)
• He controls nature (verses 15, 22)
• He leads the mighty – counselors, judges, kings, priests, elders, princes (verses 17-21)
• He provides and takes away wisdom (verses 13, 16, 24-25)
• He makes and destroys even nations (verse23)

The long list is an echo of the Acts 4.25-26 quote of Psalm 2, “why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain?” God’s perfect plan will prevail.