Reversal of Fortunes

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March 5, 2003, Ash Wednesday

Lessons Psalm 51.1-17; Isaiah 58.1-12; 2 Corinthians 5.20b-6.10; Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21

Open It

  1. What character traits are most valued among your coworkers?

  2. What are some Christian characteristics that our culture looks down upon?

  3. What Christian traits do you think are the most difficult to cultivate because of pressure from your non-Christian friends?

Explore It

  1. What attributes did the poet ascribe to God in this psalm? (51:1)

  2. Why was the psalm writer able to ask for forgiveness from God? (51:1)

  3. What common experience does this psalm typify? (51:1-19)

  4. What was the psalm writer's attitude toward his sin? (51:3-5)

  5. What main picture of forgiveness is highlighted in this psalm? (51:2, 7, 9)

  6. What does the picture of forgiveness used in this poem reflect about the psalm writer's attitude? (51:2, 7, 9)

  7. To what do the "inner parts" and "inmost place" refer? (51:6)

  8. Where does God desire truth? (51:6)

  9. What did the author of this psalm desire? (51:10-12)

  10. How would the psalm writer's own experience of God's forgiveness affect others? (51:13)

  11. What did the psalm writer expect to be the outcome of God's forgiveness? (51:13-15)

  12. What does God not require of his people? (51:16)

  13. What does the Lord want from his people? (51:17)

  14. How does the prayer for Jerusalem serve as a fitting conclusion for this psalm? (51:18-19)

Get It

  1. What does this poem tell us about God's character?

  2. How should we respond to our sin and God's forgiveness?

  3. What do you think it means to have a broken and contrite heart?

  4. What should we do in response to God's forgiveness?

  5. How can you teach God's ways to others?

  6. With whom can you share your experience of God's forgiveness?

  7. In what ways would you like your desires to match those of the psalm writer's in this poem?

  8. If you have lost the joy of your salvation, what can you do to regain it again?

Apply It

  1. What can you do to cultivate a broken and contrite heart before God?

  2. What do you need to do about confessing sin?

  3. Who is one person you can make a conscious effort to teach God's ways over the next month?

NOTES

David was truly sorry for his adultery with Bathsheba and for murdering her husband to cover it up. He knew that his actions had hurt many people. But because David repented of those sins, God mercifully forgave him. No sin is too great to be forgiven! Do you feel that you could never come close to God because you have done something terrible? God can and will forgive you of any sin. While God forgives us, however, he does not always erase the natural consequences of our sin-David's life and family were never the same as a result of what he had done (see 2 Samuel 12:1-23).

Although David had sinned with Bathsheba, David said that he had sinned against God. When someone steals, murders, or slanders, it is against someone else-a victim. People do get hurt-in David's case, a man was murdered, and a baby died. All sin hurts us and others, but ultimately it offends God because sin in any form is a rebellion against God's way of living. When tempted to do wrong, remember that you will be sinning against God. That may help you stay on the right track.

Hyssop branches were used by the Israelites in Egypt to place the blood of a lamb on the doorframes of their homes. This would keep them safe from death (Exodus 12:22). This act demonstrated the Israelites' faith and secured their release from slavery in Egypt. This verse calls for cleansing from sin and readiness to serve the Lord.

Because we are born as sinners (Psalm 51:5), our natural inclination is to please ourselves rather than God. David followed that inclination when he took another man's wife. We also follow it when we sin in any way. Like David, we must ask God to cleanse us from within (Psalm 51:7), clearing our hearts and spirits for new thoughts and desires. Right conduct can come only from a clean heart and spirit. Ask God to create a pure heart and spirit in you.

Do you ever feel stagnant in your faith, as though you are just going through the motions? Has sin ever driven a wedge between you and God, making him seem distant? David felt this way. He had sinned with Bathsheba and had just been confronted by Nathan the prophet. In his prayer he cried, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation." God wants us to be close to him and to experience his full and complete life. But sin that remains unconfessed makes such intimacy impossible. Confess your sin to God. You may still have to face some earthly consequences, as David did, but God will give back the joy of your relationship with him.

When God forgives our sin and restores us to a relationship with him, we want to reach out to others who need this forgiveness and reconciliation. The more you have felt God's forgiveness, the more you will desire to tell others about it.

God wants a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart. You can never please God by outward actions-no matter how good-if your inward heart attitude is not right. Are you sorry for your sin? Do you genuinely intend to stop? God is pleased by this kind of humility.

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