Repentance: Clean Hands, Clean Hearts ~Psalm 51

“The true sense of our sinfulness does not come from measuring the distance between our own conduct and the grandeur of the moral law. Oh no, it is only in the overwhelming presence of the Holy One Himself that we sinners know how utterly sinful we are” (see Isa. 6:1-7, Patrick H. Reardon, Christ in the Psalms, pg. 99).

Read Psalm 51 

            Why is the superscription so important in correctly understanding this Psalm?

Read 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:1-14

            What were the causes of David’s sin?

·      Not fulfilling his calling (11:1), lust (11:2), greed (12:8), disobedience to God’s Word (12:9).

How can David say in vs. 4 “against you, you only, have I sinned”?

·      Who else did his sin impact? The Army, Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, their baby.

·      “The confession must be understood within the context of this immediate encounter with the God of purity, truth, and holiness. As the rest of the verse makes plain, the point of this confession is to establish that the speaker has ‘done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge’” (C. Broyles, Psalms, NIBC, pg. 227).

We talked about some of the consequences stemming from how his sin impacted others, so how did he gain wisdom from his sin? (Vs. 6) à By divine revelation!

 “Life has given us two very effective teachers. Both are top-flight instructors, but neither comes cheap. While both are effective, both require something of us. We have to choose one or the other, and if we choose neither, the second will be chosen for us. The teachers are WISDOM and CONSEQUENCES. … Consequences is by far the tougher teacher of the two. Consequences enrollment cost and ongoing tuition are sky-high. Oh, she’ll teach us well, all right—but by the time we learn her lessons, her instruction may have cost us years. It may have cost us our marriage, family, our job, our ministry, perhaps even our life. Consequences have a huge backend cost.” (Wayne Cordeiro, The Divine Mentor, pg. 28-29, © 2007, Bethany House).

Hyssop – shrub w/ stiff, hairy leaves and branches whose surface held liquid well hence its use in sprinkling blood in purification rituals (Lev. 14:1-9) and on the doorposts before the Exodus (Ex. 12:7).

What various synonyms does David use for sin?

·      transgressions (vs. 1) – “rebellion against a norm that defines a relationship”

·      iniquity (vs. 2a) – “crookedness or rebellion”

·      sin (vs. 2b) – “missing a mark, illustrated in Judges 20:16”

o   (Definitions comes from Craig Broyles, Psalms, NIBC, pg. 227).

·      bloodguilt (vs. 14) – for his murder of Uriah, the death of the baby(?)

What inner work does David ask God to do in his life? (vs. 10-12)

·      Pure heart and steadfast spirit

·      The Holy Spirit’s presence

·      The joy of salvation

*How does this apply to our lives today?

What exterior work does David ask God to do in his life?

·      Open up doors for teaching other sinners God’s ways (vs. 13).

·      Interior rejuvenation and cleaning will lead to an exterior praise (vs. 14c-15)

How does David make the logical jump from personal to societal in vss. 18-19?

*What does this Psalm teach us about prayer?

End with “Give Us Clean Hands” song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onGbkeWkA64

Standing and Praying in the Full Armor of God

~Eph. 6:10-20~

“Prayer is when a Christian soldier takes himself to his general, Christ, to beg his assistance, not once only but at any time when necessity urges; not coldly and with his lips only but with a servant spirit; not faintly, as if he feared not the enemy, but watching and attending to this duty with greatest earnestness; not for himself only but also for the whole church, or for God’s whole army and for every one of the saints, so far as he shall be acquainted with their necessities” (David Dickson, Exposition of Ephesians, Glasgow: 1645. From The Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Galatians and Ephesians, IVP © 2011, pg. 405).

-When we read our passage in context we see how Paul gave instructions to the Body of Christ to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (5:21) in their: marriages (5:22-33), in their family life (6:1-4), and in the workplace (6:5-9).

            How does this corporate vision impact how we read 6:10-20?

           

-How does Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians in 1:19-23 and 3:16, 18 prepare them to receive his instructions to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God” (6:11)?

-Because we have been “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (1:13) then what does Paul assume we will wield when we pray?

            Where do we see Jesus do this very thing?

-What keeps us from praying “on all occasions”?

-“with all kinds of prayers” is Paul’s way of giving a general description of prayer; and “requests” emphasizes the act of making petitions (6:18; c.f. Phil. 4:6).

-How do you “be alert” or spiritually awake at all times? (Jesus says this too, see Lk 21:36).

-Where can our own prayer lives, or the prayer lives of our churches, grow so to follow Paul’s imperatival command in 6:18?

“You can make prayer your life and your life a prayer while living in a world that needs God’s powerful influence” (See study note on Eph. 6:18 in the NIV Life Application Study Bible, pg. 2141).

-What is Paul’s number one prayer request (6:19-20)?

-It seems that Paul never asked the Ephesians to pray for his release from prison, why?

            -What kind of example does this set for us during the trials we face?

-What would life look like if we prayed “with all kinds of prayers and requests” while wearing the full armor of God and in the Spirit?

-Where do we need to wear “the Good-News-Shoes” (6:15)? (Thanks to our 4 and 3 year old niece and nephew as they taught me this term the other day as they told me/showed me their past week's Sunday school lesson via FaceTime.)

Praying Biblically in 2014 continues...

The power of the resurrected and reigning Christ is ours today!

~Eph. 1:15-23~

“In the same way that we give thanks to God when we recognize his quiet and effective work in our lives, so also we thank God when we hear of his work in others. … if we intend to imitate the prayers of Paul, we will be attentive to reports of the progress of the gospel, not only in circles immediately around us, but also from places we have never visited” (D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation. Baker, © 1992, pg. 171).

I.               Thanksgiving – vss. 15-16

a.     What is Paul pointing back to by using the phrase “for this reason” in vs. 15?

                                               i.     “every spiritual ____________” – vs. 3

                                             ii.     Our ______________ before the world began – vs. 4

                                            iii.     His God-ordained, joyful ____________ of us into his eternal family – vs. 5

                                            iv.     Our ______________ and _________________ of sins – vs. 7

                                              v.     Being marked by the ______ ________ - vs. 13-14.

                                            vi.     Are you a “Bryan Linn”?

b.    What are the other 2 elements that cause Paul to launch into Thanksgiving?

                                               i.     Whose faith can you give thanks to the Lord for, right now?

                                             ii.     What person, or people, or groups, or “saints” can you thank God for, for how they show love to others?

c.     Let us be like the angels who rejoice over even a single, repentant sinner (Luke 15:7, 10) Let’s pray…

II.              Intercession – vss. 17-23

a.     What does the structure or order of Paul’s prayer teach us?

                                               i.     How does Paul’s prayer of intercession in vs. 17 parallel his prayer of thanksgiving in vs. 16?

“Praise gives wings to our petitions. The more my heart is occupied with God’s goodness, the more thankful I am for the favors already bestowed on me, the more will my soul be stirred up in seeking further mercies, the more liberty shall I experience in making requests for them, and the more expectation shall I have to receive the same” (A.W. Pink, Gleanings From Paul, p. 75)

                                             ii.     If this is Paul’s example (“I keep asking,” also seen in 1 Thess. 5:17) and Jesus’ command (Lk. 11:5-10 and 18:1-8) what stops us?

Survey of hands:

b.     According to Psychologist David Myers, the following are the most common fears or phobias people have. How many of you fear…

                                               i.     Snakes, spiders and other creepy crawly things?

                                              ii.     High places?

                                            iii.     Being in a closed space?

                                            iv.     Storms, thunder and lighting?

                                              v.     Being alone in a house at night?

                                            vi.     Being in a crowd of people?

                                           vii.     Speaking in Public?

                                         viii.     How about toes? Just kidding, that wasn’t in Myer’s list, LOL. J

c.      The church in 1^st century Ephesus also had their own fears:

                                               i.     Ephesus = a place of religious pluralism - 50 different gods and goddesses were worshipped.

                                              ii.     Ephesus = the sacred home to the Artemis cult.

                                            iii.     People practiced magic, and believed that good and evil spirits were involved in every area of life. 

                                            iv.     End result of this religious pluralism? FEAR, life devoid of hope.

                                              v.     Thus, Paul wrote and prayed that they would have “an increased awareness of God’s power” (Zondy BBC) because of the spiritual battle they were in “against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (6:12).

d.     His intercessory prayer consists of what kind of requests?

                                               i.     ___________________ of God via wisdom and __________________, vs. 17.

1.     This isn’t “special information” that helps us win Bible Trivia Pursuit but rather knowledge that helps us go deeper in our relationship with Christ.

2.     “The heart of a person needs not merely more refined theological concepts, but the work of the Spirit integrating these with their perception and so restructuring their will and life” (M. Turner, New Bible Commentary, p. 1227).

                                              ii.     Spiritual __________________ à hope, vs. 18.

1.     Why was hope such a powerful prayer request for the Ephesians? For us today?

                                            iii.     God’s mighty __________, vss. 19-23.

1.     What key word is crucial for understanding Paul’s thought?

2.     The same power God used to raise Christ from the grave is the same “incomparably great power for us who believe!”

3.     The same power in Christ that allowed him to walk the earth in His resurrected body for 40 days appearing to “Peter, then to the 12, then to more than 500 of the brothers, then to James, then to all the apostles and to Paul” is the same “incomparably great power for us who believe!”

a.     If we could only grasp this truth, how our lives and world would be changed!!

“Note here what the apostle’s prayers were like. The fact that he prayed without ceasing to God was the result of his faith, the fact that he made mention of the churches while giving thanks and praying for them was the result of his love. God will certainly approve of such prayers because they are borne up to heaven on the wings of faith and love”

(Wolfgang Musculus, Commentary on Ephesians, Basel: Herwag, 1561. From The Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Galatians and Ephesians, IVP © 2011, pg. 265).